[Max Campbell]

Our 10 year old BS 46 has been over-balancing backwards for a while, and recently the beater bar switch, operated by slotting the tube into the base, has needed a lot of fiddling to get the beater bar to switch on.

Vicol will look at the fault for £35, which is credited to the cost of any repair, but I've got to get it to them and back, and pay the cost of the repair itself.

Has anyone else had experience of having a fault like this repaired? What cured it? Is it likely to be a major part or parts? A new one would (only?!) cost £315, which over 10 years of daily use is pretty small beer.

[garyfindlay]

is the tube worn and not making the switch? it should be like a smarties tube end at the bottom.

[Mark_Jubb]

like Gary says, sounds as though the vac tube has become so worn that it is no longer able to easily make the connection when inserted into the base. Just order a new vac tube, when it arrives, you'll be amazed how much the difference is between that and the old one.