Numatic Henry HVR200A

[madabouthoovers]

Here is the back of the old type 208428 board:


 


 

 

[madabouthoovers]

And now compare it to your new board, which shows the difference:

 

[beko1987]

Have a picture of the old board!

From Heney HVR200A

Was smothered in carbon dust if it helps!

 

[alexhoovers94]

I think that is right and if Numatic had noted that they acted very quickly on it.

 

[suckolux]

Very nice! As always

 

[madabouthoovers]

Thanks for that pic Beko - your old Henry HVR200A was fitted with the original green autosave board, the 208100. It seems that newer models are also failing by looking on ebay, I saw one manufactured in 2012, which would have the red 208428 board that my 2011 Henry has in it.


This would suggest that either the main transistor/resistor is overheating and burning out due to impeded exhaust airflow, or carbon dust build up is damaging the components on the boards.


The fact that your "service kit" has the components - all except the main transistor/resistor - on the other side of the board - tells me that the carbon dust build up could well be shorting out the tiny circuits on the old board - because, as you know, carbon is a conductor of electricity.


A very bad design flaw indeed, and a potential ticking time bomb for thousands of HVR200A's with the old type of boards.


IT may pay us to remove the bases of the motor housing every so often to clean off the circuit board, which is found built into the edges of the exhaust porting, and its easily seen by removing the 7 screws from the motor unit (henry's head) and lifting the base upwards away from the head with the head remaining upside down.


It would also be useful to know at what point Numatic started fitting the service kit that Beko shows as standard.


I am sure that AlexHoovers94 will take his head to pieces to find out if his 2013 Henry with the removable face has the old 208428 board or the 208700 modified one

 

[parwaz786]

I hope my Auntie's 2012 Eco Henry will not break! :O if it does, then it is either another Henry or a Dyson Cylinder (She doesnt like uprights)

 

[beko1987]

Or fix it for 15 pounds, or remove the hi lo completely.

As much as it sucks that its a flawed component, seems silly to write off £100 of vac for an easy fix...

 

[ultimatevacman]

I'll check my James and Bertie's PCB, they were both bought brand new in summer/autumn 2013. Watch this space.

 

[beko1987]

Sweet! Anyone putting this info together for prosperity?

 

[ultimatevacman]

Right, I just took both the Bertie and James apart. The James was bought brand new in July 2013, made in the 23rd week of 2013, has the old style PCB facing the motor. Although, the Bertie, bought brand new in November 2013, made in the 33rd week of 2013, has the new style PCB, facing away from the motor. So Numatic switched to the new style PCB sometime between 23rd week and the 33rd week of 2013. Alex's Henry should have the new style PCB.

 

[ultimatevacman]

Oh and by the way, the James has the green PCB and the Bertie has the red one Sam has shown.

 

[beko1987]

So we know the dates to check dead ones against, to scope the chances of the PCB being an issue.

 

[ultimatevacman]

Yep. Although it's sometimes hard to tell in ebay listings.

 

[madabouthoovers]

That's odd that the James has the green one - whats its (the board's) code number? How many watts is James?


 


MIne - A yellow henry HVR200A was made week 20 of 2011 and has a red board facing towards the motor.  Code 208428


Beko's - A red henry HVR200A was made week 27 of 2010 and "had" the very old green board facing towards the motor. Code 208100.


 


BTW they are still selling the old green boards 208100 on Ebay and they seem to be selling in good numbers too!



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Numatic-H...142?pt=UK_Vacuum_Cleaners&hash=item1c29a183a6

 

[madabouthoovers]

AFAIC this should have been a product recall or similar as so many Henrys will be affected. Numatic stand to lose a lot of consumer loyalty of this - as I didn't know about it until recently and I don't use my Henry that much, but other people think Henrys are reliable and long lasting - they may be, but the PCB's aren't.


I wonder how many Henry AutoSaves have been thrown on the scrap heap because they develop board failure - even though they have perfectly good motors?


I wonder if Numatic weren't trying to build in obsolescence into their vacs so that they would sell more of them?

 

[hi-loswitch98]

I hope not - that Numatic are making machines that fail early so they can sell more of them, they do come with a 2 year guarantee though however most people think they won't need it.

 

[vintagerepairer]

"AFAIC this should have been a product recall or similar as so many Henrys will be affected. Numatic stand to lose a lot of consumer loyalty of this"

I have to say, that's quite a sweeping statement. I didn't see anything which suggested there was an "official" problem, only that there has been a design change which is being assumed was such to solve a problem.

Product recalls only ever happen when something has been found to be unsafe, rather than problematic. As has been established many times, a good deal of Numatic cleaners are purchased for commercial use. The fact that one breaks down will be, in many cases, par for the course and likely considered by whoever is in charge of buying new machinery to be the fault of the cleaning personnel not taking the right care, rather than a problem with the vacuum cleaner.

 

[madabouthoovers]

When I worked at Welcome Break - there were quite a few Henrys that had broken down at our site, and most weren't that old. They ended up buying Karchers instead - so an example of lost trade here for a start off.


I know they have now modified new models, but its taken a while, and what about all the annoyed customers whose Autosave Henrys have failed within a short time - those who threw the receipt away and couldn't claim - or be bothered to claim under the guarantee?


It disappointed me that Numatic has been guilty of putting substandard PCB's in their machines. Its introducing spanners into the works of what was once a very simple one speed, reliable vac, which had very little to fail.

 

[vintagerepairer]

I agree the autosave is more to go wrong. However, a receipt is not required in law, only proof of purchase. If a consumer chooses not to claim for a repair for whatever the reason, that is up to them.