Dyson & Sebo Vacuum Cleaner Repair & Advice Forums
Other Vacuum Cleaners & Site Suggestions => Vax Vacuum Cleaners => Topic started by: beko1987 on October 28, 2017, 10:34:14 pm
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A few years ago, Vax released an amazing looking vacuum cleaner, the Air Revolve. They wanted far too much money for it though, and by all accounts it was a massive flop. So, a year or so afterwards, I picked one up for £99 in a factory sale!
It arrived on the 27th March 2015 at 4.18pm...
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Retro look at our old office!
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I drove it home! Had the ZX then
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And got it out of the box!
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Running it over the rug we had at the time produced some filth, the power head really is very good! Shame about the rest of the machine, but I'll expand on that later
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The filtration is worse than the usual vax affair
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The powerhead runs on 240v
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But after a day of use the filters looked like this
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The powerhead quickly became not as shiney though
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I got my New Wave at about this point, so old and new
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However, we had the laminate out at this point, and the hard floor tool is, in a word, crap! The massive upholstry tool was no better either
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So, I improved the tools with a Dyson to 32mm adapter, some tape and some 1960's Electrolux Tools
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And used it for a week or so. However, it kept doing this
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Can't remember what was in those boxes, some chest of drawers I think
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It sits on stairs quite well
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But up it filled
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And up it clogged
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You can see the airflow path from the dust skidmark
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This is the side of the filter which really should not get like this...
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The black pre sponge washed up nicely though, an almost bi-empty occurrence to keep it running well
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It mattered not if you emptied it frequently
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Or went sod it and let it get proper full
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It would do the same!
When it worked though, it was fantastic
But, it is a massive thing, and time moved on, so I boxed it back up and forgot about it for a few years! Until July, when I decided to use it properly, with lots of carpeting for an actual month as part of my 12 Vacuums in 12 Months youtube series
This went OK, with weekly emptyings... But once that was over
I really wanted to have it apart, so let's do that!
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The Hard Floor tool was spotless, as I didn't really use it, so I ignored that, and lobbed the 3 small (ha!) tools in the box first
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Main machine first.
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Pop the bin out
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On the top are 4 screws holding the carry handle/top on
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The cover lifts out
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To reveal the motor cover
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Under the cover, the retractable handle fixings are seen
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Which unscrew
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The handle then lifts out
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The wheel lifts out now, being held in by the cover
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I moved onto the front panel now
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But spotted a screw blocked by the other wheel on the other side
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So we need to do that first!
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The same 4 screws on the outer edge, and the inner ring and wheel lifts out
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Terrible picture, but the cyclone is held in by a rotating inner ring. When you slide the bin release knob, this rotates the ring, and the massive springs under the bin pop the bin out when the notches line up
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This inner ring is held in with 4 plastic pegs
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Aha, here's the blocked screw!
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With those two removed, and the 4 at the front, the panel lifts away
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The 2 roller wheels either side pop out
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The pivoting hose entry port is held in with 2 pegs top and bottom
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The hose port then lifts off the inner hose
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The power and cord rewind buttons pop off
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The power switch PCB is held in with 1 screw
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The hose entry port is not free yet though, the power socket is screwed into the back of it
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The socket is clipped together
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And with the cover off, the individual plugs can be removed from the socket
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The bin eject lever is popped out now
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This shows the rod that connects to the rotating ring, and turns it to line up the notches and pop the bin out
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And some return springs to pull the lever and ring back
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The internal hose and bin seal unclips now
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At this point, the motor and cord reel assembly withdraw as one unit
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The cable guide pops out too
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The internal hose assembly is still blocked from removal by the next part
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Which is the massive sprung ring that fires the bin out with some considerable force, which is unscrewed
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Finally!
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The main unit is fully empty
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Onto the motor now!
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The post motor filter (more on this later too!) lifts off
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And I found where all the dust was going, no wonder it ran a bit warmer than it used to!
Blimey!
Ah well, I unscrewed the top of the motor cover
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And lifted the motor out
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And unplug the wires
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This is the sealing ring for the motor housing to the main vac housing
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The cord reel and bottom of the motor housing are one unit, and I did not want to risk breaking it. The cord looks easily replaceable though
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The motor diffuser and fancase rubber lifts off
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Usual superb quality components from Vax
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The motor fan is covered in dust, but not enough to warrant stripping it down, I hate doing that to these motors as their so fragile
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At least it's not burning out yet
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Onto the bin now!
