Why My Shark Vacuum Smells Like Burning? [Full Fix]

Published by Ahmad Jamal on May 24, 2023

Shark vacuums are meant to work properly, get your dirt, dust, and debris cleaned to the best possible way, then maintain such cleanliness for as long as you have them.

However, the problems may start to occur when the shark vacuum itself needs immediate maintenance, for example, your shark vacuum smells like burning, and you’ll be left wondering, what went wrong? What is happening inside your vacuum? Will you be forced to throw this one away as it has started “burning”? Or what would the fix to the situation be?

Don’t worry, this CleanersAdvisor guide will guide you around the potential causes and the best technical and cleaning fixes you should do, powered by the knowledge and expertise of its cleaning and vacuum testing experts.

In this CleanersAdvisor guide, we’ll help you diagnose the causes in a step by step manner, then walk you through the best fixes for those errors one by one, until you get to a final decision, whether you’re fixing it, or replacing a part or two, or even replacing the whole vacuum.

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Why My Shark Vacuum Smells Like Burning

Your shark vacuum smells like burning due to a motor overheating, the motor’s belt is clogged, damaged, or broken, the brush roll or the vacuum hose are nearly fully clogged, the dust bin is full of dirt and debris, or if the vacuum’s power cord is partially or fully damaged.

Moreover, hair, dirt, or debris built up inside multiple vacuum parts can be the main cause of why your Shark Vacuum Smells Like Burning.

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Shark Vacuum Smells Like Burning … How To Fix

Turn it Off Immediately 

Whenever your shark vacuum smells like burning, even for a little bit, the best and first thing to do is to turn it off immediately, regardless of how strong or weak the burning smell is.

Then, unplug the vacuum from the electricity source, and make sure to let it cool down before you attempt to fix anything related to this issue.

Inspect The Brush Roll

As the first line of defense, the brush roll may get clogged pretty often, by accumulating hair or dirt, or due to the lack of proper regular maintenance.

The clogging causes damage to the brush roll, which in return can start emitting the burning odor.

Therefore, inspect the brush roll for any clogging, and remove the clogging when spotted. Check this guide for guidance, as it provides everything you need to know on how to deal with brush roll and clean it.

Inspect the Power Cord

Faulty or damaged power cord will fail to provide the vacuum motor with the required electricity.

This shall be fixed by inspecting the whole power cord for scratches or damages.

Upon finding a damaged part, follow the instructions on your user manual.

Empty Dust Bin

A full dust bin can easily clog the whole airflow of the vacuum, leading to a series of errors, including an overheating motor, and a burning smell.

Empty the dust bin as soon as you smell the burning odor, and then move on to the next fixing step.

Inspect Vacuum Hose

A fully clogged vacuum hose can easily be the cause of this burning smell.

It’ll disrupt the vacuum’s airflow and cause the motor to overheat uncontrollably.

Therefore, what you need to do is check this guide on how to unclog vacuum hose, and seek further details on how to fix the problem by unclogging it properly.

Inspect Motor Belt

Motor belt is made of rubber, any damage that is inflicted to the motor belt will cause its rubber to emit a burning rubber odor.

If that’s the case, then you’ll need to inspect the motor belt by taking apart your vacuum as disclosed in this guide, then reaching out to check if the belt is broken or damaged.

Faulty Motor

If none of the aforementioned parts were damaged or broken by any means, and the vacuum continues to emit such a bad burning odor, then there’s a problem with the motor.

Our advice would be to contact customer service, or call an expert you trust with your vacuum, as motors are much more complicated to fix than smaller or easier-to-fix parts.

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To Wrap Up

The more complicated an error with your shark vacuum, the harder it is to diagnose the problem, or even attempt to fix it yourself.

However, with this full CleanersAdvisor guide on why shark vacuum smells like burning and how to fix it properly, you have plenty of time to get rid of the causes, and the bad smell alike.

Keep in mind that the key is doing every step as perfectly as you can, starting by cooling off the vacuum once you smell the burning odor, turning it off, and plugging it off the electricity, and ending by checking your faulty motor with an expert.

Here’s a video on the troubleshooting of different shark vacuum errors: