Switch not working would like to replace how to take apart plastic body

I would be happy to give to specific instructions. Please let me know the Model Number (starts with an F) and I will help.

Here is what to do

I suspect you have done something on this by now but . . . You need to pry out a plastic cap/insert in the top of the handle. Beneath it are 1-2 screws to remove. The halves will then come apart. I have mine broken down but have no idea what to do now. It is not making steam. Reply if you have any thoughts.

Keith

If you look under the black plastic cap (between the bottom lip of the cap and the yellow steamer body) you should see a circular hole in the pressure valve that the plastic cap is attached to. I used a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer to tap it anti-clockwise, the whole filler cap could then be removed.
Putting sone lubricant (plumbers lube or vaseline) stopped this happening again.
By the way, you just need to tighten the filler cap finger tight.
Hope this helps.

I have had my steam mop for about 2 yrs and absolutely love it. I have not experienced any difficulty with it until I recently noticed it would heat up but not steam.

I contacted Shark's Consumer Products services at 1-800-798-7398 and the person on the other end was very helpful. After giving me a few pointers, we discovered that my mop needs repairs.

They have a one year warranty, which my mop is past, so I will need to mail it in to them with a check for $9.95 for return shipping and a check for $17.95 for repairs. They will replace it if they are not able to repair it for no further costs.

I highly recommend giving them a call. There is also a live chat available on their website that can point you to the service or person you need to speak with.

hi
This should go without saying, but the first step is to unplug the machine. Next, open it up and remove the bag. Now you will need to remove the lid. There are white plastic clips on either side that you must carefully disengage by pushing them towards the center of the machine. Click the picture above and you can see that the right side clip has been disengaged. Once the clips are disengaged, the lid can be lifted clear of the body. Note the thin black plastic tabs on the lid that insert into slots in the body. Set the lid aside someplace safe where nobody will step on it. As an aside, I have twice replaced the dust channel, the fragile black piece of plastic visible at the top of the lid. Fortunately it is not a terribly expensive part and it is very easy to replace because it is only secured by four screws. Go back to the vacuum cleaner body. The next step is to remove the air filter. It is secured by two fairly obvious screws. These screws also hold down the switch assembly, which we will remove in the next step. But for now, go ahead and remove the screws and lift off the air filter. Put it aside where you won't lose it. Here you can see that the air filter has been removed and we are ready to remove the switch assembly. At this point the only thing holding the switch assembly to the body is the electrical connector underneath, and a plastic pin or two. Get a good grip on the switch assembly and lift it straight up with a firm but gentle tug. This is the underside of the switch assembly after it has been removed from the body. The white rectangular electrical connector in the center mates to the black rectangular electrical connector in the body, seen on the next picture. Put the switch assembly in a safe place until we reassemble the vacuum cleaner. Here we see the body with the switch assembly removed. We're almost there. The next step is to remove five screws, one of which at upper left is hidden in a deep recess. Click the picture above to see the location of these screws. The five screws have been removed. Carefully flip the vacuum cleaner over so that the black bottom and the wheels are pointing up. Here it is, belly up. Nothing is holding it together at this point, so just lift the entire base (the big black part) off and set it aside. It is not necessary to remove the rubber bumper that goes all the way around the outside of the base. As I learned the hard way, It is difficult to reattach. The inside of the base is likely to be pretty grungy. You could clean it up a bit with a damp cloth (I did), but there are wires in there so I wouldn't get it too wet. At last! The Miele's  innards are exposed. The motor is at the bottom of the picture and the cord winder is at the top. Remove one screw securing the cord winder electrical connector and then disconnect the electrical connector. You may now lift out the cord winder and replace it. I was also having an intermittent electrical connection problem which I thought was related to the problematic cord. It turned out to be an unrelated problem with one of the electrical connectors in the center of the machine, pictured above. Part of the plastic clip designed to hold the connectors together was cracked. Unfortunately I did not have a replacement part, so for now I wrapped some electrical tape around the connector to hold it securely together. This seems to have done the job. But the next time something else breaks on this Miele, I will order this part too and replace both at the same time. Follow the instructions in reverse to put your vacuum cleaner back together.I hope you found my little tutorial useful.

Did deeper, I finally just fixed mine today, I thought the same thing about it not wanting to come apart, but try one more time, and when your almost done, look underneath there is a long plastic piece with two screws almost side by side towards the front, take them out, remove the two rubber hoses on the top side and remove the turbine, opens real easy and clean it out, then wala it' work again...

HOW TO OPEN MIELE 251 VACCUUM: 1-Unplug from wall and disconnect power cord 2-Remove black switch panel at back of top panel: A-Use Phillips screwdriver, remove two silver screws visible between back of hinged top door and front of black switch panel
B-Push back of the panel down while pushing it forward (towards front of machine). There are two plastic notches and clips which are tightly fit together that you need to separate.
Once it releases, push it a bit more towards the front of the machine and lift off panel. It has wires connecting it to the main body so it will not remove completely.
C-Be careful not to lose the springs that simply sit inside of two plastic channels, one under each of the two switches. These are required for your witches to operate properly.
3-Locate screw at bottom of deep rectangular hole now revealed (under former location of black switch panels). Unscrew using Phillips screwdriver. 4-Open hinged top panel. Locate two silver screws, one on each side of main housing. Unscrew using Phillips screwdriver. 5-This will let you lift off the whole top assembly, door and main housing, revealing the plastic chassis and the motor unit within.
You now have access to the motor, wiring connector harnesses, circuit board and the cord reel.

This unit has the outer window, and a half moon window behind it. Check to make sure the 2 screws holding the half moon window are tight and that the plastic hasn't broken. The 2 windows at the bottom cener merge together, they may have come apart. Usually when one or the other window is out of place, it will cause a drag. You may have to replace the half moon window.

To disassemble a canister vax you first remove 2 screws holding the handle cover. One is just above where the power flex enters the handle, the other is at the mid-point of the top, hidden under the label. Both are small crosshead screws. Before doing attempting this, you need to be competent with working on mains electric wiring, as some of this has to be removed to do all this.

Once the handle covers are removed, the next bit is to gently lever off the speed control knob - it's a tight friction fit, then undo the nut holding it to the handle cover panel. After this undo the mains power connections from the multi-block joiner they go into then remove the 2 screws securing the mains wire. Then undo 2 bolts at each end of the handle going downwards into the main body. At this point the handle can be removed as well as the top body plate. You have to fiddle the electrics and switches through the hole in the top body plate to remove it. Now 3 bolts and a small crosshead screw is all that holds the upper motor section to the lower. Remove these and you can separate the 2 halves which gives you acess to the water pump. This is held in by screws founf underneath the plastic ring at the base of the motor body (around where the small reound blue sponge filter goes). This ring is held in by plastic springy clips. Gently lever round it to get it come off.

That's it. Re-assemble is reverse of all this. Don't disconnect the electrics without drawing pictures or photographing to work out which wire goes to where.