Appleton ReElite RL10/11 - anyone rewire or restore?

[MJK]

Hi All,

I was in the market for a nice electrical reel, and found one of these for sale used. The seller claims it was used for grounding aircraft (presumably during refueling).

I decided to take a gamble on it rather than get something plastic or spend mondo money on a reelcraft. Plus, there is something inherently satisfying about 'built to last in the USA'.

I hope to rewire it by cutting up a 3 wire extension cord, either a 50 foot 12/3 or 10/3.

If anyone has been down this road before, I would appreciate any wisdom you have to share.

Best Regards,
Mark

Edit Looks like it is an RL110 - not sure though.

 

[MattT]

First thing is check it has the brushes and tracks for 3 conductors.

 

[MJK]

Will do.

Hoping that is the case.

 

[The Cobbler]

since it is listed as a single conductor, hopefully, as others have said, it has provisions for 3 wire.
it looks like the base can be oriented in 90° increments

 

[The Cobbler]

looks like I found the listing https://www.ebay.com/itm/Appleton-r...274266?hash=item23bcac759a:g:otoAAOSwbKNc22xQ

 

[MJK]

First thing is check it has the brushes and tracks for 3 conductors.

It has the tracks and wiring for up to 4 but only the brush assemblies for 2. Anybody know where one could get an extra set?

Brushes measure .749" long, .185" wide and have about .579" of depth remaining at the tips and are marked "EAA".
I suspect I could make the rest if needed.

 

[The Cobbler]

THat's great news! they look like pure copper, should be able to make them if you can't locate them.

 

[Norcal]

I would contact Appleton Electric to see if any renewal parts are available for it, do not offer any more information than absolutely needed though.

 

[MJK]

It looks like Appleton at some point was absorbed by Emerson. I have been able to find some old sales documentation on what I believe is my RL110 Series unit that dates it from the 1980s. What little I can find in the way of repair parts documentation doesn't look promising, but I sent Emerson a note anyways.

Buying another units for parts looks prohibitively expensive.

I can fab up an extra brass plate, and get some brass machine screws. I can't find suitable 'copper graphite' brushes, but might have found a standard carbon brush I can adapt.

Unless I can come up with a better idea, I guess we'll see what happens once all the parts get here. I have a fire extinguisher standing by.

 

[Norcal]

Appleton is part of Emerson I should have mentioned that. This is the only documentation that I found. https://www.emerson.com/documents/a...dustrial-cord-reels-appleton-en-us-177624.pdf

 

[Bert_]

It looks like Appleton at some point was absorbed by Emerson. I have been able to find some old sales documentation on what I believe is my RL110 Series unit that dates it from the 1980s. What little I can find in the way of repair parts documentation doesn't look promising, but I sent Emerson a note anyways.

Buying another units for parts looks prohibitively expensive.

I can fab up an extra brass plate, and get some brass machine screws. I can't find suitable 'copper graphite' brushes, but might have found a standard carbon brush I can adapt.

Unless I can come up with a better idea, I guess we'll see what happens once all the parts get here. I have a fire extinguisher standing by.

Don't "send" them anything. Make a phone call...

 

[MJK]

Here is the best reference I could find specific to mine:
https://buy.wesco.com/static/catalo...N_ELECTRIC_APLTONC00003_W2_18_W2_29_W2_30.pdf

As for the e-mail vs phone call, fair enough. I can see both sides of that. I'll take what I can get on a Sunday, and for now that was an Emerson support via e-mail. If I don't hear anything back in a couple days, I'll give them a jingle.

For now, this complies with what I think was good advice about 'do not offer any more information than absolutely needed though.'

 

[The Cobbler]

good advice about 'do not offer any more information than absolutely needed though.'

yes, I agree.
You; I was putting new cable on my reel and now it seems I am missing a brush. can I buy a replacement one?
Them: ugh yes, are you the guy on GJ that bought the single conductor reel on ebay looking for parts to convert it?

 

[Norcal]

Here is the best reference I could find specific to mine:
https://buy.wesco.com/static/catalo...N_ELECTRIC_APLTONC00003_W2_18_W2_29_W2_30.pdf

As for the e-mail vs phone call, fair enough. I can see both sides of that. I'll take what I can get on a Sunday, and for now that was an Emerson support via e-mail. If I don't hear anything back in a couple days, I'll give them a jingle.

For now, this complies with what I think was good advice about 'do not offer any more information than absolutely needed though.'

Same applies when dealing with Government agency's, learned that the hard way.

 

[bimmer1980]

I have one of the Appleton reels hanging in my garage. It is a wonderful piece of equipment! Hopefully you can find a brush for it....

You might try this website: http://www.graphitestore.com/Carbon-Brushes/Brushes

I did not dig through all of the options, but it might be worth while.

You could also remove one of your existing brushes and precisely measure it and send them the spec's. You will need to specify that it needs to be rated for ** amps... perhaps 15, 20 or even 30amps. That should ensure that the wire from the brush to the connector is the right size.

I hope you can figure it out. Mine is quite useful! I love being able to easily roll up the cord... otherwise, a regular extension cord would lay on the floor.....

