Well i've not seen a hoover like this before

[TerryG]

I always assumed they were speaking about stepper motors. None of that rubbish really bothers me. I have mine because I was dating a young lady that worked for Sainsbury at the time. They had a staff promotion offering an amount off Dyson hoovers (yes, I know) and staff discount on top.
I have had to buy a new stair cleaning attachment after the old one got shut in the under stair cupboard door but otherwise all it has needed is the filters washing out once a month. I am allergic to replacing things for the sake of it so tend to look after my appliances. I bet most of the ones at the tip are broken because they have been dropped or the cables snagged. The MIL has a DC01 with a broken handle for this reason but still works fine It is even older than my DC05 but has needed a replacement power switch a couple of years ago.

[JPB]

Yes, I've found that the plastics - especially in the area where the handle locates in the tube that hides the flexible pipe - tend to go a bit brittle with age, which is how my older one has a couple of self tapping screws and some Araldite where a couple of weak little locating pegs used to live (other epoxy resins are available and probably just as effective on acrylics). The newer, office salvaged example has had a GRP patch made for the clear bit where the dirt goes (see the use of specialist techie terms there...) but that was only necessary because I managed to break it on the engine cover of the Smart when I was putting the Dyson into its boot. Still, I'm not into the whole vacuum cleaner concours scene** so a bit of battle scarring isn't a problem.

**Perhaps worryingly, there is such a thing! Here is where the vac-oraks hang out!


Confession time: I'm a member of that site's forum!

[tractorman]

I suppose any vacuum cleaner will last if it never gets used!

I thought they may have meant PWM or something with the "digital motor" but, as I've seen digital toasters and kettles on sale over the last few years, I fear it's like "Turbo" was in the 80s and means very little to anyone who knows anything about engineering!

The cleaner that used to come here insisted on using her Dyson (old enough to lose warranty) as our Hoovers were too heavy. After a couple of months, she asked to use the "new" Hoover, the plastic "Purepower" as the Dyson - not her first - had started smoking and her husband was sick of buying them! A mutual friend had a Dyson for a few months and it was replaced with a Henry as her husband uses one (the heating engineer!) and it never misses a beat. The Henry has outlasted the Dyson by years!

I'll be buying a Sebo next time - if they survived the school cleaners, they'll survive anything!

[rich.]

we have a couple of dc07s here they work really well when new, but after a couple of years the cyclone things seem to clog up at the first sign of dust & then its time to buy a new cleaner... we have a henry now.. my only complaint is i have to cut the bags open & recover the kids toys...
dont think i will be wasting money on a dyson again

[zipgun]

Plastic repairs.. ain't you lot heard of Polymorph ? Fix anything..so long as it doesn't get too hot . Worth it to have as a toy.. I can't be without a kilo or two !

[JPB]

I have a stone of them in a kitchen cupboard (it was a 16lb sack but the cat from next door used some as litter so I had to get rid ) but the crack in the machine was so wide that the beads set at one side before I'd got them to stick at the other, this in spite of using glass mesh as a bridging medium. Also, Magic Polymorph is rather brittle for something that contains fast moving airborne detritus. my work is dangerous enough without adding in extra risks!

But I'd concede that they're a brilliant way to rebuild Rover P6 gear lever bushes.

[zipgun]

Brittle? Stuff i get is bullet proof.. like polypropylene pipe stuff . yep, perfect for bushes , or headlight adjusters .

[JPB]

It gets very brittle in applications like that Dyson barrel, whose normal running temperature is above 110F when it has some dust rubbing at its walls. Great stuff for so many more stable jobs though but, such as repairing chips in non-load bearing areas of Bakelite clock and wireless cabove droppersirectlyabinets, as long as it isn't used d.

[mach1rob]

The only Dyson issue we've ever had was a dodgy on/off switch, the 07 we've had for years still works fine, and gets used in the garage, car etc. The one indoors is a good 2 years old and still works perfectly. I expect there's more in skips thanks to the popularity of them, and peoples want for the newest model despite the old one being fine. It still amazes me what people throw away just because they've bought new. You should see the scavengers down the local ti sorry recycling centre, someone there is on a good screw flogging stuff off there. Mind, we did get a brand new sink from there for a fiver to replace the crappy one in the downstairs loo...

[JPB]

....It still amazes me what people throw away just because they've bought new......

That probably sums up a large part of what makes us want to hoard anything, be it cars, electronic tat, ceramic badgers or Dassler Bros leisure shoes from the '70s and '80s. But the thing is that, in the cases of practical stuff that works, we hoarders can become eco warriors and not an airbag or a PAT label in sight.