Henry repairs
Henry, Hetty, George – Charles or any other relative is taken good care of here. This more ‘Industrial’ machine type is a favourite in the UK. However, there are things that need to be taken into consideration.
I will speak of the Henry Model here as they are all basically the same with the exception of the Wet/Dry machines that just have an extra level of complexity.
The Henry is great for collecting debris from the surface of a floor but is not designed to clean carpets due to their ‘Passive’ Floor Heads – I do sell a ‘Turbine’ version which does have a Brush Beater Bar.
The older Henry had a 1200 Watt Motor, a speed control switch and even an external power socket in some models.
Most notable is the fact that these older models had bullet proof motors.
The newer 620 watt versions are, well – obviously not as powerful or well made as the previous generation so please don’t expect to go and buy a ‘Henry like Grannies’ and be happy.
- You can identify your Henry by lifting up the handle and reading the silver sticker under it.
The ‘Henry’ has its weaknesses, firstly THE BIG ONE!
YOU MUST USE A BAG IN A HENRY!
Because there is a ‘Bucket Filter’ between the black Motor Body and Bin people think that a bag is not required – this is incorrect and could potentially ruin your motor.
This ‘Bucket Filter’ is there to stop the bag from being pulled into the motor and stopping the vacuum from being generated as the air input aperture has been covered by the bag – it does not filter dust as such and lots of ’Stuff’ can get through it and consequently that ’Stuff’ WILL pass through the motor.
Never use a ‘Dry’ vacuum for moisture – water will kill motors, I have seen this many times.
Mains Cable – This cable will suffer from a ‘Stress Fracture’ over time and will need to be re-wired. I operate an ‘Exchange’ system where I take your entire cable rewind and replaced it with another repaired version. The machine will keep cutting out if there is a stress fracture in the cable – don’t worry, it’s annoying but shouldn’t damage anything with short term use.
Contacts – There are two sets of contacts that look like ‘Prongs’ internally between the cable rewind and the motor housing – this is to allow the cable to be rewound whilst still supplying power to the motor. The brass rings that these ‘prongs’ make contact with need to be correctly lubricated otherwise these contacts will break, this is a common problem.
Speed Control Card – For models with a speed control rocker switch there is a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) that can fail – you will only be able to use the machine on a certain power and have no control. I can either replace that card or wire the card out of the system entirely allowing you to only use the machine on HIGH power – the choice is yours.
Noisy Motor – Motor is unbalanced, not using a bag will cause this but I can rectify that as part of a service. Don’t use the machines if the motor sounds bad as you will make it worse – so much so that a new motor may be required.
Internal Post-Motor filter – There is an internal filter that you cannot get to, over time this will get filled with Carbon from the motor brushes and will need attention – this is dealt with as standard during a service.
The Henry is a staple here for repairs and servicing, we have a system for servicing these and even though these machines seem ‘Robust’ they do need servicing. Cleaning companies religiously keep to their service schedule as they can’t have a machine break down at the wrong moment.
Look after that Henry, it’s part of the family for many people.
