Dyson DC07 Animal - Clutch knob stuck

[niclonnic]

I found this issue with my mom's vacuum, which is 10 years old.

After vacuuming with my Fantom Fury, I went to clean the brush bar, because next weekend, she's going to take the vacuum over to a friend of hers who's moving, and needs the old house cleaned up.

After cleaning the brush bar, I noticed something peculiar with the clutch knob! It seemingly got stuck. I tried rotating it back and forth a few times, and I heard a snap. Now, when the machine is upright, the knob moves smoothly back and forth between the "carpets" and "bare floors" positions. But once the vacuum is reclined, the knob doesn't rotate forward in order to engage the brush bar! It needs to be manually rotated. Houston, we have a problem.

Is there a way to fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, as my mom really needs this vacuum next weekend.

Here is a pic of the machine reclined.

 

[crazykirbydude]

It may not be worth repairing. Is there anything else broken on it? You may just want to live with the sticky know until the vacuum dies.

 

[vacfan1982]

It's not nice having your knob stuck

 

[niclonnic]

Nope

Nothing else is broken on the Dyson. I wonder if the clutch needs to be replaced?

 

[huskyvacs]

You would have to take it apart to see. It could be anything.

This is what the entire assembly looks like inside: https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/...14-DC33-Replacement-Clutch-Assembly-Belts.jpg

Best case scenario, you forced the knob too hard and popped it out of its travel path. Worst case scenario, it's possible that you broke the little tab that sticks up that catches the vacuum housing when reclining or raising the handle, or the mounting shaft for the knob.

Don't let people tell you whether it's worth it or not, because what is wasteful is throwing a perfectly good vacuum in the trash instead of fixing it and keeping it running. If you like the vacuum, then it's worth it. I put $50 worth of repairs into my Eureka Optima, because I love that little vacuum.

 

[myles_v]

If you do decide to replace or repair the clutch assembly then it may be a good idea to replace the agitator as well, here's a link to one for 15 bucks on Ebay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vacuum-Bru...902426&hash=item1a146c1c34:g:hqoAAOSwNsdXTDP9

The brush is likely worn down, especially if it hasn't been replaced at all in the last 10 years. The difference between the current brushroll and a new one would probably surprise you, it's surprised me in the past.

Here's the clutch assembly on Ebay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-OE...340502&hash=item1c4652a673:g:1~IAAOSwfcVUGPfe

 

[niclonnic]

@huskyvacs I didn't force the knob too hard, and I didn't break the little tab on the underside. It's fully intact, so when I put the vacuum in the upright position after manually rotating the knob forward to "drive," the knob rotates back to the "park" position.

@myles_v I need to tell my mom about this, as this is her vacuum. I'll have to watch a video on YouTube about how to replace the clutch. But the brush bar is still in very good shape!

I just thought of something else: It might be a good idea to replace the "lifetime" filters on the Dyson. It still has the original filters; the pre-filter hasn't been washed in a long time, and I bet the post filter is packed with carbon dust. Both are definitely past their prime.

 

[suckolux]

I felt my performance had fallen off on my dc18 after 5-6 years, ordered both filters, yep it helped!

 

[myles_v]

Even if the brush looks fine it still may be a good idea to go ahead and replace it for only $15, especially since you'd already have it taken apart.
Replacing the post motor filter would be a great idea, I know the HEPA filter on my DC-14 was in awful shape after about 4 years. Mostly just carbon dust but replacing it still helped a ton.

 

[niclonnic]

Tonight

My mom texted me; she brought her Dyson over to her friend's house for a moving cleanup, as I mentioned last week, and she said it's somehow not picking up, which is likely referring to the clutch issue I was talking about. The other people at that house had a Shark vacuum, and my mom said it was so light and works well.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll go to her place and get to the bottom of this.

 

[niclonnic]

The bottom of this

Today, I went to my mom's place and took a look at her Dyson. Turns out that the clutch isn't stuck, it's broken! It won't spin the brush bar at all, even in the carpet position. I dismantled the vacuum by taking off all the removable parts; I didn't find any blockages, and the pre-filter was really dirty.

So I pulled up a video on YouTube on how to replace the clutch on a DC07. We watched it, but the procedure looks like a pain in the butt to do. My mom's fiancé came over, and I showed the video to him. Afterward, I removed the soleplate and the 3 of us took a look at the brush bar. I did NOT want the brush bar to be removed, as I was afraid we would never be able to get it back together again.

The video we watched was by eSpares. Is it worth it to replace the clutch for $30? Or just buy a new vacuum altogether?

 

[kirbylux77]

Nick, I would do it. It's only $30 bucks & Dyson is arguably the best bagless upright there. You also know the history of this vacuum & how it's been used & maintained, & wear & tear on it....that's a advantage you have repairing the DC07 over finding another used Dyson to replace it.

 

[huskyvacs]

It's great that you have someone that can (possibly) help you out at repairing vacuums. I had to learn it all myself by myself, and Dyson's vacuums can be tricky to repair.

Sir James purposely builds his vacuums to be difficult to repair because he wants you to buy the vacuum again for $600 and not to fix it - but with help and following how-to videos, you can get the job done. It might take a few hours for a beginner but you're working for yourself - so just relax and take your time. If you have a laptop just put it on the workbench with you and follow the video as you work in real time. They are not impossible to repair, so don't be afraid! Compared to disassembling and reassembling one of the ball styled vacuums, the DC07 is like a toy! lol

 

[suckolux]

I would fix it, all good and ready to go , clean filters and try again up against your new to you Fantom again

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I get my clutches from amazon very cheap!!!
It is worth it. makes a huge difference and is not that hard to do. The worst part is getting brushroll back on lol