I turned the rainbow but there wasn't any water or shampoo coming out

Because you are pulling shampoo out of the carpet from a previous shampooing. Also the air whips around inside the waste bucket.

Incidentally....

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?958

..

Sounds like an unwanted ingress of water into the motor assembly.
Not a lot can be done without stripping the machine down and taking a look at any damage.

You should have a non-electric hose which you want to attach to the vacuum suction, then take the long skinny hose and hook it to you kitchen faucet. You may have to unscrew the end piece from your faucet. turn on youir hot water. On the handle of the aquamate, there is a little holder. Unhook it by releasing the yellow button. Put your shampoo to the line, no need to dilute, the Aquamate will mix the right amount to the water. Now you are ready to shampoo. You can pick up water until you hear the machine stress out. That is time to change the water in the basin. It is probably best to change it before that, but don't worry, the separator keeps it out of the motor. Hope this helps fixya! Thanks, Let me know, Rene (the Vacuum Doctor)

Do you hear the pump running?

Reasons for that to happen:
a) You have tilted the vac while vacuuming
b) Used the Rainbow without separator (basket like thing on the bottom of the motor)
c) Overfilled the rainbow tank with water (may have happened when shampooing with AquaMate)

Clean and install back the separator, remove HEPA, Set the Rainbow on empty water pan (with HEPA removed) turn it on for a while so everything will dry. Install new HEPA.

You will have to get a new HEPA filter (you can find them HERE)

Good Luck,
Rocky
:-)

Sometimes it takes up to 10 or so minutes for the Aqua mate 2 to begin pumping out anything.

If it is the new Aqua mate 12 (the big blue one, that is like a giant power head) the same thing is true for it.

If it is an earlier model Aquamate, then it is clogged somewhere in the hose, or the fluid control valve is clogged.

The water separator is the thing that spins in the center of the motor where your water basin attaches to it. It looks like a cone shaped fan looking thing. It should be cleaned after every use.

Use your Rainbow separator cleaning brush, or a tooth brush, if you do not have the Rainbow one. They are just like tooth brushes.

Never store your Rainbow canister on your water basin, with or without water in it. It can and will ruin your vacuum in dew time.

You can get manuals either here,
http://www.rainbowsystem.com/ or here,
http://www.rainvac.com

If you have any more questions let me know. I am a Rainbow seller, and a Rainbow expert also.

Thank you,
Ralph

any shampoo made for extractor type machines will work fine, or mix liquid laundry soap 50-50 with water (after all, you AREwashing fabric}

http://geeksquad.fixya.com/ThreadView.aspx?prdid=19674&thid=620181
Rainbow Aqua mate 2 (by 3 users)
Posted by nicks mom on May 24, 2008
I cannot get water to come out of the water basin in order to shampoo. It is all connected correctlyXThis Problem has been added to the Share Your Expertise Page under "My Work Queue".
OK
2 Other Users Have the Same Problem Comment by deucedown, posted on May 26, 2008 Same problem here, I have only used the shampooer twice and water will not come out of the basin. I need to shampoo my carpets today and this is very discouraging. Somebody please help. I hooked it up and followed the directions. Comment by Angela31, posted on May 26, 2008 We are having the same problem. Everything is connected and no water is coming out. We have only used our Aqua mate 3 other times. Please help. Hello,
I would advise you to ALWAYS to FIRST UNPLUG YOUR VACUUM before beginning any service procedure. Rainbow E Series Canister Wet/Dry Vacuum / Aqua Mate. It has been a long time since I have operated a Rainbow Aqua Mate so I suggest that The best solution to operate the Rainbow Aqua Mate is to contact the Rainbow Tech Support line listed below or to contact your local vacuum cleaner dealer and have them send out a Rainbow Aqua Mate owner’s manual so that you can operate the unit successfully. By listening to the 3 questions listed above the actual water basin I believe is the recovery water tank to be emptied when full and I believe that there is a separately bottle or tank that the solution goes in order to dispense the water. If you have further questions please feel free to contact your local vacuum cleaner dealer. . So if you need further assistance, please feel free to contact your local vacuum cleaner dealer in your area or in the yellow pages, or contact the factory phone number or website to further assist you with your questions.
The Rainbow / RexAir Factory phone number is listed below:
http://rainbowvacuum.com Customer Service
1-248-643-7222 Monday thru Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST
Thanks, Don the Vac Man
Go Ahead. Use Us.

i have never used my rainbow shampooer and have had it 2 or 3 years it is not working it will **** up water but will not spray water or shampoo what do i do?

You have the vacuum and the basin, you put them together just like when you vacuum but don't put water in the basin. There is a large white container that comes with the shampooer. you fill that up with water and then you place the vacuum cleaner and the basin on top of that. Now you will need the water hose (not the one that has the gas pump hadle). Hook that in the same spot that you do for vacuuming. Then you take the shampooing handle( it will have a trigger and a little white bottle and some tubes hooked to it) the one end of it hooks to the water hose and the other end hooks to the wands. There are 2 wands that come with your shampooer. At the end of those the shampooer head will be attached. There are two separate tubes there is a thick tube ( there two tubes fused together) and a thin tube, they hook to the large white container that you fill with water. Just look and you will see where they go. Then there is a tube that hooks to the shampooer head at the bottom. The you take the little bottle and fill it with your shampoo. You should have gotten some clips to hool onto your hose so that you can keep the tubes attached to it so they aren't in the way. You should be set. I hope I helped.