Personal & toysCommon
Electric toothbrush
Also called rechargeable brush, shaver.
A tiny geared motor and a pair of inductive charging coils. The battery is often a single NiMH and is often dead.
A donor is the dead machine. The parts below are what is still worth removing from it. “Leave it” is a part that is physically in there and should stay in there: too dangerous, too worn, or only useful as part of a repair you are not doing.
A scrapped machine is a box of parts that failed at different times. The reason it was thrown out is often one bad piece. The motor, the cord, the supply, and the screws are frequently still good. This index says which is which.
Why it is in the trash while the parts are not
The cell no longer holds, or the bristles are gone. The motor is fine.
Before you open it
Do this while it is still unplugged, cool, and not leaking. It is low voltage. The base is mains on the primary of a small supply.
Where the dead machine usually is
- Bathroom — In the house
- Junk drawer and cable box — In the house
Not glamorous. The coil pair is the interesting part.
How it comes apart
Many handles are welded. This is a destructive teardown. The base is screwed.
Tools: A way to crack a sealed handle, Meter.
Words on this page
- mains
- Ordinary household wall power. It can kill. Unplug before you open anything that used it, and do not experiment on live wiring.
What to take
The table is the short version. The notes under it describe that part inside this machine, not only the general description.
| Part | Call | How many | How often | Where to look |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC gearmotor | Worth pulling | 1 | usually | The handle. |
| Inductive charge coil | Worth pulling | 2 | usually | Handle and base. |
| NiMH cell | Bonus | 1 | usually | The handle. |
| Switch-mode wall supply | Bonus | 1 | usually | The base. |
Worth pulling
Tiny, low voltage.
The handle.
The gearbox is finer than you want to reassemble.
Good.
A pair. The gap has to stay small.
Handle and base.
Keep both.
Good.
Bonus
Often the failure.
The handle.
Replace if you are repairing.
Dead.
Mains to a low voltage into the coil driver.
The base.
Leave it in the base if it works.
Good.