Chosen Solution
The suction is so strong that on thicker carpet it is almost impossible to push the vac through the carpet. Just started doing this recently, washed the filters and still have the problem.
There are several very good suggestion on this link: http://www.fixya.com/support/t17447758-d…
For the Dyson at least, you can remove the sole plate from the base (just use a nickle or something, turn the 2 or 3 sloted “keys”, and pop the plate off). Around the edge, you will see a black foam rubber strip. That strip is an unnecessary item, and you can just pull it out. Replace the sole plate. Now, the suction (and moving air) can get out a little around the sides, makes it stick to the floor a little less. As to why the suction has increased from what it once was, I don’t know. Perhaps the motors gain RPMs with age as they wear down, but that’s just a small guess.
Before removing part of the black rubber bellows it may be worth cleaning the narrow channel behind the slotted lower section at the back of the baseplate. I found this to be compacted with a fair amount of debris that I removed with a toothpick and an old toothbrush. This greatly improved the ease of vacuuming on thicker carpets. April 2020 - Neil
I too had this issue (my wife said return it) and I resolved it by using ty-straps at opposite corners. This way I wasn’t interfering with the wheels and I wasn’t physically damaging the head unit. I called support and they sent me a new head (see pic) this one works fine. I am guessing the perpendicular open slits on each end is the reason. It is a smaller head width\depth wise, so I guess if you are still under warranty call and complain and maybe they will send you a new head.
Hello Ed, Thank you for contacting Dyson. The Animal 2 is our most powerful vacuum and you will find it difficult to push on mid to high thread carpets and rugs. We would advise you to contact your carpet manufacturer if the carpet is still under a warranty, before using the machine. Some manufacturers will void the warranty if you use our powerful machine. Please note that if the suction is too strong there is nothing we can do to lessen it. We can only recommend getting a model with lesser suction power like the Cinetic Big ball Animal + Allergy And since you are a current Dyson owner we can give you a 20% discount off the retail price of that Cinetic Big Ball model. If you have any additional questions, feel free to reply back to this email. Thank you very much for your time. Kind regards, Pari
Seems lots of lots of fixes. Here is mine i just tried. Works well with no damage to the vacuums head. The zip ties restrict the vacuums seal to drop all the way. Reducing vacuum and allowing a much easier push/pull. See the pic and remove the bottom seal and add 2 ties per the photo. Put it together and try. This is my first attempt and larger ties could also be used. I hope this helps.
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Just acquired a DC 42 same problems,so I took a gamble on drilling 4x 4.5mm holes on the side of the brush bar head, 2 on each side,and this has resolved the problem. Shame Dyson didn’t put an adjustable vent on the sides. Cheep free fix. Now vacuum up without putting my back out.
We had this problem with our DC 33 Cyclone that was 12 years old. The rubber wears down with age and so the accordion-shaped rubber expands/drops down a few millimeters overtime and suddenly you can’t vacuum rugs. Ours wouldn’t even vacuum on Ruggables which are super thin rugs! I didn’t see a black strip to remove on mine, it was a full rubber gasket that I did not want to cut off. So, found another solution! If you don’t want to cut the gasket, use high quality flat rubber bands and wrap them around the very edges of the sole plate to push the hanging rubber gasket back up. I used these flat beer charm bands we had leftover from our wedding - you can buy here https://amzn.to/3DBTCrm Make sure you put it on the very edges of the sole plate before you hit the rotating round brush tube on the inside! And keep the rubber circle on the upper edge so it doesn’t drag on the floor and cause friction. A large flat rubber band would also probably work but you might have to replace it every few months if they snap easily.
This vacuum sucks - too much. I am almost 70 years old with Psoriatic Arthritis. I don’t think I should have to figure this out. Dyson should fix the problem.
Just got our new Dyson Animal 2 today. Works fine on hardwood and low pile carpet. I can barely push it on my other carpet. For something so expensive, I expect better. We had and old Dyson DC 28. It allowed you to choose what height you wanted. This one needs the same if the suction is so much more powerful. Not happy.
I just put together my daughter’s new Dyson Ball Animal 2 and vacuumed her house while she was at work. I think she will be disappointed to find that she cannot use her Dyson on her Ruggable rugs. It did fine on her floors and other rugs. I also found the wand and hose awkward to use.
For the Animal 2 its the filter in the ball. Have had it happen twice if the arrows are not aligned it will drag. Once I make sure that is right and that the cover is not too tight it works fine. It is a design flaw. I had an old Dyson and never should have gotten rid of it.
Well after the Cat 5 hurricane we replaced the carpets with new deep pile. And I am 6 ft tall 185# in good shape and I’ll be darned if I could get our Dyson Ball Animal 2 to move without it being a SERIOUS workout. Our house keeper just can not use it. Read all the posts there are several solutions. I did not want to permanently modify so I tried the wire tie suggestion by williams and Barry Armitage. Fist pic shows the wire tie on the back posts and on the bottom right you can see the red locking lever in the unlocked position. Just opposite on the left you can see the socket where the locking pin goes in. The next photo shows the pin partially inserted to where I met resistance. The next shows my forefinger and thumb squeezing together to seat the pin all the way. Very important because if you use the red lever to try and lock it you risk breaking the plastic piece. It should be every easy to rotate the locking lever. Final photo show the pin all the way in and the lever rotated to the locked position. House keeper is now happy with vacuuming all 3 rooms w/ deep pile carpets.
My DC40 recently had a new internal hose fitted, the old one had split in half and as a result of the repair the vacuum effect was increased substantially back original level, so much so it was extremely difficult to use on carpets. Rather than taking rubber gasket out, I removed the head and found that it contained massive amounts of dust that prevented the rubber gasket working correctly. Once cleaned the vacuum worked like new, easy to push on carpets and cleaned effectively. I suspect the reduced vacuum effect over the years had lead to the build up of dust and debris in the head, once removed all was good.
