Vax W90 Disassembly

Vax W90-RU-P Rapide Ultra Carpet Cleaner Disassembly
Remove the belt, brushbar, and drive motor
Ensure that the cleaner is unplugged from the mains. Remove both clean and dirty water
containers.
Lay the cleaner on its left hand side (looking from the rear) and remove the two screws
from the underside of the cleaner near the top edge. Both screws are identified by the
letter A (Fig. 1). The belt cover can now be lifted off and the rubber drive belt removed.
To remove the brushbar, remove the two small silver screws from the plate at the drive
end of the brushbar, and manoeuvre the brushbar out through this hole. Fig. 2 shows the
drive belt, cover, and partially removed brushbar. Recover the loose bush assembly from
the non-driving end which fits into the casing.
To access the brushbar drive motor, remove the six silver screws from the underside
which secure the cover and remove the cover (shown removed in Fig. 1). Note that the
rearmost screw (on my cleaner) is a T15 Torx screw. The brushbar motor can now be
disconnected and removed if required.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
Remove the handle assembly
Remove the cable / hose caddy behind the clean water tank by releasing the two red
turnbuckles. Note that the caddy is fitted with the red cable swivel release at the bottom.
Remove ten black screws from the rear of the handle assembly and two from the front.
The two at the front are right at the bottom and can only be removed with the handle
folded down. The top two are securing the top turnbuckle bracket. The front cover can now
be removed (Fig. 3). This will give access to the water valve which is operated by the
trigger in the handle.
If access is required to the fan motor, the rear section of the handle will have to be
removed also. Firstly, remove the base section top cover by removing six black screws
(four on top and two at the front) and lifting the cover off. This will give access to the power
on / off switch (Fig. 4). Disconnect the four wires from the switch and release the switch by
removing two silver screws. Note that the two brown live wires are in line and the two blue
neutral wires are in line. To avoid loss, remove the four rubber spacers on the top of the
fan motor housing and the rubber seal on the fan inlet at the front of the fan housing.

Fig.3 Fig. 4
Now remove the two silver screws from the water valve and remove the valve,
disconnecting the two hoses, black at the front and yellow at the rear, secured with hose
clips, and also disconnect the clear hose from the outlet below the clean water tank. It may
help the disconnection of these hoses if they are softened by using a hair dryer or similar.
Unscrew and remove the mains cable clamp near the top of the handle.
Now press the handle release foot switch on the left to retract the locking mechanism and
ease the handle out of its location on both sides, while assisting the three hoses through
the hole in the handle on the left hand side and the mains cable on the right hand side.
The handle can now be completely removed (Fig. 5).
Remove the fan assembly
Now disconnect the red hose secured by a hose clip from the wash tool valve (shown
disconnected in Fig. 5). There are five screws which now have to be removed, one silver
screw on the underside adjacent to the previously removed brushbar drive motor cover
and four black screws on top. One of these is located below the location of the power on /
off switch and one is in a similar position on the left hand side. There is also one screw on
each side towards the rear of each foot pedal.
Lift off the fan motor cover while assisting the red hose and mains wiring through the holes
in the cover (Fig. 6). Note the location of the ferrite core through which the motor wires
pass in case this becomes dislodged.

Fig. 5 Fig. 6
Remove the two small screws which attach the microswitch to the fan housing and move
the microswitch away from the housing to be reattached when the fan assembly is
replaced. This microswitch stops the brushbar rotating when the handle is in the upright
position. Now ease up the fan motor assembly out of its location. The fan motor
connections are still attached. Note the junction box location in front of the fan. Inside this
junction box are two sets of five wires crimped together. To avoid separating all this wiring
and joining it again later, cut the cable which feeds the fan a few inches away from the
junction box. The two cores can then be through-crimped to the new fan motor cable later.
The fan assembly can now be removed (Fig. 7). This photograph actually shows my new
one which I purchased used, and it came in its case with the microswitch attached but I
used my old microswitch to avoid having to through-joint the wires.
To remove the fan motor from its casing, remove the rubber mat which is clipped to the
underside, remove four black screws from the front of the casing and four from the rear,
and remove the casing front and rear covers. The motor can now be pushed out of its
casing (Fig. 8).
Fig. 7 Fig. 8
Reassembly is a reversal of the above, but note the following. Remember to replace the
rubber mat under the fan (Fig. 7), the rubber spacers on top (Fig. 4), and the rubber seal
on the fan inlet (Fig. 2).
Remember to reconnect the fan motor wiring. You can use insulated straight-through
crimps, closed end crimps, or straight through terminals which should be wrapped in
insulating tape. I used closed end crimps, similar to those used by Vax in the junction box.