Kenmore Progressive 20912 Bagged Canister Vacuum Logo

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Posted on Apr 30, 2009
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Power cord reel problem with a kenmore canister vacuum whisperti

The cord goes in but very slowly

1 Answer

jdthefixer

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  • Master 747 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 30, 2009
jdthefixer
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Pull the cord all the way out and see if it's contaminated with anything sticky. Also check the guide rollers that the cord rides in and see if they are rolling smoothly and without resistance - they may also need cleaning. If so, clean it off and try again.

If not, it may be the spring reel itself in which case you may need to replace it.

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1helpful
1answer

I NEEDED TO FIND OUT HOW TO INSTALL A POWER CORD ON A KENMORE CANNISTER VACUUM (WHISPERTONE) NOT A KITCHEN STOVE.

Hi emery1950,

I have provided you instruction on how to remove the motor canopy to get to the reel cord area and how to replace the reel cord. Kindly click on this link.

Hope it helps.

Thank you for using Fixya.
15helpful
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My Miele solaris will not turn (it's plugged in and no power)

body { background: #FFFFFF; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; } p { margin:0px; padding:0px; } .spwrap { background: transparent url(/wysiwyg_rte/misspell.gif) repeat-x scroll center bottom; } Hello There,

Usually when a Miele canister just stops working all of a sudden, it's a lot of the time caused by the cord reel going bad. The internal cord reel has a metal spring that's used to get power from the cord, to the rest of the vacuum. Over time this spring starts to loosen, and eventually will get so loose that it will no longer transfer the electric current. This is the most common problem that I we see on Miele canisters. The good news is that this repair is fairly simple to diagnosis and repair.

In order to test and see if the cord is the problem, rewind the cord all the way back into the canister, and move the canister to the closest wall outlet. Now only pull out the cord far enough to plug it into the wall. With the vacuum plugged in, use one hand to slowly pull the cord reel out of the canister, and use the other hand to to continuously push the main on/off foot switch pedal on and off, on and off while you're pulling the cord out with your other hand. Does the vacuum motor make an sound like it's starting up, or does the motor come on at all while you're doing this? If it makes a noise like it's trying to start, this means that your cord reel is bad and needs to be replaced. If you don't hear anything while you're doing this, it still may be that the cord reel is bad, but it also may mean that either the switch or the motor could bad. In my 10 years of fixing Miele canisters however, I find that probably 70% of the time it's the cord reel that needs to be replaced.
If you need to purchase a cord reel to try and replace it to see if this fixes it (don't worry, we have an excellent return policy if it's not the problem) , here's a link to the exact cord reel for your Miele:
Miele Cord Reel For S500 Series Models

body { background: #FFFFFF; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; } p { margin:0px; padding:0px; } .spwrap { background: transparent url(/wysiwyg_rte/misspell.gif) repeat-x scroll center bot So once you have the cord reel, you'll need either a Phillips head screw driver for the older S514 models, or a T20 Torx Screwdriver for the newer S514 model vacuums. You'll need to remove the hose, wand, and power nozzle from the vacuum cleaner before you begin.

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The first thing you'll wand to do is open up the bag housing, and remove the vacuum bag, as well as the exhaust filter which may be either the Cloth Super Air Clean Filter, or the HEPA Filter catridge which is blue in color. If you're using the Super Air Clean filter, remove the filter, and then remove the bracket that secures the filter in place as well. Simply pull straight up on the bracket and it will come out.

Once the bag and the filter have been removed, you'll need to take off the entire tool lid. While the vacuum cleaner is open so that you can see into the compartment where the bag just was, you need to pry two arms from the tool lid off of the main body housing. Simply put a screwdriver behind one of the blue arms, and pry inwards. Here's a picture of what this looks like;

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Once you have removed both of these clasps, the tool lid will pull straight upwards and off, leaving you with only the bottom part of the canister. This is how the vacuum cleaner should look now;


