Dyson & Sebo Vacuum Cleaner Repair & Advice Forums
Other Vacuum Cleaners & Site Suggestions => Discussion About Other Vacuum Cleaners & Appliances => Topic started by: beko1987 on July 31, 2018, 10:05:45 pm
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This has the potential to be very very VERY long, and has been a long time coming!
At the beginning of the year, I bought myself a Vorwerk! No, I didn't spend £1500 on the latest one, I spent £15 on a 1989 VK120
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This was 2 streets away! I won it on ebay (only bidder) and would have walked round and got it if there wasn't so much of it!
What do we have then? Well, we have the VTF731 Dry Cleaning head
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Many many bags of Kobosan dry cleaning powder
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A spot removal kit
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A taped up carry handle
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Which was hiding a small crack in the hinge
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It's CV
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Week 29 1989, it dates the same as a Numatic
The cable exit grommit was torn
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A mail order form so I can get some spares
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Oh good, I can use my Switch card...
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We have the ET340 Power Head
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And it's basically very VERY complete! But how well does it work?
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(This dates this, I didn't have my new lighting rig then...)
Very well bar the power head (the bloke did say this in the listing, but I've repaired these before, they snap the wires running through the pivot point. So, let's take the brushes out, and wow their a bit worn aren't they...
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Pop the rear wheels out to reveal some screws
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Flip the front down to remove the top screws
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Open it up and look at 20 years of filth...
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Which was nicely compacted
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Let's have a look for this broken wire then... Ah, this is broken, but it's not a wire...
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Mmmmm, the belt runs around the cog that drives the brushroll spindles
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Obviously you cant buy the belts on their own, and all the similar toothed belts, including ones from a few turbo tools I stripped down were not the right ones
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The design of this is identical really to the Dyson turbine tool assembly, which does not really come apart unless your really lucky. Needless to say it was soon very broken, although did come apart
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So a plan was formulated, and I washed the bag to cheer myself up. This entails taking off the plastic part
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Ignoring the peeling edges
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The bag itself is very faded
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But into the washing machine it went as it would make the vacuum itself work much better
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Whilst all this had been going on, I got talking to the biggest Vorwerk parts guy I know, who sent me a box of lovely goodies!
And the powerhead was fixed! This picture shows the amazing track marks left by the perfect condition brushrolls...
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Some time then passed, and I was paid a visit by another vacuum collector, as he had bought a machine from another collector the next town over from me, so we trundled over to collect it as it wouldn't post. The guy gave me some more tools gratis as he didnt want them! So I now had an ET30 head, which is a generation older then the other one
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And a bit more conventional looking
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And a bag full of tools!
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The hose is from the generation after my machine, the carry strap is built into the hose here
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I also had a duplication of the tools!
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Charlie liked using it
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Even though it was a pain to store
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However, soon its time had come, and downstairs it came to meet its maker (possibly)
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The bag opens up
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And pulls off the hinge to the main machine
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The bag is removed, and the bag holder and plastic end cap from the bag itself go for washing
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Mmmmm faded
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I washed both hoses, aiming to sell the one I didnt want
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Back to the machine itself
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The handle and wiring is removed (it does this so it plugs into the ETF head for dry cleaning
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And I removed the head from the motor unit
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These 2 screws need to be undone
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And the motor cover can be removed
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Which reveals the motor itself, although that wont come out yet!
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The outer skin of the motor housing needs to come off, which I was warned before was a sod of a job! The rubber cover for the power head button holds it all in, and the whole lot needs to be warmed up to make it pliable before it will all move. I still tore the botton cover sadly, but eventually you can get a blunt knife inside to free it all up
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Once free, the outer skin will start to slide off
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and eventually just falls off, the rubber button falling off with it
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Inside here looks a bit tasty
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Now the outer skin is off, the motor housing can be opened up by releasing all the tabs
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Already I felt I would need to wash my hands several times tonight...
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The motor lifts out, and all the wires need to be disconnected. It's fairly simple, there's the main input wires, 2 motor wires, 2 wires to the powerhead plug and 2 wires to the bag full light, all held together in a little terminal block. I took a fair few pictures incase it helps, but when its infront of you, it's easier than it looks (plus I did this nearly 5 months ago, I've forgotten!)
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Once free, motor and housing can part company.
