You are asking for trouble to run the machine full of carbon.
You cannot clean the stator without removing the rotor. Or at least you cannot clean it very well.
Rotor: to clean the rotor properly you will have to remove the end bells (expensive, not including the down time). I have encountered problems with rotational exciters where the carbon from the brushes gets sucked into the rotor. Because the rotor voltage is usually less than 300VDC, you generally don't have to worry about the rotor insulation. There are some tests you can do to determine the rotors health, such as megger, and AC impedance tests. A rotational AC impedance test can tell you a lot about a rotor.
Stator: the end turns are the likely culprits for problems. There are numerous tests available to determine the health of the insulation. The end turns can be cleaned using a NON-SOLVENT cleaner. The coating on the end turns is most likely glyptol. What I have done in the past is to have testing done. Then have the end turns cleaned by an outfit who specializes in cleaning machinery. They will have guys in there with toothbrushes to get the carbon from between the windings. Once the cleaning is done I have the testers come back out. You should see a difference in AC and DC hipot tests. Then have a recoating of glyptol. FYI, this is about 4 days of down time.
ee