Ryobi VC120 Troubleshooting

When the vacuum is powered on, the vacuum has no or a weak suction.

Before any other things may be looked into, make sure your vacuum is properly put together. Refer to our replacement guide for instructions on how to put the vacuum together. If the nose of the vacuum is not attached properly it can cause poor suction.

If your vacuum is at it’s maximum capacity for what it can hold the suction of the vacuum will be compromised. If your vacuum is full, simply take the nose off of the vacuum by following our replacement guide, then looking at the filter to see if it is clogged. You will be able to tell if there is a lot of dirt on the filter, if so, it is clogged.

When you run the vacuum the motor heats up more than usual. The body of the vacuum is seemingly hot.

It is possible that if your filter is clogged on your vacuum that it won’t get enough air flow for the vacuum’s motor work properly. If your filter is clogged you simply need to detach the nose of the vacuum and you will be able to see the filter at the end of the nose. If it is clogged simply pull the dirt out or hit it against a trashcan and the majority of what is clogging your filter will come off of the filter.

Vacuums have belts that drive the motor. If the belt on your vacuum is going bad or is bad, it will often cause the vacuum’s motor to overheat. You can see in our replacement guide how to replace the motor itself. Look at the replacement guide to see how to get to the motor, and then you will see the black belt. If the belt looks compromised you may need to replace it.

The vacuum won’t respond or show any signal of powering up no matter what you do.

Before turning on the switch, make sure you have installed the battery pack properly. You can follow this guide

If the battery don’t have energy even though it has been charged properly (the red light on the charging assembly is on). Consider replace the battery pack.

If your battery is charged properly but the vacuum still cannot run, it is possible that the motor in the vacuum is broken. You can replace the motor using this guide.

The microswitch activated by the float is supposed to disconnect power when the tank is full. Some units have been manufactured with a Normally Open, rather than Normally Closed microswitch. This results in the unit not turning on unless the tank is full (the opposite of what is supposed to happen). Due to sloppy assembly the unit might work once or twice when first received because the microswitch is jammed closed. Once vibration works the switch free the unit won't turn on again.

The red light on charging assembly won’t turn on while charging.

If the red light on the charging assembly cannot turn on even though you have connected the battery pack onto the charging assembly properly, it is possible that the charging assembly is broken. Consider purchasing a replacement charge assembly.

Check out whether your plug base’s voltage is 120V. The higher voltage may do damage to your charge assembly or battery pack and the lower voltage may not be able to charge the battery.

When the vacuum is powered on it starts to smell like burnt plastic.

If the filter is clogged it will restrict air from getting to the motor, which is important for cooling (a motor that gets too hot can start to melt surrounding plastic and produce a bad smell). If your vacuum is full, simply take the nose off of the vacuum by following our replacement guide, then looking at the filter to see if it is clogged. Follow our filter cleaning guide here.

Vacuums have belts that drive the motor. If the belt on your vacuum is going bad or is bad, it will often cause the vacuum’s motor to overheat (overheating leads to melted plastics which produces a bad smell). You can see in our replacement guide how to replace the motor itself. Look at the replacement guide to see how to get to the motor, and then you will see the black belt. If the belt looks compromised you may need to replace it.

If the smell persists, the motor itself might need replaced. If either of the previous issues do not fix the problem then follow the motor replacement guide here.