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The wires to the powerhead run down here. The yellow part is not structural, merely there to channel the wires into the right place for when the motor is fitted
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Once out of the way, you can see the screw that holds the plug in place, and the plastic cover for the bag indicator light and bag door latch
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Remove the screw
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Once removed, you can see the spring plate for the buttons, and the buttons themselves
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The buttons just lift out
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The wires slide through the green latch
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The bulb sits inside the yellow part
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The 2 buttons slide off the wires
To remove the wires from the handle end, pop the plastic cover off by pushing on the tabs at the back
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Then everything falls out, and you can remove the wires from the terminals
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To remove the wires from the powerhead end, remove the yellow cover
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and pop the terminals out
Remove the wires from the motor and the loom is free and can be wiped down so you can place it somewhere without destroying stuff with black!
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The spring plate does slide across to be removed as well
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Now for the powerhouse!
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This part here acts as a silencer, and dulls the noise of all the dirt bouncing up into the fan, and from where it rattles around in the fan housing itself
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Vacuum god Gareth Sheen had warned me that this bit gets disgusting, so it was no surprise to pull it apart and see this
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Up top is another electrical item that I forgot to mention previously! This is the bag indicator mechanism and switch! (2 wires got to this btw!)
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This piece adjusts the sensitivity of it all
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And removes
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This part is where the magic happens! From what I worked out, it works by suction. When the suction is good enough, it's sucked closed and is fine, However when the suction drops, the spring helps it open just a fraction which hits the switch and puts the light on. It was fricking filthy and wouldn't have been working very well at all. You can adjust the sensitivity by turning the knob so it open easier or harder.
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The membrane clips to the frame, the membrane is supposed to ensure a good seal
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The inside of the muffler
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And the outside. The foam had long since died
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And just sort of fell off
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It had turned to dust a long time ago
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The inner part
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The more I think about this now, the less I think this contraption was to muffle anything, I think its partly to keep the airflow constant by the inlet to allow the bag full light system to work, and keep dirt out of there...
Either way, we find ourselves at the fan case
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No way am I trying to release the spring clips you can see, but the screws were removed
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There was a rubber flap at the end of the crimped on part that locked into place on the outer skin of the motor housing, which pops off now
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The fancase had a little clog
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Soon took care of that!
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However, things went downhill from here, as I could not get the motor apart! The fan and top fan are supposed to just unscrew, but didn't, and the captive nut inside the top cooling fan just started to spin, so I had to leave it alone, which was a shame as the bearings needed attention. So I cleaned it up as best I could
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And had to leave it
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I had to wash my hands and clean my camera at this juncture
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The carbon dust really was bad! Once done, it was time to move onto the head! Well, one of them anyway
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Turning it over and removing the 2 rear screws flips the baseplate up
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The brushroll can then be removed
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The brushroll isnt in bad condition. Slightly worn, but oodles of life left in it. Interestingly, as Stu found out, it's the same brushroll that Dyson used in the Cyclon! (https://manchestervacs.co.uk/DysonForum/index.php/topic,1814.50.html (https://manchestervacs.co.uk/DysonForum/index.php/topic,1814.50.html)) so I could get one, but there's no need really
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Upon removing the end caps I noted that the performance would be immediately improved after all this
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There is a spring buried inside each end cap too
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Once all removed though, their fine!
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The 3 front screws on the baseplate remove it fully
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The rear screws have a plastic bush to presumably stop them pulling into the head and bending the metal
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The top decal is displayed underneath a perspex cover
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And now we can dive back into filth! This is the little PCB that controls things
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The neck lifts out
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2 plastic pegs hold it into the main head
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The wiring runs up the neck, and is uncovered by removing a cover
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The 2 parts are removed by squeezing and withdrawing 3 plastic lockers
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At this stage, it becomes apparent that the wiring has to come up from the motor side first, so it's over to the motor
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Off with the foam cover
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Off with the pattern belt
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Out with the motor and off with the wires
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The carbon brushes are fab luckily
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The little PCB can be extracted
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The motor itself is a bit furry
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The belt side seal pulls off
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2 long screws separate the 2 halves
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There is some odd cover plate, possibly to protect from the belt rubbing through the housing if worn, that was practically being pushed off with the dirt from behind
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The Armature pulls out from the top housing
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Coil is in good order
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Top frame and it's blue protective hat
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Anyway, back to the neck and wiring! The yellow cable sleeve pulls off
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The wiring can then be withdrawn fully from the whole shebang, starting with the botom half
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The top half has an odd spring which forms part of the standing up mechanism, as this head allows the whole machine to stand up on its own
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The wiring falls out now!
