I have a Shop Vac that suddenly lost most of its suction. I thought the filter had gotten clogged but even with the filter off altogether, there's barely any suction. While they're not obscenely expensive, I like to try and keep something alive if possible. I wonder if there's a common cause of this that's readily fixed?
Thanks for all input.
There's not much to a shop vac -- basically an impeller/fan and a motor. Something's likely clogged somewhere. I assume you tried it without the hose and aren't getting suction at the machine? If not, you probably have something lodged in the hose. Otherwise, something may ahve got caught up in the power head...
-Tim
You may find that the impeller itself has gotten filled with crud. They often have several disks with vanes inside spaced rather closely together.
If you don't find any major blockages ahead or behind the impeller then get down to where you can probe inside the impeller's segmentns with a piece if wire and see if you can hook and push junk out of it, then take it to a sink and wash it out well before reinstalling it.
YMMV,
Jeff
Of course you already checked the hose for obstructions, right...
If the motor sounds normal, see if you can get access to the impeller and if anything is stuck to them. It's also possible the impeller has loosened on the motor shaft, but usually this will noticeably affect the sound the vac makes.
After you follow the prior instructions about cleaning possible obstructions I will add the possibility that the motor may be going bad. Likely it is not worth repair if that is the case as most shop vacs are not worth the time.
You say it "suddenly" lost most of its suction. What were you doing with the shop vac when this "suddenly" happened?
That might provide a clue to help diagnose the problem.
Vacuuming a cotton painter's cloth once? Who did It?
Cotton cloth and debris clogged my vac up -- stop and clear.
-- Oren
"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."
Sounds like a bad motor.
If you have your receipt, I'd take it back
GM
If it was a bad motor, you'd almost certainly hear a different sound than usual coming from the unit...
He never said anything about the age of it. It could be very old...
-Tim
I find vacuum cleaners in the trash all the time. The problem is always that the hose or the hose equivalent (for uprights and electric brooms, the path from the floor to the dirt depository) is clogged. I've never yet found one with a burned out motor or even a bad impeller.
I bought some 12 inch tweezers at a hamfest once. Didn't know what I would use them for, but they were cheap. They were great from removing the clog from an upright. (also great for removing splinters from the fin of a blue whale)
replying to goldenmike4393, Marty Sobel wrote: maxavac system will solve all your problems
After two days of troubleshooting and replacing bags, filters and foam shrouds, I finally checked the hose input connection hole (without the hose in it) and guess what? It almost sucked off my finger prints! Yup, it was the hose clog all this time. A few long pokes and shakes and it was all clean and I could pick up marbles from sic inches away!
* *Why is it always the very last (and simplest) thing that you try?**---joypebble
After two days of troubleshooting and replacing bags, filters and foam shrouds, I finally checked the hose input connection hole (without the hose in it) and guess what? It almost sucked off my finger prints! Yup, it was the hose clog all this time. A few long pokes and shakes and it was all clean and I could pick up marbles from six inches away!
* *Why is it always the very last (and simplest) thing that you try?**---joypebble
i have pushed my garden hose with the water running thru the disconnecvted hose....... amazing all the crud that comes out..
i also one time ran the garden hose water thru the motor blower powerhead
amazing how much vacuumn power after this rather low tech service
When my vacuum loses suction, it's usually not because it's plugged. It's because it's unplugged.
replying to Doc, mike44 wrote: My Rigid wet dry was making a lot of noise and low suction. I removed the wet/dry cowl 6 screws and there was the impeller; a thin disc. turns out it was plugged partially with two strips of plastic and some human hair. moral of the story. Carefully re-seat the filter after each routine cleaning., clean out the exhaust filter. Total time of repair 15 minutes half of that locating a Phillips head screwdriver that my kids continually scatter throughout the house and garage. Oh and BTW if the motor is running at speed it is not the motor start with the cowl first.
replying to Doc, kootenaykate wrote: Just amazing hammered out a tiny dent on lid rim et voila were back in business, oh yea and clean filter
replying to Doc, pmase22 wrote: I have a little 2 HP armor all shop VACand it quit sucking with the intensity that it did once I cleaned out the filter one time and what had happened, was that the ball inside the motor compartment had come out of place a few good giggles and bounces around to relocate it I didn't even take the cover off and it worked like a charm! So check that
replying to Doc, Russell wrote: Right out of the box I put the filter over the foam filter for dry vacuum and after a few minutes no suction took off hose and no suction from unit. This is my second machine. It will start suction again in a few minutes.
replying to Russell, ItsNotGoing2SukItself wrote: My shop vac works excellent for 3-4 min and then the motor begins to rev higher and I lose about 60%-70% of suction. Changed the filter, left it off for awhile both had the same results works great and then na-da.
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