Inside a faulty Kärcher window vac.
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- I was sent this Karcher window vac by Chris and Mandy. It had suddenly stopped taking a charge.
These things are basically window squeegees with a vacuum unit built in so they can suck the collected water into an internal storage chamber.
Quite an interesting design. Many of the components clip together very snugly with injected seals that also extend to provide support for the ends of the lithium cell.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of UA-cam's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Clive’s top tip number 37.
“multimeters work much better when you turn them on”
We've all been there - many times!
4:46 - "OH!! One moment please..." BigClive's equivalent to anyone else letting loose with a long string of swear words...lol.
Love your comments Aleatha ❤️
You have to pass atleast 7ma through a Clive for a long string of swear words.
@@dubsydubs5234 That is so true. There is even a video to prove that fact.
See here >>> ua-cam.com/video/-5R-KBa18ME/v-deo.html
Aleatha Vogel ahaaaaa hahaha hahaha mega funny
Though the Electro-Grips video is great for a few Clive swears :)
Clive is the Hagrid of electronics: "I shouldn't have done that. I should not have done that."
The beard is also fairly reminiscent
@@Firecul contrary to the claims made by the History Channel, this is the real "beard of knowledge".
I heard this company was accused of high-pressure selling.
That comment is likely to wash over most peoples heads.
That's pressurising!
@@dubsydubs5234 So it might but yours wouldn't. 😉🤣🤣
The truth finally leaked out.
@@station240 oooh watery
I have had four now.
Two I took apart.
Similar faults.
First one had next to no thought about water getting in.
The second one I took apart.
A real effort was made with the seals.
But there was a hole ... to let the water in.
If you do get one make sure you pay the extra £3 And get never ending replacement.
Currys/PC World do offer this.
Well worth it (the cover)
We have this Kärcher for our big balcony windows since 3 years. It's very useful and cleans quite good!
Is this the first Big Clive double-pause?
Double insulated pause?
I've taken apart 2 or 3 of these before with exactly the same failure mode. 0 V on the batteries and corrosion on the motor and parts of the PCB.
Not surprising. I had a high pressure washer from the same brand and it self-destructed after very light use. But of course, out of the warranty period. The high-pressure part that failed was made of plastic, and it cracked badly. Not made to last, by any means.
Now i have a lavor branded washer. Every high-pressure section is made of aluminum. Even the water inlet.
@@f-s-r I agree I have the K2 pressure washer and the high pressure plastic pipe (stupid idea!) Split, but the wonders of eBay and £5 later I've replaced it and all is well.... For now! But was an easy fix. But, as you say a non-corrosive metal sections are far superior.
My parents had a karcher pressure cleaner when I was younger. Had it for about 15 years before it suddenly burst inside somewhere and leaked water out its butt. We didn't bother looking inside because it was so old.
@@tin2001 Well, 15 years is not bad lifetime for a pressure washer, i think, but mine lasted 3, maybe, and i used it very little.
Repaired mine last week... Corroded motor and 2v on the battery - was not charging. Great vid as always.
O
I am dissappointed you did not power it up with another battery or your power supply. It probably still works, corrosion be damned.
getyourkicksagain
Same here. Figure out how to fix the motorseal and you’re done.
@@TomAlter1000 Stop going around correcting peoples grammar in the comments. UA-cam comments are not a class in school asswipe.
@ipissed You're making yourself look very childish.
@@herrpez GASP! Oh no! You think I look childish on UA-cam comments. Shhh... I have a secret, my name isn't really ipissed, and I'm not wearing a tie. Pull my finger.
Me to he didn’t even try it probably still would have worked again but didn’t even try but if a fail of a video as there was no real point to it to show us if cleaning it up would have resolved the problem
I have been a window cleaner for 29 years and everyone said this device would be the end off me, reality is they are all under the sink now and i still cant cope with my work load.
You are a pro and we other are flimsy but this device is fun to do homework
5:10 Sorry, I missed it, can you clip it back on again? :-) :-D :-)
clive singned NDA with Kärcher about how to remove the clip...
