THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE REMOVED! the following answer is by mame...
Haven't figured out how to delete my question, so...here's what I did. I'm used to quality vacuums and this aint one of them - it is so cheaply put together that I had to remember to look for plastic snap-on areas instead of screws. Once I had that mind-set it was very easy to take all parts off, including the blue cover which snapped on in 4 places. A few screws are used inside...I opened the motor cover and blew out the rotor area with canned air....not much else I could do in there. Put it all back together and it still screeches!
Guess I'll donate it the local Sally Ann, or part it out.(LOL)
mame
July 2006