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Now you'll need to remove the black speed control box from the canister. There is one screw in the front of the black speed control box that needs to be removed. After the screw has been removed, turn the vacuum cleaner around so that the back of the machine where the cord reel goes into the vacuum is now facing you. If you look where the black speed control box meets the bottom part of the canister, you can see two clips that you'll need to release before the variable speed control box can be removed. Simply put a screw driver and push in on the clip while lifting the black speed control box at the same time. Here's where the clips are located on the vacuum;


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Ok, now that the speed control box has been removed, it's time to separate the colored plastic from the base of the vacuum cleaner. There are 7 screws that need to be removed in order to get these housings separated. I have circled the location of each screw in the picture below;


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After removing all 7 screws, you can then simply pull upwards on the colored plastic housing, and remove the housing from the base of the vacuum cleaner so that the motor and cord reel are exposed. Once you have exposed the cord reel, you'll need to remove the internal wires (white wire is in the higher posistion, and to the left of the lower right side black wire), as well as the rubber hose part. The rubber hose part simply pulls off, just like the wire terminals do. After removing these parts, you'll need to remove one more screw with your screw driver. Here's the picture of which screw needs to be removed;


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After the final screw has been removed, you'll have to remove the rectangular shaped wire harness that sits at the top of the cord reel. Pay close attention to how this wire harness is correctly seated which will save some aggravation when putting the vacuum back together. Here's a picture of the wire harness that needs to be removed from the old cord reel;


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Once the wire harness has been completely removed from the old cord reel, you may simply pull up on the cord reel and remove it. The new cord reel will come completely assembled, with all the parts and compontents that your faulty cord reel had. You simply need to line up the screw hole on the new cord reel with the hole in the bottom of the base of the vacuum. When installing the new cord reel be very careful that you don't pinch any of the wires down by putting the cord reel on top of them. The wires have a specific place they go, and you'll be able to see the correct path for these wires when paying close attention. Also remember to install the rubber tube back onto the new cord reel as well. Once the new cord reel has been installed, and screwed down, pull the plug out a little ways, and guide the plug through the colored top housing first, then screw the 7 screws that hold the upper housing to the lower housing back into to secure these housings together.

That's about all there is to that repair! Please feel free to request a repair clarification if you have any questions about the repair that I can help you with, I'm always more then happy to help.

If this repair guide was helpful to you, please click the thumbs up icon in the bottom right part of this solution to rate it has helpful.

Thank you so much,

Chris Jones
GoVacuum




6helpful
2answers

Meile red star

Hi,

Yes, this very well could be a problem with the cord reel, especially if it happened all of a sudden. There's a few ways that you can diagnosis this problem yourself. First make sure the cord is all the way reeled into the vacuum. Next find an outlet that's close, and only pull out enough cord as you have to, to be able to reach the wall outlet. After you've plugged the machine into the wall, use one hand to slowly pull more cord out of the vacuum, and use the other hand to continuously turn on and off the vacuum pushing the foot pedal that controls the main switch. Slowly pull the cord out, and turn the vacuum on and off, on and off, on and off.

At any point while you were doing this did the vacuum come on, even for a very short time? Did it even make a noise like it was trying to start? If you heard a noise, or the vacuum even came on for a time, then this definitely indicates that you have a bad cord reel.

If it didn't make a noise or come on, you still may have a cord reel problem, but you'll need to take the machine apart to further diagnosis it at this point. A simple continuity electrical tester will be needed to test the cord reel.

Here's a very detailed repair instruction that I left for a similar model Miele on Fixya already. The model that you posted the repair under is a Miele Red Star which is an S314i, the model I repaired the cord on was actually a S514. The cord repair on both of these models is identical however, except your Red Star actually has two screws that need to be removed from the variable speed control box, the S514 only has one. Otherwise, it's almost completely the same repair. If you need to purchase a cord reel for your Miele, here's a direct link to the Miele S300 series cord reel that goes with your Red Star:
http://www.govacuum.com/miele-cord-reel-s300-series-06777540.html

Even better, if you purchase the cord reel from GoVacuum, you have 60 days after the purchase that you may return the cord reel to us if that wasn't the problem (we do test all the returns to make sure that they weren't damaged when being installed), and as long as the cord reel is returned undamaged, we give you a full refund, we don't believe in restocking or shipping fees. Better yet, we even include a return label with every order that you may use for free to avoid return shipping charges.

