Fein Mini vac problem

[Steve Clardy]

Went to change the paper bag today, as I figured it was probably full. Decrease in vacuum. Before I removed the bag, I noticed 6 nice little holes around the top side of the bag. And also the round filter was full of dust.

Seems that on the bottom of the motor housing, there are some plastic extrusions hanging down, far enough they are poking holes in the bag. This is the first bag I've changed on this vac, so I don't know if this is a common problem or not.
Anyone else notice this on your vac??

Steve:(

[Roy Wall]

Doesn't sound good:confused:

I'm really no help because I don't have the Mini....just their regular Turbo II shop vac.

There's a place in Pittsburgh, PA that has great CS on the Fein line....I'll try to find them and get some info.......

[Scott Coffelt]

I'll take a look at mine and see what I find. I replaced my bag for the second time last week, I over filled it, but no holes that I could see.

[Steve Clardy]

Thanks guys. I emailed Fein, but no response as of yet.

[Ellen Benkin]

Same for me. I've replaced the bag several times, never had holes, and the filter was relatively clean. I used to use it without a bag, but the filter would clog in no time and it's not fun to clean. Spending money on the bags was a good investment.

[Steve Clardy]

Got a reply back from Fein.
Apparently there is a problem with some of them. Guess mine has an older plastic housing. They didn't really say that, buy apparently know about it.
Guess I'll file off the protrusions causing the bags to have holes in them.
I need the vac, and it is working, so I won't send it in.

Hi Steve,



Thanks for using our Customer Contact Form.



It would appear that the manufacturer of this part has changed the design on this item. I really don’t have a quick fix for you, but there are a few options. We are under the impression that you probably wouldn’t cause any harm to the unit if you tried to sand these casting down closer to the surface to prevent this from tearing the paper dust bags. Another option would be to place some duct tape over them so they didn’t cause as much of a problem. Honestly, we don’t feel that these are great answers, but these are a few things you can try immediately to keep this from happening. Especially if you are in the middle of a job and you need to use the vac. We could also replace this part with one that doesn’t have these protrusions. I checked warehouse stock and we do have some of these left. If you are able to box the vac head up, I can call tag the unit. Someone will have to be available most anytime during the day as we really don’t know when the driver will pick it up. Or, if your close to a Kinko’s, we can email you a shipping label and you can box the unit up and drop it off there for shipment. I want to make it as easy as I can for you. It is only necessary to send the top part of the vac back, not the entire unit. Let me know which option would work best for you.



I’ll wait till I hear back from you and I do apologize for the inconvenience.



Regards,

[Steve Wargo]

I've always had excellent service from Fein and it appears that they were certainly trying everything in thier power to rectify the situation. Hope that filing the nubs down works, but I'm sure if you send it in you'll have it back quickly. Good Luck

[Steve Clardy]

I bought it in February. 5 weeks later it spit the fan off the motor, destroying it.
I sent it in to the dealer I bought it from, they sent it to Fein for repair. It took 7 weeks all total. Plus I had to pay shipping both ways. That irked me somewhat.

I should have sent it directly to Fein, as this time they offered to pick it up, repair, and return.

Maybe the dealer just got to me on shipping. I don't know at this time.