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This vac was purchased from Bunnings and has been used to clean a house that has three large dogs plus other regular K9 visitors and it – pongs! The main blue cone filter is regularly changed but it’s got to the point where changing that does nothing to reduce the awful smell. At this point I give the V6 (and similar models) 1 out of 5 stars because something inside the main unit is harbouring the smell and it will never go away.
Materials
Water.
Deodorizer spray.
Fruit & veggie bag.
Rubber band.
Tools
Screwdrivers.
Tweezers.
Shop vac.
Small paintbrush.
Steps
Step 1
There are only two screws that need to be removed, the rest is a press fit into retainers which makes it fiddly to dismantle.
Remove screw from back of handle.
With dust container ejected remove the back screw.
Pull out the battery and put aside.
Here we go... with small screwdrivers carefully start prying off the motor cover that is moulded with a part of the handle.
Go slow... be careful.
With the motor cover removed so far no broken plastic.
This is where the air flow exits out through the back cover that was just removed. At this point on another Dyson repair with a 'dead motor' strands of carpet had been sucked in and jammed the impeller blades, after that was removed the motor worked again - all good. Onto the next stage.
Step 2
I mentioned that the main unit must he harbouring that awful smell and I should have used the word 'smells' because here is the first source, filters inside the motor cover.
Don't want to risk removing those filters with regular pointy nose tweezers so reached for a pair of electronics component tweezers. Typically that one is used to grip and then extract resistors after they have been desoldered from a PCB.
Put those aside for now.
Here is another source of the awful smell.
That is like a rubberised collector that snaps over a circular ridge around the bottom of the head unit which contains the only user replaceable blue cone filter! Cleaned that one and put it next to the other filters.
There is another filter in the middle section of this unit.
White arrow indicates where you prise open with screwdriver.
Clip is released now poke a straight edge screwdriver in there and gently twist to seperate.
Crikey... we just found the main source of the awful smell.
I took that outside to shake/tap and brush out as best I could then back inside to blow out with the shop vac.
Step 3
User replaceable filter.
I was curious to see just how much this drop-in cone filter had collected. It competes very well with the other filters on the smell level scale.
There are three tabs that can be released with a small screwdriver and I am thinking if I remove the bottom cap.
I can slide the filter off the holder which will make it a lot easier to empty, blow out and wash. The cap resisted my initial attempts to pry it off and I stopped trying. I suspect the cap is bonded to the bottom of the holder with induction heating.
Went ahead and did a pretty good job of cleaning it out by tapping and when needed removing clumps of dog hair.
Washed it out under the backyard garden tap and left it to dry.
Step 4
Back in the kitchen washed everything under the kitchen tap and left to dry in front of a fan heater. Later on (and I forgot to take a photo of everything nice and clean) I put the whole lot into a rubbish bag which I then filled with deodorant spray (Lavender) and quickly sealed with a rubber band.
This morning when I opened the bag yay no overpowering doggie smells. Put everything back where it should be and tested the vac - all OK.
Hello @AlanM52
Thank you very much for sharing the cleaning procedure for a Dyson V6 hand vac.
Just a friendly reminder to our members, while it can be tempting to tackle the disassembly and reassembly of electrical appliances yourself, it’s important to keep in mind that working with electrical components can pose safety risks, including the potential for short circuits or injury. For peace of mind and to ensure the appliance is serviced correctly, we recommend having it looked at by a qualified technician at an accredited repair centre.
Eric
I appreciate all your appliance tips on this site @AlanM52.
I don't have your skills, knowledge and experience - but I do like to have a go, within reason.
Most appliances we have are rather cheap, so I employ a 'point of no return' strategy - pull it apart, but can't locate the problem and based on cost = bin.
But I had a big win last week with an old and rather expensive Whirlpool front loader. Purchased when Kevin Rudd was throwing money around to kick start the economy.
The LED display was coming up with a "PF" alarm. Google says a blocked hose or water pump failure.
I rang an appliance company and if it was the pump - rough replacement cost quoted at around $500.
Point of no return reached.
However my son located the same pump for $33 dollars on Amazon (in Melbourne).
So I thought I would break the machine down and have a look.
Biggest issue was a 100kg in a very confined space. Then another 100 kg for the washer. 😁
A long story made short - I found a broken piece of Biro pen blocking the impeller blade in the pump.
Put it all together - and it works! Absolutely thrilled.
No cost - but it took six hours of my life.
Cheers.
I can't help but feel Dyson stole part of the design style from Dick Dastardly's 'Mean Machine'....
😁
Cheers!