@@SebBrosig -> Yes, with the penalty of death or the surrender of all the LEDs he owns should he violate the NDA. lol
I think you need to revisit this one Clive and power it up show us if you could replace the battery and remove corrosion to repair it
Mr Clive Sir... I waited and waited and to my disappointment you didn't fix the gall darn thing.. Soo anti-climatic.. speaking for myself, I need a happy ending to my electronic porn.. Off to check out your brother Ralphy's channel.. keep up the good work and have a great day Mr Clive Sir.. cheers
I bought one with the same fault. There's a resistor under the connector that seems to die 100%, and it's responsible for the charge circuit. It makes the charge circuit think the battery is fully charged and it cuts out the charger. UNFORTUNATELY THE DAMN RESISTOR'S BLOWN ITS TOP AND I CAN'T READ WHAT VALUE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
SO GLAD I SAW THIS VIDEO! My house has stupid wooden framed double glazing (as you would expect most panels of glass are shot) but as the the panes are also quite small and so many (yep they are a total pain to clean) I was going to buy this window vac to clean the windows that I can still see out of, but as there are so many panes, it would get quite a lot of use as not only is there a lot of small panes to clean... I live in London so the pollution muckies up the windows quickly... I can see this window vac lasting only a few months which for £50 quid isn't good at all and I don't feel like going in to Argos twice a year or wrapping up Amazon returns... I will stick with a chamois, a squeegee and a bucket!
Consider a dehumidifier if you have a high humidity problem.
@@bigclivedotcom Thanks for the reply! Yeah got two dehumidifiers humming away.
The instructions say it must only be used upright. I thought, 'Bah humbug' and took no notice. Wonder if mine is busy corroding away...
yes
Worked in a Karcher store for 2+ years and sold a lot of these, these are really fun for window cleaning (or any smooth surfaces, really). Repairing them is another story, as there are almost no parts you can get from the manufacturer - can't get the motor, the board - just the plastics and the rubber. And while with other equipment, Karcher can be very strict when it comes to doing a warranty repair (document the damage done, the parts that you used, send the broken ones back to central), we were told at some point to just straight up replace these (though we still had to ship the broken ones to central, there was no need for detailed documentation).
There are other models of this device, one appearing on the market after I've switched jobs. There is a WV5 which had a replacable (ok, EASILY replacible) battery (18650 in a case, as far as I know). There's also a WVP 10, which is a commercial-grade variant on WV5. It being 50% more expensive, I wonder whether it's any different from the WV5, as Karcher did sometimes just paint the body grey, give a warranty for commercial use and raise the price.
Looks just like the state of my neighbours vac. Corrosion on the battery and the motor. Glad to see you had as much trouble getting in as I did.
These are very good i use one had it a few years now
So did you bring the battery back up and test to see if it started working normally again? Just wondering if you were able to fix it.
Good question. I was wondering that myself.
Paul Stafford Why is your comment 4 days old - the video was uploded tody?
@@omaoda4462 Patreon.
It’s designed to a price, a coil around a plastic housing with the core that sits in the middle (like a aquarium pump) should mean no water would ingress
Thank you for another nice video. Now I'm going to take apart my Kärcher and try to reseal electronics before the same happens to it :)
"Ka-niff" is probably the best way I've heard anyone pronounce "knife".
1:30 You can't tell us something can fail catastrophically and not showing us doing exactly that! That's, like, the rules!
Interesting, I have one from when they first came out and it has significantly different electronics. No led in switch but red led on charge socket. I think it is an excellent gadget just don't try and use it too far off vertical or water comes out of all the wrong holes.
I really wish you would leave the camera running while you take stuff to bits...I would never get bored!
I am subbed on AvE...gotta love Uncle Bumblefuck!
Hah i like the fact it has an in circuit programming header on the board. Time to write your own firmware and add some flashing lights to it, assuming the attiny hasnt been locked.
I love this device! I used to be a waiter at my local Pizza Express and if I was on the morning shift, the restaurant would be dead. So, when my manager invested in one of these, I was in heaven. It literally made cleaning the windows so, so easy. Mirror shine with just one wipe! Nice to see you tear it to bits. :)
The battery was charged no problem, it was that good it’s still flashing and I can’t turn it off
Clearly an expert in his field with a very assuring voice, one slight omission...........WHAT WOULD FIX IT??????
