Hi gent's,I wonder if anyone can help me with some advice,?
I've been asked to have a look at a Henry vacuum which was supposedly used to
attempt to suck up something wet spilled on a carpet when it was only 2 days old
or thereabouts ,,I looked in the dust compartment and it is indeed imaculate but
the unit is of course stone dead.. can anyone advice me on the best order for
checking parts or is it a case that the motor will have blown and need
replaced,,?
...Mike..
First step will be to separate the motor from the retracting cable,
assuming you have checked the fuse.
The power to the motor is by sliding contacts and I have twice had the
one at work fail by an internal cable breakage at the end of the
retracting mechanism.
I'd guess the motor will be goosed if it got wet
AJH
Use a test meter to test continuity of the electrical circuit
(without plugging the appliance in) from the live pin on the
mains plug all the way back to the neutral pin. For example,
start by checking across the mains fuse. If that's OK, next
would be checking continuity of the mains flex (which requires
opening the unit up as posted by AJH). Then check through to
the mains switch, and across the mains switch contacts (I had
one just recently where both poles of the mains switch failed
to close, due to dust having got in it).
You continue this until you find the fault.
If the fuse has blown, that's a seconday fault, not the root
cause. In that case, you also have to find the root cause -
why the appliance drew too much current. Water in the motor
could do it, but also check the motor rotor can turn without
any significant resistance.
These units usually have a soft-start circuit to prevent a
large power surge and twisting torque which would happen if
the motor was directly connected to full mains voltage from
a stationary start. This is in the air path for cooling (so
it doesn't need a heatsink beyond just the copper tracks on
the circuit board), but it too might be vulnerable to moisture
damage.
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
Motors seldom blow.
In fact an electric motor will happily operate underwater, although in
time it will corrode.
Electronics of any sort will not however: Did it blow when being used to
suck water (electronics), or some time after (corrosion)?
Blown motors account for around 50% of dead vacuum cleaner
faults I deal with at repair cafes. The two most common reasons
for blown motors are overheating due to blocked airflow (don't
assume the thermal trip will protect it), and overheating due to
failed bearings. Replacement motors are a standard spare part
available for most vacuum cleaners (although often not worth the
cost).
Strangely, I don't think I've ever seen a case of worn out motor
brushes in a vacuum cleaner motor, although I have seen a number
of these with other appliances which use universal motors (lawn
mowers being top of the list, but also in power tools). Also
common in washing machines, but people don't bring these along
to repair cafes;-)
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 13:16:45 -0000 (UTC), snipped-for-privacy@cucumber.demon.co.uk
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
A mate soon after we had all started setting up our own homes back in
the 70's asked me to look at a rough running old goblin cylinder
vacuum that he had been given, apparently it had belonged to his
Grandmother and had been working till she got too frail to use it.
It turned out to be a 1930's model and going straight to the brushes
found that they were not as such, what was there was had been
fabricated from a pencil , by the look of it a wartime utility one so
I reckon it may have been done during WW2 when spares may have been in
short supply.
G.Harman
On 1/5/2017 6:58 PM, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
My first weekend job when I was at school was at the Goblin factory in
Leatherhead, about 1965.
I'm pretty sure I have changed vacuum cleaner brushes once or twice, but
it might have been the Hoover Constellation (remember them!)
On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 19:07:40 +0000, newshound wrote:
I think a memory of one is floating by. I thought they were cool, but my
dada couldn't get one free so we never had one. (he worked for the
electricity showroom and we always had 'loaners')
--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Still have one, and it still works perfectly.
Not my main vacuum cleaner though.
Just uploaded a video of me playing with it as a frictionless puck...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXb8Fo3T5h0
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 13:16:45 -0000 (UTC), snipped-for-privacy@cucumber.demon.co.uk
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
My Henry at home was a gift because it had stopped working. I assumed
I'd have to take it apart to see what was wrong but tried it just to
see. I ran perfectly and has kept on doing so, I think the thermal
trip must have cut out and they didn't leave it long enough to reset.
AJH
Depends how much liquid it sucked up. If the filter is dry, then not too
much. Very easy to strip down a Henry.
Check the motor for signs of water. This machine uses the air it's
sucking to cool the winding's. If that's OK check the speed control
board (if fitted).
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