I was changing a belt in my Sanitaire the other day and discovered a vertical crack on the right side of the base right where the inner "wall" of the brushroll chamber meets the outer edge of the base. The crack looks as if it starts just under the edge of the chrome hood and stops about 80% of the way down the side of the base. The lip that goes around the base, which retains the vinyl bumper guard, is where it stops. There is about a quarter of an inch between this lip and the bottom edge of the base.
I don't know how it got there. I've never picked anything up that would thrash around in the brushroll chamber (like coins or rocks). I've never rammed it into anything. In fact, it still looks as if it just came out of the box, even after three years. The vinyl bumper guard doesn't even have any of the typical paint marks, scratches or abraisions on it, so it has lived a gentle life. It's never been dropped and nothing has ever dropped on it.
Should I live with it or should I order a new base, tear it all down and replace the base? It isn't affecting the vacuum in any way but it just bothers me. I am more than comfortable in tearing it down to rebuild it (I'm not aftaid to fix anything) and bases are not all that expensive (at $40 for a Quick Kleen-type base), but it's a little disconcerting that my base is cracking when the vacuum is being used in a very light-duty application in a two-person household.
I would expect this to happen on a Dyson (Dysons feel really, really flimsy to me) or a cheap $50 Walmart vacuum but not a Sanitaire. I bought one because I've always liked these, because these are probably one of the best performers on the market (with the raw suction and the Vibra-Groomer) and very frequently hold up for years in really abusive commercial environments. I was thinking that I'd only have to worry about bags and belts and maybe the occasional brush strips/Lexan fan and have the rest of the machine last for 30-50 years or more. Suffice it to say that I'm a little disappointed!
I don't know how it got there. I've never picked anything up that would thrash around in the brushroll chamber (like coins or rocks). I've never rammed it into anything. In fact, it still looks as if it just came out of the box, even after three years. The vinyl bumper guard doesn't even have any of the typical paint marks, scratches or abraisions on it, so it has lived a gentle life. It's never been dropped and nothing has ever dropped on it.
Should I live with it or should I order a new base, tear it all down and replace the base? It isn't affecting the vacuum in any way but it just bothers me. I am more than comfortable in tearing it down to rebuild it (I'm not aftaid to fix anything) and bases are not all that expensive (at $40 for a Quick Kleen-type base), but it's a little disconcerting that my base is cracking when the vacuum is being used in a very light-duty application in a two-person household.
I would expect this to happen on a Dyson (Dysons feel really, really flimsy to me) or a cheap $50 Walmart vacuum but not a Sanitaire. I bought one because I've always liked these, because these are probably one of the best performers on the market (with the raw suction and the Vibra-Groomer) and very frequently hold up for years in really abusive commercial environments. I was thinking that I'd only have to worry about bags and belts and maybe the occasional brush strips/Lexan fan and have the rest of the machine last for 30-50 years or more. Suffice it to say that I'm a little disappointed!