"Rule of Three" strikes again! This time it's vacuum cleaners.
A little before Christmas My youngest boy's wife asked me to look at their Hoover - Actually, it's a Dyson rollerball thing. Mains powered. The brush wasn't rotating and it didn't suck much even though the motor was running. First thing I noticed was that the brush was pretty bald - most of it's bristles were badly worn down. I've never worked on an upright hoover that didn't drive it's brush with a belt and it took a few minutes to figure out how it comes out, but once removed the reason for non rotation was easy to see. The brush itself is like a loo roll core with bristles on the outside. It sits over a cylindrical core which contains the motor which drives it (yes, this vacuum has two motors!) and there was "rolled up" dust and hair jammed between the brush and the inner cylinder. I can see no provision on the machine to prevent this so, with Daughter-in-law, and grand daughter's, long hair I just know this will happen again.
Ok, just need to source a new brush and that's the brush problem solved, so why isn't it sucking very well? Took a while to track this down too but got there in the end. The main motor in the body of the device sucks through, what I will call, a "diverter". The inlet to the motor has a "flip/flop" device (it's at the base of the handle) which, with the handle in the upright position, sucks on the flexible hose (for wandering around doing upholstery, curtains, nooks and crannies) and when the handle is lowered so you can do flooring, it "flip/flops" over (you car clearly hear the, quite loud, clicky cracking noise it makes when you move the handle between the two positions) so the suction is applied to the brush unit on the front. I can see the reasoning behind this is so that you get maximum suction to whichever mode you are using the machine in but on this one the diverter was jammed with debris. Clearing the debris (dust and hair again!) restored operation. When fitted with a new brush roll (very expensive genuine parts - my pattern made part was much cheaper and works fine!) I have to say the machine works well now, but really no better than my very ancient Electrolux upright. I have to question though, why two motors? why that diverter valve? why the "above average" expensive spares?
I buy my electical device spares from Edinburgh Components in Leith. Wonderfully helpful people who have never failed to find a part for me and often cheaper than I can find on line! Anyway, when I was in buying the brush bar for the Dyson they joked with me that it must be time for a new brush for "that dreadful old Electrolux" of yours? By now my wife's sister had arrived to take up residence for the Christmas/New Year festivities. She lives in darkest rural Devon and Edinburgh, during the festive period, is absolutely jumping, so she stays for the best part of a month! After the first week or so I'm looking for reasons to "hide" So an overhaul of the Electrolux looked like a brilliant idea. I could "hide" with good reason, for at least a week of so, in the shed and garage! The Electrolux (at least 30 years old) is more power hungry -1000 watts - than the Electrolux but much simpler to work on and was a joy to do. It needed a really good clean up (it was filthy inside - but was still sucking well) I gave it a new brush bar and drive belt (I do find original Electrolux belts are best but buy pattern parts for bags etc.) I also found cracks in the original flexible hose and the wee one that connects the brush housing to the main hose - running under the machine. The EC people actually supplied me with genuine Electrolux parts at a very good price. They were surprised to find they had them in stock as they hadn't been asked for them "in living memeory". I suspect they were pleased to find a "home" for them! The outcome has been wonderful, the new brush in particular has improved pickup (which was never poor anyway). The only thing the Dyson has I'd really like is the "rollerball" concept. which does make it easier to use in tight corners - but, oh dear, the added complexity! I'll take the Electrolux every day.
To round off this trio, last Friday my older boy rang to say "Dad, the hoover's dead! Can you fix it?" We were going out for a family meal that night so he popped it in his boot and I took it off him at the restaurant. It's a "Henry" one of the older 2 speed ones. It took less than half an hour to find that the fuse and power lead were OK. There was power getting to the on/off switch (simple multimeter checks) and the switch itself had continuity but the motor didn't run. Checked wiring from switch to motor and motor brush condition (the brushes are so easily removed it seemed silly not to check them out and the commutator segments at the same time.) All OK. So all that's left is the two speed switch and PCB. Checked the switch for continuity and it seemed OK so must be the PCB? Gawd, how do I check that? But hang on, if that's all that's wrong the motor should run if I just bypass the PCB shouldn't it? The motor plate states it's a 230V a/c motor. So, OK, one motor terminal wired to one side of switch and the other to the other (if you see what I mean) Plugged into my garage RCD and flipped the machine's switch. Whooo hooo! Henry lives! Another visit to EC on the Monday where I found the PCB isn't cheap. But again the EC people came to the rescue with "The new ones (latest versions of "Henry") are mostly now single speed you know!" Apparently it's not uncommon to do the "mod" I'd just done. So this is now a "one speed Henry" When I handed it back to them yesterday, my boy - who, like me - seems to do most of the hoovering (but my Mrs has the excuse of a bad back, male chauvinist that I am) told me he uses it on "HI" suction most of the time anyway. Maybe Numatic (Henry's makers) found this to be how most people use them hence the new ones being single speed? You see so many Henrys around being used professionally and they seem to have a "legendary" reputation for being robust that I tried him out on the hall carpet after "fixing" him. The results were impressive. The carpet looked as good as when done with the Electrolux. You do have to be a bit more "physical" as there is no beater brush so you tend to adopt a back and forward scrubbing action but my word does he suck (in a good way!)
The conclusion I've reached is that if the Electrolux breaks I'll be buying a Henry - or maybe a James as he has a simpler cabling set up. I always wondered how well the pickup would be on this type of head where there is no rotating brush but Henry worked very well on the hall carpet and the machine is so simple to fix a child could (almost) do it! Find a supplier like my EC and you're fixed for parts too! So, big smile on face!
