i have an old Henry vacuum cleaner and recently it's started making a 'bzzzzzt' noise like an arc welder when running. It is also a bit stinky. it's an electrical arc-y sort of smell iyswim?
is it likely that it's just the brushes or is the motor likely to be completely shot?
shokka
I would suspect the brushes, either in the motor, or the mains reel. Does it make a different noise if the reel is reeled when on? New brushes are not expensive.
A friend recently complained that her Dyson vacuum was buzzing and making a "burning smell". I said I'd take a look, and found that the brushes were well worn. I sourced new brushes off Ebay for seven quid (having told the lady that I thought these were to blame but wasn't totally sure that it would solve the problem). A couple of days later (just long enough to forget how to reassemble the Dyson jigsaw on my bench ;-) I fitted the new carbon brushes. Upon reassembly, the machine was just as bad as before... aaaaargh.
No criticisms about Dyson please (they've been done to the death on this forum before). My overall learning from this incident is that IF the marketing literature for your new purchase mentions "lifetime guarantee" it probably doesn't refer to YOUR lifetime. All motors will have a finite lifetime - gauge how old yours is and make a decision.
HTH
Mungo
i never realised the mains reel had brushes. i'll check later and see if reeling it makes a difference.
thanks all
shokka
I don't know if they are actual brushes, or metal sliding contacts.
Does it make the same noise when the hose is removed? I ask because I had a piece of plastic caught in the hose on my "Henry", and that made a very loud buzz.
Numatic parts are cheap as chips try
Shokka laid this down on his screen :
There is a small chance that fitting new brushes will fix it. If it has been run for long with poor brushes, then the likelyhood is that that commutator has been badly burned and therefore not worth repair.
If you can remove the motor, and polish the commutator (the bit the brushes run on) with fine, then very fine, then metal polish, that can work, unless the copper is cut through.
Aren't you supposed to cut back the insulation too?
Rob Morley pretended :
Yes, except on engine starter motors. You grind the thickness of a short piece of hacksaw blade down to just fit the width of the gap, then use that to gently cut it back a small amount.
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