Vaccum's lost suction

n4nc309

I have a shark hoover which is a few years old now. It stopped picking anything up and lost suction from the main foot and the hose. On closer inspection, I found the lower duct hose had split. I bought a replacement hose and installed it into the foot but there is still no suction. I've taken it apart and inspected it all several time and the filter etc has all been throughly cleaned out. There is suction through the hose but not from the foot and I just can find the problem. Would really appreciate some tips or advise! 

Norman_Castle

Is the foot blocked?

neilmcl

Following on from your other thread as this is an aftermarket part you've fitted are your sure it's actually fitted correctly?

n4nc309

Norman_Castle said:

Is the foot blocked?

No I've checked that

n4nc309

neilmcl said:

Following on from your other thread as this is an aftermarket part you've fitted are your sure it's actually fitted correctly?

So I ordered a hose from another company. Its the same size etc as the original hose. I've checked where it's connected and it's definatley fitted rightas far as I can tell

GDB2222

If there’s suction from the motor, but not at the foot, then it is one of two possible problems. There’s a blockage. Or, there’s a gap in the hose somewhere.   

Perhaps you can post lots of pictures. 

Grizzlebeard

There is a test to try.

When air flow is restricted the motor speed and sound rises in pitch. You can hear this by blocking the airflow with the palm of your hand.

If you get the same sound change when you plug and unplug the hose on the shark then the hose is blocked.
If you get the same sound change when you plug the foot on the hose then the foot is blocked.
If you get little or no change in the pitch of sound when you do either of the above then air is leaking in though a hole or join or split somewhere.

Of course there will always be a slight change of pitch when you connect a hose or attachments because they always have some air resistance, but it shouldn't be as pronounced as completely blocking the air flow with the palm of your hand.

Murmansk

Have you cleaned the filter recently? I came across a Shark vac recently where the user hadn't cleaned the filter for ages and its suction was therefore greatly reduced, so it sucked stuff in but didn't have enough suction to take it all the way to the container where it should have gone.

The result was that the entire thing was blocked with compressed fluff and dirt, all the way from top to bottom. It wouldn't pick up at all and once about a litre of compressed fluff and dirt had been poked out from every tube  and the filter had been cleaned it worked like new!

GDB2222

Murmansk said:

Have you cleaned the filter recently? I came across a Shark vac recently where the user hadn't cleaned the filter for ages and its suction was therefore greatly reduced, so it sucked stuff in but didn't have enough suction to take it all the way to the container where it should have gone.

The result was that the entire thing was blocked with compressed fluff and dirt, all the way from top to bottom. It wouldn't pick up at all and once about a litre of compressed fluff and dirt had been poked out from every tube  and the filter had been cleaned it worked like new!

That was a very lucky owner, as the motor could have burned out with such abuse.  It’s crazy that people buy expensive stuff but don’t do the most basic maintenance.  Of course, they know exactly how to use a vacuum cleaner, so wouldn’t dream of reading the manual. 

n4nc309

Murmansk said:

Have you cleaned the filter recently? I came across a Shark vac recently where the user hadn't cleaned the filter for ages and its suction was therefore greatly reduced, so it sucked stuff in but didn't have enough suction to take it all the way to the container where it should have gone.

The result was that the entire thing was blocked with compressed fluff and dirt, all the way from top to bottom. It wouldn't pick up at all and once about a litre of compressed fluff and dirt had been poked out from every tube  and the filter had been cleaned it worked like new!

Yeah, that was the first thing I did when it stopped sucking anything up. Took the whole thing apart and made sure there were no blockages and that's how I found the tear in the lower duct hose