The World's #1 Vacuum Cleaner Advice, Repair, Discussion & Information Forum

Author Topic: DC16 not charging  (Read 16226 times)

Offline diatomdeb

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
  • Country: gb
DC16 not charging
« on: October 06, 2015, 04:15:17 pm »
Hi - I'd be very grateful if anyone here can help me. I have a trusty DC16 Animal which I use several times a day and has worked faultlessly from day 1. It's on its 2nd battery which is a year old and showed no sign of coming to the end of its life yet. After using the DC16 yesterday and running out of power, I replaced it in the charging holder but noticed that the red light did not come on as normal to indicate charging. When I press the trigger on the vacuum, the red light comes on to indicate no power. I have washed the filters to make sure there were no clogs but still no luck. Does anyone know if this is a particular problem? I am reluctant to buy a new charger and battery to try and eliminate the problem, only to find it's something with the actual vacuum instead. Dyson were not helpful, all support/service/spares have been discontinued for this model :-( 
Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Deb.


Offline Tech12

  • Member
  • Posts: 742
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Electrical Appliance Engineer / Trainer.
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2015, 05:31:33 pm »
Hi & welcome to the madhouse  :grinn:.
Have you tried wiggling the Battery in the charger ? it could just be bad connections. To check the charger you need a multimeter set to read DC voltage, with the charger plugged in & turned on, you should probably see about 23 - 24v across the battery charging pins, may be as high as 28v on some chargers. If there's no voltage then the problem is in the charger or the power point it's plugged in to.
Repairs to All makes of Small Commercial & Domestic appliance. Power tool repair.
City & Guilds and PAT qualified engineer.

Offline MVacs

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6374
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
    • Manchester Vacs - The Independent Dyson Specialists
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2015, 05:53:50 pm »
My money is on the charger - we sell quite a few of them for the DC16.

Offline Tech12

  • Member
  • Posts: 742
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Electrical Appliance Engineer / Trainer.
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2015, 06:04:36 pm »
Not exactly reliable kit is it, not really Dysons finest hour.  :dead-dyson:
Repairs to All makes of Small Commercial & Domestic appliance. Power tool repair.
City & Guilds and PAT qualified engineer.


Offline diatomdeb

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
  • Country: gb
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2015, 06:17:49 pm »
That's very helpful - thanks very much for that. I don't have a multimeter but my neighbour definitely has and I'll ask if he can check it for me. Fingers crossed it is the charger as it's a cheap fix if so  :thumbsup:

Deb.

Offline Tech12

  • Member
  • Posts: 742
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Electrical Appliance Engineer / Trainer.
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2015, 06:20:16 pm »
Your welcome, that's what we're here for ;)
Repairs to All makes of Small Commercial & Domestic appliance. Power tool repair.
City & Guilds and PAT qualified engineer.

Offline diatomdeb

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
  • Country: gb
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2015, 12:52:00 pm »
Hi - I thought I'd just give you an update for anyone who's interested. My very kind neighbour (who is great at all things electrical and all-round practical chap) tested it with his multimeter and the reading for the charger was zero. It is an ex-charger.  :dead-dyson: Thinking it might be a break in the electrical cable, which is very thin, or the fuse in the plug, he opened up the plug and was confronted with, in his words, a black mess. Looks like some part in there has burnt out  :o   Quite worrying?
I replaced the battery of this Dyson about a year ago with a non-genuine one - could this have caused the plug to burn out?
Anyway, looks like I will be buying a new charger for this from somewhere. Hope to get a few more years out of it, preferably without the house burning down :-/

Deb.

Offline Madrat

  • Member
  • Posts: 2923
  • Country: england
  • Gender: Male
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2015, 01:37:59 pm »
Most likely down to dysons penny pinching on parts.  :angryman:  :'(

Offline Tech12

  • Member
  • Posts: 742
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Electrical Appliance Engineer / Trainer.
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2015, 03:52:44 pm »
Hi: Thanks for the update, it's nice to know what happens once we've answered a query ;).

Unfortunately it's not uncommon for that type of charger to burn out in a similar way to what you've described, doesn't matter what make it is or what equipment it's for.
It's a transformer / rectifier circuit which generates some heat in use & this is stuffed into a tiny space inside a sealed plug, it's no wonder some of them burn out. My best advice to anyone with a plugtop charger of any sort is not to leave them plugged in 24/7.

Mvacs sells the charger units by the way  ;)
Repairs to All makes of Small Commercial & Domestic appliance. Power tool repair.
City & Guilds and PAT qualified engineer.

Offline beko1987

  • Member
  • Posts: 5044
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Let's take it apart!
    • My blog
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2015, 04:05:40 pm »
I doubt the non genuine battery would kill it,  Ive had a non genuine battery in mine for 2 years now and its not gone bang yet,  but then we only plug it in when it needs charging,  and unplug it when its charged.
Collector and restorer of vintage vacuums, Dyson Appreciator! Come and see my blog, where I am uploading all my mountains of brochures, manuals and other vacuum cleaner paperwork, and also my youtube channel @beko1987!

Offline Tech12

  • Member
  • Posts: 742
  • Country: gb
  • Gender: Male
  • Electrical Appliance Engineer / Trainer.
Re: DC16 not charging
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2015, 04:16:32 pm »
I doubt the non genuine battery would kill it,  Ive had a non genuine battery in mine for 2 years now and its not gone bang yet,  but then we only plug it in when it needs charging,  and unplug it when its charged.


 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Best way with any plug top charger.
Repairs to All makes of Small Commercial & Domestic appliance. Power tool repair.
City & Guilds and PAT qualified engineer.

 

 

Trade Dyson Spare Parts

 

 

Dyson Spare Parts

 

 

Freestanding Dyson Cordless Vacuum Stand

 

 

Buy a Dyson DC04 Wand Handle

 

 

 

 

Buy a police truncheon

 

 

Instagram

Dyson Spares, Parts, Advice   Follow us on Twitter

Manchester Vacs on Instagram