Ryno Turbo Vac 800 Overheating Fix

These little vacuums are a hot deal on the used market. Literally.

Step 1: About the Ryno Hand Vacuum

The Ryno 800 TurboVac was/is a pretty great little vacuum,well made, with a lot of power to suck or blow. It included a bunch of attachments for a variety of uses from a floor vacuum, car vac, inflator and much more. Unfortunately, the unit had one Fatal Flaw:it would turn itself off if it got too hot and it always got too hot, usually after just a few minutes. So you had to wait for it to cool down to start again. How did the manufacturer not know this? Beats me.

Anyway, people bought them then dumped them off to thrift stores, yard sales, etc. while conveniently forgetting to tell the buyer about the Fatal Flaw. But, you can still find them online and at thrift stores for under $20 sometimes. But how to fix them? I looked and didn't find any answers so I decided to figure it out myself.

The unit is well made, quite strong, with a HEPA filter. Unfortunately, they made it a little too beefy in the airstream. Air comes in the front of the unit through some plastic grillwork, through the HEPA filter and another removable plastic grille, gets sucked around the powerful electric motor, cools it, then blows out the rear through a flimsy little foam filter, for some reason. There are a lot of obstructions there that slow the air down.

I concluded that the plastic grilles and foam filter at the end were impeding the airflow too much, causing the motor to overheat and trip off. I was right. So, let's see how we fix it.

Step 2: Tools You WIll Need

1. A medium-sized, standard Phillips head screwdriver

2. A pair of needle-nose or duck-billed pliers

Step 3: Take It Apart

Take apart the two halves of the unit by unscrewing the Phillips head screws.

NOTE: You must proceed carefully since there are a few separate pieces clutched between the two halves. So when you take it apart, they will fall out. When you have all the screws out, split the case slowly and partially, so you can see what is about to fall out. The point is, you want to lay the two halves side by side with the loose pieces in between for a photo-op. YOU NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH NOT ONLY THE PARTS BUT THE ELECTRIC WIRES AND HOW THEY SNAKE AROUND so you can get it all back together properly.

Don't freak out, though. You can do this and it is not hard to get it all back again, using your handy little pictures.

Step 4: Remove the Foam FIlter and the Unneeded Plastic Grille

I really see no reason at all to filter the air leaving the vacuum, but that is what the thin foam filter apparently did. Anyway, toss it. The likewise uneded plastic grill is one of the loose pieces I warned you about. Just toss it aside.

Proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Snip Out the Excess Grill Work

The plastic grills are blocking the airflow and we need to open them up. You want to use your little pliers to twist off the extra teeth in the grillwork at the front, ahead of the motor. Do it on both halves. As you can see in the pictures, I took out about two-thirds of the teeth and it turned out to be enough. I left a few just for good measure.

Step 6: This Is What You Have Removed From the Airflow

plus the thin foam filter, of course. Yes, it doesn't look like much but this material together was enough to slow the air flowing around that powerful but hot motor, just enough to cause it to trip the overheat breaker.

Step 7: Button It Up

Referencing your pictures, reassemble the two halves. You can put the HEPA filter in after the machine is reassembled. You may also want to start looking online for a replacement filter because they don't make this vacuum anymore and those filters must be getting harder to find.

Pay attention to how you lay the wiring because there is one or two places it might tend to get pinched between the two halves. If need be, use your needle nose pliers or small wire cutters to notch out a little piece of the plastic housing to allow for more room.

Step 8: That Should Do It

I have used my vacuum quite a bit since this modification and it has never tripped off. I suppose if you are working in a hot environment or maybe using the skinny vacuum attachments, you might still be able to get it too hot.

Don't overload the machine. Empty the debris from the tank occasionally. Replace the filter or gently knock the dust out if it gets full. Sometimes you can use the vacuum itself to blow out the filter from both sides (wear a dust mask, do it outdoors) if you don't have a replacement filter.

If you are still having problems with the vacuum shutting off, vacuum in spells, pausing every minute or so for it to cool. Don't just put the nozzle on something, load up the motor and leave it like that. When you hear the motor straining, that's when it's getting hot.

Bon chance, mon ami!