Miele s314 red star-motor stopped working-on/off switch broken?

A vacuum has a powerful motor with internal brushes that make contact with the rotor. If the brushes wear down or break apart, the motor will not function. Brushes can be damaged if DIRT gets into the motor. Replacing the brushes may solve the idle motor problem. If you have Volt Meter, you can test the switch in the vacuum handle for continuity. If the switch is broken, this too will be a cause for the vacuum not to function. Replace the switch.

Ok, so if the cord test didn't fix the problem, then it sounds like either the plug has gone bad, or the switch. The plug is a very common problem to go bad, and can be caused by just simply yanking the plug out of the wall, or putting too much tension on the cord while you're vacuuming. Here's a link showing how to replace a plug on your Miele. You may purchase a plug at a Home Depot for very cheap. If this doesn't fix your problem, then it is either going to be the entire cord reel assembly that's gone bad, or the switch. The plug is the easiest, cheapest next best option, so hopefully this is your problem. Here's a link on how to change the plug out;
http://electrical.about.com/od/diyprojectsmadeeasy/ss/replacecordplug.htm

Please just use the comment field again if this doesn't fix it, and I'll walk you through step by step the more detailed process of replacing the cord reel.

It is actually simple when I tell you, Here we go...

First, open the lid and take the bag, and hepa filter out of the machine.

With a slot screwdriver, pry the hinges of the bag door out a little and take the bag door off.

You should see one screw holding the black black panel, remove that. When that is out, you can pull the black panel off. It will give a little resistance to you, do not be afraid of breaking it, it will come off.

Next you will see 4 or 5 screws down the holes there, remove all of them and the final remaining red piece will come off. When you pull this off, it will have both the cord rewinder and the motor assembly attached to it. It will be heavy becasue of the motor. Before you pull out the cord rewinder, just have a look at it closely and you may be able to just fix it without removing anything else.

good luck with it.

red star was part of there low end line. not cost effective as miele parts prices are outrageous.

Either motor is clogged with dust or suction hose is clogged, replace bad also.

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

I am an amateur and novice.
Tracked My Miele problem to a bad connection at the outlet plug.

i think the constant slapping of the plug against the housing during rewind prob disconnected the wires inside the plug? Replaced plug

Thank you JonahBegone!
My 4 years old Silver Moon has been power down off and on for a couple of months, but all of sudden it kept doing it. Then the power won't turn on when I plugged it in ( this turns out to be another problem, see my other posting). I took your advice on taking the hose and handle apart. I unscrewed the 5 screws, but can't pull the handle apart to look inside. I was able to see the 3 metal contact on the hose that you mentioned through a 1/4 inch gap when I forced the handle apart. I cleaned the black stuff off through the little gap by rotating the hose a few times. Then magically, my power down problem also went away. Thank you once again.

It could be the switch, reel cord assm., speed control or motor. Most likely not the motor, but possible. It will have to trouble shoot to find out what is bad.