Solved : Vax Rapide Carpet Cleaner - Not dispensing water

T120bonnie

david39 said:

I have a Vax Rapide Carpet Shampooer - after 12 months and only 4 decent uses, it stopped issuing water onto the carpets even though a thorough examination showed no obvious fault. Vax Helpline totally useless.

I looked on several "Self-Help" boards and found that lots of other frustrated people have the same problem, but nobody has posted an answer. I finally solved the problem, so am passing it on in case any readers of this board are suffering from it too:

There are 2 possible causes:

Under the brush (you need to remove it by removing the panel that runs down the side of the main base plate) there is a plastic strip with pinholes in it that spray the water onto the carpet. These can get blocked, so clear them by pushing a pin or a needle through them.

If this does not solve it, the answer is most likely that the pipes and valves inside the machine are blocked by congealed shampoo. To cure this, put a kettleful of hot water into the water tank and run the machine for a few minutes, pressing the trigger on and off to give bursts of pressure to help shift the blockage. When cleared, clean out the pinholes (as above) to complete the job.

If neither of the above work, then you are on your own, I'm afraid.

To avoid the problem again, after each use, flush out the pipes with warm clear water to get rid of any remaining shampoo residue. It's a pity that they don't suggest that in the Vax instructions and not just put "Don't leave shampoo in the tank when the machine is not in use."

Great advice, prevented a potential domestic meltdown this morning, not something I would have visited MSE for normally, but thanks for the post.

bealine99

At the risk of resurrecting an old post, I would like to thank the OP for this Golden Nugget of advice!   Believe it or not, I had put my Vax Rapide Ultimate carpet washer out for the bin men this morning about half an hour before I stumbled upon this topic.   I had resigned myself to having to rent a "Rug Doctor" for the day at about £30 and thinking it might not be worthwhile buying a new carpet washer for a chore that gets done maybe twice a year!

After reading the topic, I hastily retrieved the washer and thoroughly cleaned it, poking any holes I came across with a paper clip.   I washed out the shampoo dispenser with very hot water and checked the flow from the base.   Put the machine back together, let it run for a few minutes while depressing the trigger every 30 seconds or so and I was suddenly rewarded by the flow of shampoo running into the carpet.    

It seems as if manufacturers could save everyone a lot of bother if they would only tell you to flush the system through with plain water and giving the machine a good clean before putting it away! 

So, thanks again to the OP and thank you to the Original Poster!

WidowWadman

If this doesn't work, you can get to the "innards" of the machine by removing the "hood" over the main block (the bit of plastic the dirty water container sits on). First remove the transparent bit on the front (there's a grey lever). There are then eight screws on the bottom of the machine (phillips, locations indicated by little triangles in the plastic) and two screws on the top, and also you need to take out the screw on the clip you just used to release the transparent bit. The tenth screw is on the beater-bar underneath, a little one in only the middle of the twirly bits. Take the whole bar off (just that one screw but needs quite a bit of a wiggle). With all that done, the hood should come off to reveal the gubbins.

Note the transparent pipes with the fluid in. You'll need to find what's blocked. Maybe the little white valve thing, maybe one of the transparent pipes like fish tank tubes. The pipes just push on and off the valves. If you have the top of a traditional vinegar pot you can use it as a funnel on the pipes and pour hot water (carefully in) to the pipe leading to the nozzles (under the white flat bit at the front). You can also use a pipe-cleaner to clean out the little valve and check where water flows and where it doesn't. Then just put it all back together again!

This is the first time I've *ever* used a pipe cleaner to clean an actual pipe.