Tristar CS melted motor

[cam2s]

Acquired a TriStar CS recently only to get it home and find out the motor had overheated and melted the filter cover to the fan casing and deformed the motor mount. The actual motor does turn freely by hand and runs, but somethings not quite right with it. Is it worth it to buy a new motor (I didn’t see any used ones on eBay specifically for the CS) or try and use a motor from one of my older CXLs?

 

[madman]

If the motor itself isn't really toasted, it may simply need new bearings. Ball bearings, I'm guessing? When they dry out, they'll get real hot and melt stuff. See if the motor spins freely. Of course, there's also the possibility that the turns in the motor are shorted. If it spins freely, power it up, with the fan installed, and observe how much power is used. If it's in spec, the windings are probably ok.

How toasty do the windings look?

 

[vacuumdevil]

@cam2s I happen to have just the body of one with a good motor send me a personal message if you're interested.

 

[huskyvacs]

This looks more like poor storage than anything of the vacuum's fault. It's a metal bodied canister and if it was left in a hot shed or in the sun, it would be its own little roaster oven and it attacked the shroud. It's oddly evenly melted.

 

[dartman]

The c6 hybrid or whatever it is my mom gave me the motor rattled and screamed so bad it sounded like something internal had let loose. I was able to buy a new motor for around 66 shipped and it works like new again. If you can get the mount and the motor is actually good your probably all set. If the motor is bad I bet you can buy that one reasonably as well and you just need the mount. Get the body vacuumdevil offered you and swap till you have a working combination.
I never was able to get my motor apart but pretty sure it was junk.

 

[kirbylux77]

Cameron, if you say "something's not quite right with it", I would be willing to guess your instinct is correct. Those Johnson Electric motors are not a quality motor, & are not made to be repaired.

Huskyvacs could very well be correct in his assumption that the vacuum was left outside on a hot day & this caused the damage to the filter cover that holds the pre-motor filter in place. However, I am willing to bet the more likely scenario is that this vacuum's original owner had the damage occur while using the vacuum, & realizing it would be a expensive repair, sold it to someone to make a quick buck & replace the TriStar with another vacuum.

You can use a Ametek double stage motor from the CXL in the CS. But, to do so, you need the motor mount from the EXL, the first model in this series that used the Electro Motor double stage motor, & that part is discontinued. What I would do is go on Ebay or find a EXL locally & transplant the motor & motor mount into your CS. Then, when that motor eventually fails, you have the mount to use your Ametek double stage motor. You will also benefit by being able to save certain parts that may be needed later for repairs. Yes, you could buy a new Johnson Electric motor, motor mount & filter cover or a used MG1 or MG2, but considering the Electro Motor used in the EXL is better quality, longer lasting & offers the same suction & airflow performance, I would personally upgrade to the EXL motor if I was in your position.

Best of luck getting the vacuum up & running again. Such a shame that a recent model, high end vacuum like that had a motor failure like that early on, but I'm sure you will have it in tip-top shape in no time at all

Rob

 

[lesinutah]

Mount

They sell the motor mounts. I know because I had to buy one.
Buy the motor mount and get the ametek motor. This way you may never have to replace the motor ever.
Les