 

[bimmer1980]

Here's one that might be close..... has a spring on it...

http://www.graphitestore.com/10-187521

Here is one that is close, but is .25" thick instead of .187
http://www.graphitestore.com/15-257521

and with a little more guess work searching..... look at this one: http://www.graphitestore.com/80-187521

 

[bimmer1980]

If you look at the spec sheet, that particular brush is rated at 80 amps per square inch. Hence, if you run the math, I think it would be good for about 11.2 amps in operation. (80 x .187 x .75 = 11.22) That's about par for the course with cord reels.

All for the low price of about $4.93 each, plus shipping.....

 

[MJK]

Thank you - for both the research and the education!

Official replacement parts are looking increasingly unlikely. Either your brush (must buy 12) or a parts unit looks the most likely solution If I stay with the original intent.

Or, I suppose I could turn this into the worlds most expensive and impractical battery tender cord reel.

 

[bimmer1980]

You may want to go into your local electric motor repair shop and show them what you need. They may have something that could work.

Also try googling that part number to see if any other resellers will sell you one or two instead of 12...

 

[MJK]

Nada locally. Also no return calls from the Emerson referred distributors. But, it turns out you can order the exact brush you recommended QTY1 from Helwig themselves. So, too much $$ but did it anyways. Looking forward to getting back to this when it arrives.

 

[bimmer1980]

Did your new brushes arrive? What did they end up charging you?

 

[MJK]

I paid $26 for two brushes. I filed one shorter and put a round contour on the end, and stole the smaller spring off the other. I cut out a new brass tab out of some sheet I had, filed it to size and tapped a new hole in it for some brass machine screws I got off Amazon.

It is currently holding 55' of 14ga wire and working just fine. Here it is mounted under my work bench. I'm very pleased with it, and appreciate all the help!

It seems (from my sample of 1) that all these come with the tracks and internal wiring for up to 4 conductors. Internal wiring is 12ga.

 

[bimmer1980]

Great! Glad to hear you got it put together and ready to use under your workbench!

 

[Paulski]

I just came in possession of the same reel. Does yours ratchet lock in place? On mine, the cord always retracts unless i hook it to something. The old sales flyer says it has the option to ratchet lock, but I can't figure out how to activate it. Any ideas?

 

[MJK]

Just noticed this - sorry.

There are fingers on mine on the other side of the reel. They free float and tick out as you pull out the cord. If you stop pulling just after the tick and allow it to slowly reverse, the pin will slot in and lock it. Pull to release. If you let it retract at normal speed, centrifugal force keeps the pins out of the slot and the cord goes all the way in.

Hopefully you got it figured out, but if not see photo below.

 

[grounded-b]

It has the tracks and wiring for up to 4 but only the brush assemblies for 2. Anybody know where one could get an extra set?

Brushes measure .749" long, .185" wide and have about .579" of depth remaining at the tips and are marked "EAA".
I suspect I could make the rest if needed.

Helwig Carbon should be able to get you a set of brushes.

https://www.helwigcarbon.com/

Steve

 

[MJK]

Yep, I am all set. Just replying to the new person who asked about the reel lock

 

[Paulski]

Thanks for the pics MJK. I saw the slots on mine and figured it had something to do with locking in place, but mine does not have the pin - but it looks like the holes are there for it so maybe I'll try to make something up that will work

 

[LJMaddux]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread.
I have one of these that I bought at a yard sale. It has brushes/contactors for two wires, and then it also has a ground screw in the reel drum.

I have two questions...
The unit is rated for 6A, and is wired with 18AWG cable (the internal wiring is 16AWG). This is pretty useless for me in a wood shop, so I'd like to rewire it with 12AWG cable so it can be used up to the maximum rating of my circuitry (20A). The only concern I have is whether or not the contactors could pose a fire risk pulling this much current through. Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

Second quesion is, in the event of a ground fault, how would the ground make contact with the grounding in the circuitry? If it's connected to the reel drum, then does it just flow through the entire assembly basically, and I just need to have the grounding of the circuit connected to the J-Box in the ceiling/attic where the connections to the reel are made? Interested in any feedback on that as well.

Thanks a lot in advance,

 

[Callbt]

Hello, i have a RL103 unit that stopped retracting. I took the pan head screws off the cover, but the cover is not coming off, glued? Replacement spring is way more than i am willing to spend on this, assuming the end has fatigued, can i anneal the end and rebend a new hook?

 

[Callbt]

I got the spring out, its busted on the id and took some of the center posts out too. I guess there is noneasy repair now?

 

[mituzuna]

I just came in possession of the same reel. Does yours ratchet lock in place? On mine, the cord always retracts unless i hook it to something. The old sales flyer says it has the option to ratchet lock, but I can't figure out how to activate it. Any ideas

 

[mituzuna]

I need some guidance in selecting an extension cord reel for light-duty use in a home garage. I likely won't ever exceed the 20-amp rating of an Appleton, I am wondering if this would be overkill for my needs. Between something like a Reelcraft cord reel or an Appleton, which would be the more suitable choice for a home garage?