Dyson DC07 stops after 5 mins?

Some DC07 motors were faulty, these ran for 5 mins then stopped, there is a thermal cut out in the motor housing, I had a DC07 motor replaced and when the engineer informed me that it was one of the faulty motors, I then asked him if the repair was free and he waived the £60 call out fee,

Graham
September 2014

this was happening to me to my dyson as well. The issue was a major clog down just inside the rollers. Take off the roller head....more than likely that is where your clog is that is preventing proper suction and also causing it to overheat and shut down.

dutch
January 2014

Clean it as described, but rather than water use compressed air to blast the muck out. I took mine to the garage & used the tyre inflator, may not be popular with other users though!!

Chris K
May 2011

my dyson makes a high pitch screeching noise after approx 20 secs, but it still works. what is making the noise

matt
November 2010

Great information from Femke.
Had a problem understanding what I was looking for, but when I got a good light on it & looked down the hole in the cone in 2 out of the 7 I could see 2 small 'half-moon' like sources of light down inside the cone.
I used the loads of water, narrow hosepipe jet, much shaking when full of water, plus poking with knitting needle, eventually got each hole cleared.
Then spend a good long time drying, but having seen how blocked the holes were I am can see why the vacuum was bad and the motor would be overheating.

"Dyson - No loss of suction"
Ha Ha Ha!, how do they get away with it???
It may have no bag but it has plenty filters and other things to clog up!

Thanks again Femke, I owe you.

Andy R in UK
October 2010

HEPA filter! The "lifetime HEPA filter" is not lifetime - pop the motor housing under where the canister sits; use a butter knife & pop the sides first then the front one. The HEPA filter sits under there - take it out & it's probably black (it should be white). You can order a new one (don't forget the seal, too). It cuts off because it is protecting the motor - it can't breathe & when the HEPA filter is clogged. Don't bypass anything that prevents is from shutting off!

I love my Dyson
June 2010

replace the motor brushes,making sure your clean the brush housings,also take out the comunator and clean with fine wire wool and meths & replace,you will find you can run the motor for as long as you want without it cutting out!!

luke knights
March 2010

If like our house there is a lot of long hair, you can also try removing the hair not only from around the brush, but remove the brush plate and make sure all the hair is removed that wraps around the metal next to the belt. If this get tied up elsewhere it can give resistance to the belt and therefore affect more pressure on the motor. This used to happen a lot on an Hoover upright we used to have which would cut out/overheat until it was cut away. Our Dyson is having similar issues. I'm sure 99% of the time the other solutions will do the trick, but if this helps one person it's worth posting.

Pablo
November 2009

Femke's answer worked for me too! Thanks!

farmgirl
April 2009

I used a George vacuum (or any other strong vacuum) to suck out the dust from the cyclones - worked a treat. Just place the suction over the thin top end of the cyclones - use your hand or anything else to ensure a good suction on the entrance to the cyclone. You will hear the dust lumps being pulled up into the suction tube. Check as above and if necessary loosen any bits as suggested above. Of course this method requires access to another vacuum cleaner!

Engineer Lewis
January 2009

I tried Femke method; total success; thanks very much

nokyaad
October 2008

I tried washing out the cyclones as suggested by Mick and I got out a whack of dirt but no real improvement. I eventually took it to a local repair depot who changed the Thermal cut out which cost about £3/4. After they also cleaned it I paid a total of £35 and now have it working as new. Worth a shot I guess.

Ian King
June 2008

thanks the bath way worked saved me stripping it. need to stand on the mats again!!

graham
January 2008

my dyson 07 will not stand up right and air is coming out of the handle when using the hoover

claire
October 2007

I have tried all the methods here, and it's still cutting out.What else could it be? I have ran it without the HEPA filter, to see if it may need a new one of them, but still cuts out...help!!

IA
September 2007

Fill the bath with hot water & prepare to be amazed.

Fill the cyclone up from the tap (via the hole at the bottom) while the bath fills & keep shaking it about & emptying. What you will notice is that it fills up but nothing flows through. After a few minutes you will notice the water will start flowing out the hole on the side at the top of the cyclone (where the dust goes in)

Keep doing this untill the bath is full.

Empty dirty water & clean bath.

Again rinse hot water down the cyclone filling the bath up.

You should now have fairly clean water inthe bath with a few bits bobbing around in it.

Rise untill you think the job is done.

I have tried the "taking apart method" a few yrs ago & trust me its much easier to put in in the bath.

Eddie
September 2007

I thought I'd ad My twopenneth. On balance I would use the washing method. I tried femke's way and took the top off and cleaned the unit with a paintbrush but had no real success cleaning the washer discs as they are so far away and It's so dark in there!

I also found getting the top back on was fiddly as you have to guide the trigger release rod ,that releases the emptying flap, through a guide bracket at the bottom of the unit. I eventually managed this by pulling up on the trigger which extends it a little.

I therefor finished off by washing as John describes and the drying took a warm place and some patience plus the hairdryer

Ian
August 2007

Excellent advice. Worked beautifully.

