The brush does not spin. - Dyson Vacuums

A broken drive belt, damaged brush roll, jammed brush roll bearings, tripped brush roll motor overload, failed brush roll motor or a wiring failure in the wand or nozzle can prevent the brush roll from spinning.

Kristie,
I would suggest taking the brush bearings at each end off and clean any lint or hair that might be in the ends of the brush. If you have regular ball bearings on your brush, you might need to replace the brush roller if the bearings themselves are tight. Hope this helps!

I am having the same issue. The brush won't even move when I turn it with my hand. I just posted this same question.

Hi! If you've replaced the turbine & gear assembly and the brushes are still not spinning, a replacement brush-block assembly may be needed. The brushes counter rotate and need each other to spin. If a single brush is falling out, the brush assembly is broken. If the whole brush assembly keeps falling out, the drive pin shaft may be damaged. To order a replacement brush-block follow the link below.

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Hope this helps!

Need to check your brush roller to see if it is spinning. Turn the vacuum over and turn it on. If the brush spins before it shuts off, you may need to check the bearings to see if any strings or hair has built up around the brush bearing shafts and is causing the brush to spin slower. If the brush does not spin, you have a broken belt and you will need to replace it. The Magnesium has a sensor that looks for the brush to spin at a certain speed and if it does not, it will shut down. Hope this helps!

Sometimes it can be the inside rod of the brush barrel has resonated hair build up preventing the, what appears to be clean, brush. Check to see if either end of your brush wheels has a nut or can unscrew to clean inside it.

Best thing to do is remove the spinning brush and clean all debris from the brush and most importantly from the ends of the brush. The ends of the brush usually have two holders (square?) that hold the brush in place on the vacuum. The brush is supposed to spin in these holders. If it does not, provided the belt is okay, the location where the brush contacts these holders need to be cleaned and lubricated with some WD40 or some 3 In 1 oil. Be sure the belt is in proper running condition as well.

HI There,

Usually when the belt breaks immediately, this indicates that your roller brush has gone bad and needs to be replaced. I have never seen the motor shaft being damaged and causing belts to break before. When the roller brush can't spin because it's bearings have worn out, the motor shaft continues to try and turn the belt, but since the belt can't spin the motor shaft at that point burns right through the belt.

To make sure that it's your roller brush, remove the brush from the vacuum cleaner, and hold it using just your two pointer finger tips, holding just the bearings caps at the end of the bar, and not the bar itself.

Try to spin the brush using your thumbs. Does the brush spin freely without resistance? It should spin completely around 3-4 times on each spin. If it doesn't spin, then your bar is bad.

If the brush doesn spin, and it continues to break belts, this means that the belt is being installed incorrectly, and is being pinched by the roller brush. Pull the belt forwards after installing to make sure the brush spins freely.

Hope this helped you,

Chris Jones
GoVacuum.com

Hi There,

When a belt breaks immediately after installing it, this can ONLY mean one of two things. The first is that the belt was put back on incorrectly, and it may be pinched underneath of the beater bar. This would cause it to break immediately, but I seriously doubt after 4 belts that you put the belt on wrong all 4 times.

The second, and more probable cause is that your roller brush has gone bad. This could be why the belt broke in the first place. In order to test to make sure the brush is bad, unscrew the bottom plate, and remove the brush like you were changing the belt.

Hold the brush at the very end on both sides, using only your finger tips. While holding just the bearing caps, try spinning the bar with your thumbs. Does the brush spin freely in your hands? It should spin completely around 4-5 times on each spin. If the brush will not spin, or if you feel any resistance to it spinning, this is the reason why your belt continues to break.

If the brush can not spin, the motor shaft will continue to try and spin the belt, but since the brush doesn't spin, and the belt doesn't move, the motor shaft will just burn right through the back end of the belt.

If your machine is actually the model that's listed on this Fixya repair page, the Dirt Devil Featherlite model M085845, then your machine uses the following roller brush:
Dirt Devil Plastic Brush Roll for Model 085845 Part # 2-881020-000

The next time that change the belt, install the brush back into the machine, but this time pull up on the belt towards the brush to make sure that the belt spins freely, and spins the brush as well. If the belt doesn't spin the brush, there's some issue, and the belt will break as soon as you turn the machine on.

I hope this helped you. If you find out that you don't need a new brush, feel free to use the comment section here on the repair page and let me know, I'd be happy to walk you through some more advanced diagnosing. If you found this helpful, please be so kind and rate my repair and / or leave feedback for me.

Thanks so much,

Chris Jones
GoVacuum.com