Wahl Hair Clipper performance deterioration. Repair?

[MC Bodge]

I have had a set of mains-powered Wahl hair clippers for about 18 years. Used once every 1-2 weeks.

I have sharpened the blades various times.

Recently, the performance has deteriorated significantly. I have given it a good clean out and have tried re-tensioning the armature to 2lbs, as suggested in various places on www.

The clippers are still not performing well, taking multiple passes to shave 1 week of growth.

I could buy a set of new clippers, but it seems unnecessary for such a simple tool that has had such light use.

Any ideas for improving them?

[Scrump]

Have you turned the motor tuning screw on the side? Makes a huge difference to how well they cut.

[MC Bodge]

Yes. It appears that it may not be tolerating as much "turn"/ voltage as it did in the past before clattering, though, and it often clatters when it traps hairs.

The motor may be failing. I'll give the motor a blast of compressed air to clean it out.

[Spare tyre]

Dunno what I’m talking about, but my dad always bangs on about oiling his

[MC Bodge]

Spare tyre said:

Dunno what I’m talking about, but my dad always bangs on about oiling his

I oil mine too. With the Wahl oil

[foxbody-87]

MC Bodge said:

I have had a set of mains-powered Wahl hair clippers for about 18 years.

I sense this may be the heart of the issue. Getting towards a thousand uses isn’t bad going, the motor is probably on its way to failing I’d imagine.
If you bought a new set today I’d doubt anyone would be able to accuse you of being wasteful!

[joshcowin]

Wahl from my home town of herne bay, now main office in Manston.

I just bought a pair of their clippers if I get 5 years out of them I'd be happy!

[gregs656]

18 years seems like a good run. I bought some cheap wahl ones 4 years a go and if they died now I'd felt like I got my money out of them.

I have been considering upgrading them to a higher quality set for a while.

[gmasterfunk]

Spare tyre said:

Dunno what I’m talking about, but my dad always bangs on about oiling his

Yes this makes a huge difference

[Benni]

Spare tyre said:

Dunno what I’m talking about, but my dad always bangs on about oiling his

How friendly of him, but what about the clippers ?

[Monkeylegend]

I have just today bought a new Babyliss Hair Clippers for men for £28 from Sainsbury, a bit cheaper online, to replace the same make and model that I have had for nearly 25 years which I never oiled apart from the first use when new.

I am thinking I need to oil the new pair more often so they last a bit longer, but I will be nearly 100 years old so I don't think I will bother.

At £1 per year plus electricity for 26 haircuts I think that is a bit of a bargain.

[CourtAgain]

gmasterfunk said:

Spare tyre said:

Dunno what I’m talking about, but my dad always bangs on about oiling his

Yes this makes a huge difference

Switched to a portable USB-C handheld clippers, around £15 on Amazon, so dispensible. Have been very reliable so far in the past 2 years

[MDMA .]

I give mine a blast with barbicide after every use. Still like new, never been adjusted. Use them as a bare blade on my face twice a week. Had them over 12 years now.

[Mazinbrum]

I thought this was a joke at first, it isn’t is it?
You certainly believe in getting your moneys worth!

[MC Bodge]

Mazinbrum said:

I thought this was a joke at first, it isn’t is it?
You certainly believe in getting your moneys worth!

I do indeed.

It's more about not throwing things away if they can still be useful and I enjoy repairing things. They are a simple, well-engineered tool.

I wonder how much mileage a barber shop gets out of a set?

Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 5th December 22:17

[gregs656]

MC Bodge said:

I do indeed.

It's more about not throwing things away if they can still be useful and I enjoy repairing things. They are a simple, well-engineered tool.

I wonder how much mileage a barber shop gets out of a set?

A lot less than 18 years. It's been a few years since I went to a barbers but did notice they went through them, I think the cables fail.

[Ice_blue_tvr]

Possibly the motor itself has just degraded?

Replace them with a set of wahl magic clippers. Job done.

[MC Bodge]

gregs656 said:

A lot less than 18 years. It's been a few years since I went to a barbers but did notice they went through them, I think the cables fail.

I suspect that they don't use them only once a week for 10mins, though

Cables should be easily replaced.

[Baldchap]

You'll never go back to old-fashioned clippers after a set of these:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B012F8MS9A?psc=...

[MC Bodge]

Baldchap said:

You'll never go back to old-fashioned clippers after a set of these:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B012F8MS9A?psc=...

What is the difference?