Basic trouble shooting for people who aren’t mechanics and have no interest in becoming one:
1. Does it have a spiny part that’s not spinning, or isn’t spinning the way it’s supposed to? Look at it- is there anything stringy wound around the spiny part? Remove it. Applies to: vacuums, aquarium filters, blenders, and rototillers, weed eaters, and lawn mowers.
1.b Is there debris from the spiny part that is building up on an nearby surface? Remove it. Applies to: vacuums, lawnmowers, probably other things.
2. Does it have a part that air, water, or other materials move through? Look at it- is there a clog, even a small or flimsy looking one? Remove it. Applies to: lawnmowers, vacuums, pumps, probably more.
3. If it has a gas engine, does it have gas? The right kind of gas? Does it have oil? If it’s electric, is it plugged in? Or is it’s battery charged?
4. Does it have a filter? Is the filter dirty/clogged? Clean it. Applies to vacuums, pumps, and some small engines.
5. Is it electric? Is there a safety feature where it won’t work unless a certain peice is in place? Is there something keeping it from popping up or into place? Remove it. Did a small plastic peice break off? Can you super glue it back on in a safe manner?
6. Are there fluid tanks? Do they have fluid levels between the empty and full marks?
7. Are there tubes and/or wires? Are they all attached and going where they’re supposed to? If it has spark plugs, are they all where they’re supposed to be? If it has belts, are they taut?
8. Are there bolts and nuts? Screws? Are they all where they’re supposed to be?
1 & 2 really are responsible for about 80% of the issues I run into. For gas engines, 3 is surprisingly common.
3a. Is the gasoline/diesel fuel FRESH? Fuels go ‘sour’ after 3-ish months. I do not know why they do this. Chemically they just do. You can prevent this with a product called Sta-bil. I do not know how it works. It just does.
5a. Please make sure that safety feature is actually broken vs functioning as intended. There may be a certain way or sequence you have to handle or operate the Thing which will disable the safety mechanism as desined. You can usually find this information in the owner’s manual.
Two things that can help with maintenance anxiety:
- You can take a photo of the thing when you first get it, or after it’s been fixed from the problem. That’s a reference for how it should look. You can use that as your thing to go “wait, did X always look like that?”
- Record yourself taking the thing apart. If the vacuum/mower/etc stopped working, and you have to start disassembling it: start recording before you do anything & have it record the entire dissembling process so you can reverse-engineer putting it back together if it’s not intuitive. Or, in the worst-case, you now have a video of what you did that you can show to the repair person who asks “so what did you do?”
My top tip: googling “[Brand] [Model name/number] service manual” will sometimes yield a PDF with detailed instructions on troubleshooting your Thing. These are either aimed at DIY-capable end users, or they are the company’s instructions that they give their own service techs.
“But I’m not a service tech!” Don’t worry. These are written to be Fully Idiot Proof. There’s a lot of turnover in the basic level service tech positions and these documents are made to get people started as quickly as possible. You’ll be OK.
Also, if your thing is Electric, and it’s not powered or not charging:
- FIRST, TURN IT OFF (or remove the battery, unplug, or otherwise disable the power)
- Check the metal bits that touch other metal bits to bring power to the Thing: plugs, battery contacts, etc. Are they dull or dirty? Is there dust in the way? Are they not actually touching when plugged in? You want them to be clean, shiny, and connected.
- If they’re not, you can try: 1) Brushing or wiping away dust. 2) Wiping with rubbing alcohol and a lint-free cloth. Let dry fully before testing. 3) Bend the metal bits SLIGHTLY to get better contact. 4) Scrape or sand the metal surface (carefully) to remove dirt or corrosion.