I recently experienced some operational concerns with my vacuum cleaner, so I decided to learn everything I could about how to fix and maintain these essential household helpers.
When your vacuum cleaner goes on the fritz, there are a limited number of potential problems.
If your vacuum cleaner has no juice whatsoever, it may indicate a burned out motor (demagnetized by overheating) or a blown circuit/breaker. You can use a multimeter to check continuity or just use trial and error, replacing these simple components and hoping for the best. If this fails, you may consider replacing the motor, depending on your comfort level.
If the vacuum cleaner makes a sound but doesn't have any sucking power, check to see if the belt has broken. Other than simple clogs, this has to be the most common problem that causes user to purchase a new vacuum cleaner ... unnecessarily. When you open up the vacuum cleaner plate, the big black rubber band looking thing should fit snugly around the brush, cause it to rotate as the fan engages. If the belt is loose or broken, replacing it is relatively simple and inexpensive.
If you're vacuum cleaner sort of works but seems to be under-performing, try checking the agitator brush for obstructions. Unplug your upright vacuum cleaner, flip it over, over, use a screw drive to detach the metal plate, and examine the metal cylinder with bristles (the brush). My vacuum cleaner is a relatively newer, bagless model with a plastic plate instead of a metal one, but it still unscrews the same way.
One drawback to my unit's design is that you have to open up the whole thing and expose the motor to access the brush.
A hair or a loose piece of string can lodge itself between the brush and the belt, which is the big black rubber band looking thingy that causes the brush to spin. (In my case, small and plastic.)
Mine was clear, but as you can see, a buildup of hair and dust around the brush cylinder can have the same basic effect.
You can usually cut the obstruction away with a pair of scissors or remove the brush cylinder entirely to get at tenacious tangles.
My vacuum cleaner hadn't been cleaned in a couple of years, so the tangle of hairs looked more like a thicket.
Upon closer inspection, I opted for the dust mask.
Once finished clearing off the tangle, I threw the ball of hair and dust in the trash and reassembled the unit. Now she's purring like a kitten. Lesson learned.
Other resources:
Much more on motor maintenance and repair: http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Vacuum-Cleaner
Basic repair tips: http://www.ehow.com/how_112391_fix-vacuum-cleaner.html
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