Dyson V11 Absolute - Stripdown & Refurbishment!

[beko1987]

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Hi!
As some of you may know, I bought a Dyson V11 brand new, on launch day. And she was very good to me in terms of video content, breaking twice and more besides in typical Dyson fashion. When the warranty ran out I sold it, but not before doing a stripdown and refurb thread!

Sat on the Manchestervacs cordless stick vac stand which is very adaptable for everything!



These tools are what I used with it mostly too, the hose was sent to my by Lanmu, and it was brilliant in every way! The ends unscrew from the hose and the other tools split as normal



Onto the machine itself! Mad to think that when I first ogtm ine they were shiny and expensive looking, but I must have reburbished 200+ now, and they've fully lost theirt shine! On some pictured I'll put an Ignore by them, as unless your replacing a broken part there's no need to do some of this wit ha standard refurb.



Take the bin and filter off



The filter will be filthy, they all do that! Vacuum it off with another vacuum if you have
one, then/or bung it in a bowl of hot water and bio washing stuff and soak for 12 hours. Then pop it in the washing machine with some towels so it doesnt smash around and DRY 100% THOROUGHLY. Or if its too far gone new ones are cheap.



The pre motor filter bit does come off, however I don't ever do that nowadays, it all just stays whole.



Next off (again dont do this either) is the bin release latch. It pops off but has a handed spring that needs to go in just right.



The bin flap rod pops out



Then the cam that pushes the rod down unscrews and its little spring can be caught before it goes flying

[beko1987]

I never do this bit either BUT one common fault is the shroud scraper ring breaks apart. Replacements are cheap enough (and I struggled to get this one back together so dont do this even if yours isnt broken. It washes up file as it is fitted 



Next up is something else I never do and thats pop the bottom bin flap iss, and withdraw the spring assembly that sits inside the hinge





Never do any of that. Gently pull the bottom flap rubbers off, leaving the flap attached to the bin and job done move on!



The bin slide stop lock pops out too



Inc it's tiny spring



Voila, one raw and naked bin



Next, onto the machine. Remove the 3 screws (on this 1st gen model) and remove the battery



Ruined this photo but then remove the 6 cross head screws holdging the motor onto the cyclone assembly (2 are on top of the slider, the other 4 around the filter seal perimiter)

[beko1987]

We're going into the motor now but usually on a normal refurb you dont need to, so come back when we get to the cyclone. But otherwise, 2 screws and some clips remove the PCB cover



The motor should pull out of the back housing



The rubber seal holds it nice and firm



The rubber edge and a plastic spacer come off the PCB



Deep inside the motor housing we can withdraw the always filthy exahust air diffiser



Then flip it round and carefully pop the LCD cover off the back to reveal 2 screws



With the screws removed, carefully peel the LCD ribbon away from the inside of the casing and withdraw it and the ribbon cable from the assembly.



Tiny gasket is under the screen



Behind the LCD are 4 tiny screws (I had my laptop tiny screwdriver kit out by this point)

[beko1987]

This allows the PCB to fold away and unplug from a tiny ZIF connector





Specs of the awful potato quality screens Dyson insist on using





Under the LCD lens, the mode button comes apart too, and it's membrane





Up top to the motor now. Gently bend the main motor leads straighter than they are, undo the 2 short screws and remove the wire cover, pulling the wires from the trigger through as you go



Next, look up where the battery plugs into and undo the 1 t8 torx up there. The trigger will pull out with a plair of pliers on a battery pin, and a gently push from the top rubber gasket.



If you have a broken trigger, you'll be familiar with this bit, this is the offending article (mine went twice! I must have heavy fingers)

[beko1987]

The trigger unclips from the switch housing



The rest of it stays as it is, give it a wipe down if your feeling fancy



Onto the cyclone we go now, and another common fault is the tiny insignificant piece of plastic Dyson used to stop the bin from sliding off always breaks. With the main housing split you can get to its mounting screw



I forgot I tried to do this part this way, and it's the wrong way. An easy and correct way to split the cyclone is:

Undo the 4x long t8 screws on the first end of the cyclone
Undo the 3x long t8 torx screws holding the shroud onto the vacuum.
Pull the tool connector half off slightly, then wit ha small screwdriver work around the suction inlet part of the shroud to unclip it from the main cyclone. When you get it unclipped, pull the shroud down as much as you can with the wire still in place
Undo the 4x long T8 torx screws and lift the top of the cyclone off
With a blunt object, from underneath push the internal connector plug up and loose.
Assemble the plastics again, clipped together enough to give good length on the wire for the internal plug
Remove the bit of heatshrink from the connector plug (dont bin it, it needs to go back on)
Take some pics of the orientation and undo and de-pin the connector.
Everything falls apart ready for washing.

However, the way this goes is another way, so here it is for prosperity...

With great force and a bit too much damage for my liking, remove the tool electrical connector



Open and depin the connector



Undo the 4x long t8's and remove the first bit of the cyclone



Remove the seal



The shroud still sucks regardless really but it unclips and comes off, just be careful as it's thin



Next, undo the screws buried under the thick layer of dust

[beko1987]

The inner lower cyclone bit comes off then



Showing the amazing performing cyclones. No dust anywhere (never used this for DIY and that's the usual Dyson killer)



The cyclone will come apart now, the inner 4 cones pull out, and the top bin seal pulls off the housing



The white cyclone top comes off, and the 2 gaskets pull off. Mind the small black/grey one, it's quite fragile, but can take a clean tear or 2



That's the main machine done now! Must have come across the crevice tool and tool holder at this point



Then it's onto the High Torque head



Brushroll out



Bearing was quite clean



Next, undo the screws holding the rear rubber seal in place

[beko1987]

Then undo the ones hiding under the rubber bit itself



And slide it all apart. Undo the front baseplate screws now and lift the front part off the head



The head slider has a small spring and little plastic wheel on it



2 screws on the back corners and one underneath the head in the middle of the suction channel and the reat pivot cover lifts off



The front suction gates lift out nicely



Then with the wiring that runs along the top removed the top clear housing comes off



The pivot neck part snaps out of the bottom chassis of the head, and the brushroll motor slides out of the bottom chassis too. It stays attached to the pivot part.



