Another problem with my Ridgid Vac. :(

[Wild Weasel]

As you guys know, I got the power/blower part of my 16 gallon blower/vac replaced just recently because the switch broke.

Now, on the new one, if I run it for more than a minute or so big blue sparks start jumping around inside it and then it stops and smells like an electrical fire. :(

Any suggestions or should I just bring it back... again?

[Woussko]

My bet is there's a few shorted turns of the wiring in the armature. If you can get HD to swap it, YEA. If not you are more of less SOL and USC. In that case be rid of it and buy something else. Can you say exactly what you were using it for before it started acting up? It might also be that the carbon brushes cracked or hang up in the brush holders. Again, that would be where if HD will swap it go for it. Someone that can and does work on small electric motors could check it out. If the armature is bad, then into the trash it needs to go. They do not come cheap.

WW

Are you giving your vac any long and heavy duty use? If yes, it's time for you to get a serious machine made for commercial users. You won't find such at HD or Lowes, but they are made and once you have one, there's no going back to the lesser machines.

[Woussko]

WW

If you let the motor cool for say 1/2 hour or longer and then turn it on, does it spark right away or must it run a few minutes first? The BIG STINK has me thinking you really would do well to try to get HD to swap it for another if they will.

[Wild Weasel]

Nothing caused this one. It was like this out of the box.

I've used it twice since bringing it home and both times it's happened. I'll bring it back again and see what they say.

I'm really not using it for anything heavy duty. It's just for my house and to use in my garage.

Just checked the receipt... I'm now out of the 90 day return period so it looks like I've gotta go the repair route.

Anyone know if there are authorized repair shops around Toronto or do I have to go through HD?

[Woussko]

WW

Crazy comment removed by me. --->

This may help some with finding a service center.
http://www.ridgid.com/MenuDriver.asp?ParentID=Wet-Dry-Vac-Service-Centers&Code=WD

This is making me that that maybe Ridgid needs to change the design and maybe recall them. I hope others with this model will post what kind of luck they've had with them.

[Wild Weasel]

Excellent. There's a service center not more than 5 mins away from my house!

Thanks Woussko!

[Woussko]

Sure WW
Glad to help. (Comment removed after thinking about it)

[oldslowchevy]

what model do you have? i have a ridgid 16 gal vac and i love it i treat it very harsh too (leaving it out side, tossing it in the back of my truck ect) and it has never had a problem ever.

[Woussko]

I think it's the WD1665 where you can detatch the power head and use it as a hand held blower. http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/16-Gallon-Vac-Blower/index.htm

The WD1850 16 gallon ProVac might well be (I'm about 95% sure it is) a better made machine and what he should be looking at. http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/16-Gallon-WD-Vac/index.htm

[Wild Weasel]

Yeah, the WD1665 is the one I've got.

And I really shouldn't need a pro vac. Generally speaking, I'll be using it to vacuum out my car now and then and just for general cleanup around the garage. I just need one that's been put together right to begin with. :)

[amcnerl]

I have the same vac and right now the switch, sometimes, sticks. Other than that it works flawslessly. I use the heck out of mine, as a vac and blower on my patio. Sorry to hear of the problems, I'll have to keep an eye on mine tho.

[Woussko]

WW

If you do take it to the service place, ask that they check the brushes first. If they hang up in the holders (dust and dirt cause this all the time) that would bring about the problem. Did it spark right when you first powered it up? Did you have to run it a bit first? Sometimes brushes or holders just aren't made right and they bind up. Sometimes it's dust or corrosion. I sure hope it's not the armature needing replacement, but if it is, be strong. Demand that it be replaced under warranty. Take papers.

This may seem crazy but it happens. With a brand new motor or when brushes are replaced, they need to be seated - broken in before full Voltage is applied. The old school was to apply about 1/2 of Rated Voltage and let the motor run on the bench for 15 - 30 minutes and then try it at rated Voltage. If you just start off at full Voltage in too many cases you get fierce arcing and burn things up. Now let's think about what are the chances that the motors really get broken in at the factory. My bet is they skip that step and if it runs, then into the head it goes.

[Wild Weasel]

Well it's brand new, fresh out of the box so there's no dirt or anything in it.

It runs for about a minute or two, then slows and stops and you can see the sparks jumping inside it and smell burning.

I'm gonna call the repair shop now and see what they say... I'll post up the results...

[Wild Weasel]

Ok... talked to the repair shop... he said to just bring in the head and he'll take care of it. Of course, I can't really imagine what else they'd say. :D

Hopefully it all goes smoothly. I'll let you guys know. Not sure when I'll get there though as they close at 5 and aren't open on weekends. :(

[Woussko]

DEFECTIVE or is's simply an engineering issue where they went all out to save 5 cents on it.

