Electrolux Ergorapido battery replacement

There is plenty to go wrong here, but you can repair it
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Electrolux Ergorapido battery replacement

Post by kevm14 »

This is a cordless bagless stick vac. LED lighting, two speeds, brushroll cleaner, detachable handheld vac with attachments. This particular unit I bought as a display clearance item from Lowes for $90. Normally this is something like $150 or something. We also had another Ergorapido prior...and before that, a Eureka with NiCad batteries.

Decent vac, articulating head is handy. But the batteries suck. Cheap cells, bad charging, not sure. But the batteries don't last much more than a year or two and then one cell seems to get all shitty and ruins the whole deal. By the way, I looked for replacements. It is HARD to find a good replacement that does what I want, that doesn't have shitty batteries, that doesn't cost way too much. The Eureka with NiCad batteries lasted longer, but it did come with two packs. That was years ago at the old house.

I like these for keeping the dirt buildup down on hardwood floors. Jamie likes them, too, for the convenience.

Anyway, it turns out the battery itself is not user serviceable. It does have a 12V NiMH pack but the pack is kind of all integrated with the unit. However, Electrolux does sell a "replacement battery" which is just the handheld part, with no filter housing. So yeah you are replacing the batteries but you're also replacing the motor. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Anyway, MSRP is about $70. I could not find an exact replacement on Amazon. I did, however, find one that looked very similar. My model is the EL1062A. The one I found is the EL1022A, here: http://www.amazon.com/Electrolux-69315- ... ailpages00, for $53 shipped (now $55).

Brief research revealed that I could swap the batteries from the new one over to my old one, worst case.

When I received it, I noticed it is definitely a different shade of gray but it the filter snapped right in and it clicked in to the vac. It also charges normally.

There was just one minor problem.

The brushroll cleaner did not work! How could that be? it is just a bar/blade that you press into the brushroll with a foot pedal button while the vac is on. That cuts up all the junk wrapped around the brushroll and it sucks it up. Pretty awesome actually. But what would happen with the new part is the vacuum would shut right off as soon as I pressed the button. I thought it was broken at first and then I realized there is actually an electric switch in addition to the mechanical blade linkage. That switch evidently is being interpreted wrong by the different P/N vac unit and it is shutting off.

I thought about swapping the batteries over as I originally intended. But then I had a better idea.

I took the bottom brush roll head apart. There are about 10 screws. Some are hidden behind the floor roller wheels. Notice how the brush is designed to come out easily for cleaning (which is pretty much never due to the brush roll cleaning feature). Pics next.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Electrolux Ergorapido battery replacement

Post by kevm14 »

Here it is after loosening all the screws. Even the flexible suction duct is removable in case of a clog. Remove brush roll also.
WP_20160507_14_10_14_Pro.jpg
Here is the switch that contacts when actuating the brush roll blade. My solution? I simply snipped the orange wire. And that worked perfectly.
WP_20160507_14_20_30_Pro.jpg
I think what the switch did was turn the brush roll motor to the slower speed setting, since maybe the high speed setting is a bit too aggressive on the brush. I will just make sure it is in low speed before engaging the cleaner.

Assembled
WP_20160507_14_29_22_Pro.jpg
Repaired!
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