Basic Vacuum Refurbishment

This is a page for general information on vacuum repair. Many people will toss a vacuum that does not suck and does not blow, so these can be found on the roadside and in trash receptacles all the time.

Dry Clog Cleaning
Assuming the vacuume turns on, and revs up, it most likely just needs a cleaning. If there is dry debris falling out of the device, especially sand, cat litter, rice, etc, this is likely all that is wrong. The device picked it up, but these things do not go through well, and tend to clog hoses and mechanisms. These are the sorts of dry goods that need to be swept rather than sucked, and the last bit can be sucked, potentially.


 * Take off all hoses that you can get to come off. Usually they are clipped, with a button or a twist to release.
 * Take out the bag/canister and give a good cleaning where needed
 * Remove all filters. Most can be cleaned by running water into them, and wringing out. Let them dry to a degree before replacing to avoid water damage of the motor mechanism. Some have 510 different filters for the air, so don't be too surprised. If it falls apart with application of water, you will need to get a new one to put the machine in service, but not a huge loss, as it was not going to stand up inside the sucker.
 * Turn it upside down, around, and backwards. If you cannot see light through the hose, it is still clogged, so get at whatever is in the way.
 * Put everything back together, and see if it sucks or blows. Failure to suck means it's something on the sucking side. Just failure to blow means there's a block on the blower side. If there is motor noise, but nothing at all going through, you may have a bad motor or rotor.

Hair/Thread in the Roller
There is nothing more to this than weeding it out, take apart the mechanism if needed, and drag the hairs out, cutting as needed to strip the pieces out. If it is bad enough, you may be able to purchase a new roller, possibly better than the one you have.

Bad Belt
Replace it. There is nothing else for a belt that has given up the ghost. These can be a pain to rerun, but look for images of the device online, and run it though in a similar way. If they keep breaking, remember that this is typically the last line before the motor, and companies would rather you break a belt than a motor. These are typically cheap enough, especially in bulk, and commercial vacuums will break one about every 2 months with moderate cleaning on an office. It's just not that uncommon for direct drive rollers to break a belt.

Example instructive video: |See Jane Drill - Replacing a Vacuum Cleaner Belt

Battery not charging - Cordless Vacuum or Drill
Cordless Stick Vacuums typically use a battery pack with a series of ~3.7V 18650 (18mmx65mm) ~2000mAh batteries which can vary by manufacturer. The voltage can get low when stored for long periods of time and the charging station will not recognize the battery until the voltage reaches a certain point.

Symptoms: Charging battery doesn't charge battery after hours or days. Device won't power on. When charging, the display indicates bad battery with a red solid LED or shows full battery with no indication of charging. When fixed, battery will charge with blinking light as intended when empty.

Battery Revive Simple Fix Requirements:


 * 18650 battery (preferably less than 10amp for less battery shock) OR cordless drill battery 15-20V (these typically use a series of 18650 batteries similar to cordless vacuums) as Electrical Source to revive battery
 * 2 pairs of metal scissors, Speaker Wire or Romex 12/2 electrical wire (electrical conduit)
 * Multimeter to determine positive and negative ends of battery (find which way is positive voltage (red goes to red or positive which should make it positive voltage.
 * You can use another 18650 battery or 18-20V drill battery to revive the vacuum battery to a rechargeable state. To do so, take speaker wire, two scissors, Romex 12/2, or other electrical conduit and create a parallel connection between the positive to positive and negative to negative terminals for about 30 seconds. Use a multimeter to determine which is negative and positive or look for indicators on the battery packs.

Advanced Battery Pack 18650 battery replacement Requirements: $100ish


 * 18650 batteries $25ish (Similar and working - hold a similar capacity and nominal voltage. Can hold amperage)
 * Wire Cutters to cut battery pack wires near solder for disassembly.
 * Soldering Iron to reassemble battery pack wires via solder to connection points.
 * Spot Welder and nickel strip 0.15mmx8mm to connect to positive and negative 18650 terminals. Secures tightly with a weld.
 * Battery charger (optional to refurbish old batteries if possible) Optional dremel to clean connections (careful, batteries can explode if punctured. Use eye and other protection and just barely clean up terminal welds if refurbishing)
 * Screwdriver for Battery pack - cordless vacuum, drill, e-bike, etc.

Replace batteries with the above tools. Many videos on how to do so on Youtube for Cordless Drills.

Example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91e9ZEGWulc