Hoover Encore Motor Bearing

[vacuumboy23]

Hi all! Hope all is well with you. Not sure if anyone has seen my other post but basically I have a hoover encore with horrible squeaking. I took the machine apart and compared the brushrolls between the encore and my other elite convertible, the encore's brushroll definetely had a way harder time spinning by hand than the elite convertibles brushroll. Next I compared how freely the motor shaft the belt sits on spins. On the encore it was also harder to spin than the elite convertibles. Does anyone know how to grease both the brushroll bearings and motor bearings? Also what grease would I use. Thanks in advance!


P.S: I noticed while taking apart the encore that one of the motor shell casing screws was rusted, not sure if this means water was sucked up in this at one point or does this happen sometimes because of moisture in the air that this thing used to be around in?

 

[vacuumboy23]

any takers? Does anyone know how to oil the motor bearings?

 

[madman]

Uh, not specifically. Um, more modern brushrolls use sealed ball bearings and so do motors. Not really supposed to be servicable, I mean depending on the bearing, you could maybe gently pry the bearing seal off and shove grease in there. But doing that without damaging the seal is like performing heart surgery. And if the seal is damaged, it'll leak grease fairly quickly.

Maybe someone else here has more experience regreasing sealed ball bearings?

I suppose you could get an grease gun, and use a hypodermic needle type fitting to inject the grease through the edge of the bearing seal. Any sort of synthetic high temp grease should be more than good enough.

For the brushroll though, idk about yours, but I've found that the plastic ones tend to get too hot and melt around the bearings, effectively destroying it.

I would first run the machine without the brush or belt in it, and see if it still squeaks. If it's just a brushroll, depending on the age of the machine, a new one could probably be had from ebay. If it still squeaks, I'd say you're going to have to dismantle it and actually put eyes on the motor bearings and confirm they're ball bearings.

 

[relhall]

Turn it on, stand back, and start spraying WD40 until the can runs out or it shuts up. You could also take it apart and try the "right" way, but this might be more fun.


Taking apart a bad bearing to attempt to fix it will not likely cause any further damage ... can't break it if it's already broken. Any grease or lube will help, but stay out of the kitchen & bedroom - find something from the garage.


Good luck with your vac ~

 

[madman]

See the thing about WD40 is... it's not really a good lubricant. It's so thin that it just runs down or just dries up.

I'll agree on one point though: you can't break what's already broken.

Worst case scenario, you need some bearings. Ball bearings are fairly standardized, and come in all shapes and sizes. So not really a big deal.

 

[relhall]

I was joking about the WD40 thing ... kinda

Do much reading on here and you see how passionate people are and how happy it seems to make us to share opinions on a variety of subjects, including grease/lube/oil in all it's varieties.

I find it interesting and entertaining ~

 

[huskyvacs]

Yes but WD-40 is not for lubrication and not what it's meant for. Like duct tape is not for sealing your HVAC. You need SAE-30 non-detergent oil for electric motors with sleeve bearings. WD-40 can be used to remove old grease from conventional ball bearings, but not to lubricate them.

Follow MadMan's directions, but there is another post on here by a member who knows and has told instructions for re-lubricating both types of bearings. I forget his name but the post was fairly recent. Sleeve bearings get oil and ball bearings get grease (after cleaning them). A grease syringe will be a world of help.

Just study good, and when you feel confident enough, tackle it. I've been reading up on it for months and I don't think I'm ready enough yet, but I do have the supplies. Just need to find out what specific paste grease to use and have a place to perform the surgery.