Refurbing the Vacuum Cleaner

We purchased a Dirt Devil upright vacuum cleaner in 2007 when we opened Rubenesque for Less and unbelievably, it has suffered the near daily abuse of the employees until now with no more maintenance than changing the bag. Even now, the only problem was a broken power cord where it entered the motor.

It was a filthy job, and I ended up having to completely dismantle the device to get to the motor. Finally, I was down to two screws and couldn’t figure out how to reach them. It was at this point the Wife said not to worry about it and that we would get a new one. However, by that time I had removed four years worth of crap from the beater bar. Given the opp to give up removed any pressure. I soon found a way to access the screws and was inside the motor compartment staring at the wiring connections in no time.

I cut away the bad cord end and made new connections. Before complete reassembly, I fired her up and she purred like new. This was significant, because the vacuum had been subjected to a lot of sheet rock dust over the years: a notorious killer of vacuum cleaner motors. I have a Shopvac with a sheet rock filter, but it has not always been available.

After a couple of hours, it was finally back together and I used it to clean up the considerable mess I’d made. I instructed the staff on the proper way to wind the cord and put it away until needed again. There are innumerable expenses associated with the maintenance of the Wife’s business. Happily, the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner is not among them.