About The Dyson DC23 DC32 Motor YV 16K24B

You may be unlucky enough to have have acquired a Dyson DC23 (called a DC32 in Australia) that needs stripping down to replace the motor.

That being the case, there are a few things you need to know about it. The Dyson DC23 is fitted with a YDK motor which is very similar to other Dyson YDK motors, but it is a unique one. A generic YDK motor will not fit.

The numbers you will find on the 240v motor are YDK, YV-16K24B and possibly 8C29.

The difference lies with the assembly at the top of the motor. There is a fan arrangement sitting on top of the motor which is held in place by a clip on the spindle. Here is what it looks like:

YDK YV-16K24B

At first glance, you may think that you can just transfer this fan unit over to a standard YDK motor with a spindle; such as you might find on an upright machine. However, closer inspection will reveal that the spindle is thinner and has a flat side (to drive the extra fan). This means that unless you fancy trying to grind the spindle down a little, and re-creating that flat side, they are simply not interchangeable.

The drawback with attempting to modify a standard YDK motor in this way is that your modification (unless done in a machine shop) will likely not be exactly central. As the plastic fan this drives is very slim and delicate, it wouldn’t be very long before it broke up because it wasn’t spinning true.

Can you do away with the fan? Well, you probably could – in the short term at least – but, I wouldn’t. The exact purpose of this fan is unclear. We think it is to provide cooling to the top bearing. Whatever it is for, it is to provide extra cooling to something. Dyson’s design engineers are not daft. They don’t design this stuff on the back of a fag packet any more. That extra fan assembly is there for a reason; so we must assume its needed.

Now you are trawling the net trying to find a motor no doubt. And you have drawn a blank up no now haven’t you? This is because Dyson do not supply the motor without the fan assembly – it comes together with it installed, in the housing. Not enough DC23’s were made for anyone to bother making after-market motors so you are stuck with buying a genuine one. However, Dyson will not sell you one. You will have to get one from an independent Dyson dealer if you want to fit one yourself.

e-spares will charge you £69.74 with UK delivery. However, you can get one from here for £59.99 with free UK delivery: Dyson DC23 Motor.

Now all you need to do is strip the bugger down. And that is a pain in the backside compared to stripping down other Dyson cylinders. Good luck.

2014 Update: Non-genuine DC23/DC32 motors are now available for £39.99 with free UK delivery. You can get one from >>here<<!

Comments and questions welcome using the box below.

20 Responses to “About The Dyson DC23 DC32 Motor YV 16K24B”

  1. Hi there.
    I have sadly as you stated above, got a dc23 with a blown motor, wih the extra fan on top.
    I am a sparky by trade and have access to a machine shop. I was hoping to buy a generic ydk motor, grind the shaft to fit the extra fan from my old motor to it. My question is, is the YDK YV-2200 the correct motor to use, or is it another one. The YV-2200 looks identical. Not sure of the wattage and the dimensions though. Any help would be greatly appreciated..
    kind regards
    shane

  2. Hi Shane,

    As far as I recall, any standard YDK would be OK dimension and power wise, so a YV2200 would be OK if you are able to machine the top spindle as you suggest.

    It will be fiddly, but it will save you a few bob. Let us know how you get on.

  3. Thanks Angus
    Ill order one, machine it up, and let you know how it goes.
    shane

  4. George Haralambous on January 26th, 2012 at 6:09 am

    Hi, I have also blown the motor on my DC23 Animal stowaway. I just can’t figure out how to open all the sections and remove the motor. Are there any guides on the net!!
    Any info would be much appreciated. Also does the second wheel come off to give me access behind the motor etc?
    regards
    george

  5. Hello there,
    I have a non functional DC23, which I have stripped successfully after a bit of fiddling around, only to find that one of the carbon brushes has disintegrated. I have been trying to find replacements on line without success. Do you have any idea where I might be able to lay my hands on a set. Any help you can offer will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance. Chris

  6. If you *really* want to fit carbon brushes, the ones listed for the DC14 on this page I believe are the same.

    However, on a DC23, if it were me, I would change the motor and not try to repair brushes.