Back to the chassis of the head, the rear wheels come out now. This head has a habit of the wheels wearing through the chassis. Luckily this one hasnt done this
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This is the brushroll adjusting mechanism. This head can be adjusted to compensate for brushroll wear. This metal part here moves around and moves the brushroll a notch at a time with it, the notch at a time lowering the brushroll until you hit a certain point and it resets back to 0 again. I find the middle positions work best for the wear mine has
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This is the lever you give a little tug to
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With the retaining cover removed, it flips right back
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This metal plate and 2 rubber strips seal the head where the mechanism passes through
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The end frames lift out of the chassis
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The front bumper pops off
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The baseplate seal is removed
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That's the head done! I forgot I took pics of this, this is the bag retaining clip taken off the bag holder after I so confidently said about 2 hours ago that it was already done!
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Then it was all washed, dried and polished and ready for re-assembly!
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But that's enough writing for tonight, we shall pick this up another day, as I have to go to bed, however, we are about 30% of the way through this! Goodnight for now.
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Let's have a few more posts on this!
So with everything washed and polished, it's time for re-assembly, and for reasons I cannot remember now, I started with the bag holder...
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The rubber one way flap goes on
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Then the spring for the bag holder clip
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And the clip itself
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With a fresh bag to finish it off!
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Floortool now!
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Baseplate deal on
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Front bumper on
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mmm bumpery
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End caps on
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I attached the now clean rubber sealing strips to the metal frame for the adjustment mechanism
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It sits here
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The lever that makes the brushroll rotate clips onto the inside of the end cap
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And the bracket that joins it to the external lever slips through the hole
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Which gets screwed on as shown
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Rear wheels are refitted
Time to do some wiring now, the locking spring is fitted
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Feed the wiring through the holes
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And all hidden up again
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Yellow cable sleeve goes on
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Motor now. the blue end cap goes on
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Then the armature and end cage can be fitted
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and the other end cap too
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The belt spindle was cleaned up on the wire wheel and refitted nicely
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Carbon brushes refitted
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And the motor is whole again!
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And ca be refitted
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The PCB gets fitted now
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This shows the wire routing and the clips that hold the neck in place
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Time to fit the picture behind its frame
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There we go!
The baseplate front gets screwed on now
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Brushroll gets found
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and fitted!
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With the belt fitted and the baseplate done up, the ET31 head is finished!
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Well, let's carry this on a bit then! We are back to the main motor now, and the locking flap that holds the outer shell onto the whole machine goes on first
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It simply clicks back onto it's locating stubs
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Not much I can do with the motor now, although I do now have another one, so that's a little job for another day (ha!)
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So I lobbed some WD40 over the bearings (which is an acceptable bodge, it's thin enough to seep into the bearing and excite the dried out grease and quieten things down until a proper repair can be carried out later) and fitted the fancase cover
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Air chamber/noise suppression thing now, and a nice piece of generic filter material was cut badly to size
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And fitted and clipped on, along with the rubber gasket to seal the whole thing into the outer housing
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On the outer housing, whilst washing I uncovered air holes that have probably been blocked up for years!
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Trigger mechanism gasket fitted
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And the securing cover clipped on
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The adjustment peg is clipped and screwed in now
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It's little spring in place
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The switch itself goes in next
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Then the whole lot can be bought together and fitted
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to the motor housing
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Outer shell now, the button spring plate is slid on
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All the various plugs can be re-made
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This job was MUCH nicer without the wires being covered in carbon dust!
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The bulbs for the warning systems were fed through the bag unlock button
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And into the yellow blank, with the orange lens clipped over the top
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The 2 parts were held together
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And slid into place
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The wiring comes through this little slot here
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And all looks like a bit of a mess until you start channeling it around where it needs to go
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The motor can be dropped back in and plugged in now
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And the top clipped back on, hiding everything nicely again!
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The outer shell was re-fitted now, however I did not fit the rubber holder/button cover to release the floor tool as I have another motor to fit, the outer shell stays on perfectly fine without it and the tools can be released perfectly fine too, I'll just be careful not to tear the good one that's with the other motor (it's a whole assembly, so I might cut the outer shell off and peel it away to save damaging it!)
