DYSON VACUUM-What to do when it loses suction - Page 1

Dyson vacuums are great for vacuuming up Dog hair, especially on carpet.  The problem is that the vacuum works so well that it must be emptied quite often, and once it is overfilled it can start sucking up dog hair and dust up into the 8 inverted cones on the top of the removable dirt receptacle, through a small suction holes in the bottom or point of each cone.  Once the hair gets inside these cones, it is almost impossible to remove.  The more hair you get up in these 8 inverted cones, the less suction you get and typically the vacuum head starts clogging up.  This is assuming that you are routinely cleaning the washable filter underneath the removable dirt receptacle which if not done will impede suction.  Once the cones are clogged up the suction drops dramatically and the vacuum is nearly worthless. 

How to fix it.  You have two choices.  Buy a special tool (a long hex star headed type screw driver) and then unscrew the top two screws which are hard to reach.  I tried this but I had clearance problems and the heads of the screws were corroded.
So I came up with a second easier choice.

This second easier choice is to take a 1/2" or 5/8" drill bit, put it in in your drill and drill into the side of each cone (you can buy a step drill bit for between $19 and $29 at your hardware or home building store.  Drill into the side of each cone and once each cone is open use a coathanger or small hook to pull out any hair that doesn't wash out with water.  Then less the receptacle dry completely.  Take ordinary duck tape and tear off about a 1-1/2 square piece and cover each hole.  Duck tape is often now called "duct tape" (based on its use to seal air ducts so often, but that is incorrect.  It was developed during WW2 to seal the leaking seams of the duck landing boats which brought US armed forces up to the beaches from the landing ships during the invasion of Normandy.  This stuff is waterproof and provides a remarkable seal.  About once a year or whenever my Dyson clogs up, I just remove the Duck tape, clean out the cones and pplace new tape squares over the holes.  I also bought a second washable base filter two from the Dyson web site and rotate them each time, washing one and letting it dry out thoroughly while the other one is in use.

Thank you, I printed this out and put with my directions.  I have a new DC 28 and this is my first Dyson.
Always,
Cee

...or you could just empty the canister when it's full.

Ha Ha Ha Ha  ninja you so funny!!!!  Ha HA HA you so funny  SORRY ALREADY HAD BREAKFAST1 yOU SO funny 1 Go to start and collect 200.00 dollars

Preston,

My solution, which has worked quite well with the Dyson animal model 14 (and I have had the same problem as you with loss of suction) is to completely change out the filter in the top. Before I put it back in, I washed out the canister and the rest of the assembly and left it to dry for a week before putting the filter back in. No need to drill holes and go to all that trouble......

Personally, I don't like the machine and wish I had not bought it. If one has a lot of dog hair and dirt, one is always emptying the canister. That is a pain. The difference I think is that one is not paying for bags, which you also have to empty frequently, but perhaps not as frequently as with the Dyson. The canister is small volume wise. I also find it not very good from an ergonomics standpoint. With animals, it is hard to get to those fur balls under the couch, bed in corners etc.

Next vacuum cleaner I buy will not be a Dyson.

I have certainly had my share of vacuuming up dog hair................:)

My Electrolux does a fine job if I change the bag every other time.

I saved branches from my Christmas (Fir) tree and I like to sweep up some of the needles into a new bag, smells like Christmas instead of an old wet dog.

No need for all that worry   if you have   a   RAINBOW>>>>all of everything goes into the water,   unclip the bowl, step outside and empty into a place away from house.

rinse and fill back with water, a drop of potpourri oil, back to the dog hair...no dust no particles and you  have many other things you can do with it, like eucalypthis in the bowl for the room with a cold, to open the air up and you can also put pillows in big bag  and suck down the pillow etc to get out the dust and dirt.

It is different that you have to pull it around behind you but that is just a minor  thing...I have two of them and have never had any repair except minor ones on it..

YR

Emptying the cannister before it is packed too full will not always prevent this problem.  The problem is that the fine dog hair gets sucked into the 8 top inverted cones through a small suction access hole at the bottom of the cones. Once hair gets in there is can only be removed by disassembling the top of the removable (and emptiable) dirt receptacle--you will need a special hex driver to get at these two very hard to reach screws.  Cleaning the other filter which is removable won't do any good, nor will washing the dirt receptacle out (can't wash hair out of these cones once it is sucked in). 

My easy solution is drilling a 1/2" or 5/8" hole into the side of each inverted cone and pulling the hair out of each.   I let the receptacle dry out and then covered each hole with a square of DUCK Tape, which is waterproof, very strong and seals perfectly. This restored the suction back 100%.  I can now easily repeat this cone cleaning procedure each time by simply pulling off the squares of duck tape, cleaning out the cones, washing the cones out and retaping the holes to seal them.

When the Dyson is fully functional it has superb suction and does very well.  Once the cones start filling up with hair it's performance falls off quickly and this can be very confusing to those who own this very expensive, high quality vacuum.

preston,

what model dyson do you have?

gtr