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Thread: Broken vacuum cleaner

  1. #1
    Stegodon
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    Default Broken vacuum cleaner

    Okay, so most of the time when my vacuum stops working in mid-use, something is clogged, so I clear out the tube, the implement, the connection to the bag, basically everything I can get my hands on to (ugh!) clear the pathway of any foul debris that has clogged it up--but now (again, in mid-use, while I clearning up my terrace of fould garbafge, mostly pigeon-droppings and nests) it just flat out stoppped working.

    So my first question is: any suggestions for a broken vacuum cleaner beyond what I've done. The electricity is working, the vacuum is making a vacuum-cleaner type noise, etc. It's not not producing any suck-power, and it's a gigantic PITA to get it into a vacuum repair center. Probably cheaper and easier to buy a new VC, but this seems like it should be fixable.

    My second question has to do with recommendations for a new VC, but let's wait on that a bit.

    My third question has to do with my war on the pigeons, which is in need of escalation. I'm serious about this: I no longer want to discourage their presence on my terrace. I want to kill them. I want them dead. They don't respond to encouragement to leave, even when accompanied by repeated poking with sharp sticks, gnashing of nests, and I'm starting to suspect that if I kill a few of them, at least those pigeons will no longer be able to return. I'm sooooo tired of getting pigeon shit in my lungs, on my hands, on my lettuce garden.

    My fourth question (maybe I should open a whole new forum entitled "PRR's issues involving cleaning his terrace") has to do with a threatening letter I got from my co-op management last month about my messy terrace, which is almost exclusively caused by my attempts to clean up pigeon droppings. (I laid down newspapers all over every surface over the winter, in an attempt to clean up the surfaces come spring, and someone, I guess, objected to how my terrace looked covered with newspapers.) But I think I'll open a whole nother thread to deal with this, so I'm just venting here. Let's deal with my vc diagnosis issue while I settle myself down.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  2. #2
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Sorry this sounds daft, but have you checked the bag is not full ?

  3. #3
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Thanks--that was the first thing I'd checked.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  4. #4
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Quote Originally posted by prr
    Okay, so most of the time when my vacuum stops working in mid-use, something is clogged, so I clear out the tube, the implement, the connection to the bag, basically everything I can get my hands on to (ugh!) clear the pathway of any foul debris that has clogged it up--but now (again, in mid-use, while I clearning up my terrace of fould garbafge, mostly pigeon-droppings and nests) it just flat out stoppped working.

    So my first question is: any suggestions for a broken vacuum cleaner beyond what I've done. The electricity is working, the vacuum is making a vacuum-cleaner type noise, etc. It's not not producing any suck-power, and it's a gigantic PITA to get it into a vacuum repair center. Probably cheaper and easier to buy a new VC, but this seems like it should be fixable.
    Hose is clear and bag is empty and the vacuum turns on.

    Next step:
    With the hose disconnected do you have a strong suction at the hole?
    What type of vacuum, Upright, Canister (ankle biters), etc?

    Look inside the chamber that holds the bag, quite often there is a filter that needs washing or replacement.

  5. #5
    Free Exy Cluricaun's avatar
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    NEVER go to a vaccuum repair center unless you have a Rainbow or some other insanely expensive and therefore worth reparing vac. They make lawnmower repair places seem reasonable and kind. No matter what is actually wrong with your vac it will cost as much as a replacement and take 4 months to get back a totally taken apart vac that they will charge you $80 to put back together because all they do is ship them off to the manufacturer and laugh while worshipping Satan.

    Just go buy another one, it's your only hope.
    Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.

  6. #6
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    No bag, Jim. There's a separate compartment for debris, but it's made of plastic and it pours (usually messily) out of the detachable compartment into the garbage. (It's a Hoover.)

    Cluricaun--I'm sure you're right--that's why I'm asking here for DIY ideas.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  7. #7
    Free Exy Cluricaun's avatar
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    How old is the vac in question? My mom worked for Eureka for many years so I know that they (meaning vac companies) swap models out frequently and it could be hard to find parts anyway. I say just give it your best go with the DIY and if no good solution is found go get a new one. They honestly only have an expected life of 3 years or so before they can go kaput.
    Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.

  8. #8
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Quote Originally posted by prr
    No bag, Jim. There's a separate compartment for debris, but it's made of plastic and it pours (usually messily) out of the detachable compartment into the garbage. (It's a Hoover.)

    Cluricaun--I'm sure you're right--that's why I'm asking here for DIY ideas.
    What about the filters then? There is probably two. One on the intake right before the detachable compartment and one somewhere on the exhaust. If either is clogged/full you won't get much vacuum.

