Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.


It's feels good when things work out like that, isn't it?

My experience isn that those little thermal fuses can fail from "old
age" without actually ever being heated to their "melting point".

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.
Hi,
Here goes simple "Atta boy" for you.

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor
life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Way to go. It'll probably outlast you now.

On Nov 3, 7:36*am, Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Well done!

If you dont want to keep fixing this one....take a look on ebay,
decent used units can be had for a good price.

btw are you sure the g/f is that concerned about a vacuum? and
might that be happier with a "vacuumer"?

for some reason my wife really likes it when I vacuum, maybe cuz she
can't hear me talking?

cheers
Bob

The key to living well is to simplify life. KISS

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

On Nov 3, 12:36*pm, Smitty Two wrote:

May seem like a small thing but one senses the pride of an
achievement. And that's what do it your self is all about.
Well done. As long as a repair is safe; and in addition to saving the
cost of a new vacuum, not helping fill up the landfill with the
existing one and having the satisfaction of returning something to
service.

Our vacuum is well over 40 years old and we even have a spare motor
which we will probably never use!

But also importantly demonstrating that make-do and ability to cope
attitude often missing in our high expectation throw-away society.

Keep at it and you will live more cheaply, will have greater
confidence and ability to cope with life etc.

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:33 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
$1.69 plus tax at Radio Shack

Was that seriously for the fuse? I didn't think RatShack sold anything
remotely *useful* these days.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Amen to that. I like my gadgets simple and well-built, not all this
plastic-fantastic micro-controlled crap that's floating around these days.

Now, where'd I put my steam-powered computer and modem...

cheers

Jules

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor
life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Then there's the residual benefits. For example, I suspect you were a real
stallion last night.

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:25:57 -0600, Jules
wrote:

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:33 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
$1.69 plus tax at Radio Shack

Was that seriously for the fuse? I didn't think RatShack sold anything
remotely *useful* these days.

One of my local Radio Shack not only has a crapload of *useful* stuff,
they also have a guy who works there who knows how to use it--- and
can explain it in English to a slacker like myself.

Jim
[and just in case corporate bots usenet- it is store #01-1332 in
Niskayuna, NY]

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:14:43 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:25:57 -0600, Jules
wrote:

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:33 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
$1.69 plus tax at Radio Shack

Was that seriously for the fuse? I didn't think RatShack sold anything
remotely *useful* these days.

One of my local Radio Shack not only has a crapload of *useful* stuff,
they also have a guy who works there who knows how to use it--- and
can explain it in English to a slacker like myself.

Interesting - I thought all the better ones had long-gone (20 years or
more ago) and they just did gadgets and gimmicks these days. Nice to know
there's still at least one good one about.

My local one's crap, but thankfully Digikey aren't too far away and
within driving distance if it were a real emergency.

cheers

J.

You have a mind that is becoming more and more rare. I think religion
and stupidity are winning.

I'm surprised you were able to discern that he has a mind!

I'll echo the others with "good job" Also, I don't see how any
discussion about vacs could even remotely be considered OT --that's what
this group is here for. Larry

"Lp1331 1p1331" wrote in message
...
I'll echo the others with "good job" Also, I don't see how any
discussion about vacs could even remotely be considered OT --that's what
this group is here for. Larry

Gee, I just went through a vacuum cleaner repair saga, and didn't even call
on the newsgroup. But then, I'm smarter than the average rabbit. I haven't
been following the thread. Some snob doesn't like writing in for advice on
repairing a home item as common as a vacuum cleaner?

Steve

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.

TDD

Jules wrote in
news
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:33 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
$1.69 plus tax at Radio Shack

Was that seriously for the fuse? I didn't think RatShack sold anything
remotely *useful* these days.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Amen to that. I like my gadgets simple and well-built, not all this
plastic-fantastic micro-controlled crap that's floating around these
days.

Now, where'd I put my steam-powered computer and modem...

cheers

Jules




steam-powered computer and modem

Gotta remember that one. Can I use it? Nevermind, I'm going to. You ought
to be used to being screwed on the Internet by now.

"Smitty Two" wrote in message
Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

Very un-American of you. The proper thing to do is toss it in the trash and
buy a new vacuum cleaner made in China. That is what 99.9% of Americans
would have done.

The Daring Dufas wrote in
:

Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor
life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining
the damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at
Radio Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing
to relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.

TDD


But you deny yourself the opportunity to get the latest and greatest
stuff that's even less reliable.

On Nov 3, 9:19*pm, Red Green wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote :





Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor
life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining
the damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at
Radio Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing
to relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.

TDD

But you deny yourself the opportunity to get the latest and greatest
stuff that's even less reliable.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was at a luncheon of retired Bell Telephone Laboratories engineers
and staff today, and we discussed the fact that many of our telephone
office switches that were designed for at least a 40 year life are
still going strong after 50 years. I can't image anything sold today,
whether for home or office or any industry lasting more than 10 years.

hr(bob) wrote:
On Nov 3, 9:19 pm, Red Green wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote :





Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.
This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor
life.
She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.
So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.
Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining
the damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at
Radio Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing
to relatively good health.
I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.
I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.
TDD
But you deny yourself the opportunity to get the latest and greatest
stuff that's even less reliable.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was at a luncheon of retired Bell Telephone Laboratories engineers
and staff today, and we discussed the fact that many of our telephone
office switches that were designed for at least a 40 year life are
still going strong after 50 years. I can't image anything sold today,
whether for home or office or any industry lasting more than 10 years.

It's all in the quality of the components, especially electrolytic
capacitors.

TDD

Here's one religious guy who still repairs things.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in
message
...

You have a mind that is becoming more and more rare. I think
religion
and stupidity are winning.

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.
Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.


