Numatic Henry HVR200A

[beko1987]

I wonder if we will see more of this though. Numatic, once the cockroach of the vacuum world (will survive even a nuclear apocolypse!, think Nissan Micra for the UK guys!)

Maybe in 10 years Numatic will have gone down in people's opinions too much. When did the PCB first come in? (Not au fait with modern numatics I'm afraid). Let's say 2004. 2004-theoretically mid 2013, that's alot of ticking time bombs out there. Most vacs in shops now I see are the hi/lo ones, switched to hi obviously!

Even for us it may not be great. Hoover enough off ebay dead to fix, then the market gets flooded and the price goes down.

I've got Henry advertised in various places for £75 ono, will be interesting to see what I actually sell it for, and what the value of a 4 year old one is. Bet it's less than some of the old ones go for (single rocker on back etc)

 

[madabouthoovers]

I think you are right about the twin speed models coming out in 2004.


 


However, it may just be the models with autosave that have the problem boards, as I haven't heard of any problems with the older type of twin speed models - not to say that there haven't been any. This seems to be a new problem only just coming to light on EBay, and Autosave models started in 2009/2010 I think? so they are now just starting to get old enough to start failing in larger numbers.


 


I saw your henry on Gumtree - I went looking for it:

[this post was last edited: 1/17/2014-17:06]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/n...10-model-fully-refurbished-new-pcb/1045182864

 

[beko1987]

Is a test the waters price. In reality I'll take £60, but if someone wants to hand me £85 then I'm not going to stop them! Is a more realistic £75 bin with a make offer button though on ebay, and I'm floating it round the forums at £60 plus post.

If I've had no responses to the ads by the middle of next week I'll bang them down to £65 and just wait but hey, we can all try our luck!

 

[vintagerepairer]

As madabouthoovers says, it is the ones which have autosave which seem to go belly-up. These are the ones which power up on a low setting, meaning that the board is regularly in use. The original hi/lo cleaners were manually locked in one position or the other, I expect typically the hi position, therefore the circuit boards were by-passed. Do you recall how many Hoover Turbopower 2-speed cleaners would always work only at one speed across both switch positions? This is because although most consumers would run the cleaner at full power, the switch was easily pressed into the "1" position, particulary if the cleaner was carried around by the main handle and not the carry handle. When the cleaner was plugged in, off it went at low speed, that was of course until the diode burned out and it ran at full power.

I agree that 2004 was the launch of the hi/lo switch. It was originally found on the back of the cleaner as there was a foot switch on top to operate the power. When the foot switch went, both controls were then mounted on the top of the machine.

 

[ultimatevacman]

I think it's a shame that Numatic's reliability record is being damaged by a something so little as a PCB. I really do think it'll cause Numatic problems in the long run, which is a real shame. All those machines made between 2009ish and mid-2013 are prone to failure in a few years, which is not good.

 

[madabouthoovers]

The one big thing with your Gumtree ad is that it contains a video which is headed "Dead Henry with new PCB". That's a big put off, naming it "Dead Henry", as it makes people think its had so much use that the board burnt out. If I was you, I'd remove that video as it could be harming any potential sales, as it also makes it look like the little red light on the Hi switch doesn't work too.


 


Best of luck otherwise with the sale!

 

[madabouthoovers]

There is a handy table here showing various different dates and models of Numatics, and it confirms that 2004 was the time the twin speeds were launched.



http://www.henryvacs.co.uk/acatalog/Spares.htm

 

[beko1987]

Good point, ad amended.

Imagine the 2 people who viewed probably wouldnt have bought it anyway!

 

[vintagerepairer]

Not until I know how many cleaners are affected and what people are saying about it would I be able to disagree or agree with whether or not it will affect Numatic's reputation.

Beko have spent much time and money recalling fridge-freezers and tumble-dryers which were catching fire, as have Bosch and Hotpoint with dishwashers, for the same reason. And they're doing alright still.

 

[beko1987]

I did?

True, and whilst I hope it, in reality wont really hurt numatic, if they fail by their hundreds/thousands around the WORLD now (Their making more of the international nowadays!) surely someone would notice the drop in sales?

 

[vintagerepairer]

IF that happened, some people may stop buying the cleaners, but like I said, it would depend on the % of cleaners which go faulty against how many were actually sold. The footswitch introduced in 2003 was very problematic and Numatic ditched the design within three years. But never once did I hear anyone talking to me about Numatic cleaners and remembering the dodgy foot switches.

We have three choices here: carry on speculating, or contact Numatic and ask them if there is a problem, or sit it out and wait to see what happens.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

The hi-lo switches have no problem - the Henry we have at home which has the hi-lo feature is from 2006 & it is still perfectly fine!

 

[madabouthoovers]

It would be interesting to know the real reason HOW the boards are failing though?


If its because the airflow gets blocked by a full bag or clogged hose, and the board components subsequently overheat?


This overheating would only happen when used on LOW power setting anyway as the board has to step down the power to the motor and this has to be dissipated by heat - which needs a good airflow to remove, or failure could occur.


 


Its an interesting subject though, as Henrys are usually so reliable that threads like this are rare, and naturally, as collectors, we are interested in any inherent design flaws in various models.


These threads also help owners of broken down Henrys who google Henry HVR200A in the hope that they might find info about whats wrong with their Henry

 

[ultimatevacman]

Benny, we could try contacting Numatic I suppose

 

[madabouthoovers]

we could try contacting Numatic I suppose

....And what do you think they would tell you?


I wouldn't think they are going to admit that there is a problem with their top seller - that would be bad for business!

 

[ultimatevacman]

I suppose you're right there Steve!

 

[beko1987]

I think we are over analysing it but hey, its what we do!

I have no idea how hard a life my henry has had. I suspect light domestic. I imagine Henrys in our hands will have a lot less use, and will inherently last longer.

I suppose, what usage would shred carbons quicker, as that seems to be a root cause.

 

[ultimatevacman]

Steve, RE: reply #51.


 


I think what causes the PCB to fail is carbon dust, it's conductive so if it gets on the PCB it could easily mess it up.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Joe, I said that in reply #18 I thought a possible cause could be carbon dust shorting out the board. But I cant be sure - its only a speculation.


Its a pity Beko doesn't have a PhD in electronics or he could have diagnosed the board failure.


I don't want to use my Henry now in case the board burns out - unless I know the method by which the board failure occurs

 

[madabouthoovers]

In Beko's pic below, what is the name of the component with the ?? against it - this part seems to be the cause of heat staining on the board above it. Could it be this component that is what is burning out?