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The top cover/bag mating part can be refitted now. For some reason, there was a massive burn mark around the bag fill tube hole, no idea why as there's no damage anywhere else...
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Much better!
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The trim piece for the bag is clipped back on
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The new bag can be slid in
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And the bag fitted
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And with that, the main machine and one of the floor heads is done! Only all this to go now! :D
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We'll start with the now fully working but VERY worn and baggy ET340 head!
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Flipping it underneath, you'll notice the factory protection for the base plate has never been taken off, which will reveal good things later!
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The rear wheels have to come out, and I removed their reinforcing metal shells too. Apparently early versions of this head had a flaw where the wheel axle wore through the chassis, so these shells were fitted on later heads such as mine.
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Also 2 screws sit under there, but first it's off with the base plate
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Back over to the top now, and the big white part flips up to be able to change the brushes with no tools. Using a small flat tool though, pop the 4 big tabs up out of their locking slot
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And remove it from the floor head
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Remove the brushes next
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And the reinforcing bits of wire which just pull out ALA Sebo
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Back to the hidden screws
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Hoik those out and the top cover comes off
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This bar locks the white cover down and pops out of it's location
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The reset switch for the head pops out of the cover
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As does the indicator light lens
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Into the bowels of the thing we go!
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First out is this top cover part that runs down the middle and presumably holds the motor and cog assembly in place
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This blue clip holds both the internal hose down, and the wiring that runs across the middle of the head.
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Speaking of the wiring, we have a PCB with black coming in and red going out. Unplug it all!
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With the black wires removed the neck can be removed now, which is made all the more easier by the white securing clips being very broken on this head
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I undid the circlip and the internal hose came off as well, maybe that blue clip was just to hold the wires in check?
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Onto the motor now, and there's a clamp at the far end which in real life is not so fuzzy...
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And unscrews with ease!
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Another middle part comes out of the top of the brushroll housing...
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And the whole motor and cog assembly can be lifted out of the head chassis, the green chap laying on the floor being the spacer/locating part that sits under the end clamp
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In-house made switch gear, nice! I wonder if their current machines still have that?
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Underneath the head, this blanking plate pops out
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These are my locking clips, as you can see 2 side of each is snapped off, which causes the head to flop around alot, and make some very scary noises when it flops forward... The only way to get better ones is with a whole other head though...
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This part here covers the internal bits that show when the head is reclined about, and pops off it's locating lugs
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Under there sits a part with 2 screws. Remove those screws and the whole thing comes apart, you can see the wear from nearly 30 years of use!
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This little chap here is what centers the head when it's upright. Needless to say it doesn't really do anything nowadays, you can just about feel it locate then immediately waft out again!
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To remove the wiring, we need to pop the holder up and out of the connector like so, but as you push up from below, push down on the locking button so it passes under the outer housing!
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And eventually you get this!
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Which looks very tidy
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Now we can move back to the motor, and if it hasn't already fallen off like mine did, remove the green locating block from the end of the motor
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Whoops, hit post by accident there a bit!
This slightly pointless part covers a screw around the center of the brushroll motor
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Which needs to be removed
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What follows is 20 minutes of hand shredding pulling and twisting to separate the motor from the drive assembly!
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In which the white arm that pushes a button to warn of incorrect adjustment and bops the light on, the square locating bracket, cog assembly and motor are separated in one fluid* motion!
The sensitivity of the button pushing arm can be adjusted with this screw, which I left alone for now as it worked fine!
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Onto the motor now
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The carbon brushes and feed wires can be removed
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Then 2 long thin bolts separate the 3 parts of the motor
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I tried very hard to get this green cover off, but could not do it as other bits started to give first, so I spent a while picking all the fluff from the cooling fan beneath it
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Although did manage to get the belt cog off, which I had hoped would release the cover, but no
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Powerhead done, time to move onto the dry cleaning head, the VTF731, a massive clunky old lump!
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This was quite clean actually when I got it, but I have been using it, will pop the DC04 Zorbster VS Vorwerk Kobosan video up in a bit, but it was covered in powder
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However I then really struggled to get into the thing! There is a screw at the back under the connecting part
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A screw under the top plate which annoyingly cracked as I tried to remove it
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But still nothing
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So, I unclipped the front sponge roller cover from the middle rubber sleeve to see where that led to
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And popped the bits off that that were removeable
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Mmmm, nothing under here.
