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Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
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Author:  Todd Rose [ Mon May 12, 2008 12:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
About a week ago, while I was using it as a dust collector on one of my sanders, my shop vac just quit. It wasn't being yanked around the shop or anything at the time; it was just sitting there. I didn't even realize it had quit until I took a break and took off my ear muffs, and then I discovered that it wasn't running. When I push the power button, nothing happens. I have double checked that it's not a lack of power from the electrical outlet (i.e. I didn't just trip a breaker or anything like that).

This is a shop vac brand shop vac, 10 gallon wet/dry, 4 HP, about 6 years old. I call it R2D2 :D . What I'd like to know, if any of you with more electrical knowledge than myself could hazard a guess, is whether it would be worth my time to disassemble it and try to find what went wrong, or whether I should just consider it toast and get a new one. Do you suppose I'm likely to find some fairly simple and obvious, and easily fixable, problem? Do these things have an internal fuse or breaker or something?

Thanks!
Author:  David Collins [ Mon May 12, 2008 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
Could be anything I suppose, but I do know that the cheap little rocker switches often go bad. You could tear it down and see if there's continuity between the line and load lugs on the switch (when it's on of course). If that's bad I've just drilled a hole next to it and put in a regular toggle switch. If it does show continuity all the way from plug to motor with the switch on and still doesn't spin, then the problem's at the motor and probably time to retire it.
Author:  burbank [ Mon May 12, 2008 12:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
Todd,

See if there's a burned electrical smell. These cheaper units are cooled with air that comes through the filter. If the filter gets clogged, not enough air gets to it and poof! it's toast. DAMHIKT
Author:  Greg [ Mon May 12, 2008 7:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
gotta say I've been pretty disappointed with shop vacuums. I have blown three ranging from no name cheapee to brand name "contractor" model. The motor bearings seem to go first. You get a high pitch howl as the blower rotor begins to wobble. I do not have room for a cyclone, but I may look at a built-in home vac system. Our home system has run 34 years with one brushing change about 10 years back.
Author:  Alain Lambert [ Mon May 12, 2008 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
Check the switch, check the brushes. If both are OK it is probably toasted.
Author:  Todd Rose [ Mon May 12, 2008 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Hey, electricians - my shop vac quit
Thanks for all the responses. I'll have a go at taking it apart and checking the switch and the brushes for starters. The only thing I've observed so far (without taking it apart at all) is that the switch feels normal, i.e. there's nothing different about the way the on and off buttons click when they're pushed. But maybe that doesn't mean anything.

I'd like to buy a new Festool unit to replace this shop vac, but I really can't afford to right now, so it would be good if I can keep this one alive for the time being.

Pat, there was/is no burnt electrical smell.

Greg, I'm not sure about a howling sound like you describe. The thing is definitely a noise maker, and I'd say "howl" is a good word for it, but I don't think I've noticed a change in the sound. If I have to replace it, I'll spring for the Festool, because I really want a quieter vac.

Thanks again.
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