Doughnut
Yours has the short-lived flex "Doughnut" which was supposed to reduce strain on the mains lead. It may have done that, but it also caused a different type of damage by as it was reported to have been cutting into the lead.
They were fitted to DC01 cleaners from mid 1998 and to all the (what was then brand-new model) 04 cleaners when production began at the end of the same year. Cleaners brought into the factory for repair also left with a doughnut fitted.
Dyson stopped this idea about a year after it began. All DC01 and DC04 cleaners leaving the factory were no longer supplied with the doughnut; the new breed of field engineers were advised to remove them from any cleaner they were servicing, and any remaining cleaners brought into the factory for repair had them removed as standard. Likewise, any cleaners repaired at the factory were no longer fitted with a doughnut.
