GLOBAL PROVIDER OF HIGH-QUALITY BRUSH HOLDERS,

CASTINGS, SPRINGS AND REFURBISHMENT SERVICES

 COMPANY OVERVIEW
Located in Export, Pennsylvania (approximately 25 miles
east of Pittsburgh), Fulmer Company is the largest North
American manufacturer of brush holders for DC machines
and AC generators and a supplier to major global OEMs,
such as GE, Siemens Toshiba and Mitsubishi, as well as
aftermarket customers.
Within Fulmer’s 34,000-square-foot facility, the company
hosts a precision CNC machine shop with fabrication
capabilities that include a spring shop and assembly
department.
Throughout the years, Fulmer’s in-house design and
engineering capabilities have been crucial in support of
Fulmer Facility concurrent engineering and retrofit projects for customers
who sought to improve quality and performance while
reducing costs.
Additionally, Fulmer possesses a high quality, non-ferrous
permanent mold and sand cast foundry, Perma-Cast.
Occupying a separate but adjacent 13,000-square-foot
facility, Perma-Cast provides permanent mold castings, which
offer many benefits (such as casting integrity, surface finish,
homogenous grain structure and tight dimensional
tolerances) over other casting methods.
These dynamic capabilities have established Fulmer as an
industry leader both as a supplier of machined generator
component parts and as an innovator of engineered designs
for new and direct retrofit applications.

Perma-Cast Facility

Fulmer’s major aftermarkets include:

■ Power Generation
■ Railroad
■ Transit
■ Mining
■ Steel
■ Motor Repair Shops
ADVANCING THE POWER GENERATION INDUSTRY Product Features
Brush Changing Made Easy – The Fulmer Way ● Lightweight and ergonomic, Fulmer’s
Fulmer has the safe, reliable and economic solution for brush changing on patented, OEM-approved design is a direct
live machines. replacement for original brush holders with
no rigging modification required.
Featuring a state-of-the-art design, the single pocket, cartridge-style plug-in
● Fulmer’s holder offers constant force
holder (FC101) offers a revolutionary approach to brush changing on springs and insulated handles for quick
turbine-generators. Using the same design concepts found in multi-pocket and safe brush changing under load.
magazine holders that have been commonly fitted to larger generators for
● Both brush and brush holder can be
over 40 years, Fulmer has removed while the generator is on-line,
successfully adapted this model without any service interruption.
into a unique single pocket holder.
● Utilization of a constant pressure
Coupling technical, design and “cartridge” design eliminates the need to
manufacturing expertise with periodically adjust brush force as the brush
substantial experience working wears (saving valuable maintenance
with OEMs in the power man-hours).
generation field, Fulmer has ● The constant pressure spring is radially
created a holder concept built mounted over each brush, while the
around the principles of employee concentrically coiled spring applies force
safety, superior technical on the center line of the brush.
performance and value. ● Individual brushes can be changed on an
“as-required” basis, safely away from the
electrically energized components.

Fulmer’s single pocket cartridge-

style holder is designed as a
direct replacement for a wide
variety of OEMs’ turbo
generator holders. In fact,
Fulmer’s brush holders take
only minutes to install, can be
placed in the exact location
and use the same mounting
hardware as existing holders.
Additionally, they are available
in numerous brush sizes and
mounting arrangements.
THE FULMER ADVANTAGE
Fulmer’s Cartridge-Style Plug-In Brush Holder (FC101):
■ Eliminates the use of high resistance and mechanically inferior connection plates and contacts.
■ Allows for superior electrical contact, improving current flow to the brush.
■ Has a longer brush box, creating better brush support and accommodating brushes up to four inches in length.
■ Lengthens brush life and reduces the frequency of brush changes.
■ Utilizes any brush supplier’s recommended brush grade for high speed generator service.
■ Facilitates brush wear evaluation though a convenient window in the brush holder.
■ Offers handle versatility – the shorter handle’s flash guard keeps fingers away from brush shunts,
while the extended handle (optional) can be used for holders that
are difficult to access.
■ Enables operators to quickly and easily change brushes once the
holder has been removed from the generator using a portable Brush holder with
brush load fixture. removable short
■ Utilizes standard brushes and terminals. handle
■ Is economically priced.
■ Improves machine performance by reducing brush selectivity and
enhancing airflow and cooling.
■ Eliminates the need to change springs when the brush is changed.
■ Reduces the chance of a flashover.
■ Accommodates both North American and internationally designed machines.

“A good engineer can usually design a device to accomplish some

particular function – it may be very complicated, but it will Brush
probably work most of the time. A superb engineer will find a way changing
fixture
to accomplish the same function, but in a simple, elegant way: Brush holder
safe, reliable and affordable.” with removable
long handle
-- Clyde Maughan, Maughan Engineering Consultants, upon
review of Fulmer’s FC101 single pocket, cartridge-style plug-in
brush holder
U.S. Patent No. 7,365,470
U.S. Patent No. 7,608,970

BRUSH HOLDERS THAT DELIVER RESULTS

Several thousand of Fulmer’s cutting-edge brush holders are currently in use on newly commissioned
OEM generators (both air and hydrogen cooled, ranging from 25 to 450 MW) and aftermarket
conversions. Customers can attest that
selectivity issues with the original OEM
holders were drastically reduced upon the
installation of Fulmer holders, and there
have been dramatic improvements in
operator ease and safety.

Contact Fulmer for a complete brush holder catalog or a copy of the

technical paper, “Carbon-Brush Collector Maintenance on Turbine-
Generators Retrofitted with On-Line Removable Plug-In Brush Holders.”

The scope of a refurbishment project:
■ Returned holders are disassembled into
their individual component parts.
■ Brush holder castings are visually
inspected for signs of damage.
■ Brush boxes are gauged to ensure that
they are still within prescribed
tolerances.
■ Brush holders are cleaned to remove all
grease, carbon dust and any other
contaminants, with particular attention
paid to the inside of the brush boxes.
■ Required parts are re-plated to OEM
specifications.
■ New constant force springs are installed.
■ All mounting hardware, terminal screws
and washers are replaced.
■ Component parts are reassembled to
meet OEM specifications and tolerances.
REFURBISHMENT
Significant capital funds are spent
during planned turbine-generator
outages for any number of
costly rebuild items, yet turbine-
generator brush holders are
nearly always neglected.
Over years of service, springs
can weaken and cause
performance issues such as:
damaging arcing, selective
action or increased brush wear due to electrical erosion. Additionally, brush
holders will gradually become covered in dirt, carbon and other contaminants
that can cause brush hang-up.
A planned outage is an excellent opportunity to have
brush holders refurbished to “as new” condition at a
significantly reduced cost. At Fulmer, refurbished
holders can be turned around within one to two weeks
of receipt, which will easily accommodate a planned
maintenance outage schedule. A one-year warranty on
all parts and service is offered.
Fulmer Company
3004 Venture Court
Westmoreland Industrial Park III
Export, Pennsylvania 15632
www.fulmercompany.com
Phone 724-325-7140
Fax: 724-327-7459