  7. My DC23 motor died as well, and since my guarantee was not valid (Dyson service said I didn’t have original proof of purchase because I bought it from Ebay), I decided to dissemble it and see what could be done. It appears that the fan securing nut loosened, and blocked the motor, hence the carbon brushes burned. I changed the brushes, but it turned out some copper wires burned as well (I suspected all along, but had to try the brushes first). I’m pretty disappointed that Dyson’s engineers didn’t figure out a way to secure that nut better. A lock washer would have done the job, and it wouldn’t have added to the cost of this already expensive machine. I had this machine for only 3 years, and was purchased brand new.

    Anyway, I’m writing this post with suggestion of the purpose of the fan on top of the motor. It does not look like it is cooling something, because the airflow is in contact only with plastic parts, and they don’t conduct heat very well. I would have expected at least metal fan (instead of the plastic one) to cool the metal axis, and from there the bearing. In my opinion, the purpose of the fan is to suck the dust from the cable rewind assembly. It is not hard to imagine building up dust there, after all the cable is in constant contact with the floor. This way Dyson saves some support efforts to clean the assembly when it gets clogged with debris(which will surely happen during the 5 years guarantee period).

    So in my opinion, one could do without the fan, but will have to regularly suck the dust from the cable rewind assembly (from the hole where the cable gets in)

  8. Hi I’ve just had the pleasure today in stripping down 2 dc23 animals and although the motors were pitted and not working, even after changing the bushes on closer inspection I found the fault of the endless blown dc23 motors. We’re the copper wire windings connect to the positive and negative contacts, in my opinion vibration has caused it to come loose. I thought it was just one of them things till I dug through my pile of old motors and found another one I had binned, a blob of solder and I’m now rebuilding the units using these basically throw away motors, I bench tested it for an hour and never missed a beat, just thought it worth looking at, just use a pair of long nose pliers and gently pull if they both still attached then its something else, the people who think its hard to strip one of these wait till you have a dc41 or dc39 mmm they are fun

  9. I think the fan on top of the motor does not provide a “cable cleaning”. In fact that the cable is usaly not wound up while the motor is running.
    It looks like a cooling fan for the upper bearing.

  10. I was probably unfortunate enough to get a DC23, and as it happened it stopped working all of a sudden. I thought I had found the problem when I disassembled the vac: A larger chunk of one of the motor brushes broke off.

    So I ordered a new set from Manchester Vacs and soldered the copper wire on to the terminal. However, when I powered the motor back on I just got loads of sparks flying off the brushes where they touch the motor rotor shaft. The whole motor block gets pretty hot and fills the air with a smell of something burnt (carbon I guess).

    Any idea what might have gone wrong, or what the actual problem might be?

    Thanks in advance.

  11. Another question: Is there a way to further pull apart the motor?

    I can’t seem to separate the metal part at the bottom (in the image at the top of this article) from the main metal body.

  12. Jorg, it sounds like the motor is beyond repair. The armature will be damaged if you got the spark shower after fitting new brushes.

    The motor is now available here: Dyson DC23 DC32 Motor

    It seems it is the same motor for the DC32 as well.

  13. Thanks, Angus. Sounds like I’ll have to get a new motor. Any idea what might cause those sparks?

    Out of curiosity I’d like to take the motor apart, but how do I separate the bottom metal part from the top one?

  14. The bottom casing is crimped on and needs to be un-crimped with a screwdriver slowly.

    From there, the central nut can be undone and the fan and armature accessed.

  15. John Scarlett on July 14th, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    My apologies if this is in the wrong place.

    I have a DC23 animal. It is not starting. I have tried a number of outlets and the last time I heard a little electrical short circuit noise. I have tried to get into where the wiring connects to the motor but have not been able to get the shell off. I don’t want to break anything but I can’t find any more relevant looking screws. I suspect daughter #2 is a little hard on the power cord. I think something might be damaged inside the cord coil.

    How do I get this thing apart?

    Thanks,

    John.

  16. John Scarlett on July 15th, 2013 at 12:20 am

    I found a video thanks. Just pop it off with a small pry bar.

  17. As an update to this topic, DC23 (DC32) motors are now available without the cooling assembly on from here: DC23 Main Motor.

  18. Hi, the bearing cooling fan burnt on my DC32, is there a way to buy this little fancy fan alone ? I can’t find any references anywhere and the motor itself works perfectly.

  19. It’s not usually a part you can buy on its own. See if you can get a used one >>here<<.

  20. Thanks so much for posting this up
    I was able to get the YV-16K24B replacement motor without the fan from Manchester Vacs using the link and fix my trust Dyson for £42

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