Rainbow SRX Recalled

[danorob1]

Since I know some people on here have them - I thought this could be important -
Dan

Name of product:
Rainbow SRX Vacuums
Hazard:
The circuit board on the vacuum can spark, posing fire and burn hazards.
Remedy:
Repair
Recall date:
June 17, 2020
Units:
About 38,000 (In addition, about 4,800 sold in Canada)

 

[danorob1]

SOME MORE INFO:

Description:
This recall only covers the Rainbow SRX water-based filtration vacuum cleaner with model number RHCS19 Type 120 and a Serial Number that falls within the range 22003399 through 22077889. The vacuum is predominantly black with blue trim and rubber trim around the base. The “SRX” logo is located on the right and left front panels of the vacuum. There is a clear water basin at the base of the vacuum.

 

[vacuumdevil]

Do you have a link today actual recall notice?

 

[danorob1]

Here you go...

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2020/R...nbow-SRX-Vacuums-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards

 

[gottahaveahoove]

wow! and....................

$3,000.00 W O W !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[eurekafansquid]

Oh

I dont own one but dang... I woke up this morning to an emaik from cpsc telling me that 4 products were recalled, and it was the rainbow, i hope anybody that has one is safe from any fires

 

[electroluxxxx]

Well now, I wonder what my upcoming repair months are going to look like. I knew there was something wrong when it came out. The machine is noted to run HOT! They kept saying that it will run hot for 48 hours and I’m over here like, that’s a load of BS.

 

[luxlife]

And it was roughly a year ago that people were out of their minds posting here daily and whining that this model wasn’t being released soon enough. I’m still standing my ground about my position to pick up a 2nd hand machine. I feel bad for anyone who is experiencing problems after paying full retail.

 

[henrydreyfuss]

That's gotta hurt!

As least they're addressing it now, fairly early in its life cycle, rather than ignore it for years. Still, over 40,000 units that will need to be repaired... Up to this point Rainbow's have seemed fairly reliable, and I see lots of them on the used market.

 

[luxlife]

Haven’t changed my mind. I still want one.

I’ll definitely wait for the smoke to clear on this issue. The pre-owned offerings should be plentiful.

 

[henrydreyfuss]

@luxlife

I agree. I'd love to try one out. Hopefully they can iron out the kinks, and have another great evolutionary product. Of course I will have to wait until I can get one at a reasonable price. I think a lot of the new features on it look great.

 

[gabowenjr]

Rainbow e2 1 speed

If I remember right the e2 1 speed in 1998 ish had an issue with their motors as well. I think they ended up extending the warranty's and changing out the motors to the gs version.

 

[electroluxxxx]

The original “E-series” didn’t really have issues with the motors. I still see plenty of the original lamb and GS motors every day and a lot of them are still in use. The issue is when people fail to take care of the separator and because of that the fan becomes plugged and off balance which then wears out the upper motor bracket and lower bearing housing and by that time the armatures start arcing due to the horrible vibration (yes that happens). Another issue is separators blowing apart or missing splines people will continue to run them. But other than that, they usually run pretty well. Now! I have had some come in with bad armatures and that sometimes just happens. The motors are technically not meant to be repaired as parts have never been available other than... fans and carbons. They were meant to be cleaned out and have the carbons replaced. The reasoning for them not being repairable is the cooling fan on the motor. It is pressed on the armature. I have repaired them before but getting that cooling fan back on can be tricky.

 

[juju93]

I have an SRX and mines doesn’t seem to be acting this way. Would the distributor who sold me mines contact me if they think mines would have an issue? Because if it wasn’t for this I would’ve never known about said recall.

 

[dysonman1]

That's so sad. Reminds me of all the HOOVER windunnels that caught on fire due to a faulty chinese switch.

