Are you wondering if your Dyson V11 battery needs replacing? Let’s talk about that.
The Dyson V11 battery is probably one of the most reliable that you can find on the market right now.
With an improved amount of suction in this model, it is more powerful and durable than many of its predecessors, and will probably be used in some form or other for years to come.
However, sometimes, malfunctions happen. Sometimes, a battery hasn’t been taken care of right whilst it has been in use.
Maybe it has taken too many bumps or knocks. For whatever reason, the V11 battery can and will eventually start to die.
As the owner of one of these vacuum cleaners, this is an important thing to take notice of and when it starts happening.
After all, you don’t want to be stuck with a vacuum battery that just keeps dying before you are done using it.
More seriously, you don’t want to keep using a dying battery until something more noticeable or serious malfunctions as a result of using a battery on the fritz.
But how exactly do you tell when you need to replace a battery for your Dyson V11?
When will you know that it is dying, and not just in low power mode? Well, that is what we are going to discuss here!
In this article, we are going to go over when and how to tell if your Dyson V11 battery needs replacing, as well as some actions that you can take to stop it from dying.
Lifespan Of Dyson V11 Battery
Before we go into more exact ways to tell if your V11 battery is dying and what to do about that, it may be helpful to know what the general life expectancy of one of these is.
After all, knowing how old the battery you are using will give you a good window into what you should be able to expect from these devices.
Generally speaking, most Dyson batteries for vacuum cleaners generally have a lifespan of around 6 to 8 years.
The lithium-ion that Dyson batteries use allows the vacuum to remain compactly designed, while not sacrificing power in the long term.
Likewise, V11 has a similar lifespan that is comparable to Dyson’s other models, fitting nicely into this family of long-lived and future-proofed products.
How To Tell If Your Dyson V11 Battery Needs Replacing?
So, what exactly are the signs that you should be looking out for when trying to determine if your Dyson V11 battery needs replacing?
The following are some of the indicators that you’re old Dyson battery is reaching the end of its usable life, and now needs replacing.
Old Age
As we have already covered, knowing how old the battery in your vacuum cleaner is will be a good indicator.
If you know that it is over 6 or 7 years old, then you can be fairly confident that the battery is close to being completely spent, and needs replacing.
However, age by itself is not always a guarantee. Some Dyson batteries can function very well after 8 or 9 years, with no sign of stopping.
On the flip side, and arguably more often, you may find that you have only had the battery for 4 or 5 years, and something doesn’t seem quite right.
Alternatively, you have bought the vacuum cleaner second-hand, and have no idea of the precise or rough age of your vacuum’s battery.
Since age by itself isn’t exactly the best indicator, keep in mind the following other points when checking your battery.
Decreased Run Time
This will likely be the telltale sign that you will feel the most if that makes sense.
What this means is, that if you are running your vacuum with no extra modes turned on, your battery should last a standard amount of time.
In V6 Dyson batteries, for example, you can expect a battery life of around 30 minutes when in normal use.
For a v11, this number should be around 60 minutes.
If you are worried about your battery dying before it seems like it should while it is in use, make sure to see if you have accidentally been in an alternate mode.
For example, turbo mode can cut down the maximum run time of even the best vacuum batteries.
A V11 running on turbo mode at full capacity will only last until about 10 minutes, which is significantly shorter.
However, if you know that you haven’t been using turbo mode and your battery dies prematurely, then your answer may be elsewhere
Red Flashing Lights
Whilst this answer is usually covered in most Dyson manuals when first buying them, it is useful information to know about the flashing lights that you may have spotted on your Dyson vacuum.
Most modern Dyson designs have a line of LED lights that run along the body, which are there to indicate the amount of power currently held in the vacuum.
They will flash a particular color to show their current status. This is what the various LED colors mean on your Dyson vacuum:
- If the light on your Dyson vacuum is blue, this means that the device is currently charging, and there is no issue.
- If your vacuum cleaner is currently flashing blue while it is in use, then this means that your Dyson vacuum is about to run out of power, and needs to be charged.
- You may see that the LED lights on your vacuum cleaner have turned yellow. This means that there is a short-lived fault currently in the system. While the yellow light is on, your Dyson will not be able to charge, most likely. This can be due to a few reasons, such as being too hot or too cold, but they will often resolve themselves if they are kept in a normal stable condition for long enough.
- If the light on your Dyson has unturned red, then this means that there is a serious issue with your vacuum that is stopping it from functioning. In this case, you will likely have to speak to Dyson in some capacity.
If the battery has failed, then the lights will flash in this red color.
Fortunately, because of the compartmental nature of Dyson vacuum designs, finding and an attaching a new battery shouldn’t be too difficult.
How To Extend Your V11’s Battery Life?
So, to stop your battery from functioning before its life expectancy is up, is there anything you can do to extend it?
The following are a few ideas that you should keep in mind when buying or looking for a Dyson vacuum cleaner:
- If you are using this battery for the first time, make sure that you give it enough time to fully charge on its first use.
- Make sure that the battery is fully charged every time it is used.
- Use the appropriate power mode for the task.
These suggestions will help get the most out of your battery.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, spotting the signs of a dying battery is easy, if you know what they are of course.
If you own a Dyson V8, we also have a guide on how to replace it’s batteries.