An important part of home improvement is developing the skill for repairing electrical devices at home. This saves the time and hassle of taking the device to an electrician or calling them to your house. In this article, I will take you step-by-step through the process of repair a vacuum cleaner. Follow these steps closely to become a do-it-yourself professional.
The first step is identifying the problem or the source of the problem. Let’s look at a number of problem scenarios you may encounter in repair a vacuum cleaner and tackle each one of them individually.
Change the Plug
Is your appliance not working because it’s broken or is the electrical plug damaged? The simplest way to find out is plugging it in some other plug. Once you have determined that your vacuum cleaner is indeed broken, the next step is identifying what needs to be fixed.
Clean the Vacuum & Lubricate its Parts
Start with simple steps like taking a look at the big parts. These include the bag, filters, hose, belts and brush roll. Clean the bag, filters, and hose. Make sure the belt is not slipping (you may smell rubber burning if it is slipping). Also, lubricate the bearings of the brush roll. If lubrication doesn’t work, try replacing the part.
Brush Roll Maintenance
The next step is to verify if the brush roll is spinning when you turn the appliance on. For this purpose, you will have to look underneath it. Some of these devices have switches that turn off the brush roll. Make sure that switch is turned off.
Solve the Mystery of the Electrical Wiring
If the device is still refusing to cooperate, put on your Sherlock hat and check its electrical wiring. Make sure that the device is unplugged when you are doing this. So, what do you need to look for here? You should start with the switch of the vacuum cleaner and see if any wires have come loose there. Then check if any wire seems like it’s broken or if any wires are crossing over in the electrical wiring of the vacuum.
A number of times when my electrical devices have broken down, the problem is short-circuiting. The solution is to tape the wires that are crossing over and if possible, change their route so they don’t cross over. Then replace the fuses and the breakers.
Check the Motor and Blower
The next step in the repair process is to check if the electrical motor is working. The motor itself may be quite expensive to replace but see if you can make do with replacing some parts of it. Attached to the motor is a blower and if its fins are broken, it may damage the motor. So, replace the fins.
Don’t forget to check the wikihow.com article.
Conclusion
If you follow all these steps for vacuum cleaner repair, it should be as good as new. However, if this does not work, maybe it’s time to call in an electrician to diagnose the problem thoroughly or even replace the appliance with a new one.
