I need wiring diagram to connect power cord, motor, and switch on a shop vac

Take it to your local vac shop for repair. Switches are not that expensive.

The switch should be connected to the power cord just use a multimeter to work out where the wires go , do you have a pic of the switch ?

Chuck,
I do not have a diagram for you but I can tell you how they normally are hooked up. When you have the motor sitting in it's normal position the black wire from the power cord will attach to the terminal closest to where the cord comes in. There should also be a black dot next to the terminal. The two white wires will connect together and they will go on a terminal on the other side of the motor that also has a black dot next to it. The remaining black wire should connect to a terminal next to the white wires or at least on the same side of the motor as the white wires. Hope this helps you.

Sorry to read about your problem, I hope this helps you out.

Well you can order a new motor at shop vac, check out this link.
you dont have to remove to check the motor, just connect power to the motor leads

www.shopvac.com/support/

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Hi,

There isn't a wiring diagram for these. There is only a switch, a motor and a light, so a schematic isn't really required.

I'm assuming you've made the fatal mistake of removing the wiring from the old switch and have forgotten where to re-connect them. It's also not very helpful that all the wires are white, so I can't really tell you to connect red to "x", black to "y", etc.

The really important connections are the power cord and the motor brush connections. You can't get the power cord wrong as the plug is shaped to only allow connection at one orientation: I've drawn you a diagram to show 3 of the 4 connections:


As long as the motor brushes are correct, there wont be any problem. If these are the wrong way around, the motor will run in reverse and will blow instead of s/uck.

The headlight can be wired either way around so if these connections are switched, it shouldn't matter. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it back the same way as it was originally and if there is any problem with the light, you can easily switch these wires over.

Hope this helps. Please post back if you need further assistance.

Regards,
BElectric

Determine if the headlight works before anything else. If the light works but the motor won't you have power thru the vac and the problem is internal possibly motor brushes... or a loose wire on the inside connecting to the switch.
If the light goes out is likely a switch or cord problem. Switches on these vacs break more often than cords. What you see on top is the switch button, not the actually internal switch, however a switch does not normally fail while the vac is running, that sounds more like a loose connection or a bad cord.
So isolate the cord. Unplug it at both ends and plug lamp ( or test meter) into the cord into the cord and gently wiggle where the plug end meets the cord. If the lamp goes on and off the issue is the cord. You can buy a replacement specific to the Kirby series and plug it in yourself. If this s does not isolate the problem, take it to a service center. Kirby is very intricate inside.

Open the vac by removing 3 screws below the handle area and the long screw at the bottom of the cone. If the motor has been removed, you will have 2 motor leads , 2 power head socket leads, and 2 switch leads as well as the cord. Do not twist your wires first when pairing, twist with the wire nut ony and tape afterword as there is metal nearby in the housing area
1 side of the cord goes to the switch only. The opposite side of the switch will go to 1 of each of the motor and Socket. The remaining motor and socket leads pair with the remaining cord lead.
While you are in there change the round filter dic covering the front of the motor and you could change the foam/ felt wrap around the inside of the housing.
There is a insulating disc at the top of the motor to prevent shock between motor and screen. Do not remove it.

Can you take a test reading with a meter from the vac socket or the hose handle. If you have power there test the cord for continuity before the motor. Disconnect the wiring from the switch and bypass directly to the motor.
TIP Most power head cords fail at the stress point where they enter the head, but inspect your cord connections at the vac and hose as well. Please post make and model

Hello,
When you say you checked your extension cord, what do you mean by that? Were you able to ohm out the wires to determine that you didn't have an inline break anywhere? Just because you changed outlets to a known good outlet, doesn't rule out a problem with the cord, switch or motor itself. If you have access to an ohm meter, volt meter, continuity checker or even an inductive power sensor ( electritians use these all the time to find live power feeds) then you may be able to determine where the problem lies.. I did a cursory search for a wiring diagram for that particular model but was unable to locate one. Not having that information means I am only speculating what your problem could be. Is there a reset button or popout circuit breaker on that model that may have tripped? If so, reset it and try it again. If not then you may need to do some troubleshooting of the hardware itself. Not sure I've helped you at all but I tried.. Hope you can trace out the problem... Good luck..

If you remove the motor, you will see that the wires that go from the switch to the brushes. On one side there is one wire connected directly to the brush. On the other side the wire goes to a plastic plug with a second wire going to the brush. This is probably where the problem is. This is a fusible link and it has most likely melted creating an open in the circuit. I put a piece of solder where the link was and the motor ran BUT the brushed arced like a sparkler. Upon further examination the brushes were crumbling apart. I have been unable to find replacement brushes.
This machine has a five year warranty. I called Shop Vac Customer Service 1-888-822-4644 and they sent me a new motor.
I had a Shop Vac QL50EIC which had exactly the same problem but the warranty was expired so that I had to buy another motor for about $50.