Dyson DC04 Motor Transplant?

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crazykirbydude

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Jan 28, 2017
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Lexington, KY
Hi all. I've had an idea for quite some time now. I live in the USA, but I want a Dyson DC04 that is able to run on 120VAC 60Hz. Would it be possible to buy and import a Dyson DC04, and swap the motor and cord with the motor and cord from an American Dyson DC07? I figured that since the DC04 and DC07 are so similar, it would be possible to swap motors without too much trouble.
 
Well if you try it and it doesn't work out, you can always do that thing where you take plug a cord into two different outlets on either phase and make 240v out of them. Or put a 240v outlet in your house somewhere.
 
Madman

I get the wiring to the house. I'm not positive on how the machines function. Is the if you have an American 7 amp 840 watt vacuum. If it was a 240 setup from England would it basically be the coil is different. If you could dumb it down for me it would be appreciated.
Les
 
Les - I don't really know the difference in the motor itself. It depends on the design. I would think that both the field coil AND the armature are entirely different, at least in terms of the windings. Likely, they both have windings made of smaller wire and more turns for 240v - I think. Because higher voltage needs less wire thickness, and lower voltage, more thickness. So like a 12v car blower motor has really thick windings, and only the armature has windings, as the field is a permanent magnet (cuz it's DC), and that makes the total number of turns in the motor lower. So the reverse should also be true. More turns = more length = more resistance to handle higher voltage. Smaller wire also adds resistance.

I'm no expert on the mathematical part of electricity. But I'm looking at ohm's law, and it looks like if you have a 7A 120v vacuum (840w), its motor would have a ~17ohm resistance. V/A=R. In order to have the exact same wattage in the UK, which would be 3.5A on 240v, that would be 240v/3.5a = 68.5ohms. You'd need quadruple the resistance in the motor. However, this is a mathematical ideal, because a motor usually has a low resistance at rest and it becomes higher when it's being run, among other factors.
 
I think it can be done.

DC04s either came with an Ametek or a YDK motor. According to some listings on eBay, the YDK motor fits the DC04, DC07, & DC14. You should be able to buy one with a YDK motor and then transplant a YDK motor from a DC07 or DC14 into the machine.
 
Rdwdcp...

Eh, I'm not picky. I'd really like a DC04 De Stijl or Absolute+, but any DC04 will do. I just have to find someone in the UK willing to let go of one for cheap or free, because shipping and import duties are gonna be a doozy. I think it would be interesting to play around with an early dual cyclone Dyson, because the first Dyson to come out in the U.S.A. was the DC07, which has root cyclone technology. Before that, we had Fantom vacuums, which were produced under an agreement with Dyson. I also considered a Japanese G-Force, as it would not require any conversion, as the Japanese use 120VAC 60Hz electricity like we do here in the U.S.A, but finding one would be nearly impossible.
 
Actually the Japs use 100vac. They're odd ducks. They also haven't yet decided on 50 or 60Hz (not that it matters here). A machine from them might still work ok on 120v, just run fast and hard. I suppose you could just put a massive power resistor inline to drop the voltage a bit.
 
oh but dont forget

The plastic would be pretty brittle and plus it being shipped halfway across the world it might come damaged. Just saying because I would hate for you to spend 100+ dollars on a hunk of broken plastic
 

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