Box Fan: Bad Thermal Fuse

Sunday afternoon's project was a Lasko box fan: not working at all. It was easy enough to disassemble. The problem turned out to be a blown thermal fuse which was nestled deep in the motor near the motor windings.

The thermal fuse is rated 115° C, I had that value on hand and replaced it, the fan works again. It's a fairly straightforward repair but care needs to be taken working around the delicate motor winding wires.

We see thermal fuses nestled next to motor windings in all sorts of appliances: coffee grinders, food processors, blenders, etc. It's a common part to fail, it's often a mystery why it goes bad.

Vacuum Clogs: Check Carefully for the Root Cause

Saturday morning's project was a Dyson Ball Multi Floor vacuum with two nasty clogs: one in the hose from the brush head, one in the wand.

The wand had a Canadian Quarter wedged deep inside, I was able to yank it out with a wire coat hanger modified with a hook

The brush head vacuumed up a needle that stuck in the soft flexible plastic hose between the head and the main body of the vacuum, I was able to fish that out with a pliers.

Neither item was immediately evident as a root cause for the clogs and poor suction: there was a lot of fluff that had accumulated around both items. After the fluff was cleared both the brush head and the wand immediately had good suction and one might've been tempted to declare victory at that point. However: without further inspection to find and remove the quarter and the needle the clogs would have re-occurred.

From a maintenance perspective this vacuum was designed for relatively easy access to and inspection of the places where a clog might develop. This video was helpful too: https://youtu.be/YgR-hfT2Mhk

We see vacuums with poor suction all the time and the root cause is almost always a rigid or semi-rigid item wedged in a hose that accumulates fluff around it until it clogs the hose.