Vacuum Cleaner Blew Fuse

[Patscga]

Turned on the vac and the power went off. Is there anything I can do to the vac? It's only about two years old. Thanks. Pat

[Jim Elbrecht]

Check the cord real close for kinks, cuts, or crushed spots. At 2 yrs old that's your most likely source of a short.. [and it is most likely right near the plug or where it goes into the machine]

If nothing is immediately apparent you might want to try a mulitimeter to look for a short.

You can buy a Radio Shack multimeter for less than $20. If you don't have one, get one. You'll use it more than just this time. If it doesn't come with clips for the leads, be sure to pick up a pair while you're there. Another few dollars.

With the vac unplugged and turned off, clip the leads to the end of the vac plug- set the meter to read resistance. Start wiggling the cord I see if you can get the meter to jump.

Also- before you spend too much time on the vac-- have you checked it in another outlet? It could be a problem in the circuit, not the vac.

Jim

[indago]

Yes, it is possible that the outlet that you have chosen is on a circuit that already has other working items plugged in, like the TV on, computers running, auxiliary heater plugged in, and etc. A vacuum cleaner motor, when starting from completely stopped, may draw as much as 5 times its normal operating current, and if slow starting, due to improper maintenance cleaning and such, may just be enough to tip over the edge of the rated current of the fuse in that circuit. Try the circuit in the kitchen a few times and see of that circuit holds. The kitchen circuits are on a heavier fuse, usually. Don't change the fuse to a larger fuse in any case. This could be disastrous.