[Wild Weasel]

Just an update here.

I brought the power head to the repair center and they wouldn't take it. They said things had changed and, while they may ultimately end up doing the repair, I had to take it to Home Depot to get the process rolling.

Seems sort of pointless to me to list repair shops on the Ridgid site when you can't actually go to them for repairs, eh? :)

So I brought it to Home Depot and got ignored by some woman behind the counter who was more interested in going on break than on helping me out.

It was amusing even. Halfway through my explanation of what was wrong with it, she just turned around and started talking to someone about something completely unrelated.

I just stopped talking. I ended up just filling out the paper myself. This was all on the 28th. I'm curious as to how long it will take me to hear back about it since really, I can't imagine them doing anything other than just giving me a new one.

[Wild Weasel]

This is unbelievable.

It's been over a month now and I just talked to the HD people. Apparently nobody has even looked at it yet. The person I talked to didn't seem to care that it's been over a month and said a Ridgid rep is there today and she'd have them look at it.

WTF?? Is this acceptable to them?

[Wild Weasel]

I just heard back. They said if I bring the rest of the pieces back, they'll give me a refund or a new one.

I'm going to take the refund and go buy a Craftsman.

[Wild Weasel]

Actually... if there's somewhere other than HD that I can deal with to buy one... I sure would like another. It worked great while it worked. I just can't stand how I was just hung out to dry by HD when I needed it fixed!

[Akita]

My saying with Home Depot is "You can F@#$ it up!!!!!We can help!!!!" LOL

[Akita]

By the way, I have the WD 1660 w/ the detachable head. It's been used hard w/ no problems but a new switch was replaced by me(Ridgid sent it to me free).

[Wild Weasel]

By the way, I have the WD 1660 w/ the detachable head. It's been used hard w/ no problems but a new switch was replaced by me(Ridgid sent it to me free).

Someone else here said they've replaced the switch a number of times now and believe me, I wish I'd just done that in the first place rather than going through all this fiasco!

While it worked, I loved it! The replacement though had a bad motor and that's when I dropped it off. I wish I'd kept the one with the bad switch and just fixed it myself.

They said to bring all the rest of it back and then they'd either replace it or refund my money. Even if I decide to get another one the same though, I'm taking the refund and I'll buy it from another store.

That way there's no history of this fiasco and I'll get another solid 90 days of replacement time in case the new one has issues. Without that, I could go through this whole thing again if I get another defective one. :(

Have to remember to swap the filters and put the original one back on. Don't want to give them my expensive fine dust one. :)

[Ridgider]

I was at HD a while back renting one of their vans. I couldn't help but notice the person behind me. He had a big Ridgid box. It turned out to be a shop vac (but I didn't know which one it was).

Some guy came out from behind the counter and look at it. Then he asked what was wrong with it and the customer (who looked like a contractor) said it stopped working and that the motor was bad. Then the HD employee told another guy to go and get the gentleman a new one. He cut the power cord with a knife and asked if the customer wanted any spare parts from this unit, like the hoses and attachments. He declined and said he only used it to suck up water and debris in the water (or something to that effect, which made it sound like he worked with swimming pools). Then the HD guy bagged the hoses and said he'd take it himself because he owned one, too. He gave him the drainage spout and told him that this part was useful to have on hand. The other guy brought a new one and gave it to the customer and threw out the old one (which still looked pretty new to me).

Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with the service that day. The HD is located at Warden & Ellesmere in Scarborough, in case you want to check them out. Good luck.

[Wild Weasel]

Wow! That sounds a hell of a lot better than the service I got! I used to live right near that one, and was always happy with it. Maybe now I'll start driving over to go back. The one that's been a pain in the *** to deal with is at Morningside and Sheppard.

So now it's gone. I brought it in and because it's been more than 90 days, I had to take a store credit.

Then the girl at the counter said they wouldn't take back the filter I bought because it was used. Well duh. Of course it's used, but I hardly need it anymore if I'm returning the garbage vacuum!!

I asked to talk to a manager and he took back the filter.

Interestingly, my wife paid $179 for the vacuum but right now they're only $129, which is exactly the same price as the 14 gallon one. Weird. I wonder if they're trying to get rid of them?

Now I have to decide what to replace it with. I might just get another one the same and hope for the best. It really worked great while it worked!

Of course, getting something that can use filter bags would be nice as well. I'll have to check out the Craftsman version of it and maybe see what ShopVac has to offer.