Purchased a new, portable, vacuum this date. 4/24/08 at Gottschalk's. Got it home, unpacked it and installed attachments. plugged into a power source, and depressed the power switch, machine did not come on, used three different power sources to no avail. advise--- Reply to [email protected] asap

Aussie electrical current may be different than our US current. England's is. Converters are needed to plug in a toothbrush in England. Likely Australia is the same. We've lived on a dirt road for 32 years, in New Mexico. We call dust "enchantment." Mostly ignore it. Check out the electrical conversion from them to us. Likely there is way to convert their currency? to ours. Electrical currents.

In most of the current model Shop Vacs, the motor is virtually the last thing that will come off the top of the vacuum itself. There are no repair parts available for the motors, but if it's under warranty, the company will send you a complete new power unit., motor and all. All you'd have to do is unpack it and install it on the tank.

The power head requires 120 Volts. Some hoses have a receptacle in the handle for the power head plug, and the hose has a cord at the wall inlet end that plugs into a receptacle. Some hoses have a plug at the wall inlet end that plugs into a 120Volt receptacle built into the inlet. The hose plugs into this receptacle when you push the hose into the inlet. The power for this built-in receptacle is wired with line voltage when the system is installed.

Greetings from GoVacuum.com,

Unfortunately there is no fuse on a Kirby Generation model. In my 10 years of repairing Kirby's as well as other vacuums I will tell you that 9 times out of 10, when a Kirby Generation doesn't turn on, it's the cord that needs to be replaced. This is by far the most common problem that we see on Kirby repairs.
The Kirby motor is very well built, and usually has a life of 30+ years (G3 is about 12-15 years now). The only other problem it could be on the Kirby would be carbon brushes, or the switch assembly.

I would first try testing the power cord, I think this will solve the problem for you. To test a cord on a Kirby Generation (all Generation models are the same machines, just different colors) first follow where the cord goes into the Kirby at the bottom. To access this cover easier, first remove the "boot" at the bottom of the outer bag. This is the plastic part at the bottom of the outer bag that connects onto the Kirby. You will see that there is a plastic cover over the cord. You will need to remove the screw that holds this cover on.



Now after you have removed the cover, pull the plug out of the machine. Once you have the cord disconnected from the machine, you can now test it to see if there is a short somewhere in the cord. You will need to purchase an inexpensive continuity tester from Home Depot, Radio Shack or most other electronic stores. This will tell you if there is power running through the cord, or if the cord is bad. With the continuity tester, plug the cord into the wall outlet, then put the positive, and negative testing rods into the female end of the cord that plugs into the machine. You will then be able to tell if the cord has continuity going through it. The tester will indicate if there's continuity or not.


The picture here shows that the cord is good. If your tester does not light up, or indicate that there is continuity, you'll simply just need to purchase a new cord. As I stated earlier, this is the most common reason that a Kirby won't turn on.

If however your cord tests OK, this indicates that the machine either needs a new motor (or carbon brushes in the motor) or it needs a new switch.



Chris Jones

Since the problem was with the plug on the electric cord, I replaced the plug, I cut the old plug, peel off the plastic cover on the cord, they were two wires, black & white, I purchased a new plug in a Home center, attach the wires to the new plug and it works just beautiful now, it was a two prong plug, which made it easier to fix.

These problems are nearly exclusively caused by a bad circut board and replacing it is the fix. Bad boards can cause many different effects so its nearly impossible to be sure. The 9v signal wire is not enough to short out an entire unit so it is unlikely the hose. If it is a direct connect system and you are pulling power from the 110 somehow that would cause main unit problems but that is unlikely at best. Sounds like a failed board to me.

Best of Luck

as long as all the wiring on the power nozzle looks secure and it plugs safely into the end of the hose then you should be fine.

I own the PS 3888 and am just about to sell the entire unit at a yard sale. I would be glad to help you out but I think the mailing cost of the machine would be prohibitive.

The battery from Lowes was the perfect solution for my Oreck AV-701B vacuum. In this vacuum, however, the wires are soldered to the battery leading to a plug which powers the vacuum. You will have to desolder the old battery and solder the new one. This is easy soldering and any friend with a soldering iron could do it for you in two minutes. The improved (restored) power is amazing.

S3765-040, power head would not run when the handle was elevated. Problem was with wiring from connecter plug on power head swivel into the power head itself, because of the design the wire tends to develop a short. Test it by turning on the vacuum, elevate the handle, then when it stops running move the visible part of the wiring with you foot/hand. If it starts/stops then you have a short. Replacement part was about $10.