any electrical engineers here??
any electrical engineers here??
Author
Discussion

nogginthenog

Original Poster:

620 posts

231 months

Sunday 7th September 2008
quotequote all
I have a vacuum cleaner that trips the electrical circuit within about a second of being switched on. The motor spins for a fraction of a second, then the 'fuse' on the household supply trips. I have stripped off the cover and worked out that some fool has used it to suck-up water ( it was in a buy-to-let property so my fvcking tenants did it - not me! ) . It's not totally waterlogged, so I have put it in a very warm place to dry it out - the top of a cast-iron stove that gets to a nice heat with just the pilot on - hot, but still touchable.

What I would like to know is :

A - is it likely to ever run safely again?

B - should I apply some kind of anti-moisture aerosol - and if so, is WD40 suitable, or what is the right stuff to use?

I would bin it, but it's a newish Miele machine - an 'S 381' if that makes any odds.

Thanks in advance.

Ganglandboss

8,559 posts

233 months

Sunday 7th September 2008
quotequote all
Spray some electrical contact cleaner in, spin the motor a few times (by hand - not by switching it on) and leave it to dry before trying it again.

mrobertshaw

2,187 posts

260 months

Sunday 7th September 2008
quotequote all
It sounds like its shorting somewhere and returning to much power to earth. Has anyone opened it up before? Any wires broken/ touching?

Edited to remove the bit about replacing if old or cheap.

Edited by mrobertshaw on Sunday 7th September 15:35

Pesty

42,655 posts

286 months

Sunday 7th September 2008
quotequote all
should be fine when it dries out.