I owned a Mighty Mite for about a decade or so and it finally bit the dust. The commutator started arching and it essentially burned out. When I received this one, the first thing I did was open it up and looked at the motor while it was running. Only a few little sparks from the trailing edge of the brushes. Also looks like they improved airflow through the motor, widened the commutator so it has less of a load on it, and put periodic groves in it, presumably to lengthen its life. I'm impressed that they continue to improve the product. The unit is Very serviceable, opening with 4 easily accessible Philips screws. The motor, cable, and switch are easy to replace, just being held in with the pressure of the assembled case. The motor is very well shock mounted which cut the noise down quite a bit.