Goovi EV-693 Repair

For the last 9 months or so our go-to hand vacuum has been the Goovi EV693. We purchased it after moving into a smaller space and ditching our full sized upright Dyson. Moving made the budget tight and so we were looking to optimize our vacuum purchase. Research lead us to the high reviews of this cordless stick with a sticker price less than half that of a Dyson. We figured if it didn't hold up we would invest in a better unit.

To our surprise this unit operated FLAWLESSLY for months. We also have a Neato Botvac-connected that handles our day to day cleaning so the Goovi would come out for spills or getting into nooks too small for a robo-vac. We love this vacuum but thought we killed it when we had to clean up a large quantity of baking soda. My first thought was that we got baking soda in the motor and too much friction was causing it to trigger an over current device. The unit would run for about 30 seconds but become very finicky where the motor would cut out randomly and run for only short durations. During this the vacuum would sometimes turn itself off while other times the motor would stop for a few seconds and then turn back on.

I was wrong and found that the only issue was a loose connection to the motor with the signal wire that tells it to turn on. After a difficult time getting it apart (It is unfortunately designed to not come apart) I was able to bend a connector to fix the alignment of the pin and put it all back together. 

But lastly about that baking soda. I swear not one particle of baking soda made it through the filter. The black inlet to the motor should show any light colored dust that makes it through the filter. We have never had ANY. That filter is amazing and it is a shame you can't buy new ones should anything ever happen to it.

Amazon link (No referral): https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B081Z826R7/

So here is a guide to hopefully help any others that need to repair their goovi.

Things I learned in this repair:

• The control circuitry is all contained in the battery.
• All the buttons and motor control and charging wires just route to the battery connector.
• 14 Screws and 3 retention clips hold the two halves together.
• There is a current sensor in the battery, if the motor does not turn on or turns off despite being given an "on" signal, the battery will disconnect power to the motor.
• Both buttons actually share a single signal wire

First things first, this is for the Goovi EV-693. The sticker usually covers the seam between the two halves. It can easily be moved with a putty knife or a razor blade to catch the edge of the sticker. Simply peel it back and place it elsewhere as shown below.

I made a cardboard guide for the screws as I remove them. ** They are different lengths. ** You must keep track and return them to where you removed them. I recommend also tracing the vacuum on a piece of cardboard and placing screws accordingly as you remove them.

Be careful of the stick release button, it is spring loaded and after removing the screw below it it may shoot across the room if you flex the two halves of the gray plastic body. Remove the dust bin and start by removing all the screws you can see. There are 5 that can only be seen after removing the dirt bin. There are 4 screws behind the orange accent pieces, don't worry about them yet, we'll remove them in a moment. If it hasn't come out already, carefully pull the two halves by the stick release button slightly apart and remove the button and spring.

Now to remove the orange plastic pieces. Start with the handle piece. It has tabs on the top and bottom and 4 on the sides that grip the gray body. This piece is a giant PAIN IN THE ARSE to remove. I removed it from the bottom with thin trim tool, it /might/ be easier to unclip the top of the piece but I would use care to avoid damaging that clip. If you tackle the bottom first you will need to unclip at least one on both sides then pull the bottom out to release the end. The bottom end clip is quite large so you have to do a lot of prying.

Another angle showing the large bottom clip. You can also see two tabs that make uncliping the sides a challenge.

After removing it, you can see the buttons underneath.

Removing the orange trim through the center is much easier.  A narrow trim tool can be used to work your way front to back. Do this on both sides and once it is free it should slide straight back.

A view of the tabs you are releasing from the gray body.

Remove the 4 screws you exposed, you should have now removed all 14 screws

The last difficult part. Using a tool (such as a flathead screwdriver) release 3 tabs holding the two halves together. Two on the top and on on the base of the handle. Definitely use these images to help you locate them so you can depress and release them. They were a pain to locate without knowing they were there.

Now, the two halves should easily separate. Note the notch the motor grill is in as well as the two grooves the motor mounts are slipped into. Note the green wire in this photo is the signal wire that tells the motor to turn on.

Three screws can be removed to expose the control board in the motor. The connector at the top is where the green wire plugs in to turn the motor on. On our vacuum the connector was damaged/defective. A single pin in the connector (the pin for the green wire) was bent and was shallower than the other pins in the connector. This was causing it to make a bad connection. I tested this by turning the vacuum on and wiggling the wire and connector. With the wire not plugged in, I used a pair of pliers to pinch the connector slightly where the bent pin was making it return to its proper position. I tested again and the vacuum worked properly when wiggling the wire instead of the motor cutting in and out as it had before.

When putting the vacuum back together it is mostly a matter of reversing the process. Most of it is easier than taking it apart with the exception of reinstalling the motor and grill such that the grill screw holes align properly. The motor and grill are quite snug together making it particularly frustrating for how simple it is. Also make sure the wires are routed through the notches in the gray body before putting the two halves together as you don't want to pinch a wire.