I'm crestfallen. Discovered that my Sanitaire SC886 Quick Kleen has a crack in the base.

[superocd]

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!

 

[tomturbomatic]

I had to replace the basement hose for my central vac system. After close to 20 years, it was crumbling so I ordered the new hose last night and a holder for it. I sympathize with your need of repairs.

 

[petek]

You may be able to glue it with the proper glue (not superglue) a two part cyanoacetate type glue. That's what I would try first.

 

[speedqueen]

I work in a vacuum shop rebuilding Sanitaire cleaners, certainly odd for you to have a cracked base with mild use. The ones with cracked bases we usually see are also totally trashed, you ought to see what crap we can turn back into a nice looking, good performing, rebuilt cleaner.

 

If you get a new base, you also have to order 2 motor gaskets, they are disposable foam rubber, unlike the permanent floor plate gasket., one for the motor side, one for the Quick Kleen^TM fan chamber side, too. Make sure you don't put the floor plate latches in a bad position when you put in the front axle, you'll have to undo everything again to get them in the right position, I cannot name how many times I've done that.

 

I hope you have torx screw drivers, everything on an SC886 but the Quick Kleen^TM fan chamber screws are torx, the Quick Kleen^TM are philips. On other models, the disposable bag is mounted with philips, as well.

 

Overall, this is an easy job, and will allow you to clean everything off before you re-assemble it. Shouldn't take more than 2 hours at the most.

 

[superocd]

I've got plenty of Torx drivers, even security Torx.

I ordered the base and the gaskets and they are on the way. I hope that it doesn't happen again. There's no reason why it should. Like I said, this Sanitaire is living a pampered life. It is looked after as if it was an heirloom Kirby. I even take the time to polish the chrome. I think the crack started out as a hairline fracture from a manufacturing defect or shipping damage and then worsened as time went on due to vibration. Maybe the plastics aren't as robust as they once were. I'm afraid to see what cost-cutting measures Bissell will take as they purchased Sanitaire (and Beam central vacs) from Electrolux. We all know the best ones were made in Bloomington, Illinois by the Eureka-Williams Company.

I would have gotten my hands on an old Eureka metal base if I was able to find one. I'd take it in to get it powdercoated the same shade red as the OEM base. The only thing is that I would lose the Quick Kleen feature and I don't know if it would have been the best thing to buy an older metal base to begin with for the simple fact that I'm thinking that there might have been some slight changes to an otherwise identical machine, like the stampings where whe brushroll is mounted in or the recessed contour where the hood would sit. I could be wrong.