An email dropped into my inbox about a poorly Dyson DC25, that needed a bit of a clean up. I said no problem, I’ll take a look. What turned up was a vacuum cleaner that needed a bit more than a quick clean up with a J-Cloth.
Make and model: Dyson DC25 (blue/ grey)
Cost of replacement: £N/A, price when new £300
Cost of parts: £6.89 (plus my time)
Hours spent on repair: 2.5 (plus testing)
Repair difficulty: 5/10
It soon became apparent, that the Dyson was quite ill.
Here’s a summary of the problems:
- The mains cable flex was split, exposing the internal cables risking electric shock
- The roller beaters would not spin
- Suction was limited
None of these features were useful in vacuum cleaner, so out came the screw drivers.
The mains flex damage was about 90 cms from the handle end, so rather than replacing the whole cable at about £30, I decided to shorten the one already fitted on the Dyson. This involved removing three screws on the reverse of the handle to expose the wiring. From there, the broken flex could be cut-out and the sound part of the flex, reattached to the Dyson’s wiring. See below.
The DC25 features a roller-ball, enabling the beater head to twist and turn in to tight spots on the floor. This means that mains power must navigate the various joints and hinges on the way from the main body to the roller beaters. A quick test revealed that the power was not getting through. After removing one of the side covers, there was evidence of a previous repair. One of the mains cables had broken and had then been twisted back together. Clearly, an improvement was needed. Using a section of repair cable, a small joint was soldered back in to place with some mains-rated heat shrink around the connection for insulation and reinforcement. See below.
The beater head also needed a good clean, which meant a strip-down and re-build. All parts were cleaned, inspected and reassembled. During that process, a small break in the beater head wiring was found, repaired and put back together. See below.
Finally, the machine needed a good clean up. The main cylinder was washed, the filters washed (although I later decided to replace these) and the main seals on the vacuum system, cleaned and silicone sealed. See below.
During clean up, the spigot-yoke that holds the roller ball in place on one side was found to be missing. Luckily the owner had kept this and dropped it back to me to re-fit.
This Dyson was on the brink, but with a little bit of spanner-time, it’s now ready to serve many more years.
Fix It Workshop 