I took the rear wheels off too, which although was pointless shows how worn their getting after not too long (this isnt the original head the machine came with, but a later warranty replacement.)

[beko1987]

The rear wheels have bearings in them



This next bit is pointless too UNLESS you have a broken wire in the neck.



Under the 2 wheels are 2 wierd looking screws
`


Un pick the wires as you go and seperate the 2 parts of the pivot. The wire cover pops off the pivot too as you go



More wires that run to the back of the head



Undo the 1 screw and de-pin the connector



The red latch clip pops off



You really cant go too far here, but on the back of the brushroll motor are 2 screws



The plastic wheels that support the brushroll at this end of the head pop off (this is what snapped on my original head) revealing the main bearing for the brushroll

[beko1987]

Undo the three screws at the tip of the motor housing and it pulls apart



To reveal the high torque motor









The loom easily unplugs now too, although again, youll never need to usually



Onto the Fluffy now



Everyone should know how to do this yea?



The end holder for the roller bearing unscrews from the end cap

[beko1987]

The rear roller slips out now too



Terrible photo, but undo the cross head screw holding the roller support and bearing into place. This also releases the whole of that side end cap



Here we see the loom have a connection. Youll need a small thin knife blade to gently unpick the locking tabs, then they pull apart.



Undo the 2 screws on either side, then the 4 down the bottom and the suction duct comes off the main chassis



There's always pine needles!

1 big screw releases the brushroll motor, and there's a spacer/support that sits there too



With a stout screwdriver, the neck levers off the head. However, the wires run down one side, lever the opposite side out first! Pop the hose out too, the tip of it sits through the other side of the clear head



2 t8 torx are hiding up by the hose, holding the 2 main halves of the assembly together. The wires are there too dont forget



With a thin screwdriver, pop the wiring cover off and away



The hose can then be withdrawn

[beko1987]

The pivot can be disassembled too, however the red clips are very fragile, and I dont think I've done it without breaking one before. Luckily the wires on a fluffy head snap at the pivot to the clear chassis, so re-wiring doesnt involve all this



Up top, release the wiring connector and unscrew it



Pull the loom through and we're done! Big pile of stuff that cant be washed



These for the washing machine



And all this got washed,



dried and polished



And we start back with the Fluffy! Hose and clear head



I usually leave all the neck and wiring alone, but here I did not so we can start building the assembly up from the bottom up, running the wiring loom through as we go



red clips in

[beko1987]

Then the top half, re-wire the plug and pop it all into place



Refit the brushroll motor, screw it into place and re-connect the wires



Pop the baseplate in, do up all its screws and I also did the rear roller and side panel



Front roller in and voila, brand new again!



Torque head now, and the motor was all buttoned up







And the assembly was slid into the chassis, making sure this part sits flush



Next up, the neck part was rebuilt, and snapped onto the lower chassis, and the clear top placed on, routing the wires as needed

[beko1987]

I popped the suction duct gates in



Popped the red gate shifter bar in then screwed the top cover down on it all



Wheels and pivot cover on



Brushroll back in and another head done



Main machine now, and it's time to feed th ewires for the trigger back into the head. This involves lining upp the tiny sensor wire and 2 thick power wires but eventually it goes in and through. Put the screw in



Re-assembe the LCD and feed it through. The ribbon cable was sticky enough to be fine again



Refit the wiring cover, bend the wire ends back to angled again and refit the motor and rubber gaskets



Voila, the motor half is done!

[beko1987]

Because we popped the connector from the bottom, re-assembling the cyclone is quite easy. Put the 2 gaskets back on the cyclone mid frame, re-wire the internal connector and feed the wire down, then screw each layer together (the shroud screws are in the alternate position to the top cyclone assembly screws, line the sahroud up and eyeball the screw holes to check) until you get to the bottom, re-pin that connector, fit the 2 seals and rear bin slider and voila!



The 2 halves an be bought back together now



Then we can re-assemble the bin



Rubber seals back on the bottom flap then re-attach that



This horrible part here



Then eventuially the shroud scraper went back together too



Final small tools

[beko1987]

All done, reset back to a brand new machine again! I then sold it, here are the for sale images I took











Gettign the Lanmu stuff in the box was a challenge, but she sold for £380 iirc, which wasnt bad at all I dont think! I sold it to part fund my NBV190 cordless Numatic.

And the V11 videos I made are still consistently my most viewed videos, which is nice. Looking back through my photos to the pic of when it arrived at the office



And it looking very shiny and new when it was shiny and new





But now I've refurbished so flipping many of them, that shine has long gone! They make canny used buys if you find one cheaply enough but otherwise, meh! I've not gone for any of the stick vacs yet as I'm just not a huge fan of the form factor. I keep a V8 with the fluffy head on around and that does all I ever got out of this, for a fraction of the cost!

Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading.