Let’s Repair the Dyson!

I’ve always considered myself a crafty gal, even creative and I’ve gone outside my comfort zone on many projects in the past. However, I’ve never attempted the repair of an appliance before. Ok, a vacuum is probably not considered an ‘appliance’, I suppose I should say ‘machine’. I’ve not attempted machine repair before. THAT was before part of my Dyson broke for the 2nd time!

Yes, the 2nd time! A few years ago, I was carrying it upstairs and using the canister handle to do so when it broke off in my hand! What?! Why would THAT happen? Isn’t the handle supposed to be used to carry the machine? The handle helps, in a fashion, to keep the canister tight to the suction connector on the main vacuum. Rats! I set the handle aside with plans to super glue or Gorilla glue it back on. That never happened. I just fussed with the canister randomly coming loose and continued vacuuming all this time. I did, though, have to start carrying the Dyson with one hand cradling the top handle and the other holding the head of the vacuum when I needed to move it from one floor of the house to the next. Would almost have been easier to buy a 2nd vacuum so I would have one on each floor.

It was in that fashion that I was carrying it up the stairs from the basement to the main floor when IT happened. We live in a split level and I was on the 2nd set of stairs about 1/2 way up when for some unknown reason, the canister left the vacuum and went crashing down the stairs!!!!! OH NO!!!!! I froze in my tracks and listened to the racket. Since I had my hands full of vacuum, there was nothing I could do but stand there and listen to the horrific sounds of plastic bashing on wood and tile! Bam! Crash! Pow! When it stopped after what seemed an eternity, I continued my way up the stairs, gently set the Dyson on the top landing and then went to survey the damage.

The canister had bounced down the top set of stairs to the tiled entry then rolled around the newel post and was 1/2 way down the 2nd set of stairs! All along the way, there were bits and pieces of the top of the canister. I picked those up as I made the journey to where the canister was resting. Afraid of what I’d find when I picked it up, I stooped down to do so. To my relief, the hard plastic canister was not fractured! However, the part that attached it to the vacuum handle had shattered, hence the pieces in my hand. NOW the vacuum was not usable. I knew that if I had glued the handle back on years ago, this wouldn’t have happened 🙁 Oh well, thinking that way was not going to fix this situation.

I still had the upstairs to vacuum so I thought about how to I could secure the canister to the vacuum so I could finish the task. Duct tape would work but that meant that I’d have to go downstairs and into the garage to get it. I also feared it would leave a sticky mess on the canister that I would then have to clean up. So, I used what was readily available….I wrapped the cord around the canister to hold it in place then finished vacuuming. I have to admit, this temporary workaround worked nicely!

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Once the vacuuming was done, I set the Dyson aside and went online to see what my options were for replacing the part. There was NO way I would be able to glue these pieces together and made it work and I certainly did not want to buy a new vacuum! The first stop online was Dyson’s Home Page. I quickly discovered that they didn’t sell just the top (head) of the canister, you have to buy a whole new canister. Hmmm, I didn’t want to do THAT….so, over to Amazon I went. Voila’! There was actually a replacement head! AND, it was only $12.99!!! There wasn’t an on option to buy the same color of the one I was replacing. The only color they sell is grey. But, then again – $12.99 🙂

Well, now, that seemed too good to be true so I read the reviews. I learned that since the part is not made by Dyson, it doesn’t always fit perfectly. Some of the reviews stated they needed to sand some areas to make it fit or that the screw holes were too small and they needed to use a drill to enlarge them. But all of the reviews said it actually worked once it was installed.

There was even one review that laid out a step by step list of how to install the new piece and that the estimated installation time is 10-15 minutes. I’ll include that below as I found it valuable information. Now that I knew it was possible to fix my Dyson, I quickly ordered the part. I figured that if it didn’t work, I would only be out $12.99 and some time. I could always replace the canister if needed. Since we have Amazon prime, the part arrived in two days. It was delivered on a Tuesday. When I got home from work that day, I watched a couple of You Tube videos then grabbed the part & the canister and headed to the garage to attempt this repair job.

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As all the reviews stated, there were NO instructions with the part. None, nothing, nada, zip, zero.…what did we do before the internet? While I believe it would be possible to figure out how to install this piece, it sure would have made it much more challenging! Following the instructions from the reviews, my first step was to open the bottom of the canister and leave the flap hanging down – I sat the canister on the edge of the workbench. Then I was supposed to remove the three screws that held the head to the canister, Step 2. Ummm, the screw heads didn’t have either the standard Phillips or flat head configuration but a star; I learned that this is a torque screw. I didn’t have a torque screwdriver but did have a drill bit that fit and used that to remove the screws.

With the screws removed and set aside, I then tried to remove the head from the canister. It would NOT budge! I went back inside the house and reviewed another You Tube video. I saw that you have to really work to get the head off the canister as it has a snug fit. I suppose that makes sense; you don’t want the fine dust particles escaping the canister as you vacuum. Back in the garage, I took ahold of the head and tugged on it firmly. The head came off and YUCK!!!! Look at this dust! EWWW! With all that dust and 3 of the 7 cones being plugged, it’s amazing the Dyson worked at all!