For the last 4 or 5 years I've been using a scrapped mother board. Wish
I could get my hands on newer ones more often.

My vacuum cleaner is also a freebie. I spotted a pc in a guys garage
and asked if he is throwing it out, he said "not if you want it". Then
he asked me if I want a vacuum cleaner that "sort of works". Sure! I
replaced the brush belt and it works great. With the old PC's I often
fix em' up and give them away. Poor college kids like them just as a
word processor. Ha, remember them? Word processors?

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:42:27 -0800, hr(bob) wrote:
I was at a luncheon of retired Bell Telephone Laboratories engineers
and staff today, and we discussed the fact that many of our telephone
office switches that were designed for at least a 40 year life are
still going strong after 50 years.

Old phone stuff's just awesome like that. One of my phones is over 60
years old and as of two years ago was still working happily hooked up to
the UK network (it's been in storage since then - I'll get it shipped over
to the US at some point, but I'm not sure if I stand a chance of it
working on the US network)

on 11/3/2009 11:48 AM (ET) DD_BobK wrote the following:
On Nov 3, 7:36 am, Smitty Two wrote:

Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.


Well done!

If you dont want to keep fixing this one....take a look on ebay,
decent used units can be had for a good price.

btw are you sure the g/f is that concerned about a vacuum? and
might that be happier with a "vacuumer"?

for some reason my wife really likes it when I vacuum, maybe cuz she
can't hear me talking?

cheers
Bob


In my case, it is so I can't hear HER talking. ;-)

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Tony wrote in news:7ldjkbF3cpgrrU1
@mid.individual.net:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.
Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired. I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.


For the last 4 or 5 years I've been using a scrapped mother board. Wish
I could get my hands on newer ones more often.

My vacuum cleaner is also a freebie. I spotted a pc in a guys garage
and asked if he is throwing it out, he said "not if you want it". Then
he asked me if I want a vacuum cleaner that "sort of works". Sure! I
replaced the brush belt and it works great. With the old PC's I often
fix em' up and give them away. Poor college kids like them just as a
word processor. Ha, remember them? Word processors?




Ha, remember them? Word processors?

http://i34.tinypic.com/122emmb.jpg

In article . com,
Jules wrote:

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:33 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
$1.69 plus tax at Radio Shack

Was that seriously for the fuse? I didn't think RatShack sold anything
remotely *useful* these days.

Seriously it was. I found the part number on the RS website, and called
my local store to check availability. They had just one in stock so I
asked him to put my name on it and keep it by the register.

on 11/3/2009 8:48 PM (ET) The Daring Dufas wrote the following:
Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and
keep encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120
range for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field
winding tested continuous.
Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining
the damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at
Radio Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing
to relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

I'm amazed at all the stuff that gets tossed because of a simple
problem such as the one you repaired.

Even simpler ones with electrical motors - worn brushes. No testing
equipment required.

I've acquired a lot of
expensive computer motherboards that had a simple blown keyboard
fuse that's the size of half a grain of rice. Most of the
problems I find with malfunctioning consumer electronics is cold
solder joints. I suppose you will be one of the survivors when
the world goes to hell because you can keep technology going
and won't be helpless and or hapless.

TDD


--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:06:47 -0500, Tony wrote:
For the last 4 or 5 years I've been using a scrapped mother board. Wish
I could get my hands on newer ones more often.

Depends where you are, but your local freecycle list might be worth a try.
There's nothing on the one where I am now, but where I used to live it
was full of PCs that were only a couple of years old; there were a lot of
tech companies in that area and they used to upgrade really often and
didn't know what to do with the stuff they got rid of.

I think my personal favourite was an old audio card I had (back in the
days where you never saw a motherboard with audio built-in) - it had
belonged to a friend and fell partway out of the motherboard slot and
shorted out against the case, burning out quite a few of the PCB tracks
before the machine's PSU gave out. Amazingly it didn't kill any of the ICs
though, so after rewiring around the damage it was up and running again...
I think it cost me a beer, and audio cards were expensive back then.

Poor college kids like them just as a word processor. Ha, remember
them? Word processors?

I suspect you mean those little typewriter-like things, but I had an old
Diamond D5 from the late '70s - box about 16"x24"x36" with twin 8" floppy
drives, a monitor that wasn't much smaller, and a big ol' daisywheel
printer. It was a real beast :-)

cheers

Jules

On Nov 3, 9:36*am, Smitty Two wrote:
Hey, it's a home appliance, so it's almost home repair. Anyway I've
fixed my girlfriend's aging vacuum three times in three years, and keep
encouraging her to buy a new one.

This weekend's episode concerned the motor that drives the brush. A
little VOM work confirmed voltage was reaching the motor leads,
confirming switch and wiring integrity. As a double-check I cut and
stripped the wires and got out the suicide cord. No sign of motor life.

She went on the internet and started pulling up prices in the $120 range
for a new motor. Sheesh. I'm in the wrong business.

So I took the motor apart. A quick ohmmeter check showed the field
winding to be open, but I sure didn't see any damage to it that would
account for it being open. I decided to take a look at the crimped
splices that connect the magnet wire to the leads, and my surgery
revealed a little thermal fuse. The fuse tested open, the field winding
tested continuous.

Maybe I shot myself in the foot, because now I'm stuck maintaining the
damn thing for a while longer. But anyway, $1.69 plus tax at Radio
Shack, and an hour's work is all it took to restore the thing to
relatively good health.

I love simple stuff. I'm glad I have the experience to troubleshoot
simple stuff and the tools and the time to fix simple stuff.

When I started reading this...I thought you were going to say it was a
"Dirt Devil" and a wire was broken near the brushes.
Common problem with them: tight wire wraps and vibration "open" the
wire (solder/silicone glue fix).

bob_v