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Author Topic: DC 40 brush head clogs up  (Read 8712 times)

Offline viv

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DC 40 brush head clogs up
« on: August 06, 2013, 02:56:38 pm »
The DC40 has been designed with a duct running behind the brush bar. This duct is intersected by the drive belt housing. There is a gap between the duct and housing that allows entrapment of hair and fluff which eventually leads to one half of the duct blocking. This leads to eventual blocking of the brush bar assembly exhaust which in turn slows the vortex which makes the canister and vortex assembly clog. The team that designed the 41 did not put in a duct behind the brush bar. The fault can easily be rectified with a seal between duct and belt housing something I proved or just discard the duct something I did not get around to as Dyson took away the 40 and replaced it with the 41 for which I am grateful. At first Dyson told me that no problems as I was experiencing had been reported and were "very surprised as this is a very popular model". When they saw the pictures it all changed and they collected the 40 and supplied a brand new 41 at no charge. The 40 would block real quick and I cannot imagine that others have not had the same problem. The machine still picks up when half chocked but not so well so maybe that's why there are reports of poor suction on the net, they are in fact using a machine that's 50% down on air watts. I know of two other owners that have to clear out their DC40 real often and are thoroughly fed up with their machines.

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Offline MVacs

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2013, 07:49:13 pm »
That's interesting feedback Viv. We haven't seen too many 40's up to now. The 41 seems to be the better seller here.

Offline viv

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2013, 09:07:15 pm »
Except for the design error on the brush bar the 40 is a nice machine to use. The bin fills rapidly but that's not the end of the world. It is very maneuverable and compact. I can only guess that the 40 design team put this duct in to concentrate the suction effect. Unfortunately in its present form it does not work properly and effects the rest of the air system. The 41 does not have this duct and cleans very well. Our last machine was a DC14 one of a line of wheeled Dysons starting from DC01 in 1993. We considered going back to to a DC33 but I would say that the ball when working correctly is a an easier machine to use able to get under furniture between furniture and edge cleans better that the DC14 and is a lot less clumsy.
When Dyson decided to change our machine they gave us a choice of models and all though we had a bad experience with a ball we still decided to give the 41 a go and so far its looking hopeful. There are some small design features on the 40 that are better than the 41 and I wonder why these teams don't get together even if its just for a beer. It looks a pig to dismantle. and I wonder what the 50 is like and why bring out another compact.
Image shows the duct well and truly blocked with wool from our carpet. This carpet has been down three years and had a 14 run over it during that time.

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Offline MVacs

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2013, 10:16:05 pm »
There are some small design features on the 40 that are better than the 41

Could you expand on that please?

Offline viv

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2013, 11:53:24 pm »
The brush bar on the 40 has two small wheels and  rollers whereas the the 41 has only rollers. The front roller tangles up with hair and fibers resulting in a less that easy operation. The rollers are easy to pop out and clean but wouldn't it be better not to have to do this in the first place. The wheels and back rollers on the 40 did not catch any hairs or fibers the two months I had it.You can see in the pic that one side of the front roller is jammed up on the 40, the 41 relies on only rollers and the back wheels to get around. Maybe the wheels and rear roller did not jam as they would be running on clean media as long as the duct was clear.
The brush bar exhaust hose and the wand hose are fixed with screws on the 41 whereas on the 40 these components clip together facilitating quick and easy
dis assembly an important factor as these two tubes are prone to blocking with household items, twigs pens tortilla chips scrunched up paper etc.
The handle on the 41 is a bit flexible, small point but easy to solve.
Shame the two teams didn't have that beer and put  their heads together.
Off track but I see that the 50 brush head is completely different than the 40 or 41 with its internal motor, clever boffins at work.
Probably a complete replacement unit!
The sole plate was a right fiddle to fit correctly on the 40 I have only tried it once on the 41 and it went together first attempt. Luck maybe.
Details but out of the two machines the 41 is a clear winner in my eyes.

Offline MVacs

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2013, 10:59:53 am »
household items, twigs pens tortilla chips scrunched up paper etc.

To be fair, any machine is going to clog up if you suck pens and large debris into it.

You make many interesting observations though, and yes, you would imagine the two design teams would be working side by side.

Offline viv

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Re: DC 40 brush head clogs up
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2013, 12:28:36 pm »
For sure machines will clog up if the good lady thinks the cleaner will take care of oversize objects but my point is that the 40 comes apart easily, so easily the good lady could if bothered retrieve the object but on the 41 she would have to go get a screw driver and for most that's an unimaginable problem. Oops not very pc.
The ball machines have smaller diameter hoses than the wheelies so struggle with tortilla chips and the like. Maybe its the flavourings making the chips stick and we should stick to plain tortillas.
I have a vax cylinder and that blocks on stuff a few microns in diameter. It sucks like a good un but the  tubing is full of tight bends and is small in diameter.
You would have thought had the Dyson teams worked together they could have saved on common parts. Maybe they have shares in the tooling department.

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