[sweetpea]

Murphy's Law... It seems like all my electrical appliances are breaking :wah

The vacuum cleaner just started smoking and emitting this nasty rubber odor and I believe it has given up the ghost. The i's, l's, k's and 8's no longer work on my laptop computer unless I pound on it. My video store has stopped carrying videocassette new releases.

There's just no way I'm going to buy a 120V vacuum cleaner or region-specific DVD player a few months before I leave for the land of the long white cloud. In fact, I'm trying not to buy anything -- OK, that part isn't going so well :cool I am going to spring for a laptop soon.

Anybody have a rug beater I can borrow? ;)

[Tanya]

Murphy's Law... It seems like all my electrical appliances are breaking :wah

The vacuum cleaner just started smoking and emitting this nasty rubber odor and I believe it has given up the ghost.

Could it just be the belt?? That's what ours does when the belt has slipped and then snaps. A small replacement item and it's good as new - don't write it off straight away! What make/model is it? Can you get replacement parts for it? Start the Kiwi way - everything can be fixed :nice1

Tanya

[sweetpea]

Could it just be the belt?? That's what ours does when the belt has slipped and then snaps. A small replacement item and it's good as new - don't write it off straight away! What make/model is it? Can you get replacement parts for it? Start the Kiwi way - everything can be fixed :nice1

Tanya

Tanya, thanks for the suggestions.

Unfortunately, it's not the belt -- or rather, the belt mechanism/motor is the problem, but replacing the belt did not fix it. The belt gets burned through and breaks within a minute or two. The vacuum is a wimpy Eureka Upright I bought at Target for $50, so I don't want to put too much into it. After 3 years of picking up snowdrifts of dog hair, it's probably reached the end of its life anyway -- planned obsolescence sucks.

I'm practicing my Kiwi -- I just removed the beater bar and the belt and am using it 'as is'. Vacuuming still leaves some dog hair ground into the rugs, but things get almost passably clean ;)

Laura