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.
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.
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;-)
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).
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.
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.
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')
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