Orbot

An orbital machine is mechanically simple and that is its advantage. There is no brush belt to slip and no cylinder to true up, so when one stops earning it is almost always a small part — a latch that will not hold, a spray jet washer that has perished, a grubscrew that has backed out of the drive gear.

None of those justify a service call, and none of them should keep a machine off the floor for a fortnight.

This range is the Orbot spares counter. It covers the pull latch assembly and its nuts, bolts, nylon washers and socket screws; the drive gear micro and its tee nuts; the damper spray cage and rubber washers for the spray jets; motor fan cover, motor lid and grounding terminal screws; the terminal strip, grommet, wheel axle and rear handle screws for the Micro.

How to choose

Order by the assembly, not the fastener. Several of these are ordinary-looking screws and nuts that are specific to one point on the machine — the pull latch rod, the mounting driver plate, the fan motor cover. The product title names the location. Match that rather than the thread size.

Latch parts are sold as a retro kit for a reason. The Orbot Latch (Retro Kit of 2) replaces both sides. Replacing one and leaving the other usually means doing the job twice, because they wear at the same rate.

Spray jet washers are consumables. A machine that has started to dribble or spray unevenly is far more often a perished rubber washer than a blocked jet. They cost cents and are worth holding.

Check the grubscrew before condemning the drive gear. A drive gear that slips under load is usually a hex grubscrew that has worked loose against the counterweight, not a failed gear.

Pads and bonnets for orbital work are in Floor Pads and Carpet Bonnets, the chemistry that runs with them is in Encapsulation & Bonnet Cleaning, and general machine spares are in Parts & Maintenance.