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I fiddled around for a bit, then suddenly as I was turning it over, the cover that we removed the first screw from suddenly flipped out! And there's our last screws!
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Gotcha you little sod!
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June 1989 for this part
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Under the top cover lay lots of pretty lights
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But also this securing rod
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Which once removed separates the back part from the front
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The incoming wires can be separated
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And I undid this screw
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Expecting wonder and merriment but go utterly nothing again so I replaced it and decided to leave that be, it wasn't dirty anyway
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Back to the pretty lights
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Where the devil were we? Ah yes, the pretty lights! They are daisy chained together and lift out of the holder
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The reset switch is also part of this loom
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With the bar that holds everything together at the pivot point withdrawn, the bottom part of the first bit falls away
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Then the flexible joiner piece moves backwards, and once thats gone the top motor cover lifts off with its bits of filthy foam
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2 strengthening brackets pop out of the flexible cover
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And here is the motor itself!
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This cover lifts off the top and reveals the worm drive that the motor uses to spin the foam rollers
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Underneath, the plastic sleeves that the foam rollers clip onto pull off the inner drive axles
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Then the motor and drive assembly lifts out the top of the housing
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The whole thing wasn't too terrible, but was clagged up by the powder that had found its way inside the assembly
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Which was brushed off, and that was the end of the Kobosan head for now! Onto the power handle!
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The top of the handle comes off the switch assembly for when the cleaner is in use strapped to your shoulder with the tools
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The handle grip slides off the metal part
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These 2 screws cover the wiring internally
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And reveal the inner secrets once removed and the cover falls off
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Nice simple connections, although I'm not too sure what the black box is for
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Either way, the mains cable unbolts, and the torn cable exit grommit can be removed
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The black box contains a resistor, and connects the handle to the live terminal, which seems a tad odd to me, but the person who had it put there was probably far more qualified than I am in such matters!
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Some wiggling and forcing of the release button inside the surface of the handle has the second metal part out
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The plug end is held in with this bent bit of metal
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once released it withdraws, bringing all the internal wiring with it. At the other end, another pushing of a button releases the cap the other end
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Onto the tools now! (god it never ends!) The wands are separated by removing the inner clip
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The locking button at one end slides out with the spring and retaining bit
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Hard floor tool now!
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With a mixture of torx and cross head screws
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It all comes apart quite nicely!
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The bumper slides off the top shell
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The internal suction part of the head looks a tad odd though!
[attachimg=1]
The brush strips come out
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One wheel comes out, after releasing the odd internal catch for the thing
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The wheel itself is released from the white part by this plastic clip
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This white spacer tube comes out next
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Then the wheel comes off the other side, and the neck is released by 1 plastic clip, the same as on the powerhead earlier!
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Carry handle/shoulder strap now
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I had 2 to choose from, and chose the one with the smaller split! The shoulder strap unclips from either end of the handle
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And that is now apart!
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Wall brushes now
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Compared
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And the better one kept and stripped!
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I had 3 upholstery tools!
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Which became 1 very easily
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Dusting Brushes
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[attachimg=1]
Radiator brushes
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And finally crevice tool
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ETC. One good kit obtained from all the duplicates. I tried to sell the duplicates. I tried to give the duplicates away but they are not uncommon to find, and many other collectors also have duplicate tools, so I binned the spares in the end!
Everything in this batch was washed and polished! The ET340 baseplate however was a sod, the blue covering would not come off after 20 years of being on, it took alot of soaking in hot water before it shifted
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But eventually shift it did, and we can get to this stage!
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Don't think I've ever had a 2 part project like this!
So in reverse, le crevice tool!
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You position the holding piece and spring like so
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Then stick the external button on top, push it right down so it slips under the main tool body and push until it clicks!
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Got that? Good, as that will save a lot of duplication moving forward!!
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:chuckle: Radiator brush got popped onto the crevice tool so it could feel part of the proceedings...
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Dusting brush got its bristles clipped back in
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And the locking button fitted
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Upholstery tool got its groove back
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Wall brush got its button
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and brushes
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Carry handle now! The shoulder strap has been through the washing machine along with the bag the tools go in, and is much less cruddy now!
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I fitted the strap and forgot to glue the small crack up! TBH it doesn't affect it much, it's still a massive faff to clip the cover on and I found I never really used it anyway, so it got left for now
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Onto the hard floor head now, and the pivoting part gets popped back together
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Plastic bush fitted
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Then just like that half of it is back together!