 

[lesinutah]

Mike

I was wondering how well the vacuum has sold with this model. I imagine you would know.
Les

 

[juju93]

My thing is this. If no body found out about it online such as here and a few other websites, then how would owners of the SRX, myself included, find out about this problem. I’ve had my unit for a little over 5 months and it seems to be working fine.

 

[kirby519]

From what I read the machines effected are in a specific serial number range.

How ever that still can equate to thousands of repairs. And not all of them will fail either. How ever best to err on the side of caution.

Kirby suffered a mechanical break down with the transmission for the tech drive in the G 3 model when it rolled out. Thousands of transmissions needed to be replaced what a set back that was. Nylon gears failed due to the heating up of the axle the gears were attached to and caused the gear(s) to fail.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Lots of machines have been recalled.

Research is kept on everything.
That's another reason why Hoover kept at least one of everything in that "vault:, so they could "look back".
ALL makes had issues. Thankfully, most were fixed, even improved.

 

[vacman1970]

RexAir , Has been very Proactive since they were aware there might be a issue .
All owners were sent out a letter if there unit was in fact one that fell
In the particular serial number range . There is a free quick fix that will be performed either in the office or at the consumers home . I received 50 repair kits yesterday. This is a very minor issue only 2 units have shown problems

 

[juju93]

How will these letters be sent out. Like will Rexair themselves send out the letters or will they sent it to the distributor who will then turn around and contact the customers themselves via these letters?

 

[mark40511]

Crazy

all the testing they do at their factory and still this. Anyway, I've never thought my E2 gold speed ran hot ever. Warm yes, hot no.

Speaking of fires. I had a Kenmore Progressive (burgundy) from like 2004 ish that I gave to my dad. It was used when I gave it to him but I had bought it new. He told me he was outside vacuuming his car and it burst into flames. He said it went up so fast that he was so lucky he was outside with it when it happened.

 

[madman]

So some idiot electrical engineer failed to do their due diligence.

 

[juju93]

Another question I have is, is this a simple quick fix thing. Like can I go into a service store and have it done within a half hour or so? Or is this something that’s gonna keep my SRX in the shop for a little bit?

 

[vacman1970]

Yes , Rexair has sent letters directly to
The customer , The repair is simple , Takes less than 10
Minutes . A heat sink is added to the controller

 

[joshp83]

My Recall Experience

Hi all. I'll share my recall repair experience for anyone interested:

I contacted my Rep on the 18th, and she came and did my repair in-home on the 25th. As @vacman1970 said, it was very quick. They insert a little air deflector into a vent into the motor housing under the hood. This appears to either redirect the motor exhaust air toward the side of the housing, or to act as a heat shield between the air path and the top of the motor housing. I cleaned with it last night, and instead of the top of the machine getting hot, the left side now gets warm. I don't think there is anything in that area of the unit to overheat, so it seems like an effective fix.

To date, I have not received a letter from Rexair regarding the recall, but since my Rep hadn't even been informed of the recall prior to my contacting her, they probably haven't started sending us yet. I imagine they'll start soon now that the distributors are receiving training and repair kits.

I'm pleased with the overall recall experience and was really happy to have the repair completed so quickly and conveniently.

One other note- I purchased my SRX in January 2020. My sister purchased an SRX about a month ago and her machine was not included in the recall.

 

[juju93]

I also purchased my SRX back in January. I use it maybe twice a week and haven't notice heating up or smoking near the outlet, let alone the unit itself. Granted I only use it for about 15-20 each time using it. I've yet to recieve any letter from Rexair about this issue, let alone be contacted from the distributor from whom I purchased my unit from. Whats also ironic is that rexair took the recall off of the rainbow website.

 

[joshp83]

@juju93

I hope you're able to get your machine repaired soon! I'd reach out to your Distributor if you haven't already and see if they can get you scheduled.

The recall is still on Rainbow's website, but they've pulled it off the homepage. I agree that it seems premature to do that. It's in the footer links under "Important Safety Notice"


https://rainbowsystem.com/srx-120-repair/