ROLLER BRUSHES WON'T ENGAGE

If you pull it apart make sure the roller and the belt is free of debris. And I would check the belt to see if it broken or real loose. If so contact Shark and see if they will send a replacement . (It may cost a few bucks) At least this is a first start hopefully it helps?

Hi ... did u get this fixed cos mine is the same hve to switch off on the wall?

Easy to fix. The burning rubber smell is hair in the roller against the belt! Congrats, you have a healthy vacuum, you are lucky! Unplug the vacuum, remove the screws that cover the belt and roller brush. If you are nervous, take pictures with a cell phone or digital camera as you go for re-assembly. ok, pull the long roller out of it's slot and out of the vacuum. cut all hair off the roller and carefully move the belt from side to side to do the same. If the belt slips off, it slips back on easily. If the area is too tight for fingers guide it back on with any long thin wooden object. You can squeeze the belt to narrow it and slide it back over the thin metal rod that spins it from the motor. Slide the roller through the belt and back into it's slots. If it won't slide back on, turn it a quarter turn. Repeat till it does slide back into place. Put the face plate back on-tighten screws, flip it over, plug itr in and it should work!

Lay it down on its side, unscrew the cover over the brushes (don't lose them). You may have to pull the brushes out depending where the belt goes. Slip the belt on where it goes and put everything back together. The roller may be a little hard to put back in because of the new belt being tight but it will go on with a litte pushing. Good luck. Mine breaks all the time so I have it down to an art on mine. Just takes a few minutes.

I will attempt to walk you through the belt change on your Riccar 8955 upright vacuum cleaner. I have taken pictures for you for each step to ensure that it's done properly. What you'll need to have handy for this repair;

- Phillips Head Screw Driver
- Riccar 4000 / 8000 Series Belt
- Riccar 8000 Series Roller Brush With Clutch Assembly (only if the brushes have worn down, not necessary if brushes are still long)

Step 1: Make sure the vacuum cleaner is unpluged, and turn the vacuum cleaner upside down so the bottom plate is upwards. It's easiest to do on a work bench or counter top.



Step 2: Unsrew the two metal screws on the metal bottom plate with your Phillips head screw driver, and remove the bottom plate from the vacuum cleaner so the belt is completely exposed with the roller brush.

Step 3: Remove the belt guard that sits to the left of the roller brush, and is a metal part that protects any dirt & debris from going over to the belt. Here's a picture of that part being removed;



Step 4: Remove the Rug / Floor actuator arm from the clutch on the right hand side of the roller brush. Simply pull the metal actuator arm to the left of the brush and out of the circle that it sits in. Here's a picture of that;



Step 5: Once you have removed the actuator arm for the clutch, as well as the belt guard, lift staight up on the roller brush and remove the roller brush from the vacuum cleaner:



Step 6: Once you have removed the roller brush, and the old belt from the vacuum cleaner, take one new belt and wrap it around the metal pin in the back of vacuum cleaners agitator housing. Here's a picture of where that pin is located with the belt wrapped around it;



Step 7: Once you have the belt wrapped around the metal pin (this is the shaft to the motor that actually spins the belt), but the other end of the belt through your new roller brush;



Step 8: There is a specific way that the roller brush has to be inserted. If the roller brush is not put in properly, this can cause all sorts of problems including the brush not spinning, and continously having to replace belts. You can see on the end cap of the roller brush (the right side where the belt rides) that there is two little teeth that protrude out of the end cap as well as an indentation on the opposite side;



Step 9: With the roller brush inserted through the belt, posistion the two teeth facing downwards. You can see in the vacuum cleaner where the roller brush sits, a little groove down inside of the housing. These two teeth need to straddle that groove. Also make sure that the little ring, or circle that the clutch actuator arm sits into, is facing upwards completely. It should be directly on top of the two teeth. Stretch the belt using the roller brush as leverage down into the agitator housing of the vacuum cleaner, making sure that the two teeth are facing downwards straddling the little groove. After the brush is back into the vacuum cleaner, take the metal actuator arm from the rug / floor switch, and insert it back into the metal ring (or hole) on the roller brush;


Step 10: Replace the metal belt guard that rests to the left of the belt. You'll notice on the belt guard that there are two little 90 degree notches on both sides. These notches need to face towards the belt or to the right. Here's a picture of the belt guard being put back into place;





Step 11: After inserting the belt guard back into the vacuum, turn the vacuum cleaner over so the top of the agitator housing is facing you. Change the the rug / floor switch from bare floors to the carpet setting, and the turn the vacuum upside again so the brush and belt are exposed:



Step 12: With the vacuum set to the carpet setting, pull the belt forwards to ensure that the brush is spinning freely. If the belts do not spin freely, repeat steps 2-10.








Thank you

Chris Jones
GoVacuum

The belt (one around the roller) will only engage the roller upon 2 conditions. the carpet switch needs to be in carpet and the machine needs to be tilted back. The other belt, may appear to be on, but can be stretched and also cause this issue, the recommended time to replace the belts are 9 - 12 months under normal use.