That depends on the damage. Light corrosion can be cleaned and oil applied to bearings. But heavy corrosion would be a short lasting repair.
@@bigclivedotcom Thank you. My situation....inherited the device, which looks cosmetically good both inside and outside with no obvious signs of corrosion. I bought a replacement charger which I have proven with a multi meter. When I plug the charger in there is no charging light or any other signs of charging. I measured the battery voltage at 0.55v. I am wondering weather to invest in a new battery (£10) using my degree in guessing. Please advise whether it would be worth the punt? Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks - Dave
Typical Big Clive video:
- Charge the suspicious battery
- Open it with a knife
How do Clive
John from Airdrie here
Before watching this I think my new Chinese test lamp/meter would interest you as I plated myself twice the other night figuring out a 4 gang
I could even send my kewtech set that have gone faulty ....probably just a burst core but I'm a house basher
Cheers for the content through the years
Brilliant stuff
Was taught by scoyles and Cleland too ...
I'd happily send you them
Cheers
Great video it went well with my ice tea ,great value chicken taquitos and ricos nacho sauce with a tums chaser
You should have fixed it. I have one, they're bloody fantastic!
I agree with bloody.
To my surprise, one day I found out that my cheap Roadstar UC-223 ultrasonic cleaner did not have any seals inside, apart from the plastic pieces fitting into one another. I was always careful while pouring water out, but one day it gave a bit of a flash from its back as I was starting it for another round of cleaning, and stopped working. It's currently waiting to be fixed, sitting semi-disassembled under my table.
Thanks Clive, I’d never have got the thing apart without breaking it, if it wasn’t for you 👍
lots of circuitry for a device that is just a motor and battery and its a cheap motor
Yeah China Version please with 3V lead acid and just some resistors
Freud would have a field day with the person who designed the innards.
Ave took one of these apart also Big Clive
We have another, cheaper brand of one of these specifically to remove heavy condensation from our windows in autumn/winter. The mould on the window ledges and net curtains caused by the puddles was getting too much to cope with. This happens in the standard New Zealand house built prior to the 1990's, (when new building regulations meant all houses had to be built with insulation and double glazing.).
Imagine, if you will, a minus five degree frost outside and having five degrees inside the house. Electricity isn't cheap, so you watch TV in the lounge, sitting in a sleeping bag to keep warm, whilst having a dehumidifier running to help prevent the condensation. Using a heater is an option, but a costly one. We do use the air con/heat pump sometimes when absolutely necessary though.
water is a curse and a blessing , no life without water
Motor is corroded as the owner has continuously allowed the dirty water tank to go over the max line, this then allows water to then make its way down to the motor.
Perhaps the biggest fault of these machines is that they are expensive and don't work! I bought one, used it a couple of times with poor results. The windows were streaky and the blade pulled black streaks from the rubber gaskets surrounding the glass.
I decided that a bucket of soapy water and a chamois does a much better job at a fraction of the cost, and it's always charged B-}.
The kind of would have been nice before you destroy the battery to see if that thing would charge the battery up after you've gotten past the low voltage cutoff
would like to know how many have been returned to the maker 5 in my family with charging problems
Looks simple enough to sort out when my parents start complaining theirs isn't working....
Kärcher is pronounced care-cher. The "ch" is pronounced like the "ch" in whiskies (Bruichladdich, Glenfiddich).
Kärcher's own UK promo videos say "CAR-cher".
Beep beep lettuce
See ua-cam.com/video/N_026158bhQ/v-deo.html
Like the ch in whiskies
There is no ch in ‘whiskies’
🤣
@@Petertronic The spell it wrong, because they can't do it the right way. In english there is no such pronunciation. This is the right pronunciation of "Kärcher": ua-cam.com/video/V-VEP1tjY_E/v-deo.html
I had one of these that failed and after finding the pump/circuit board swimming with water still brought another one. The key thing is to only use it vertically and never let the water go above the 'full' line. Never leave the reservoir with water in it and store in a dry place. A stupid non draining design. Unfortunately it performs better than others I have tried.
The electronics should be potted and in the handle with two long wires going to the motor, then have a pair of holes in the bottom. As is it is designed to fail.
