Miele S311i 'Esprit' - Stripdown and Refurb!

[beko1987]

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The Miele S3xxi machines are my favourite of them all. Reliable, bullet proof, nice and compact. I had this one given to me by another collector many years ago now

We start with the floorhead!



Not too rusty but a bit of a dent.



Full of fluff though



The red lint strips pop out of the baseplate, they were in good order.



The brushes pull out next, and reveal loads of packed up fluff



But that soon got removed



On this style of head, removing the wheel axle makes the whole neck come apart. I removed the locking latch too

[beko1987]

Next the florhead pedal bar unclips, then the suxtion duct can be pulled out of the head shell and... oh dear



These 2 broken tabs are what stops the head pivoting around too far, and always break on this era of floorhead, which is a shame as their a wonderful tool. I moved on and took the bent end off the hose



Then onto the wand.



The adjustment knob pops off



Then a locking ring can be tapped out of the bottom of the join



The 2 halves of the wand can come apart now



The sprung adjustment piece is held in with a rubber ring, which pulls off



This reveals all the gunk inside the wands



Next comes the hose end

[beko1987]

It just got washed whole



Finally we get to the machine! Tool door popped open



And the spring and door are removed



Small tools out



Upholstry tool splits down a bit more too



2 screws remove the bag full piston indicator



Which opens up



On a Miele S3xx, the hose inlet assembly is screwed in from inside. The big square box comes off, then splits in 2 once more (one or more of the locking tabs might/will be broken... Another common flaw)



Also removed are the bag door and it's hinges. With the bag door fully open, a locking tab aligns on each side of the hinge, allowing them to be popped off the pegs. The bag door pops off the hinges themselves with some persuasion.

[beko1987]

2 Layers removed. Bag holder comes out now



Then the pre motor filter



Now we move onto the back, and 2 screws hold the switch pack on



It then pulls up and off, but will be held down by the connector plug.



It splits down nicely



I found this interesting, this isn't the lowest spec Miele S3xx, but it's the 2nd from the bottom, so it gets the power control and nothing else! The overheat warning lamp is blanked off, but under the blank has the warning triangle moulded in the solid plastic!



Next, undo the 4 screws holding the motor housing on



Then hold the 2 halves together, flip it upside down and lift the black base off the motor unit



And behold the nice, metal, lazy, massive airflow motor!

[beko1987]

The motor is held in with a screw on the back housing bracket, and can be withdrawn that way. This front part for the fancase is easier to remove on it's own



The back bracket has 2 rubber bushings with it



The cord reel I just leave as it is, and wipe it as well as I can with a cloth and it being whole! Moving back to the bottom chassis, under the carrying handle are 2 screws, which remove a bit of trim



The furniture guard can be pulled off the chassis now



This blanking piece here is where the wires for the fancy electronic powered hose would go on the higher spec models



Out it comes, along with the back part of the pre motor filter housing



Wheels now! Pop the wheel axle up and remove the axle and wheel. Then, align the wheel swivel carrier to each of the bracket screws and remove both from the machine. The metal bracket seperates from the plastic housing with a tweak from a flathead screwdriver!



With that, everything was apart! Was summer at this time, so everything went outside for 8 minutes to dry!



I cleaned the rubber wheel that holds the cord reel steady and not just recline itself all the time

[beko1987]

Glued the commonly broken hose inlet assembly together forever



Glued both stopper pegs of the floorhead back together



Then some polishing got done





And it could all be laid out for re-assembly!



The wheels all go back together with a small smear of grease about their movements





The wire blank and side parking slot get screwed back onto the chassis

[beko1987]

The pre motor filter carrier can be snapped back into place





Time for the motor, and the sound insulation can be re-laid (goes though the washing machine inside a net bag very nicely  )



The motor and cord reel get assembled into the top shell upside down



Then assembled upside down and flipped over for screws



Switch pack can go back together



I found it easier to assemble most of the switch pack



Then plug the plug in, and pop the pack onto the back of the plug.



Then fit a brand new post motor filter

[beko1987]

Then a new pre motor filter



And a new bag



Fancy!



Bag full piston goes back together



Then lay the hose outlet cover down and place the inlet housing over the top, and screw it down. Check the bag cover slides across nicely



Pop the lid on



Slam it down and pop the tools in



Hose can go together

[beko1987]

The floorhead next, the suction duct and changer bar go in first



Then the brushes, springs and base plate



The wheel and neck went on after and it was done!











The S255i was sadly horrible, the wheels mostly! Full thread on it one day!

Thanks for reading!