Preventive maintenance for steam cleaners.

Best to not put shampoo in machine. Put traffic lane cleaner in sprayer with hot water, spray onto carpet after thorough vacuuming, allow cleaner to dwell 5 to 10 minutes and clean and rinse with fresh clean water in machine. For best results do NOT put shampoo in he machine even though it was designed for it. Most of the machines brought in for repairs are clogged with soap gunk. Carpets will be cleaner and stay clean longer because the soap has been rinsed out of carpet

the o-ring is likely dislodged on the screw on cap

personally I would recommend just filling the soap container with water and a little bit of white vinegar instead of the detergent. You won't leave soap residue in your carpet that way.

Here is the fix

Yes it does matter which cleaning solution that you use in your steam cleaner. If you use the wrong cleaning solution it may cause problems with the cleaning solution dispensary system. Different steam cleaners use different cleaning solutions. You should always use the steam cleaner solution for your specific cleaner. I have learned this the hard (and expensive) way.

Hard to recommend this but it will work in a pinch. You can use a small amount of liquid laundry detergent diluted with hot water (about 2 table spoons to a gallon) as a stand in for the real deal. DO NOT put the laundry soap solution into the cleaning solution reservoir (the wax content will clog the soap dispensary system). Lightly apply to the area to be shampooed (do not soak). I have used a plastic coffee can with holes poked in the lid like a watering can to apply the soap solution. Use the shampooer to do the scrubbing and remove soapy water from the shampooed area. Fill your soap reservoir with clean hot water. The laundry soap does most of its job during the rinse. Go over the shampooed area with the shampooer moderately soaking the shampooed area to with the hot rinse water. Remove as much of the rinse water as possible. Liquid laundry soap has a high wax content (makes your cloths soft) and if it is not rinsed thoroughly after it is dry the remaining wax will attract dirt faster than the surrounding areas. Other than that it works for a good stand in for the proper detergent in a pinch. As a bonus it smells great.

From what I understand as unorthodox as it is, it works well in small doses, and I don't believe that it causes any damage to the other parts of the steam cleaner as steam cleaners survive drawing up worse things into them than laundry soap.

I hope that you find this helpful

Good Luck!