5 ms·

Dyson Ball Vacuum Teardown

34 points by fictivmade 11y ago

funkedelic_bob 11y ago
Impressive to see the complex engineering and manufacturing that goes into something we see so "simply" as a vacuum.
- oneJob 11y ago
  To take that idea a step further, you'd be really impressed at the complexity on the other end of the power cord. I once heard it put like this... Nuclear power plants (I suppose you could say the same for any other, but this example was given using nuclear power) exist basically so that, a few miles away someone can plug their vacuum cleaner into the wall, hit a switch, and have it work, without having to give it any thought whatsoever. All the complexity of nuclear power, so that you don't have to think about it. I think this analogy is especially appropriate here, as the design goals of Dyson are similar. Intense engineering so that you have something that does a simple job exceedingly well without additional problem solving required by the user.
sippinsoda 11y ago
Pretty interesting why they use the 6 point Torx screws: -They won’t strip during assembly -Protects Dyson from counterfeit -Makes it difficult for customers to disassemble their products Never thought about using them to distinguish counterfeit products.
- saulrh 11y ago
  Proposal: Steganographic encoding of unique manufacturing ID using intentional, patterned "manufacturing defects"?
- saidajigumi 11y ago
  > Makes it difficult for customers to disassemble their products I've always found this a strange assertion. Decades ago perhaps this was true, in that such bits were a touch obscure and required a search. Except in my case, where I tagged along with a friend to a HAM show and picked up a set of security bits on a lark. That turned out to be terribly useful over the years. Even a pretty standard multi-bit set (say 20-24 bits and a driver handle) I got ages ago had several sizes of torx bits. These days, any half-decent hardware store stocks torx drivers and bits it seems. That's not even counting what I'll imagine is a few clicks online to obtain virtually any bit needed.
DigitalSea 11y ago
I think many people don't realise the high level of innovation that happens over at Dyson. Before Dyson debuted his cyclonic vacuum cleaners, there was nothing else like them on the market whatsoever. Competitors brought out their own cyclonic vacuum cleaners, but the cyclonic action is only one factor, the other is the high efficiency rates they're able to achieve in their cleaners which separates them from the rest. Really nice teardown, I would love to see teardowns of other Dyson products. These guys are the Apple of the home appliance world and not many people realise it. To most, a Dyson vacuum cleaner is just an expensive cleaner and to others, they're modern industrial design marvels.
- niels_olson 11y ago
  You should go to a vacuum cleaner repair store and look at all the repaired dysons that the customers don't even bother to come back and pick up. Statements like this concern me "It looks like an epoxy was used to weld the 2 ABS parts". I'm not sure "weld" means what they think it means.
  - chiph 11y ago
    The design is impressive, but the construction is not. I see one being returned every few trips to Costco.
  - jonah 11y ago
    "Plastic Welding" is term people use. Though it tends to mean chemically bonding the mating plastics.
  - FireBeyond 11y ago
    They just feel flimsy. Creaking and rattling make me worry about durability (and indeed I returned my DC41).
  - vixen99 11y ago
    So how should one react to an anecdotal comment like this? The implication is that several vacuum cleaner repair stores have made reports and they reflect badly on Dyson as against results from other manufacturers? So where's the data? For all I know, 'Dysons' are dreadful machines (not in my experience but who cares? - maybe I've just been lucky) but it's nice to see evidence before making general accusations.
bhandziuk 11y ago
It's interesting to have someone comment on the history of Dyson a little. For me, when shopping for a vacuum, Dyson looks like the Bose of the vacuum world: it works pretty well but is way over-hyped and certainly over-priced. But, I forget/am too young to appreciate that before Bose/Dyson got their bad rap today they were market leaders. Gotta keep that perspective sometimes.
- oneJob 11y ago
  I have a 7 year old Bose radio that still sounds friggin amazing and looks better than me most days. Worth every penny.
  - grimgrin 11y ago
    I think the "bad rep" might be (in my own part of the world) that they are overpriced for the quality. The quality is good, that is true with the Bose system in my 2001 Maxima, but it is probably not a bang for buck equivalent of its.. off brand equivalent.
    - bhandziuk 11y ago
      That's what I was trying to get at. My experience too has been that they are fine enough systems but they cost to much and I have little patience for their advertising. I bought an amp and speakers almost a decade ago now which were not Bose and they are also going strong. Except this system was a fraction of what I could have paid for a Bose. I get it too, that when buying a Bose it's like buying a Mac: you just have to shell out the money and all the though of making a computer is abstracted from you. It can be cheaper if you piece a PC together yourself but not everyone has time or patience for that. Paying for Bose is paying for something that 'just works'.
  - morsch 11y ago
    Whereas other radios deteriorate in sound quality or looks within that timeframe?
    - 11y ago
klickverbot 11y ago
Well-engineered hardware is definitely interesting, but unfortunately this article is rather lackluster. I'm not even talking about the many typos, but absurd claims like the suggestion that the use of Torx screws "Protects Dyson from counterfeit" really should not make it into an article by somebody who claims that they are "engineers, like you". Their try at explaining the physics involved also does not quite convey they feeling that they understood what is happening and how.
- fictivmade 11y ago
  When reviewing and optimizing BOM costs, Torx screws are almost 2x the cost of a standard Phillips which helps to distinguish knockoffs. Folks who counterfeit items are looking to maximize profit and will always go for the cheapest items and not many people look at screws to see if they're different. Lots of threads out there about this. Even with this said, and as we pointed out, it’s not the main reason Dyson chose Torx screws—the primary reason would have been for proper fastening to ensure a tight assembly that wouldn’t come loose.
jamhan 11y ago
If this really was reviewed by Dyson, I'm surprised no one picked up on this mistake: "Due to good ol’ conversion of energy". Conversion should be "conservation".
- fictivmade 11y ago
  Fixed it! You'd be surprised what can get past your eye after reading an article over and over again... :)