1) Yours is probably the most intelligent and most perfect youtube channel out there 2) This seems to be one of the most unnecessary home appliances out there. Is there any advantage over using an old newspaper?
Not a great design, considering Karcher have had years of experience designing machines which mix electricity & water in the same case.
I've had a couple of Karcher pressure washers over the years & not had any problems with them , I've had my current one about 14 years.
Bloody good quality clips :)
Well, given the rather complex arrangement of the different compartments and channels that the water and return filth travels, I can see why you wouldn't bother trying to "fix" the device, but I'm hoping that you were at least able to retain and re-use the battery for some other purpose.
i have had one for years i have to put loads of wd40 in the motor every 6 months to keep it working, think it will die at some point as it just gets louder and louder
try 3 in 1 spray oil with ptfe....
Coronadraht no it stops the water getting in there it’s “water-displacing”
Coronadraht last few times I used ac90 anyway just what ever to hand it’s super old anyway now
I used to think WD40 was for spraying in wet distributor caps BECAUSE it wasn’t an oil!
It's called kärcher, kaercher in english
Like "Gertcha" by Chas and Dave?
@@lostjohnny9000 Go to Google Translate, select German and type in "Kärcher"
Then click on "Listen". She says it pretty accurately :)
@@lostjohnny9000 For "ch" there is no such pronunciation in english. It's more linke the hissing sound a snake makes, when it wants to warn you. KAERCHHHHHHHER!!! ;o)
In England the advertisers of Braun products always pronounced it "Brawn" which made their products sound nice and macho. Maybe not wanting the name to also remind us of Hitler's BFF?
@@lostjohnny9000 That's a good reason, I think. ^^
Ah yes I have one of these, it's actually quite handy for drying off a lot of surfaces, not necessarily just windows
Nice to see how they're built without taking mine apart
I'm guessing it was stored on it's side or something instead of leaving it straight up? Haven't gotten to the conclusion yet but that would be my guess
Yes.
I got slightly bored one day and noticed the kitchen ceiling looked a bit greasy...
Quick bit of spray cleaner and the Karcher... well I had a lovely white stripe, and then had to do the whole f'in thing :(
These have become a bit of a pet hate of mine, despite being very handy to clean down my shower. I am on my second unit having hacked my first one to get around the on board start circuit which failed and the second one has now failed too. Both of mine stopped charging and even though I can charge them manually i.e. not relying on the Karcher charge circuit it has now failed to run at all. The PCB is very susceptible to water ingress and presumably this causes formation of conductive solids to accumulate around the IC legs which cause it to malfunction, no amount of flushing with solvents has fixed either of mine. If they properly dipped the pcbs they might last a bit longer.
When I can be bothered to open the second one up again, it has a better fan mech and thus is more worthwhile to fix, I might fit a standard on/off switch and use a bigger possibly remote battery.
Hey maybe I can make use of some of my growing collection of recovered from the gutter Vap Li Ion batteries. :0)
A really cheap design, the motor housing is comedy, just clipped together, as if that would stop the water getting in. It wets the motor. I ended up adding some sealant to the snail channels. Then I got corroded smd resistors, ended up replacing them with standard cylinder resistors and it works again.
I seem to recall these were overpriced when I looked at them - for a pile of cheap parts like that?!! Glad I didnt get one!
Search Fleabay "50 Pc Extra Long Security Bits Hex Star Torx Spline Flat Screwdriver Bit Set" (uk about £10). There is an overlap of torx and tamper proof star plus 3 each of standard flat, phillips and poz reduces the real bit count but still worth it to get a decently ground set of thin enough for most things with a reach of 3mm x 80mm (ish) using a standard 5mm hex bits of quite decent quality steel.
Damn hard to keep water out of things. it's sneaky very sneaky
And a year later my moms unit stopped working. I tear it apart, see a little bit of corrosion near the charger plug and components near it. Seems like water is getting in around the charger plug seal or through the plug itself.
Just for giggles, see if you can read the code of the ATtiny. Programming header is right there, inviting you.