I’m happy to assist further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/robert_b96ba3f038cf317c

Yeah, it’s annoying that the manual doesn’t give more detailed instructions and drawings to help with this, because you do have to take the roller assembly apart sometimes to clean built-up carpet lint off the unit properly. If you don’t do this, I’d expect you’d have more problems.

I have a different model number Bissell Proheat than yours. Yours may have different parts or go together differently than mine, but I'll tell you how I do it on mine and you can try my way out and see if it helps you.

(In all cases where I use left vs. right or front vs. back, as when these terms are used with a car, I am facing the front of the Bissell. I am NOT behind the Bissell, where I would stand when cleaning carpet with it.)


Here's how I put it together. This takes much longer to describe than to do, once you figure out where everything goes and you get the hang of doing it!

Attach the left arm with the two silver rods (ONLY attach the left arm here-- leave the corresponding right arm, which looks like the left arm except it has no silver rods, off the bottom unit of the Bissell, for now) to the left side of the Bissell, with a silver screw with a built-in washer. The screw hole is on the back end of the arm and the arm dips down towards the front of the Bissell and holds the two brushes in position so that they can turn without striking the top of the underside of the Bissell or dragging on the floor.

Put a small silver washer on each long, silver metal post, where the roller brushes will go, and slide it all the way to the left.

Put the larger rubber belt around both metal posts, about halfway to two-thirds of the way down the metal posts.

Slide the brushes halfway down the metal posts and attach the larger rubber belt to the cog wheel on the left side of each roller brush. Then slide both roller brushes with the large rubber belt attached all the way to the left so that the cog wheels are against the inside of the left arm. As you move the roller brushes almost all the way to the left, you may be blocked from reaching the end until you carefully work the rubber belt around a plastic flange on the inside of the left arm, but do this and be sure the roller brushes are up against the inside of the left arm. Make sure the rubber belt is still on each of the cog wheels when the roller brushes are pushed all the way left. If you turn one roller brush, the other should turn, too, because of the belt attached to both cog wheels.

Put the small belt around the small cog wheel on the bottom unit of the Bissell behind the right end of the back roller brush, and also around the cog wheel on the right end of the back roller brush. (The right cog wheel on the front roller brush is the only one of five cog wheels without a belt, when everything is assembled correctly.)

Put a small silver washer on the right end of the silver rod passing through the back roller brush.

NOW attach the right arm, using a silver screw with a washer, to the middle screw hole on the right side of the bottom unit of the Bissell. The right arm should mirror the left arm, so that the two arms hold both roller brushes in position on the right side and straight across the bottom unit of the Bissell. It is normal for the roller brushes and arms to be able to flex up and down a bit, when everything is put together correctly. The built-in washers on the silver screws which attach the arms keep the arms and roller brushes in the generally correct position but allow them to flex.

Now using your fingers you should be able to slowly spin the roller brushes without the brushes contacting the top of the bottom unit of the Bissell and without dragging too low against the floor. Check one more time and be sure the belts are positioned correctly around four of the five cog wheels.

If everything seems right, attach the two side covers. These are not interchangeable; the left cover only fits on the left. The short black screw goes in the back screw hole, and the long black screw goes in front.

Then attach the front cover. It's important to be careful that the hooks on the front cover are inside the side cover holes designed to hold the hooks before trying to tighten the last screw through the tab on top of the front cover. If you aren't careful about this, it's easy for the front cover to be out of position or to break its tab.

Try powering up the Bissell and see if the rollers spin correctly. Remember that the handle must not be locked upright and the trigger must be depressed with the Bissell turned on before the roller brushes will spin. (Sometimes people complain that nothing happens with the unit turned on and the trigger depressed when the only problem is that the handle is in the locked upright position.)

Good luck!

you most likely have to remove the cover over the roller, which has screws usually. then you will see the belt. the roller slips out replace the belt by putting it over the roller and a metal rod that is up under the cover you removed. this will be a hard job putting the roller bar back in the vacuum because the belt is so tight.

There are 4 screws that you need to remove. The belt lies between the roller and a pin. With a little effort, you just pull out the roller, and the belt will come loose. When putting the new belt, you need to insert the belt into the pin first and then put the other end of the belt onto the roller. Then pull the roller and put it back into its groove. Voila!

This machine needs a new belt. The belt is stretched into position and even if it is not used, will fatigue over time. This can occur as the machine is in storage waiting to be sold. If you check the bristle on the roller, you will observe that it extends out the bottom of the powerhead quite far and is very stiff. This causes the brush to engage the carpet very aggressively and puts considerable strain on the belt. A tired belt will fail very quickly under these conditions. You should take it to a warranty depot and have the belt changed.
This machine also has variable speed motor in the main unit. This is so you can adjust how heavily the powerhead brushes the carpet. If it is set too high, on certain carpets, the suction will pull the powerhead down too hard and this will bogg the roller and cause the belt to fail prematurely.