34 points by fictivmade 11y ago

funkedelic_bob 11y ago

Impressive to see the complex engineering and manufacturing that goes into something we see so "simply" as a vacuum.

oneJob 11y ago
To take that idea a step further, you'd be really impressed at the complexity on the other end of the power cord. I once heard it put like this... Nuclear power plants (I suppose you could say the same for any other, but this example was given using nuclear power) exist basically so that, a few miles away someone can plug their vacuum cleaner into the wall, hit a switch, and have it work, without having to give it any thought whatsoever. All the complexity of nuclear power, so that you don't have to think about it. I think this analogy is especially appropriate here, as the design goals of Dyson are similar. Intense engineering so that you have something that does a simple job exceedingly well without additional problem solving required by the user.

sippinsoda 11y ago

Pretty interesting why they use the 6 point Torx screws: -They won’t strip during assembly -Protects Dyson from counterfeit -Makes it difficult for customers to disassemble their products Never thought about using them to distinguish counterfeit products.

saulrh 11y ago
Proposal: Steganographic encoding of unique manufacturing ID using intentional, patterned "manufacturing defects"?
saidajigumi 11y ago
> Makes it difficult for customers to disassemble their products I've always found this a strange assertion. Decades ago perhaps this was true, in that such bits were a touch obscure and required a search. Except in my case, where I tagged along with a friend to a HAM show and picked up a set of security bits on a lark. That turned out to be terribly useful over the years. Even a pretty standard multi-bit set (say 20-24 bits and a driver handle) I got ages ago had several sizes of torx bits. These days, any half-decent hardware store stocks torx drivers and bits it seems. That's not even counting what I'll imagine is a few clicks online to obtain virtually any bit needed.

