If you have a Shark Cordless Vacuum and have come across the problem where its brush roller fails to spin, then you are not alone. I too have come across the same problem.
What I have found is that the cause for this happening can be for several reasons – usually one of the following four issues.
But before you continue reading this article, you could first watch the short video I’ve made about this topic. You can watch it below.
On my video, I showed how to fix this issue if the brush roller head is too dirty, if it’s caused by a power supply issue, a faulty wand, or faulty brush roller components.
Read: How I Troubleshooted My Shark Cordless Vacuum Not Charging
4 Reasons Why Your Shark Vacuum Brush Roller Isn’t Spinning
1. The first reason for this can be that the brush roller head is too dirty to spin and needs cleaning. Having made sure to turn off your Shark Vacuum, to clean the brush roller head remove the top and side panels and the plastic cover on the top of the brush roller.
Then unscrew the three fastening screws at the bottom of the vacuum head and remove the securing plate to gain access to the brush roller. This can be a dirty job, so it is best to do this in a flat box so that you don’t end up with a mess to clean up as well!
Often you will find that the brush roller head has accumulated a lot of hair which has tangled up around the brushes causing them not to be able to spin. All that you need to do is cut the hair from the roller and brushes using a sharp knife, or even a pair of scissors will do the job.
Using your hand, spin the brush roller around and extract all the hair and other debris from the brushes. Next, use a brush to clean out any remaining dirt that has accumulated in the brush roller head.
Also brush clean the securing plate, and once that you are sure that everything is clean and free of hair and debris, reattach the securing plate over the roller head, making sure to securely fasten the three screws that you previously removed.
Related: Shark Vacuum Brush Roller Not Spinning: 4 Solutions I Recommend
2. If having cleaned the brush roller head it is still not spinning when you switch the vacuum on, then the problem could be that there is a power supply issue and that no power is getting to the brush roller.
To see if this may be the cause of the problem, use a volt meter to check that power is actually reaching the brush roller. To do this make sure that the power to the vacuum is off.
Take a volt meter to check that the battery is good. Switch your vacuum on and your volt meter should display around 21.6 volts when switched back on. If your volt meter is displaying the correct voltage then the battery is not the problem either.
3. The third thing to look for is if the wand on your machine is faulty. To determine whether this may be the cause of the problem, try to connect the brush roller head directly to the vacuum without the wand.
Switch on your Shark Cordless Vacuum and see if the brush roller is now spinning. If the brush roller is spinning, then it is possible that the wand is faulty and was causing the issue with the brush roller not spinning.
To ascertain if the wand is the problem or not, carry out a connectivity test on the wand using your volt meter. Your volt meter should beep if there is connectivity.
Also test each of the three metal connectors with the probe of your volt meter – each one should cause the volt meter to beep. Finally, using your volt meter at the end point of the wand, ensure that you are getting a reading on your volt meter in the region of 21.6 volts.
4. If all seems fine with the wand, the fourth thing I check for is that there isn’t a faulty component. As described when we checked if the brush roller head was too dirty to spin and needed cleaning, strip down the roll brush head as before.
Related: How I Troubleshooted My Shark Vacuum Two Lights Flashing
Check that the motor roller belt has not broken by switching on your vacuum and observing that it is functioning as it should. If that is not the problem, there is one button on the brush roller that could stop the motor.
If this button is faulty or in “Triggered” mode it will stop the motor from working.
The final component to check is the motor itself which will need to be replaced if it is not working.