To answer Edboy's question..........
Wassells sell new pickups complete with brushes. I've had problems with some of the brushes 'powdering' that come c/w the pickups so I always chuck those brushes. The powdering contaminates the slip ring and in the worst cases fills the slip ring housing with dust which prevents the mag working properly, sometimes even after you've cleaned the slip ring. Wassells also used to sell brushes individually, unbranded. I've never had any problem with those, I use them in all my magneto refurbs and never had any problems on any of my magnetos or anybody else's. I've done thousands of miles on my black A10 using a magneto with those brushes and never had to touch it. Wassells now sell brushes in 'Lucas' branded boxes, usually boxes of 5 brushes. These brushes seem identical to the ones previously sold unbranded and, again, I've had no problem with these. BUT they are not the same as the original Lucas brushes which were slightly longer, had lighter springs, and a groove down the side of the carbon brush. There are various brushes sold on Ebay. Researching the market (i.e. buying a few brushes from competitors on Ebay!) I find that some of the brushes are fine - they are the Wassells ones - and some brushes are the ones unscrupulous persons are selling because they know they are cr4p! Some Ebay traders are obviously offloading the brushes they have removed from Wassells pickups! Brushes I have bought from a well known supplier of magneto parts in the UK are also identical to the Wassells ones which are OK. One issue with the Wassells brushes is spring tension. The springs are much stronger than the original Lucas brushes, but they are shorter and I have found, from personal experience, that this doesn't matter provided you are not tempted to stretch the spring too much before fitting. It is worth checking that new brushes are only making light contact with the slip ring; this is quite easy as you can feel the brush hit the slip ring when fitting the pickup - a couple of mm pressure is plenty as the new brushes are very hard, as they should be. If spring pressure is too great you end up with a groove in the soft part of the slip ring which causes the brush to bounce as it hits the brass conductor and the brush wears out due to it bouncing up and down in the pickup. The new slip rings, UK supplied, are much better than the original Lucas ones as the plastic doesn't groove or crack. I have received quite a few magnetos for rebuild where the only problem is 5hitty pickups!
