Compact Burnt out motor

[countryguy]

I'm not sure if I've got this in the right thread or not because I'm not sure how old the vacuum is. A friend of mine has a compact, the silver coloured one, I think she said she bought it new in the early 90s. Anyway, the other day it quit working and she took it to a local vac shop. They told her the motor was burnt and installed a new motor. They told her not to use the big air filter that is attached to the exhaust as that is what caused the motor to burn out...fact or fiction?

Gary

 

[kenmore81]

Could be fact?

If the filter was not kept clean, but Im sure a company like that ( high quality) wouldn't put it there if it restricted that much airflow. Plus IIRC the only Compact I seen in my life was not well cared for but the filter wasn't very dirty at all.

 

[brandon_w_t]

Never heard of the post motor filter causing it to burn out. I always use mine with it. It does restrict airflow a bit, but not to the point of burning the motor out I would think.


The compact is actually a Tristar.

 

[jfalberti]

Was it really a burnt out motor?

Not trying to accuse anyone of anything, but I would think that if the motor burned out, one would have smelled something burning the last time the machine was used. That is an unmistakeable smell.

 

[kirbylux77]

Gary, don't worry about the Filter Fresh filter on the T

It won't harm a thing! I use an even larger filter than it on my Tri-Star- I use the Patriot Medik-Aire HEPA filter on mine- and it has never caused any problems with overheating or premature motor failure.

As a matter of fact, I will go as far as saying the vac shop probably lied to her, & said the motor was dead when it really just needed a new set of carbon brushes. Like Joe said above, if the motor TRULY dead, it would have made a burning smell when it died. Most vac shops- including the one in my town- will tell a customer the motor's dead when it needs new carbons because they make a lot more money selling a new motor, rather than changing carbons.

Rob

 

[vacman117]

I know a vac shop that does that. My cousin's mom brought her Oreck 2800 in because it would turn on, and he said it needed a new motor and it would be an upwards of $350. So she said she'd just buy a new one online and she gave the 2800 to me. All I did was replace the cord on it and ran perfectly fine!

 

[twocvbloke]

If the filter is the big smoked plastic "buttplug" (I can't think of any other way to describe it!!!), then it's highly unlikely that it was the cause of any motor burnout, it's a much better filter than the little FilterFresh2000 one, allowing more airflow and filtration than the little one, it's basically an air filter from a small engine so it's pretty efficient (you wouldn't want a car stalling cos of a rubbish filter, would you?)...

Also, motors for Compacts & Tristars are pretty cheap, so a repair shouldn't cost a lot, unless they're rip-off merchants...

 

[countryguy]

My friend did not mention any burning smell. She was using the vacuum and it just quit. The repair shop charged her $150 for the new motor including labour.

Gary