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Well, now I needed to clean my cleaner. I don’t know why I was surprised that it was THIS dirty since I’ve never had it apart to clean it before, but I was. I pulled out my little shop vac and tried to vacuum up this dust, that didn’t work super well so I took the piece to the back yard and used the leaf blower to blow off what I could. That worked somewhat better. Then I grabbed the Swifter duster and went to town! That worked really well. I then blew it out again and vacuumed it again and it looked SO much better! On You Tube, I saw that you can remove the bottom section to help in the cleaning process but when I tried, it didn’t even begin to budge and I was not game to have another broken part to repair so I left it in one piece while I cleaned.

Now that the innards were clean, it was time to prepare the new head. Step 3 is to unscrew the screw that holds the trigger wand to the old top then place the trigger unit aside for now, did that. Step 4 is to remove the trigger ring from the old top and place into the replacement part. That part was easy.

Onto Step 5 & 6. These two steps are VERY important! Step 5 told me that there is an extension wand on the inner workings of the trigger unit, which there was, and to pull the extension taut so that the rubber gasket is extended and the extension fits into the notch that is located on the trigger end of the stick. Ok, got it, I think. Step 6 says that I need to be holding the wand taut so that it is extended, fit the stick unit into place on the underside of the cannister top and screw into place. That sounds easy enough….unless the screw hole in the new part does not quite line up with the piece you are attempting to attach. I struggled a bit, ok a LOT to get that screw into the hole and was thrilled when it finally worked! Yes!

However, as Step 6 also states….. “Test your trigger. When you pull on it the wand should extend. If it does not then unscrew everything and try again”. I thought I did this part correctly, but, alas, I did not and had to unscrew the wand and reattach. That took some doing…..but I did get a sense of relief once it was back together and the trigger wand extended when I pulled the trigger ring! Having a 2nd person to help would make this task easier. One person could hold the wand so that it is extended while the other can attach the piece with the screwdriver /drill. Next step is to feed the trigger wand into the slot in the bottom flap then screw the new head in place. Here is where I made an almost fatal mistake….I closed the flap before setting the head in place! DO NOT DO THIS!

What I didn’t know is that it is tricky to get the wand to fit back into it’s slot in the bottom flap. The wand is pretty stiff so I figured once I set the head in place, it would just slip into the slot which is why I went ahead and closed the flap. It did NOT! What this meant was that I had to take the head out of the canister, remove the screw holding the wand (yes, the one I had already fussed with TWICE) then take the wand by itself and manually put it in the slot to I could release the bottom flap again! In the picture below, you can see the slot that the trigger wand needs to go into – see that tiny little hole in the plastic piece in the center? Yep, that’s where the end of the wand rests.

After doing that and reattaching the wand to the new head, I followed Step 7 to line up the wand with the slot to put it in it’s place. I would love to tell you that this was quick and easy, but it wasn’t. The wand seemed to have a slight bend to it and guiding it with my fingers while balancing the head in place over those 7 cones while also trying to hold the flashlight to get a good look was not super easy as the area between the innards and the canister is small (also another reason to have a buddy help you with this). I have no idea how mans hands fit. I worked to keep my cool even though I was sweating in our very hot garage. I know that getting frustrated usually means something is going to take me much longer to accomplish. Anyway, after some time passed and more sweat poured and a few prayers were spoken, the wand magically (and I mean magically) just slipped into place!!!!! Hallelujah!

I was SO excited to have this new head attached and ready to test. Below is a pic of the new part on the canister along with the tools I used to do the repair. Battery powered drill, flashlight, special drill screw bit. What isn’t pictured is patience and prayers. Now it was time to take the canister back into the house, see if it clips onto the vacuum and test it out.

Even though the new part is not the same color as the original head, it matches the rest of the vacuum nicely! I might even prefer it grey 🙂

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To my delight, the new head clicked right into place on the vacuum like it was the original one! I plugged in the vacuum and used it in the living room and two upstairs bedrooms. It worked perfectly! Look at the amount of stuff it sucked up from just these 3 rooms! Remember, it was only 2 days ago that I had vacuumed! I don’t know if it was due to the cleaning of the innards or if it was because the canister was now firmly attached to the vacuum, I suspect it was a bit of both, but the whole unit works SO much better now! I am thrilled that I was #1 able to fix this myself and #2 that it was only $12.99!!!!

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Supply list

• New part
• Torque screwdriver drill bit
• Drill
• Flashlight
• Patience

Instructions

1. Release the trigger and empty your cannister. Leave the cannister open. I found it best to set the cannister on a box with the flap hanging down over the edge
2. Unscrew the screws holding the top to the cannister. When you take off the top you will also be pulling out the stick that releases the flap. Use a flashlight and look into your cannister. You will see at the bottom the hole in which this stick rests. You will have to make sure the stick fits inside that hole when you reinstall or the flap will not open
3. Unscrew the screw that holds the stick to the old top. Place the stick unit aside for now
4. Remove the trigger from your old top and place into the replacement part
5. There is an extension on the inner workings of the stick unit. Pull the stick taut so that the rubber gasket is extended and the extension fits into the notch that is located on the trigger end of the stick
6. Holding the stick taut so that it is extended, fit the stick unit into place on the underside of the cannister top and screw into place. Test your trigger. When you pull on it the stick should extend. If it does not then unscrew everything and try again
7. Feed the stick into your cannister and line up the top. Turn the cannister upside down or sideways and using your other hand guide the stick into the hole that you saw in step 2
8. Once the stick is inside the hole you can refasten the bolts holding the top and you are done

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