Vax Centrix 3 - No I'm not ill!

[beko1987]

Amys dad mentione the last time we were up that they were after a vacuum cleaner.

I found them one!

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Looks like a Hitachi to me! Still, its not too horrendous, certainly got some airflow going. However, it had been used for DIY

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From 2011, so obselete by Vax's standards!

Let's go then!

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Bottom flap flaps down by a very crude clip

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"HEPA"* filter

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I vowed never to touch another new vax again after the Turboforce fiasco!

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The plunger is plunged with the filter inserted. No idea what it actually achieves though!

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Mmmm grimey

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Cyclone* shroud

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And that was the dirt bin fully stripped.

Seller said it had been lightly used. As soon as she said that, I knew she was a lying toerag and this thread and its contents would happen...

After undoing lots of screws Ilifted the motor cover

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It's intended owners have already done their DIY, and this will be lightly used so hopefully it wont look like that again...

Eventually found this screw hidden behind a wheel, which I had to pop off very awquardly

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I wouldn't undo those 2 screws if someone paid me to!

The cord exit has rollers top and bottom, which I find quite nice

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Ah, we must be nearly there then...

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For some reason, the blockage sensor tube was fitted with a kink in. Will be shortening it to take that out before re-fitting it...

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Oh look Numatic, a huge heatsink to keep the triad cool and stop it from blowing.......

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Extracted the throbbing beast

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The loud (but not screaming loud) motor

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One of these is 1200w, the other is 2000w...

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Oh god make it stop!

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Done! with the main body at least! Fair play vax, everything just screws together. Turboforce was very similar. Makes cleaning very easy

Floorbrush now, although it's an odd one as it doesn't fit the parking slot. Something obviously did, as there's wear marks on it where one has been parked before.

Anyway, it's all academic really as it's very very broken. The lady had heard of me as she said "You sell Hoovers dont you?". I said yes, and proceeded to get it all out and inspect. Got some money off for this. She was genuinly surprised at the state of it tbh

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It all went in the bin, and I got this nice one out of my spares pile. Will be better for amys dad anyway, they have mostly laminate,with some deep but very flat carpet (going to take a turbopower with me the next time we visit!)

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However it also needed work

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Found a motor sticker

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and took the hose ends off

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Lots of very small fiddly screws!

Currently waiting to be washed, I put the Dolphin back together afterwards!

More soon!

 

[suckolux]

Wow, Vac looks like a PAIN in the butt

 

[uksausage]

Omg

Bugger me. I hate when people say it's had light use because you just know that they are either lying in a vain attempt to get as much money as possible. Or they are just dirty people who are not familiar with the concept of vacuuming. It's not very often I come across someone who is actually clean and not lying.
Really looking forward to seeing it when it's all done and back together. I really enjoy your posts on here when your stripping down your machines and rebuilding them Keep it up

David
X

 

[beko1987]

Heh I'm used to checking what sellers say now, even if I look like the most analy retentive bloke around!

 

[beko1987]

Well its all washed. Only 3 tiny tiny parts tried to escape down the plughole!

Must have had something on it though as doing the outer casings my cleaner stopped foaming. Will give it a polish to get fully rid of it when its back together!

 

[suckolux]

That looked very much like a challenge, so many little parts

 

[beko1987]

It was, nearly missed 3 bits putting it back together! However, credit to it nothing snapped or broke during this thread!

Which is about to be concluded!

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Floortool

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Back together! I greased every pivot pointand it works very well now!

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to give you an idea of how fiddly it was!

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Shame the cheap plastic's worn so though

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Handle back together

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Speed controller, which doesn't adjust constantly, but missed parts of the rotation and steps up. Probably part of the design rather than actually being broken I think

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Handle back together

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Air valve back in

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Had to do the next bit at the same time, as it all interlinks. So wiring and rubberwire seal went in, then the motor was plugged in and placed in, and the lid screwed down on all of it

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Chopped it down to ease the kink off

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Sound deadening (lol) put back in

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Greased the wheel hubs and put them back

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Thought I should check what it ran before carrying on. The casing does deaden alot of the noise, which is nice. It's no puuring Sensotronic System 2 though...