Darn. I have the exact same model and thought you was going to show me how to fix it. Until I saw you cutting the cover off the battery. My cherger works, because we have two of these and it works on that one. I think the green LED charging light should come on no matter the battery condition as that is just showing power? But it doesn't even do that. I can see tiny amounts of corrosion on the battery but no other signs. Any clue why it just died? It's hardly been used. Our other one is the original model, years old, and apart from the odd growl from the motor when you switch it off, it's still going strong. Oh dear, on closer inspection with a magnifying glass, leakage from the battery, peeling of green coating from the circuit board, bits of black on the circuit board, I think it's dead. 😒
Moisture ingress and resultant corrosion are the main issues with these units.
@@bigclivedotcom It appears so. Great idea, crap design. The flimsy motor housing clips look like the problem. It should be screwed together to make sure decent pressure is applied to the seals. From what I can gather, they now have replaceable external batteries.
Had exactly same damage to one I was asked to take a look at, common failure of seal maybe ?
HA, Went and bought one right away that's damaged in the exact same description, I'll have fun repairing it!
My Mum wanted one of these for Christmas one year so I bought it for her. It lasted less than one year and she said the water reservoir was leaky right out of the box. Water got in the electronics like yours in the video. I cannot recommend these for any reason. Very very poor quality control.
Conversely, mine's been faultless for years..
..I wonder if some items could actually be sold more 2nd hand, as it proves they were sealed properly (whilst new ones are seemingly a lucky-dip)
The instructions don't say this, but for longevity you need to run the unit for a few minutes once emptied to dry it out before storing away. Mines now 4 yrs old & works as new.
@@wirdy1 I was also wondering whether "storage orientation" was an issue.
Seems the sort of thing you could keep standing up, or randomly throw into a cupboard... and maybe you don't empty the reservoir..
Did you know you can now get really long screwdriver bits (like 110-150 mm) for those well-recessed screws? just search amazon or ebay for long screwdriver bits for loads of options.
I found myself in that situation many times with my fancy meter, something isn't testing right, then i realise the auto shutoff has shutoff or i forgot to turn the dam thing on. I always just say the auto shut off, shut off. I really dig that kahnife. Cheers from not frozen kansas 60 dungerees Frankenstein today and yesterday the sun is out. We did get some flooding up north tho.
I took one of these apart the other week that had stopped working, the PCB was corroded and so was the motor. It seems like the gaskets that seal round the housing are not all that good.
Same happened to mine, people using them sideways when the water bottle is full means water pours inside and corrodes the battery, its such a known fault they have crates of them on couriers, when I had mine delivered there was a box with about 100 of them in, they have to change them all the time I have friends that work for the company here in my home town, its a great device but you have to use it in the vertical position and never take it over 45 degrees unless you waterproof the battery and electronics.
Why is taking these sort of things apart always the hardest part?
Only last week I took apart the cheapy copy Beldray because it was not taking a charge. Guess what had happened. Rhetorical question really. I managed to salvage the motor and impeller (| don't know what for but one day I may be looking for one) and the 18650. After a couple of cycles through the Liito Kala it's returning just on 2200 mAh, despite the figure printed on the heatshrink being 1700.
@@TomAlter1000 Thank you Sir, edited my error now.
i have a model before this one and the bearing in the motor went making the impeller wobble, i did try changing the motor but ordered the wrong one (ran to slow) does yourself or anyone know what motor they take and were to get one "cheers"
FYI, Kärcher is pronounced more or less like "care-share" (i.e., with a "keh" sound, not a "ka" sound).
Also, Wera (the screwdriver brand) is pronounced "VEra" (like "very" but ending in "a").
8:00 There's an In-Circuit Serial Programming header on the right. Kärcher will probably have set the AVR lock bits though.
Conformally coating the board might have helped. Also potting maybe? Built to a price though.
I’ve had two of these. One thing I’ve learned; they don’t like suds. They are decently designed. The suction makes water enter and by gravity it enters the container and air goes the other way. If you suck up water facing it fully down water can’t enter and then it goes into the motor.
I have taken a part the same model and it have exactly the same problem water inside and corrosion on the pcb (worst then yours)
The problem is the sealing in the motor shaft it is crappy
Karcher:
Assemble once, destroy many.
Solder a battery back in, load it up with vaseline and away you go again ;)
or hotglue
Or clear paint? Luke it should have been
@@kitecattestecke2303 Conformal coating wouldn't protect the motor or the battery terminals though. A combination of both is ideal but you don't have to wait for vaseline to dry
Big Yellow using a rather shoddy looking motor!
