Leccy Problem

[David]

Did you not try to get the brush caps off....

[Yorick]

Did you not try to get the brush caps off....

Couldn't even get in to have a look.

[A_morti]

It's not sealed, there's a bearing at each end of the armature and the bottom one is pressed into the housing. Since it's only into plastic, a good tap on the workbench should dislodge it. You'd need to take the brushes out first, as they'll be holding the armature in to some degree. But seeing as it's working again, it's smarter to leave well enough alone until it sounds like bad bearings, and if you wanted to repair it at that point.

[A_morti]

It looks like they're using the bearing's seal as a grease seal to keep the gearbox and motor separated. It's ok for a cheap machine, but it's clearly allowed some grease down into the motor. That might be gunking up the brushes.
If it starts doing it again, try a bit harder to get the brush caps out, and see what's going on in there.

[Yorick]

It looks like they're using the bearing's seal as a grease seal to keep the gearbox and motor separated. It's ok for a cheap machine, but it's clearly allowed some grease down into the motor. That might be gunking up the brushes.
If it starts doing it again, try a bit harder to get the brush caps out, and see what's going on in there.

I only use it once a year, so I'll cope, hopefully.

[roadster]

The brushes are probably accessed via the bosses on opposite sides when you unscrew the caps with the screwdriver slots.