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You could leave it like this and just fit the brushes and it would look very cool!
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But you should be boring and fit the cover
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Extension wand! Locking button fitted
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Locking ring fitted to one half
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Then the 2 parts slide and click together! It's much nicer to use now too, now all the grit is gone between the 2 smooth surfaces! You cant really grease this part either as it'll smear up the inner smaller half!
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Kobosan head! The cleaned up motor, with the bearings soaked in a few drops of oil gets dropped straight in, no messing about
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Then the worm drive gets fresh grease adding
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And the cover fitted before I put my foot in it or similar
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Foam roller holders clipped on
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And the motor is screwed down
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black plastic inserts are fitted to the flexible cover
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It and the top cover fit on together in a bit of a faffy way, so here is the result!
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Then the lower part of the rear housing can clip onto that
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The pretty lights get clipped back into their pretty holder
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And fitted into the main machine
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The wire join was already a spade terminal affair so all I had to do was plug it back in and push the factory protective sleeve over each wire
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The top part was mated up to the bottom half, the pivoting rod given a slug of grease and pushed home
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The hidden back cover gets screwed on
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And the top cover clips on like a pro!
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The main front cover clips on now, although it did not take kindly to being removed, and most of the tiny little clips that hold it on broke, so it's quite loose now. Not the end of the world as these heads are so common still, but something to bear in mind!
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With the end caps clipped down it looks alot nicer inside there!
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Where are we now? Oh yes, the ET340! And things start well as underneath the removeable belt cog is an open bearing, which got filled with grease!
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The motor gets put back together now
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Carbon brushes and wiring fitted
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Wiring tucked out of the way
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Brushroll drive bits fitted now!
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And the switch button popped onto the end
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Time to wire the other end of the head, and the main input wires get fed through the ferrite coil and into the holding board
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This gets slipped into the very tip top piece
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The wires then get fed through the second neck part, and the elbow joint is re-assembled and screwed together as it's a sod to stop it falling apart as you work!
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Underside cover fitted
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The motor and drive assembly are lowered into the lower chassis now
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And the middle inner cover fitted
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Motor retaining bracket is fitted
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Internal hose and adapter end is fitted
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Wires and PCB run
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And the top cover can be screwed on and then the rear wheels fitted
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Then the brushrolls can go on
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Then the EVER SO SHINEY baseplate can go on!
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With the front clipped down, it doesn't look half bad now!
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The main handle gets luzzed back together, with such highlights as fitting the internal wiring
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Re-wiring the top part where the mains flex comes in, and gluing up the split grommit
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And generally assembling it all! The washed tool bag was dry now, and looked a much darker shade of green than it did before, which was nice
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so I filled it with tools
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And finally, 400+ images later, IT IS DONE!
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And we had some fun! I used it for a whole month!
I used both heads, and bought new brushes for the ET340 which utterly transformed it!
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I cleaned a computer out with it
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AND did a nice demo of the Kobosan dry cleaning system
Which did fluff the carpet up alot, and made it softer, but was just as meh as the Dyson Zorb powder, even 3 generations of Zorb powder!
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But, either way I do really like it, and have kept it, as although these are still fairly common, I know this one is very good, and they usually go for more money than I paid, so I'd pay through the nose for another one!
Thanks for reading!
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That is an epic rebuild topic! :bow:
although these are still fairly common
Are they? I've never seen one.
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I had 2 in for repair a year or so ago, it's what got me so confident that this would be an easy fix, on the one I repaired one of the wires had snapped in the head. The old dear liked it and was so happy it could be fixed, she prefers it to her dyson due to the lightness!
She then bought me her Goblin Solo for repair but stayed for a coffee with Amy whilst I did it so no thread for that sadly.
You can borrow it for a play if you want? Could have a spot in the museum for a while!
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Hi Sam the et 340 can be found in germany on the garbage .. just like the carpet fresher .. should you need something from vorwerk we will find a way from germany to england
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Hi!
That's a very kind offer, thanks! In the UK their about but there's not alot of knowledge bar collectors from abroad on what bits came with what!
I've got 2 vk136's and a whole load of parts to make into one good one as well one day! That's going to be a big rebuild thread lol, there's alot of it!
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i grew up with vorwerk, have several models, for example model s very rare, vk111 vk112 very rare vk114, vk115, up to vk 136, know every screw🤫