I laffed so friggin' hard when he clipped the cap together again and another moment please !!!
I'm glad Clive records his goofups and frustrations on his channel. Shows he's human and can laugh at himself... I laughed at that part too. Have a great day Sir.. cheers
@@jeffreyhebert5604... Yeah, love the guy to bits. He is mental therapy too!! Whenever I feel down, I listen to any video of his for his soothing voice.
Did you manage to repair it?
Good video. I've got a cheapie version of this made by Beldray. It's much more basic inside, and has an 18650 cell. It works ok.
Hi clive, i love your videos. would be fine if you do a teardown of a one of those electric air duster or pc cleaners. always wondered what is inside those things what make them so expensive, here in mexico.
things that exist truly for no reason there, squeegee and a paper towel ought to get the glass just as dry and dramatically less wastefully too.
Maybe the International Rectifier component was recta-fried!
It will probably be 4 times more spectacular if it was full Bridge recta-fried!
Rectum fried. If you get a constipation of electrocity the angry pixies get in a fight and let out the magic white smoke
Thumbs down for not repairing it, or at least making the motor whir with the bench power supply.
Just kidding, I would never thumb down a bigclive video.
When I took mine apart just rubbing a thumb on the circuit board took off all the smd parts. The circuit board rots. It cannot be repaired and by enclosing the unit where they know water will ingress they have built in obsolescence.
Karcher generally are a bit flakey, no?
I was in front of my computer yelling "Use a hammer, a big hammer" Sorry, watching to much AeV
A thumb finder or a Birmingham screwdriver?
A tip to remove the lower black plastic part is to heat it up using a hair dryer to soften the plastic. Makes it a lot more flexible and easier to pry off by hand.
Hello, I have a Titan window vac and it has stopped working. I have tried to repair it and decided to replace the board with a TP4056 (1 amp) module. The battery charged up, but the motor doesn't turn. It jolts a little but won't get going. The motor works when attached directly to the battery. Since the original board has been now been thrown away (so can't be repaired) ... can you tell me which battery protection/charge board might work? I hope you can help, thank you.
It sounds like the overcurrent detection on the PCB is being triggered by the motor inrush current. You can get beefier protection circuits with bigger MOSFETs for higher load currents.
These things are great, not just for windows. I use it on just about every surface in the house. But alas, motor corroded. Will see if I can fix water ingress on the motor shaft. Probably something like a piece of aerogel impregnated fiberglass mat, or something like that. I don't think a rubber seal would cut it.
The pcb could have been coated in rubbery conformal coating, cheap ass company i suppose.
can you show us how to make a motion activated Tesla coil for annoying pigeons?
Switched to a a bosch glass vac after the 3rd does after less.than a year (tried the home fixes and when worked they were temporary but helpful) and now having problems with it but can't find any trouble shooting support anywhere!? Back to the shop it goes as hopefully still under warranty.
I don't think 'water' got into it, maybe water vapour ?
At lower pressure water boils at a lower temperature, so may have started to evapourate.
(i'm not saying it got anywhere near boiling, just a little eapouration, a mist. mist can get into a lot of places water can't.)
That white injection molding seems a bit long, windy and convoluted. If you have a disinterested, poorly paid person... OR a robot... slapping the two sides together, willy-nilly, I can see plenty of opportunity for just a wee bit of that long wall to just not quite fit properly and be breech-able, yes?
Before I even start the video, I just want to say... That sucks.
I can't go wrong with that comment no matter the outcome.
Zenodilodon Wellll, it’s more err, blown!
I was stupid enough to buy one of these. What a piece of fairly expensive garbage. Better off with water/Fairy Liquid and an old newspaper for drying. You are right Clive.... water gets in, no matter what you do..... so why even bother.
Every Karcher repair on You Tube, has corrosion inside it. You would think they would have a waterproof sleeve for the circuit board and battery, etc. I have gone through 3 of these Karchers and refuse to buy another one, So was watching to see if any of these videos had one that won't charge. Last one was leaking water out of the sides. The one before that just stopped working altogether!!