DIY: Vacuum Cleaner Repair

Our vacuum cleaner (or "sweeper" as my Yankee wife likes to call it) recently caught fire. I thought for sure that this meant we could finally justify buying that Eureka Boss Smartvac with the HEPA filter (a Consumer Reports best buy!). But moving can be expensive, so it didn't seem like a good time to make a major purchase. I decided to take a look under the hood to see if I could fix our 13 -yr-old, 12 AMP Bissel.

There was a broken belt underneath, along with a whole bunch of gunk. While Mrs. N. picked up a new belt from Sears, I went to work on the gunk. I was surprised at how easy it was. No tools were required. Different parts were popped out by moving some tabs. The parts that came off could be washed in a bucket. I used soapy water with a bristle brush and a rag on the rest. The X-Factor even helped out. Getting the new belt on took some muscle, but again, no tools were required.

Now, I'm proud to report, our vacuum works as good as new. Maybe it'll last another 13 years!