Re: Kenmore Canister vacuum cleaner: Bypassing the diode when connecting wire to the motor

On Jul 7, 4:41 am, "TWayne" <nob...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi,

When the vacuum stopped working - I knew it was electricity issue but
forgot about the lose prong on the ply which at that point was not
visible after I pushed it in a while back, a friend of mine tried to
check the wiring to the motor. In opening the housing, he must have
yanked it since the wire connecting motor to diode became detached at
the connecting point to the diode. he didn't have volt meter to test
th circuit and so when the motor didn't run, he said that the diode
was bad. In fact, he was calling the diode "fuse'.

Yesterday, I got another friend take a look at the vacuum cleaner.
connected the wire bypassing the diode and tested the circuit with his
volt meter. He found out there was no electricity coming in and
checked the plug and we found the one prong almost disconnecting. So,
we replaced the plug and the vacuum is working. (He said that the
diode can be bypassed w/ no consequences.) He was rushing and so I
didn't push him to put the diode back and re-do the wiring but I am
concern whether this setup is potentially dangerous to cause motor
damage. In fact, the light at the base unit came on and went off
soon after when I was vacuuming a small area. It made me wonder
whether the light bulb there got damage due to bypassing the diode.

Anyway, should I put the diode back and re-connect? I do have a UPS
(Uninterruptible Power Supply for computers) unit and I am wondering
whether plugging the vacuuming cleaner to it instead of the wall
outlet until I put that diode back and re-do the wiring. Or is it
okay to just use the vacuum w/ bypassing that diode?

Don't pluc it into a computer UPS. Most vacuums need much more power
than a computer UPS will provide (12A @ 120Vac = 1440VA - I doubt the
UPS is rated that high?

You are right. Mine was around 600Volts. I should have done actual
conversion calculation of 12 Amps to Volts first.

Anyway, it wouldn't run and could be awfully
hard on the UPS battery and vacuum motor if it tries to run for very
long (low voltage possible, more likely no voltage under that much
load).

Okay.

As for the diode, assuming it's really a diode, you indicated a light
that quit working.
This morning, when I used the vacuum briefly, it came one for a split
second. may be the connection there is just loose. I did ask him to
open that base unit but this guy is always rushing and said "It's not
important". I didn't push it knwoing that he is not far in his life as
his talent deserves because he's got no patience to do thins the right
way.

That light (and others if there are any) is likely what the diode was for; just a cheap way to creating the lower voltage
they wanted for the "light", LED, whatever it may be.
I'm guessing of course, but if you ever want the lights to last, you
probably have to put that diode back in the ckt.

I put that back yesterday.

More importantly, there seems to be some question as to whether it's
a diode or a fuse, based on what you've been told.

If it's in series with the motor windings, it's not a diode; it's going to be a fuse,
thermistor or some other type of temperature/current element. That
makes it even more important to put back, so that you have the safety
protection the unit was originally designed with.

Right. Thanks.


If it's only connected to the lights, etc. and not the motor, then it
is more likely a diode.

It's connected to the motor

Either rewire it properly or bring it to a shop would be my advice, the
shop having preference right now, and based on this event, I'd not let
those folks work on anything electrical again for you.

I will not have let him to complicated electrical work. Once he
diagnosed it

The first guy, mid to late 20s, was a friend of the brothers on my
block (circle block) who had replaced a part for me at the base unit,
the unit with the light issue I mentioned. (He and the brothers of my
Romanian neighbors were playing football that day when I asked the
older of the brothers to help me open that base unit to see ...).
They asked him to take a look and he said that he fixed his Mom's
vacuum all the time. So, this time, I thought he would have no
problem to open the housing where the motor is. I let him open the
housing to see whether any wiring was loose and also wanted to see/
learn. I didn't expect him to know complicated electrical work. Too
bad that he had to struggle to open the housing; I guess people are
not used to Kenmore design. I am not sure he owns a volt meter but if
he did, he didn't have with him that day when he stopped by when he
had a little time.

The second guy, 31 year old, knows a little more from practical work
experience (not from proper training on electrical work).

BTW, after the first guy looked at it, I took it to Sear repair place
and they said that igf the repair works goes over $90.00, they would
call me. If I decided not to repair, I'd still pay the diagnosing fees
like $50-60. Of course, at that time, I wasn't aware about the plug.
I decided that I'd rather put my money into a new canister and has
been looking for some handy individual on craigslist and then saw this
guy's ad. I wasn't going to let anyone work on it without my
supervision and w/o my approval at each step.

How long do these vacuum cleaner last? From the first experience of
opening the base, I knew that the belt is in excellent condition. I
did buy a spare one when I went to the repair center and the part that
needed replacement. I am going to replace both Hepa filter at the
point of intake air and the one in the housing area for the vacuum
bag.The pipe, the wand, etc. seems fine..so far.

Oh, when I called local repair places, mot do not work on Kenmore
because they cannot get the parts. One (via phone conversation) was
quick to tell me that it sounded like the motor upon my explaining
about the detached fuse. I didn't think the motor would go bad that
quickly - of course, I wouldn't know how often they go bad - and the
second guy told me that as well.



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