Vacuum Cleaner Repair

The vacuum cleaner started stinking the other day. Open up the bottom, don't see anything wrong, but we have a spare round belt, we can replace it and maybe that will make the problem go away. In order to get the round belt off, you have to take the flat belt off first, and hey, ow! The shaft that belt is riding on is hot! So maybe it's the flat belt that is kaput, and the round belt is okay.

We have the round belt (I call it round because it has a round cross section, like a big O-ring) because they sell them at the local supermarket. But they don't sell the flat belts there, for those I have to go to the vacuum cleaner store where they are $4.50 a piece or 3 for $12. I have to replace them regularly (every couple of years or so), but there's no point in buying any extra. They'd end up in a box somewhere. In the bottom of a stack of boxes. Easier just to let the local store handle the inventory problem.

You can see how much the old belt has stretched in the picture above. It surrounds the new belt with room to spare. I wonder though if I'm not getting inferior belts. This vacuum cleaner is a Panasonic and is like the second appliance we bought umpteen years ago. I don't think I had to replace a belt until it was at least ten years old, but since them it seems like it's been ever more often. Or maybe it's just getting used more?

Update February 2017 replaced missing picture.