Ah good

It wouldnt run at first, and I started to get worried, until I plugged the speed controller and led in...

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Rest of the dirt box back together (quickly as it was getting ruddy cold in the garage!)

and done!

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I know which I'd prefer for daily vacuuming if forced to!

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Got the day off tomorrow, so will run it round, clean it up and let Amys dad know it's ready!

 

[ultraperformer]

Another great job Sam looks new again! It sounds like it has a lot of suction on the video, if you don't mind the extra filter maintenance I've always found most single cyclone machines to be very powerful.

 

[beko1987]

With alot of filter maintanance I think it could be a good machine. I imagine it will be very needy though. I had to wipe every seal clean again after that quick test on the garage floor!

HEPA filter is washable though, which helps.

 

[suckolux]

Very nice job! Cool looking machine, but yea I would want a bag on one like that.Nice work.

 

[beko1987]

Finished this off tonight after running it round
Damn, only just realised the video is the wrong ratio. Too late to re do it now!



Sorry!

And it works quite well! Not the best for the carpet we have, but for acres of laminate and 2 thin pile bedrooms it will be fine!

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Oh yes, I forgot to say, I got the box and packaging too!

Small tools are unused, and again look quite Hitachi...

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All done!

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I'll check up on it from time to time when we visit Amys dad. No doubt I'll hear when it clogs up, shits itself somehow or the filter blocks, so time will tell if that happens or not.

Very tempted to take a turbopower when we next go too. Their font room carpet should be very deep pile, bu it's not at the moment... Best I've used on it so far is the Bolero the day I bought it, whichwasn't too great in itself.

Anyway, the Vax Centrix 3 everyone, it was quite painless really, wasnt it?

 

[suckolux]

Nice! And what a little doll!

 

[stricklybojack]

Thanks for posting this...

you did an excellent job. Btw, where did you find this vacuum?

 

[beko1987]

It was on a local Facebook selling group.

 

[beko1987]

The love is OVER

Right. Not 6 days after Amys dad picked it up he phoned complaining that it kept cutting out. Not a problem I said, bring it round and I'll have a look.

When he gave it back, the whole thing was covered in dust. It blew out of the motor, the post filter was full of dust. The pre filter was even more full of dust.

What had happened, I deduced is they used it and it filled up fast. They haven't ever vacuumed their house as they used to use a brush and just pick the bits off the carpet. So this pulled no end of rubbish out I expect, which filled the bin up so much, then sucked the dirt out of the bin, through the shroud and into the filter. Filter clogged, motor overheated, machien died

They would them empty it, clean the filter, then used it again when it cooled and worked. Until it clogged and died.

I had a look at it tonight, and shot this video which shows it pretty well. Cyclone and filters vacced off well, a turbopower bag of dirt dumped and the vax used until it died...



It didn't overheat but it clogged up good, and shows the filter getting a beating. The dirt I used wasn't too fine, so I couldnt demonstrate the filter filling up behind the foam, but you get the idea!

Just to show it wasnt a difficult job, I used the Electrolux 156 that George gave me to do the job properly...



So, I am now put off modern Vax 'cyclonic' machines, I'm sorry! I will never buy one again, I will never recommend one again! I've got Amys dad a DC08 now, which is stripped, washed and waiting to go back together. I tried, but I guess for cyclonic machines you just cant beat a Dyson.

But then you just cant beat a good old bagged machine either, which as the Lux shows, with its lack of fuss drama suction loss or mess just works better!

(flame proof suit on...)

 

[hi-loswitch98]

No wonder the Vax Centrix 3 the local Car Boot Cafe had died after 3 uses!

 

[sebo_fan]

What a cute little baby girl - love the red toy teapot too!

 

[ultraperformer]

Wow that is bad, I've done similar tests with my Vax Mach Air but it copped ok to be honest when I checked the pre motor filter it was still clean but it is multi cyclonic. Still I didn't expect this to be THAT bad!!! My AEG UltraPerformer is only a single cyclone but that keeps its filter very clean, this Vax is obviously very poorly designed.

 

[beko1987]

That's exactly what it is, badly designed. No real thought or testing of the concept I imagine, just made, put on sale and move onto the next cheap machine!