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The flap pops off
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And removed the outer seal
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The inner shroud twists out, and the seal lifts off
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The inner cone is screwed in
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and screwed off
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The flap clip is popped off
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And that's that done! I had a look at the hose
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There's a ring on the front face that unscrews
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And a cover on the top
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Revealing the wires
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But it didn't really come apart any more than that, and I didn't want to break it, so put it back together (annoying after I ruined the sticker to get the screw out...) and left it alone
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Same with the wands, I could only remove the parking bracket
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So we steamroller ahead with the turbo brush!
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As per all modern vax machines, there is a panel on the side that is removed to access the belt area
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The belt is removed, and the brushroll just pulls out
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The end caps are removed
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And the other side pulls apart into two parts, with some sealing felt
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Then we remove the cover
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With the cover off, the pivot point lifts off with the springiness of the hose!
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Showing the part that receives 2 locking tabs to hold the brush head upright when parked
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The internal hose is fixed to the cleaner head, so we need to remove the other end. Unplug the wires from the PCB
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Then undo these screws
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And take the cover off
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With that removed, the pipe connector is removed after popping the wiring plug off
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The wiring then runs through the pivoting mechanism which is also attached to the hose
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The wiring feeds out easily enough though after removing the connector covers
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We can now remove the 4 screws holding the brushroll housing onto the main head
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This part stops the mechanism pivoting too far either way
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There's a rubber seal on the internal part of the hose connector
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And we are left with the PCB and motor assemvly
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These two bits seem to keep the wiring in place and prevent the internal hose from rubbing against it
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The brushroll motor lifts out
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2 screws secure the end frame on
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Motor ID
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Then I found something that annoyed the hell out of me. My main gripe with this machine was the lack of articulation on the head. And it turns out there is a tab that locks it into 2 settings, and the whole ruddy time mine was in the 'no articulation' setting...
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Grabbing the pivot bit on the hose confirmed this, with the tab closed, the pivot went about 1/4 of the way round
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Open however, and it went nearly flat!
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Annoying! I removed the front wheels from the head
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Removed the stupid tab
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And lastly the metal clip that locked the pivoting mechanism upright
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And there it is, 100 images and it's apart! It was all washed, dried, polished and laid out
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And onto re-assembly! The metal locking clip was fitted
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Then the PCB
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Then the motor
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And the stupid locking tab
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The wiring was secured down with it's 2 plastic pegs
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The seal was fitted to the internal hose
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Then it and the brushroll housing was fitted
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The pivot wiring was run
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And the housing re-assembled
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The wires were run and plugged in
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And the cover fitted
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The clean brushroll was assembled
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And fitted
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Bearing guide and belt fitted
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And with the belt cover fitted, the power head is done!
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The parking bracket takes 3 seconds to screw back together
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And we can move onto the bin, and fit the flap clip
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Inner cone
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Bottom seal
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The shroud is refitted to the bin
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Bottom flap now, and the seal is fitted
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And fitted to the bin
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Which is now done and can join the done pile
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Main machine now, and motor first
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Which looks much better after a good dusting off. The big perimeter seal is fitted
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Then the fancase seal
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Then the motor drops on, and is plugged in
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The wires are run down the side of the motor, then the top cage is dropped on. This scoops the motor up and sits it inside the cage, so it cab be removed and the wires fed where they need to go
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The two halves are then screwed together
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The post motor filter got a damn good vacuum off
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And was fitted
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Then, the internal hose was clipped in
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Then the bin springs and cage fitted
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The cable is fed out of the unit, and the motor and cord reel assembly dropped in
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Bin lock lever fitted
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Powerhead wiring re-wired into the socket
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And screwed into the hose connector
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Wired the power switch up
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And popped the covers and springs on
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Popped the pivot lock pegs in
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To the edges again, and the black bin locking ring is pegged into the end frame
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The wheel goes on, then the inner frame, and it's all screwed down
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On the motor end, the carry handle and brackets are re-fitted
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And screwed down. I forgot to fit the front wheels to the power head earlier, so on they go now
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And it's done!
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I then dug all the paperwork out, and the warranty stuff, which I did register, and enquired about a new post motor filter. Whilst I awaited a response, I packed it back into its box
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And put it in my mums loft for the long term, aiming to put the new filter with it for another time! HOWEVER, it seems Vax are keen to rid themselves of these, as they don't have ANY parts for them... What they did, was ship me a brand new Vax Air Silence Powered Head, as the equivilant machine they produce now... Which was kind of annoying, as I only wanted a flipping filter
So I sold that, after producing those videos, and will keep my Air Revolve. I know it's rubbish, a massive failure, an embarrassment to the company, but I love it! I love it's design, as it's a modern day equivilant of this!
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So, it stays! I'll have a play with it in a decade or so!