vacuum wont go on

August 9, 2008 9:10 PM

Vacuum repair? I was playing with my toddler and hitting the on/off button on the vacuum to just rev it up a few times and the third time it wouldn't go on and wont go on now. Samsung quiet storm canister model googling it comes up blank...cant see any switches and opening it seems a bit of a challenge. Any thoughts?
posted by dougiedd to home & garden (9 comments total)

To turn any electrical advice on/off a couple of times in a short period of time is a very very bad idea, as you experienced yourself.

Next time, take 10 seconds break in between turning off and on.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 9:26 PM on August 9, 2008

Modern vacuums have electronic controls. The electrical surge as you turned it on in quick succession probably overwhelmed a resistor somewhere inside. I would guess that the entire control circuit board needs replacing as a unit. This is unlikely to be an easy consumer fix and may not be worth the repair cost, but I'd still check with a local vacuum repairman.
posted by dhartung at 9:51 PM on August 9, 2008

Try unplugging it from the wall and letting it sit for a few minutes, then plug it back in and turn it on. It might have an auto-shut-off that needs to be "rebooted."
posted by amyms at 12:17 AM on August 10, 2008

Very small possibility that the motor seized. Turn off the vacuum, and try turning the beater by hand to make the motor turn slightly before turning back on.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:24 AM on August 10, 2008

The beater is the brush under the vacuum that beats the carpet.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:26 AM on August 10, 2008

OP:...the third time it wouldn't go on...

So you're saying it was switched on and off twice, fairly rapidly, and stopped working? It's hard to imagine that that alone would damage anything. When the toddler was "hitting" the switch, was he/she hitting it very hard, or with some object so that impact could've damaged the switch internally? Alternately, if the switch is on the hose/wand part of the unit, could some snap-together connection have gotten partially disassembled?

dhartung: ...the entire control circuit board...

Really? I have a fairly fancy modern vacuum (Miele, a couple of years old) and, though I haven't taken it apart, I haven't detected any behavior that suggests it would have a circuit board anywhere in it.
posted by jon1270 at 4:35 AM on August 10, 2008

Sorry, never mind, googled your vacuum. Rotating the motor manually wouldn't work that way on a cannister.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:55 AM on August 10, 2008

A motor draws a lot more current when it is first coming up to speed and has to deal with a large back-EMF when current is interrupted when you shut if off. You most likely stressed the electrical components of your vacuum too much with your rapid on-off-on-off-on-off and something "burned out." You could try opening the vacuum and see if there is an obvious burned or discolored component or wire, otherwise, there is probably an open in the winding and the motor is trash.
posted by no1hatchling at 2:08 PM on August 11, 2008

Also, now I have to share with you a saying by my dear old Dad, because it is grating and echoing its way through my neurons now, drilled in by the scoldings that resounded throughout my hyperactive and destructive youth:

"If you use something in a way it's not meant to be used, you're going to break it."
posted by no1hatchling at 2:11 PM on August 11, 2008