Electrical Burning Smell from Henry HVR200 Vacuum Cleaner
1. I have a Henry HVR 200 Vacuum cleaner (has two switches - on/off switch and a hi/lo switch).
2. Got the Henry about 2 years.
3. Yesterday when using it started to produce a smell - an electrical burning smell.
4. Other than the smell, there is no other symptoms - it sounds the same and has a decent ****.
5. Thinking it was the cardon-brushes, these were checked and are still in good condition (did not fully remove the brushes from the motor - but saw that each had at least 7 mm of carbon left on them).
6. Re-assembled the Henry and it still gives the electrical burning smell.
7. The smell is more noticeable when the hi/lo switch is on hi.
8. Is a new motor needed?
Best, Simon
2. Got the Henry about 2 years.
3. Yesterday when using it started to produce a smell - an electrical burning smell.
4. Other than the smell, there is no other symptoms - it sounds the same and has a decent ****.
5. Thinking it was the cardon-brushes, these were checked and are still in good condition (did not fully remove the brushes from the motor - but saw that each had at least 7 mm of carbon left on them).
6. Re-assembled the Henry and it still gives the electrical burning smell.
7. The smell is more noticeable when the hi/lo switch is on hi.
8. Is a new motor needed?
Best, Simon
Vacuums - Numatic - Henry Bagged Canister Vacuum
Answers & Comments
Hi! Highly unlikely that you need a new motor. Highly likely that you need new carbon brushes. The smell is caused by excessive sparking between the worn brushes and the copper commutator segments. Most carbon brushes (and from memory I suspect this includes Henry's) have a copper wire buried in their last few millimeters, and you really need to change them before that becomes exposed. The longer you run it like this, the more likely you are to damage the commutator, so change them sooner rather than later. When you change the brushes, you can smooth off the commutator with very fine abrasive paper (the objective is to smooth it, not scratch it!), and then blow all the dust away (or **** it away if you have another vac, of course). Incidentally, you don't say if you are using a paper bag in your Henry. Some people, because the top-hat filter is so good, try to manage without a bag. This is false economy! You should always use a bag. I hope this helps! I value feedback, so please remember to rate this response.
Hello again,
Thanks for your feedback, I'm glad you found my comments helpful. I'm amused to see how the site censor has dealt with the word "s u c k"!!!
I repeat that going bagless is false economy. By which I mean that more dust than necessary will get through to the motor and cause avoidable wear.
As for carbon brush suppliers, I think I'm not allowed to advertise but I notice that when I read our exchange on screen there are at least two Henry spares websites advertising in the box on the right side of the window. You don't say which country you're in, so these may or may not be helpful.
Mine did this. It turned out to be the switch. I bought a new one online for a few quid & fitted it myself. Reasonably simple to do. It's worth taking it apart & seeing if there's any melted areas on the switch.