Find your vacuum and fix the filter, clog, brush bar or battery
Pick your model below. Each guide shows you how to wash or replace the filters, clear a clog, clean the brush bar, swap the battery pack, and what a pulsing motor or flashing light means.
Fixes by symptom
Most problems with stick vacuums come from a dirty filter, a blockage, hair on the brush bar or a worn battery. Each page below covers one problem and links to the steps for your model.
- Pulsing or cutting outThe motor surges on and off, or stops mid-room. Almost always a blockage or a dirty filter.
- Losing suctionWeak or no suction. Check the bin, filters and hose before anything else.
- Brush bar not spinningSuction works but the roller doesn't turn. Usually hair, string or a jam in the head.
- Replace the battery safelyWhich packs click in, which ones screw in, the genuine part numbers, and the fakes to avoid.
- Wash the filterWhich filters wash, which water to use, how long they dry, and which ones you never get wet.
- Roomba not chargingNo lights or a charging error. iRobot's steps, in order.
All model guides
Dyson cordless sticks
- Dyson V6Filter 965661-01, battery 967810-23, thermal cut-out
- Dyson V7Filter 965661-01, battery 968670-06, pulsing
- Dyson V8Filters 965661-01 and 967478-05, battery 974815-01
- Dyson V10Filter 969082-01, battery 969352-03, blockage pulsing
- Dyson V11Filter 970013-02, click-in or screw-in battery
- Dyson V15 DetectFilter 970013-02, click-in battery 970938-01
- Dyson floor headsDirect Drive, Torque Drive, Motorbar, Fluffy
Shark
What the guides cover, and what they don't
The guides only cover parts the manufacturer lets owners replace. Opening a lithium-ion battery or working on mains wiring can cause a fire or an electric shock.
Covered here
- Washing and replacing filters, with genuine part numbers
- Clearing blockages in the wand, hose, bin, cyclone and floor head
- Removing and cleaning brush bars and soft rollers
- Swapping a complete battery pack held by screws or a release button
- Reading pulsing, cut-outs and lights where the manufacturer documents the meaning
Not covered
- Opening a battery pack, replacing cells or resetting a pack's electronics
- Chargers, circuit boards, motors and internal wiring
- Motor or cord repairs on plug-in upright vacuums
- Uncertified or no-name replacement batteries
Own a model that isn't listed?
Email us the model name and the code on the label. We use requests to decide which guides to write next.