DigitalSea 11y ago

I think many people don't realise the high level of innovation that happens over at Dyson. Before Dyson debuted his cyclonic vacuum cleaners, there was nothing else like them on the market whatsoever. Competitors brought out their own cyclonic vacuum cleaners, but the cyclonic action is only one factor, the other is the high efficiency rates they're able to achieve in their cleaners which separates them from the rest. Really nice teardown, I would love to see teardowns of other Dyson products. These guys are the Apple of the home appliance world and not many people realise it. To most, a Dyson vacuum cleaner is just an expensive cleaner and to others, they're modern industrial design marvels.

niels_olson 11y ago
You should go to a vacuum cleaner repair store and look at all the repaired dysons that the customers don't even bother to come back and pick up. Statements like this concern me "It looks like an epoxy was used to weld the 2 ABS parts". I'm not sure "weld" means what they think it means.
- chiph 11y ago
  The design is impressive, but the construction is not. I see one being returned every few trips to Costco.
- jonah 11y ago
  "Plastic Welding" is term people use. Though it tends to mean chemically bonding the mating plastics.
- FireBeyond 11y ago
  They just feel flimsy. Creaking and rattling make me worry about durability (and indeed I returned my DC41).
- vixen99 11y ago
  So how should one react to an anecdotal comment like this? The implication is that several vacuum cleaner repair stores have made reports and they reflect badly on Dyson as against results from other manufacturers? So where's the data? For all I know, 'Dysons' are dreadful machines (not in my experience but who cares? - maybe I've just been lucky) but it's nice to see evidence before making general accusations.

bhandziuk 11y ago

It's interesting to have someone comment on the history of Dyson a little. For me, when shopping for a vacuum, Dyson looks like the Bose of the vacuum world: it works pretty well but is way over-hyped and certainly over-priced. But, I forget/am too young to appreciate that before Bose/Dyson got their bad rap today they were market leaders. Gotta keep that perspective sometimes.

oneJob 11y ago
I have a 7 year old Bose radio that still sounds friggin amazing and looks better than me most days. Worth every penny.
- grimgrin 11y ago
  I think the "bad rep" might be (in my own part of the world) that they are overpriced for the quality. The quality is good, that is true with the Bose system in my 2001 Maxima, but it is probably not a bang for buck equivalent of its.. off brand equivalent.
  - bhandziuk 11y ago
    That's what I was trying to get at. My experience too has been that they are fine enough systems but they cost to much and I have little patience for their advertising. I bought an amp and speakers almost a decade ago now which were not Bose and they are also going strong. Except this system was a fraction of what I could have paid for a Bose. I get it too, that when buying a Bose it's like buying a Mac: you just have to shell out the money and all the though of making a computer is abstracted from you. It can be cheaper if you piece a PC together yourself but not everyone has time or patience for that. Paying for Bose is paying for something that 'just works'.
- morsch 11y ago
  Whereas other radios deteriorate in sound quality or looks within that timeframe?
  - 11y ago

klickverbot 11y ago

Well-engineered hardware is definitely interesting, but unfortunately this article is rather lackluster. I'm not even talking about the many typos, but absurd claims like the suggestion that the use of Torx screws "Protects Dyson from counterfeit" really should not make it into an article by somebody who claims that they are "engineers, like you". Their try at explaining the physics involved also does not quite convey they feeling that they understood what is happening and how.

fictivmade 11y ago
When reviewing and optimizing BOM costs, Torx screws are almost 2x the cost of a standard Phillips which helps to distinguish knockoffs. Folks who counterfeit items are looking to maximize profit and will always go for the cheapest items and not many people look at screws to see if they're different. Lots of threads out there about this. Even with this said, and as we pointed out, it’s not the main reason Dyson chose Torx screws—the primary reason would have been for proper fastening to ensure a tight assembly that wouldn’t come loose.

jamhan 11y ago

If this really was reviewed by Dyson, I'm surprised no one picked up on this mistake: "Due to good ol’ conversion of energy". Conversion should be "conservation".

fictivmade 11y ago
Fixed it! You'd be surprised what can get past your eye after reading an article over and over again... :)