Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Have had a Miele Antares canister vacuum for 13 years, worked great, but suddenly the power switch stopped working. Couldn't turn it on. Talked with two vacuum repair shops, one of which actually took it in and checked it out. Both were off the mark on troubleshooting. The shop that actually looked at it said it was the motor (a dead spot?), and would cost $ close to buying a new vacuum cleaner. So I took the vacuum cleaner home and disassembled it all the way down to removing the cord reel and electric motor. I must say, Miele designs their vacuums well. Easy to figure out how it all comes apart. It took me ~ 30 minutes to work through the disassembly without a manual (or Youtube). I did it a few times over the course of working with the shops, but with a little practice, the vacuum can be disassembled and put back together in 5-10 minutes. Kudos to Miele. Back to the troubleshooting - I first checked continuity of the electric circuitry with a multimeter, from the cord plug (prongs) all the way to the switch and printed circuit board (PCB). Everything checked out, including the motor. I then checked the presence of AC voltage with a standard non-contact probe, and voltages were present where it was supposed to be. Then I MEASURED THE ACTUAL VOLTAGE at locations in the circuitry where 120 volts should be present, starting from the switch, PCB, motor, etc. All I could measure was 2.5 volts. Then I checked voltage where the cord (=line voltage) comes in to the uptake reel. Still 2.5 volt. Cord issue starting to become apparent. Then I cut the cord, literally, about 6 inches from the machine end (uptake reel) and measured voltage again - the cord covering had cracked in that location, exposing black (hot) and white (neutral) wires, although the actual insulation of those wires was intact. Must be lots of wear and tear on the cord from reeling operation. But still 2.5 volts present. Ultimately, it was the plug at the end of the cord, where it plugs into the wall outlet. Geez, all it took was a $3 part (new plug) to fix it, but it took some time and effort to figure it out. The moral of the story is this: Its easy to disassemble, troubleshoot, gain accessibility to critical components to interrogate, and reassemble the machine within minutes. As a side note, I inadvertently wound the cord reel (spring) too tight, and the end of the spiral spring jumped out of the small uptake reel. I thought the uptake reel was hosed at this point, but I was able to thread (literally) the end back around the small reel and the spring started winding back like a charm. Phew.

Good job finding the problem. Really excellent diagnostic skills. The only thing that makes me cringe a little is the use of a replacement plug. Since it isn't molded to the cord at the factory like the original, it's just screwed on, you will have to be very very careful when rewinding the cord to prevent that new plug from smacking the back of the vacuum. I suspect the reason for the original problem was allowing the cord to rewind at full speed (step on the cord rewind pedal and let her rip), which seats the plug in the back of the vacuum hard and stretches the cord. I see this often where there will be visible splits in the outer cord where it joins the plug, especially on older pull to retract cords (old Kenmores and Eurekas for example) where people would pull the cord out a little bit and just let it go, rewinding at full honk until the plug slams into the back of the vacuum. That is rough on the cord ! Make a practice of holding the cord lightly in one had as you rewind it and slowing the rewind at the end so the plug seats gently. You may want to think about finding a replacement cord reel on eBay or a site like eReplacementpart.com or PartsWarehouse and replacing that repaired cord with an undamaged one since your model Miele is so easy to disassemble (my Silver Moon has screws hiding under the rear panel and the tab that releases that panel was hidden and not obvious but YouTube is my friend). My Silver Moon likes to shut itself off from time to time and it is because the swivel contracts in the hose become dirty with use and require disassembly and cleaning. A vac shop will tell you a Miele hose cannot be disassembled and repaired, buy a new one. Nonsense. They can be stripped down and repaired with some patience. Dealers just want to make money off you. I'm not personally all that impressed by Miele. Their hoses, attachments and power nozzles are inferior and particularly for the kind of money they charge. Their little cupcake sized dusting brush is useless. The circuit board on the motor gets dusty over time and eventually you start to lose some of the different speed setting on the motor. Function can be restored with a cleaning, but what the heck? I have decades old Kenmores that are less troublesome and clean better. Phooey.