Kirby Vacuum Power Switch Repair

Here at Great Vacs we sometimes get asked how you replace a kirby power switch. We are not liable for any mistakes or damages that you may do if you repair this vacuum yourself. There are many reasons a power switch could go out, but the main reason is that it's one of the few parts of a Kirby vacuum that are made of plastic.

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Thanks, Dustin

Disclaimer - All information that we have provided is third party information. What's provided below is just what we have learned over the years from repairing and rebuilding Kirby vacuums. All information and statements are merely our opinions. THis document does not contain any official and/or technical information on Kirby vacuums. For that, you need to contact the Kirby company or your local distributors. We are not a Kirby distributor nor are we associated in any way with the Kirby Vacuum company. We don't claim to include all information in this document but if there is something that you would like us to add, please let us know.

The main steps to adjusting the transmission is taking the vacuum apart to be able to get to the transmision. The following steps are how to take it apart.

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	WARNING: NEVER ATTEMPT TO PERFORM ANY TYPE OF MAINTENANCE OR WORK ON THE VACUUM IN ANY WAY WHILE VACUUM IS CONNECTED TO A POWER SOURCE. DOING SO MAY RESULT IN ELECTRIC SHOCK. Remove the Powerhead To do this you will set your carpet height adjuster to its highest setting. Then spin the belt lifter so the two red arrows are pointed at each other. Then disconnect the head and take it off. Side note - when you are done and have replaced the powerhead don't forget to realign the arrows to green on green.
	Remove the bag and handle. Right where the handle goes into the actual vacuum it snaps out. To unsnap the handle there is a button on the back of the handle right at the base where it goes into the vacuum. To take off the bag put your hand under the boot mini emptor (plastic part at bottom of bag) and pull away from the vacuum and it snaps off. That is how you remove the handle and bag.
	Remove the trim around the Pivot handle. The next step is to remove the trim around the pivot handle (where the handle snaps in). The first thing you want to do is to undo the screw at the bottom of the trim. The screw is located right above the transmission switch. Then you want to remove the screw that holds the cord under the trim. When that is off you want to unsnap the trim by grabbing the bottom of it and lifting up, at the same time push toward the front of the vacuum. The trim then comes off.
	Remove the Metal Body With the powerhead and rear trim removed the 4 screws that remove the Metal body are now visible. First we remove the 2 on the rear of the metal that were covered up by the trim. Once those are removed we move to the front of the vacuum and remove the two remaining screws that are holding on the front of the trim. With the 4 screws out, now you simply lift the Metal body off of the vacuum.
With the completion of this step the vacuum is taken apart as far as we need it to be. Now the motor, transmission, and other main parts of the kirby vacuum are exposed.
	Remove the pivot assembly and casing OK, here we are going to remove the 4 screws and remove the entire casing and pivot assembly. This will open up the machine so we can work on it. REMEMBER when you are putting everything back together, to make sure your linkage to the transmission is properly engaging. Also when pulling off the case there are 2 wires you will have to remove in order to have it completely off. REMEMBER the wire order so when it goes back together it is done right.
	Remove Kirby Switch fasteners We start with removing the foot pedal (where your foot turns the vacuum on and off). Then we remove the linkage between the foot pedal and the power switch. It is removed from the powerswitch by swinging it all the way up towards the vacuum and then pushing down. Then we remove the screw that holds the Kirby power switch to the vacuum
	Wiring Now we work on the wiring. There are 3 wires that we want to remove. For this procedure I usually use needle nose pliers. You can go ahead and pull the 3 wires out of the switch. VERY IMPORTANT - Remember where they go and in what order. One of my first times in exchanging a switch I wired it incorrectly and sent it to a customer. When the customer recieved it the vacuum ran backwards! Lets just say they were not too amused :) With the wires out we are now ready to remove the switch.
	Removing the Kirby Switch This next step is going to take some common sense and instinct. I can't describe everything but you can figure it out. So all the fasteners and wires are removed, now it is time to take the switch out. First we pull the whole switch back about an inch and a half. Then we pull it up in the direction of step 2 shown in the pictures. If there needs to be some more clearance push the two saftey switches down. Now the switch is out. We simply reverse the process. Sometimes to get the switch in and out there has to be some wiggling and manoeuvring to get it in and out. So now you put the new switch in and replace the wires (not so easy sometimes) and the screw. Then you reconnect the linkage to the foot pedal. When you put the pivot assembly back on dont forget to align the linkage to the transmission so the transmission works correctly. Then put the rest of the vacuum back together and you are done. This is a good time to congratulate yourself, this is one of the hardest repairs to do on a kirby :)