One note of warning. When you put the top back on, it is possible that you will miss the nozzle at the 'bottom flap' end. This is essential as it allows the pull hook to open the bottom flap. If you find the flap won't open (because you've missed the trigger that pushes the bottom flap out) then use a wire coat hanger, push it down to the bottom of the cylinder and into the little hole. Shove it. It will open the flap.

Morgan
June 2007

Take a firm grip of the vacuum, place in rear of car, drive to local recycling centre and leave with the nice people there. Next, purchase a Numatic Henry and when it breaks down in 20 to 25 years, buy a new set of motor brushes and replace, vacuum like new.......Seriously, I have a 20 year old model (which I bought secondhand for 60 quid) and use everyday for cleaning up brick dust, rubble, and sawdust. My parents have a 25 year old model which I've just replaced the brushes on. You don't need bags (just brush off the filter every few weeks) and you can suck a square 9volt battery up it without causing any damage !!. Has anyone thought of sueing under the trades description act for their advertising line of "doesn't lose suction...ever" it blooming well does when it overheats mate !!

Phil
June 2007

hello have done all this and even replaced the motor any more ideas apart from throw it out the window as the suction is still very good

dan
February 2007

If you happen to be a scuba diver and have a bottle of compressed air - 2 min job ;)

jimbo
January 2007

I have had a similar problem and cured it a different way. Remove the cyclone unit and wash it thoroughly. I achieved this by filling it with water through the air inlet and shaking vigorously to shake the water around inside the unit. After a couple of washes I inverted the unit and filled it with hot fairy liquid water until the water came out through the air inlet. I let it stand for a half hour and then rinsed it several more times until eventually the water was clean. Shake to get as much water out as possible. Leave for 24 hours and then blow through with the wife's hardryer. Seemed to have restored the suction power, no tools, no lost screws and no real hassle. DOWNSIDE and WARNING I suppose are that water and electricity do not mix so be 100% sure you dry the cyclone unit thoroughly before putting it back on the machine.

Mick
December 2006

Thanks Femke, this has cured the problem, I thought I had solved it when I had cleaned out the area between the cyclones, which was completely packed hard with dust. However it did not fix the problem and after reading your advice, I could see the washer areas inside the cyclones were still blocked. It now vacuums like new !!!!

Just as a further tip, I used wooden kebab sticks, with tape attached securely to the end, which helped as in some cases the blockages stuck to the tape. Be careful to affix the tape well to the kebab stick and not to use too stronger tape you are aiming to stick to the blockage and not loose the tape inside the cyclone.

Derek
September 2006

whey hey
Cheers.

It works again.

mitch
September 2006

I think it's cos this is a confusing way of displaying answers... the author name is at the end and not the beginning.

Maff
September 2006

Why are you all thanking John when he didnt post the solution?

Lee
August 2006

Thanks John... you have saved me lots of money. Everything, including the wads of dust/lint in the cyclones and improvement in power after their removal, happened just as you said. Thanks again!

Michael O'Malley
July 2006

JOHN, THANKS FOR GOING TO THE TROUBLE OF WRITING YOUR SOLUTION, IT CERTAINLY WORKED FOR ME AND SAVED ME LOTS OF MONEY. THANKS

SARAH
July 2006

I have just serviced my Dyson as per the instructions left in the answer by FEMKE. My Dyson now lives again!!!

John
July 2005

OK, I've finally figured out what's wrong with mine, and fixed it. If it's no longer under guarantee, and you want to fix it yourself, here's how.
Remove the three hex screws at the top of the cyclone unit, you can find instructions for doing that online, just undo them and pull the cylcone unit apart, watch out for the rod that goes through the middle, and the fin that sits on the end of the rod, because that will undoubtedly fall off, and it's quite fiddly to put back on. The inside of the unit and the inside of the cyclones will probably be quite dusty, so give it a good shake and a clean with a dry paintbrush. You can't actually take the unit apart any further, the three screws on the inside serve no purpose so leave them be. The dust on the cyclones is not the actual problem, though. Once you've cleaned the unit itself, get yourself a good light spot and have a look inside each of the seven cyclone cylinders. What you're trying to do is look inside the thin opening towards the fatter bottom end. In the middle of each of the seven cylinders with enough light you will see a round opening. Check the cylinder directly above the air inlet first, because this one is easiest to see (there should be light coming in from outside at the base). Basically, the small washer shaped opening you can see, should be letting light through and revealing that it actually has two little support flanges, and the rest of it is open. What I actually saw was a small washer shaped white disc full of gunk. The opening was completely clogged. So now for the hard bit, poke around inside the cylinder with a cocktail stick or the like, until you feel you've hit the little disc of goop, and then try to poke it through. After about ten minutes of poking with various long instruments, I managed to get a big wad of dust out of the disc with a little cleaning brush that came with my turkey baster. Once you've got something out, look inside again and you will be able to what the unclogged hole should look like. Now get the other six holes to look the same, with more poking and pulling and prodding. Once you've done that, your dyson will suck again like a pro and stop overheating as well.
While you're at it, pull the fins and the perforated collar off of the chamber and clean all the bits that can be cleaned, clean the pre and post motor filters and your dyson will be as good as new.

Femke
July 2005