If you find that the cord reel is not the problem, that can only leave one of three things; the switch, the motor, or the pc control board that's on your motor. In 10 years of fixing Miele vacuums however, I can safely bet that it's your cord reel.

Anyways, here's the link to step by step instructions on how you can remove the cord to test it, as well as replacing it. If you have any questions, please feel free to use the Clarification or comment form here on Fixya, or contact us by phone. If this was helpful to you, please be so kind and rate my repair as helpful by clicking the thumbs up icons at the top of the page. Thanks so much!

How to Test & Change a Miele Cord Reel:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t2281026-miele_s514_will_not_come

Chris J.
GoVacuum
26helpful
2answers

Miele just stopped working?

Hello,

When a Miele canister just stops working all of a sudden, it's usually a pretty clear indication that either you have a bad cord reel, or a bad switch. I would say that in 60% of Miele repairs that I do with this problem, the cord reel has gone bad.

One easy thing that you can try to see if the cord is bad, is put one hand on the on/off switch, and the other hand grab the cord (making sure it's fully retracted inside the canister). Now pull the cord out slowly with your one hand, while continously turning the switch on / off, on / off. Keep pressing the switch on and off while pulling on the cord. Usually if the cord reel has gone bad, then you may hear the vacuum attempt to start, or even turn on while you're pulling on the cord. The cord reels in Miele use a metal spring inside that makes connection with the rest of the vacuum. Over time this spring will start to loose it's strength, and eventually will get so bad that it no longer makes contact with the rest of the vacuum. By pulling the cord out slowly and pressing the on / off switch, a lot of the times the spring will make connection somewhere, and the motor may turn on temporarily.

If this happens, this indicates your cord reel needs to be replaced. I have done a detailed repair here on Fixya on how to replace the cord on a Miele canister vacuum that you may read here;
http://www.fixya.com/support/t2281026-miele_s514_will_not_come

If you can't get the vacuum to turn on at all, this can only mean a few things. First the cord reels spring is gone completely, and wont make any connection with the rest of the vacuum, and you'll still need to replace it.

It also can mean that just the plug that plugs into the wall is bad, is your plug bent, or no longer straight on either prong?

It can also mean that your motor has gone bad. This however is usually the least likely of all the problems. The Miele motors are almost bullet proof, and typically last 20 years. I can count on one hand the number of Miele motor replacements I've ever done in 10 years of fixing vacuums.

I can try and help you diagnosis this further if my suggestions didn't help you. Please use the clarification request that you see here on this page to ask me a question. Please just let me know what happened when you tested the cord out as I suggested above. I really hope this was helpful to you. If you found this to be helpful, please be sure to rate the repair as helpful to you by clicking the thumbs up icon. I really appreciate that.

Chris J.
0helpful
1answer

Frayed power cord on electrolux canister vacuum

1 screw in the front, two in the blower port. take them out and the top bezel comes off. one screw in the bottom and two on the top. need a flat blade screw driver to pry out the cord reel. 4 screws holds the sheild of the reel. take them out and there is a snap ring that hold the reel on the shaft. the reel assembly and drum spring comes out at the same time. 3 screws on the bottom of the reel holding a metal plate and there is also snap ring hold the spring on the metal plate take that off and will expose the cord connection. unhook the the cord and untie the knot and replace the cord and reverse the process
1helpful
1answer

Power cord broken inside reel

the reel doesn't come apart, its a replaceable item. the only place that you can get another one is through sears.
0helpful
1answer

Cord rewind nonoperational

sounds like the spring is either over stretched or broken. you may have to have the spring replaced
4helpful
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Open power cord housing on kenmore 116 vac

You can go to the Sears Parts Direct website and type in your Model number. It will return both an exploded view and parts list, with pricing for replacement parts. You can also order from them, and they can tell you stock status as well.
0helpful
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1helpful
1answer

Power cord retrieval

Depending on which model you have, take the bag door or lid off by pushing it back and it will unhook and come off, there are 4 screws that hold the cover on over the where the cord rewind button is, take that cover off and you can get to the cord reel.
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