Dyson Animal doesn't suck like it used to....
 

Our Dyson Animal vacuum isn't picking up junk as well as it used to - the filter is clean, the brush roll is clean and spinning fine, it just seems like it doesn't have as much vacuum as it used to.

It's probably 5 years old or so, and gets used regularly. And we have an Australian Shepherd and 2 cats (ie tons of fur around the house).

Anything I can check? It seems like there could be an internal blockage somewhere but I can't see where it would be. What is the expected life span of this vacuum cleaner?

Have you checked inside the hose? I'd bet there some junk stuck in there.

On both our vacuums I have to nearly completely tear them down yearly as hair and lint gets bound up in the motor, bearings and all sorts of places you can not see. Afterwards they run just fine.

Yep, tore down our vacuum and found crap in it, works good now

Pull the motor head apart. After a year of daily use our Dyson was totally clogged there. Not visible unless you open it up. Also remember there are two filter s to keep clean. One at top of canister and one on the roller ball.

I love these things. People send them to Goodwill when the suction drops. I clean the filters, dig out the furballs and they always work great!

On mine the "roots cyclone" holes were all plugged up inside the canister after 8 years of use. Took it out and cleaned it, suction good as new.

In addition to cleaning the HEPA filter, I find we have to rinse out the cyclone about once a year. It always seems to work much better after that.

are they really as good as they say? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a new vac. How easy are they to push around? I have a dirt devil that has good suction and does a good job, but wears me out. Gotta use both arms to push it around. house is 50/50 carpet and hardwood.

I have an older Dyson Animal (not the ball kind) and it's fairly light. It's amazing what this thing will pick up; I'll vacuum a clean-looking carpet and fill up the container in no time.

we have two dogs and two cats and my wife and i both have long hair. the dyson is pretty amazing. i did have to replace the roller, because the human hair killed it. we've had the thing for over five years.

it is my experience that the dyson is easy to push around.

Dyson's really suck.









Someone had to say it.


I have two, last time the main one started diminishing in suction it was a buildup in the hose. Unless I'm using a shop vac, I haven't found anything better.

Costco's leaked black friday ad has them for $130 off.

No as bad as Kirby.
(friends in HS sold them when I first heard that one)
Never had a bad Hoover vacuum though.

Stretch the hose and bounce it. Put the compressor on 100+psi and blow it out.
Reverse flush paper filters gently on low psi after every clean and they will last for years.

Yes. Our Dyson is awesome. Over 8 years old and going strong w/ a little maintenance. I would not consider any other type of vacuum.

We've got three of the bagless Bissel vacuums that seem to do the job just fine.

my DC 41 got like that. It was just dirty inside. It is super easy to tear down and clean. I completely disassembled mine, cleaned it and had it back together working like new in less than 2 hrs. the hoses get clogged and the lower head gets gunked up.
i probably spent way more time on it than I needed to. I just pay extra attention to detail

So an update.and a fix...

I completely disassembled, cleaned the roots cyclones, didn't find any clogs, and it didn't really fix the problem. But during dis-assembly I found 2 issues -
1) one end of the brush roller under the cap, where the bearing sits, was partially melted, it looked like the roller must have stopped spinning at some point and heated up. So the brush roller wasn't spinning freely and the pulley was likely spinning.
2) The clutch showed signs of wear - there was some black (melted belt) on the white pulley that spins the wide belt that drives the brush roller. And the small belt was stretched - the words "Dyson" looked like they were stretched to almost twice what they should be.

So, after ordering a new clutch and brush roller, it's working like brand new again. Both clutch belts were stretched to more than double the length of the new belts on the new clutch.

Best $50 I've spent in a long time (Clutch was about $25, Brush roller $20 ish).

Have you tried taking it out to dinner? :D

I'm a Riccar guy myself. Nothing sucks like a Riccar.

What he said.

I also have the battery powered vac by Dyson and it works nearly as well as the big corderd one.