aeruslux99
Member
Hi guys. I have 7 vacuums, 4 are Dirt Devil. I need to preface by saying Dirt Devil since those are the only vacuums I’m having the issue with. Two models in particular…
The issue is with the newest model bagged Dirt Devil FeatherLite’s, right before they were discontinued in the mid-2010’s. One is a 2009 model in black & one is a 2012 model in red. Both are bypass-air as all Dirt Devil uprights had been bypass-air for some time starting around 2005/6…
Anyways onto the issue. Most vacuums I’ve had, if you run them long enough, the cords & plugs will get warm. But only warm. Not hot. This has happened at a brand new house I lived in, houses built in the 70’s, etc. so I don’t think the wiring or fuse boxes have anything to do with the issues. The current house I’m living in was built in 1994 & having the house fully inspected before I moved in by an electrician, again I highly doubt a wiring issue.
The problem is when I run these vacuums (bypass air bagged FeatherLite’s) if I'm doing multiple rooms, regardless of using on bare floor or carpeting, the plugs will get so hot by about 15 minutes of use that the plastic part of the plugs are actually able to be stretched around like rubber in your hands as they’re THAT HOT. So I find myself always giving the vacuums 5-10 minute breaks with large cleaning jobs which gets annoying. I rarely vacuum the entire house for hours or do a “deep clean” but sometimes it must be done.
I’ll also note that these vacuums are pretty much brand new. This has also happened at more than one outlet, on more than one circuit. I’ve only used them maybe 10 times each so far, and this happens almost every time. Both were sold to me new-in-box. The black model had been sitting in an old man’s basement unused in the box until the family was cleaning & sold it.
I know these Dirt Devil FeatherLite’s have 12 AMP motors but the only conclusion I can come to is that they, for some reason, are drawing more than 12 amps. I know they sometimes struggle on carpets because of the non-existent height adjustment. So the motor works harder then. But on bare floors, the plugs still get crazy hot after 15-20 minutes.
The part that’s even more concerning to me is that the heavy-duty extension cord I use to plug into the wall so that I can go farther without having to keep unplugging & re-plugging the vacuum cord, is getting just as melting hot as the vacuum plug itself on the end where the vacuum cord plugs into the extension. The wall outlet also gets quite hot but not nearly as hot as the plugs.
What makes this so odd is that my sage-green direct-air Dirt Devil FeatherLite (also 12 AMPS) doesn’t get nearly this hot, under any circumstances. And the plug appears to be exactly the same type used on the other newer models. It’s only the newer bypass-air models that have this overheating at the plug issue. My Aerus/Electrolux vacuums don’t do this, they do get warm at the plug, but nothing alarming, and the canister is 11.5 AMPS I believe.
So my question is, why would they be doing this? Are they drawing more power than they should be as I suspect? & why? Is the load too much for the OEM cords? Would cutting off the original plugs & re-wiring them with heavy-duty hard plastic plugs possibly solve the problem?
To clarify I have checked for clogs, bad brush-roll bearings, etc. & nothing is adding extra strain to the motors.
All the old FeatherLite uprights do naturally work a bit harder on carpeting due to the lack of height adjustment but as I said, the overheating is an issue on both carpet & bare floors. Maybe it heats up faster on carpets but either way, my earlier model sage green direct-air FeatherLite has the same slight struggle on certain carpeting but does not get the plug anywhere near as hot as these otherwise identical models, even after several minutes of use on carpet. I can’t for the life of me understand why the bypass-air models would be generating this much extra heat at the plug, when they’re 12 AMP just like the older sage green model. Possibly bypass-air vacuum motors require more power than direct-air? If you didn’t look closely at the hoses, you wouldn’t even know they were any different aside from one being black & one being green! But the overheating issue certainly is exclusive to my bypass-air’s. Both the black 2009 model & the red 2012 model. Exact same motors on both.
The issue is with the newest model bagged Dirt Devil FeatherLite’s, right before they were discontinued in the mid-2010’s. One is a 2009 model in black & one is a 2012 model in red. Both are bypass-air as all Dirt Devil uprights had been bypass-air for some time starting around 2005/6…
Anyways onto the issue. Most vacuums I’ve had, if you run them long enough, the cords & plugs will get warm. But only warm. Not hot. This has happened at a brand new house I lived in, houses built in the 70’s, etc. so I don’t think the wiring or fuse boxes have anything to do with the issues. The current house I’m living in was built in 1994 & having the house fully inspected before I moved in by an electrician, again I highly doubt a wiring issue.
The problem is when I run these vacuums (bypass air bagged FeatherLite’s) if I'm doing multiple rooms, regardless of using on bare floor or carpeting, the plugs will get so hot by about 15 minutes of use that the plastic part of the plugs are actually able to be stretched around like rubber in your hands as they’re THAT HOT. So I find myself always giving the vacuums 5-10 minute breaks with large cleaning jobs which gets annoying. I rarely vacuum the entire house for hours or do a “deep clean” but sometimes it must be done.
I’ll also note that these vacuums are pretty much brand new. This has also happened at more than one outlet, on more than one circuit. I’ve only used them maybe 10 times each so far, and this happens almost every time. Both were sold to me new-in-box. The black model had been sitting in an old man’s basement unused in the box until the family was cleaning & sold it.
I know these Dirt Devil FeatherLite’s have 12 AMP motors but the only conclusion I can come to is that they, for some reason, are drawing more than 12 amps. I know they sometimes struggle on carpets because of the non-existent height adjustment. So the motor works harder then. But on bare floors, the plugs still get crazy hot after 15-20 minutes.
The part that’s even more concerning to me is that the heavy-duty extension cord I use to plug into the wall so that I can go farther without having to keep unplugging & re-plugging the vacuum cord, is getting just as melting hot as the vacuum plug itself on the end where the vacuum cord plugs into the extension. The wall outlet also gets quite hot but not nearly as hot as the plugs.
What makes this so odd is that my sage-green direct-air Dirt Devil FeatherLite (also 12 AMPS) doesn’t get nearly this hot, under any circumstances. And the plug appears to be exactly the same type used on the other newer models. It’s only the newer bypass-air models that have this overheating at the plug issue. My Aerus/Electrolux vacuums don’t do this, they do get warm at the plug, but nothing alarming, and the canister is 11.5 AMPS I believe.
So my question is, why would they be doing this? Are they drawing more power than they should be as I suspect? & why? Is the load too much for the OEM cords? Would cutting off the original plugs & re-wiring them with heavy-duty hard plastic plugs possibly solve the problem?
To clarify I have checked for clogs, bad brush-roll bearings, etc. & nothing is adding extra strain to the motors.
All the old FeatherLite uprights do naturally work a bit harder on carpeting due to the lack of height adjustment but as I said, the overheating is an issue on both carpet & bare floors. Maybe it heats up faster on carpets but either way, my earlier model sage green direct-air FeatherLite has the same slight struggle on certain carpeting but does not get the plug anywhere near as hot as these otherwise identical models, even after several minutes of use on carpet. I can’t for the life of me understand why the bypass-air models would be generating this much extra heat at the plug, when they’re 12 AMP just like the older sage green model. Possibly bypass-air vacuum motors require more power than direct-air? If you didn’t look closely at the hoses, you wouldn’t even know they were any different aside from one being black & one being green! But the overheating issue certainly is exclusive to my bypass-air’s. Both the black 2009 model & the red 2012 model. Exact same motors on both.