  9. #9
    Elephant
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Most vacuum cleaners have a plastic impeller directly attached to the motor shaft. If impeller rotation became blocked, the motor would likely spin the hole free, and therefore no longer be able to drive it. I've also seen impellers which shattered (probably stress fractures) and a shop vac in which the bearing heated the armature shaft to the point that the plastic impeller hub melted.

    Although I think it's doubtful, the impeller may be belt driven. Make and model of cleaner would be helpful for online investigation.

    Not all vac repair shops are charlatans. I had an old Kenmore that lived in the shop for doing car interior cleanouts without dragging the house vac downstairs. The motor died, and I found a shop in Nebraska who sold me a motor for half of what Sears wanted.
    Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison

  10. #10
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Stupid question - have you tried Hoover's website to see if they have support topics that might help? I was just talking over on the old board about troubleshooting my Roomba, and iRobot's website is great for that kind of info.

  11. #11
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    The website was infuriating. I located a manual that gave disassembly instructions that would drive Bill W. to drink (basically, unscrew about forty-eleven screws to find that the parts being screwed down were still held by other screws we forgot to mention.) I pitched the whole unit this morning, rather than troubleshoot further and then (maybe) get all forty-eleven screws correctly aligned again. I'm against torture, but it was designed for the idiots who wrote that Hoover manual. I'd do it myself, gladly.

    I've started a thread in The Polling Booth to find me a new vac. Come there if you have a recommendation.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  12. #12
    Elephant
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Quote Originally posted by prr
    The website was infuriating. I located a manual that gave disassembly instructions that would drive Bill W. to drink (basically, unscrew about forty-eleven screws to find that the parts being screwed down were still held by other screws we forgot to mention.) I pitched the whole unit this morning, rather than troubleshoot further and then (maybe) get all forty-eleven screws correctly aligned again. I'm against torture, but it was designed for the idiots who wrote that Hoover manual. I'd do it myself, gladly.

    I've started a thread in The Polling Booth to find me a new vac. Come there if you have a recommendation.
    Sorry to hear it was that exasperating. The one thing I didn't think of, and mention here for the benefit of other would be repair persons, is that some manufacturers use special fasteners, such as Torx™, tamper resistant hex, and other types which confound Harry Homeowner.
    Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison

  13. #13
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Broken vacuum cleaner

    Quote Originally posted by danceswithcats
    it was that exasperating.
    Maybe the most exasperating part, because it was so unnecessary, was to find which manual I needed, I was instructed to type in the model number. Where would I find the model number? They don't say. And when I finally found it (on the underside of the vacuum!) it was in itsy-bitsy widdle letters and numbers that I could barely see with my nose about an half-inch away from the underside of the vacuum cleaner--like there's a reason the model number couldn't be in HUGE FUCKING CAPITAL LETTERS on the main body so I might be able to type them in from across the room.

    I really should have given up right then and there. Are people paid to think up how to put the model number in a devilishly hard place to find in little tiny fonts?
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  14. #14
    Registered user
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    Default

    Hi ,
    According to me If one broken vacuum cleaner found, Please try to replace it and bring a new one. If you are going for repair then it may be more expensive.
    Irobot | I-robot

  15. #15
    Elephant Myglaren's avatar
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    Default

    Did you check the filters?
    Dyson vacs are notorious for this, there is a local business that buys Dysons dumped in the trash and 'repairs' them by either replacing the clogged filters or just chucking them away - if you don't have pets/aren't hyperallergenic you don't need them anyway.

    I've repaired a few at work that appeared to be OK but no suck. It has almost always been a tear in the vacuum hose where it enters the bayonet fitting into the vac body or the rigid hose, sometimes invisible until dismantled, which is generally fiddly but straightforward, usually three locking clips.
    Cut off the damaged section and it just screws back in (left hand thread).

    As for recommendations for a replacement, I have found Miéle vacs to be superb. Tough as old boots, excellent suction and very well engineered (overengineered). The only other one that came close was a Bosch, that I expected to last six months and worked tirelessly for nine years and resisted the destructive powers of my three daughters, who can usually ruin a cleaner in a matter of weeks. Dumped it in the end s I was sick of the sight of it. Old and tatty looking but as vacuumy as ever.

    Pigeons will sometimes be deterred by a cardboard silhouette of a cat or hawk, suitably placed. Failing that a shotgun, which make have unwanted consequences.
    Last edited by Myglaren; 12 Feb 2011 at 01:38 PM. Reason: Stupid spelling errors
    Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill

  16. #16
    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    Default

    Ok, who resurrected the zombie thread.

    Besides, I have a roomba to do my vacuuming for me. If only I could teach it to do the stairs as well.
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

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