What you'll need to do this repair:
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Needle Nose
Pliers-
Hoover Windtunnel Switch For All Upright ModelsStep 1. Turn the vacuum cleaner around so that the back is facing you. Remove the two screws at the top of the vacuum that are holding the handle on the machine. Please see the picture below of the two highlighted screws that need to be removed;
Step 2. After these two screws have been removed, simply slide the handle backwards, and remove it completely from the vacuum and set it aside. You now can see the on/off switch, but you can't easily change it from here, you'll need to complete several other steps before you can remove the switch. Here's what the vacuum should look like after removing the handle:
Step 3. After removing the handle from the vacuum, turn the machine around so the front of it is facing you. Open the vacuum bag door and set the door aside. Also remove any attachments that are on-board in the tool storage bin, this model has a hand-held turbo brush stored here. After removing both of these parts, you'll need to unscrew 3 screws that holds the tool caddy onto the vacuum cleaner. I have circled the area where these 3 screws are located:
Step 4. After removing these three screws, pull the tool caddy off of the vacuum by pulling straight forward by using the tool caddy lid. You'll now have access to both the front and the back sides of the switch. Use your needle nose pliers to remove the two wires that are attached to the switch. Be careful when pulling these wires off because if you pull too hard, then it will break the switch terminal off inside of the wire. Most models have the wire that has a plastic covering over the end of it on the top, and the metal terminal is connected on the bottom. The two lead wires that need to be removed are highlighted:
Step 5. After the wires have been removed from the switch, turn the vacuum back around so that the back of the machine is facing you. Simply use your flat head screwdriver to pry the switch off. You may push on the back side of the switch where the wires connect to it in order to give a space so that you can get a screw driver behind it. Here's how it should look:
Step 6. Once the old switch has been removed, simply push the new switch into the open hole. Important: Make sure that the Off setting of the switch is at the bottom, and the part of the switch that says on is on the top, otherwise the switch will be reversed. Re-attach the wires to the switch, with the wire that has the plastic covering on top, and the metal wire terminal on the bottom. The only tricky part of reassembling is when you put the handle assembly back on the vacuum. As you can see, there is a metal cable below the switch. This metal cable controls the self-propelled mechanism. If you look at the handle assembly, you'll see where the self propelled cable sits inside. The easiest way to line these up is to pull the cable up to the top, and then line up the rod inside of the handle that the cable goes in, and slide the handle back on the vacuum.
I hope this was helpful.
Chris J.
GoVacuum