A little before Christmas My youngest boy's wife asked me to look at their Hoover - Actually, it's a Dyson rollerball thing. Mains powered. The brush wasn't rotating and it didn't suck much even though the motor was running. First thing I noticed was that the brush was pretty bald - most of it's bristles were badly worn down. I've never worked on an upright hoover that didn't drive it's brush with a belt and it took a few minutes to figure out how it comes out, but once removed the reason for non rotation was easy to see. The brush itself is like a loo roll core with bristles on the outside. It sits over a cylindrical core which contains the motor which drives it (yes, this vacuum has two motors!) and there was "rolled up" dust and hair jammed between the brush and the inner cylinder. I can see no provision on the machine to prevent this so, with Daughter-in-law, and grand daughter's, long hair I just know this will happen again.
Ok, just need to source a new brush and that's the brush problem solved, so why isn't it sucking very well? Took a while to track this down too but got there in the end. The main motor in the body of the device sucks through, what I will call, a "diverter". The inlet to the motor has a "flip/flop" device (it's at the base of the handle) which, with the handle in the upright position, sucks on the flexible hose (for wandering around doing upholstery, curtains, nooks and crannies) and when the handle is lowered so you can do flooring, it "flip/flops" over (you car clearly hear the, quite loud, clicky cracking noise it makes when you move the handle between the two positions) so the suction is applied to the brush unit on the front. I can see the reasoning behind this is so that you get maximum suction to whichever mode you are using the machine in but on this one the diverter was jammed with debris. Clearing the debris (dust and hair again!) restored operation. When fitted with a new brush roll (very expensive genuine parts - my pattern made part was much cheaper and works fine!) I have to say the machine works well now, but really no better than my very ancient Electrolux upright. I have to question though, why two motors? why that diverter valve? why the "above average" expensive spares?
I buy my electical device spares from Edinburgh Components in Leith. Wonderfully helpful people who have never failed to find a part for me and often cheaper than I can find on line! Anyway, when I was in buying the brush bar for the Dyson they joked with me that it must be time for a new brush for "that dreadful old Electrolux" of yours? By now my wife's sister had arrived to take up residence for the Christmas/New Year festivities. She lives in darkest rural Devon and Edinburgh, during the festive period, is absolutely jumping, so she stays for the best part of a month! After the first week or so I'm looking for reasons to "hide" So an overhaul of the Electrolux looked like a brilliant idea. I could "hide" with good reason, for at least a week of so, in the shed and garage! The Electrolux (at least 30 years old) is more power hungry -1000 watts - than the Electrolux but much simpler to work on and was a joy to do. It needed a really good clean up (it was filthy inside - but was still sucking well) I gave it a new brush bar and drive belt (I do find original Electrolux belts are best but buy pattern parts for bags etc.) I also found cracks in the original flexible hose and the wee one that connects the brush housing to the main hose - running under the machine. The EC people actually supplied me with genuine Electrolux parts at a very good price. They were surprised to find they had them in stock as they hadn't been asked for them "in living memeory". I suspect they were pleased to find a "home" for them! The outcome has been wonderful, the new brush in particular has improved pickup (which was never poor anyway). The only thing the Dyson has I'd really like is the "rollerball" concept. which does make it easier to use in tight corners - but, oh dear, the added complexity! I'll take the Electrolux every day.
To round off this trio, last Friday my older boy rang to say "Dad, the hoover's dead! Can you fix it?" We were going out for a family meal that night so he popped it in his boot and I took it off him at the restaurant. It's a "Henry" one of the older 2 speed ones. It took less than half an hour to find that the fuse and power lead were OK. There was power getting to the on/off switch (simple multimeter checks) and the switch itself had continuity but the motor didn't run. Checked wiring from switch to motor and motor brush condition (the brushes are so easily removed it seemed silly not to check them out and the commutator segments at the same time.) All OK. So all that's left is the two speed switch and PCB. Checked the switch for continuity and it seemed OK so must be the PCB? Gawd, how do I check that? But hang on, if that's all that's wrong the motor should run if I just bypass the PCB shouldn't it? The motor plate states it's a 230V a/c motor. So, OK, one motor terminal wired to one side of switch and the other to the other (if you see what I mean) Plugged into my garage RCD and flipped the machine's switch. Whooo hooo! Henry lives! Another visit to EC on the Monday where I found the PCB isn't cheap. But again the EC people came to the rescue with "The new ones (latest versions of "Henry") are mostly now single speed you know!" Apparently it's not uncommon to do the "mod" I'd just done. So this is now a "one speed Henry" When I handed it back to them yesterday, my boy - who, like me - seems to do most of the hoovering (but my Mrs has the excuse of a bad back, male chauvinist that I am) told me he uses it on "HI" suction most of the time anyway. Maybe Numatic (Henry's makers) found this to be how most people use them hence the new ones being single speed? You see so many Henrys around being used professionally and they seem to have a "legendary" reputation for being robust that I tried him out on the hall carpet after "fixing" him. The results were impressive. The carpet looked as good as when done with the Electrolux. You do have to be a bit more "physical" as there is no beater brush so you tend to adopt a back and forward scrubbing action but my word does he suck (in a good way!)
The conclusion I've reached is that if the Electrolux breaks I'll be buying a Henry - or maybe a James as he has a simpler cabling set up. I always wondered how well the pickup would be on this type of head where there is no rotating brush but Henry worked very well on the hall carpet and the machine is so simple to fix a child could (almost) do it! Find a supplier like my EC and you're fixed for parts too! So, big smile on face!
