Jeff928S4

I took apart my vacuum cleaner this morning so I could replace the fan in the motor. Now I put it back together and the switch that turns it on doesn't work. It will start as soon as I plug it in.

There are two wires coming in from the power cord (black and red). There are two wires coming off the motor (black and yellow) and there are two wires that come off the light that shines in front of the vacuum....and there are two wires that come off the start pedal.

I need to know where I should be putting each wire so the "start" pedal is in the loop.

Any Dirt Devil experts out there?

944S Boyeee

SidViscous

I'm no dirt devil expert, but how was the wiring previously?

Either one of the wires should go to the switch, and then to motor and lights.

As long as it's an AC system it shouldn't mater which.

But there should also be a ground wire from the power cord (assuming you have a three prong plug) that is green and yello that should ground to something.

No 3 prong plug don't worry about it, just interupt one of the wires coming off the plug.

Jeff928S4

Thank Sid - I'm on my way home now and was hoping somone would chime in.

It's a two prong plug.

So, I should run one wire from the plug into the on/off switch.....but where does the other wire end up?

I take it I run from power supply to on/off switch, then to motor/lights? All the motor and light is looking for is a signal to turn on (that will come from the switch) - but why do they have two wires each?

...and no, I don't remember where the wires were beforehand. I took on this task last night and finished this morning (basically just pulled the fan this morning) - but last night I think I smoked too many "funny cigarettes". Those "funny cigarettes" always seem to make these type of jobs more complicated!!!.....complicated , but more interesting.

944S Boyeee

SidViscous

You said it ran whenever you plugged it in. so you just need to remove one wire from where it is attached to the motor/light and run it to the switch first.

so two wires in. One goes to motor/light straight.

Other goes to switch -> through switch then to motor/light

nh3

1. black from cord to one switch wire
2. the other switch wire to black motor wire and one light wire.
3. red from cord to yellow motor wire and the other light wire.

I'm no Dirt Devil expert but I think that should do you. Not responsible for any electrical mishaps. Use my info at your own risk!

nh3

Jeff928S4

I got it working - but it is in no way even close to what was suggested!!!???

Here are the wires again (I missed one out of the motor)....

Out of wall plug is one black and one white wire.
Out of light is one black and one yellow wire.
Out of switch is one black and one red.
Out of motor is one black and TWO whites.

I ran the white plug wire into the black switch wire (connection 1), then the red switch wire to one white motor wire (connection 2) . The other white wire off the motor runs to the yellow light wire (connection 3). I then took the three black wires (coming off the light, power and the motor) and tied them together thinking they were grounds or something (connection 4).

It does work - the on/off switch works now, but I don't know about the light yet, as the bulb is a weird bulb....it looks like a brake light bulb for a car (two contacts on bottom), but it only has one filament inside and the stubs on the sides are staggered where the car bulb has the stubs level.

I don't know if my wiring is ok - I did notice some sparks inside the motor when I tested it - is this normal? I'd leave it like it is, but I think the whites are all supposed to be together.

What I thought was......

Power in - black wire to black switch wire (1 connection)
Red switch wire to black motor wire and black light wire (2nd connection)
Finally, group white power wire, two white motor wires and yellow light wire all together (3rd connection).

This sounds about right, but the problem is that there are four connector pieces!!! I'm missing a connection somewhere's!

Can someone find that missing connection?

944S Boyeee

Bob S. 1984 Silver

I assume the wall switch is "polarized"; i.e. one prong wider than the other. In ALL AC home wiring in the US and Canada, the white wire is the neutral wire and is NOT SWITCHED. I will take a guess: Black wire from the cord to one side of the switch. Either the red and black go to the motor, the other should go to the light. So the "out" side of the switch should have the red and the black to the motor and the light connected together.All the whites should be together as they are your "return". Switching the white wire means that, in a polarized circuit, the current potential is in the circuit at all times and an accidental contact between the mootor lead even whan off and ground could really ruin your day. Only the hot wire should be switched.

Be careful!!

Bob S.

Jeff928S4

Thanks Bob - and yes, there is one prong bigger than the other.

So, I know for sure right now that the black wire from the power supply should go into one of the on/off switch wires.

Then the other switch wire should run to the black motor wire and black light wire.

Now the switch is done - both wires are being used.

That leaves me two white wires off the motor, one white (yellow, actually) from the light and the white wire coming in from the power cord.

Should I group these three white wires together, thus completing the loop?

What gets me is that right now I have it working and there are 4 connections made. The way everyone is telling me to hook it up only requires 3 connections. Perhaps I'm missing a small jumper wire or something.

944S Boyeee