Carbone of America has re-designed the phase and ground brush holders for Hitachi generators installed in the GE fleet of 1.5 MW wind turbines. The new Carbone of America brush rigging assembly is a totally re-engineered system, designed to reduce wear, maintenance, and downtime in the long term. The new brush holders are plug-and-play, and up-tower installation is fast, simple, and requires no modifications to the generator. The mass-produced holders, die-cast from bronze alloy, are sturdy and built to withstand rigorous field use and turbine maintenance without sustaining damage. Carbone of America engineered radial-mounted brush holders to eradicate the previous reaction and trailing configuration and improve load sharing and equal wear rates between brushes. The brush dimensions were changed to provide equal surface area for the same energy transmission. The ratios of brush coverage to slip-ring diameter, width, and helical groove, have been optimized for peak performance. The constant-force style brush pressure systems (200g/cm2 applied to the well-known Carbon brush grade CG626) provide extremely low wear rates and minimal ring wear over long-term operation. They exert consistent force to keep all brushes in constant contact with the high-speed rotating slip rings for the best possible distribution of current between the 4 phase (power) brushes.

Carbone of America
www.carbonelorraine.com