Carpets get dirty so fast, and that’s why carpet cleaners are so helpful.
Cleaning up carpets was such a chore, and now these devices have made it so much easier!
But, what if your carpet cleaner is not picking up water?
Oppositely, if the carpet cleaner is not spraying water, read this post.
The cleaner usually spray water on carpets to clean it up, which is why it’s especially bad when they can’t pick that water back up.
In this post, I would use my Karcher puzzi carpet cleaner to explain which aspects you would need to check.
Read: Most Common Carpet Cleaner Problems Troubleshooting
Carpet Cleaner Is Not Picking Up Water
- Improper Hose Connection or technique
The hose you’re using on the carpet cleaner needs to be attached absolutely perfectly to the dirty water tank. This hose sucks up the water from your carpet and stores it into a container.
But, if you don’t attach it right, suction won’t be enough for your carpet cleaner to pick up water. The connection shouldn’t be loose, or have any gaps in it.
For starters, I recommend that you take the hose off. Now clean the area where the hose was seated as something might be making it slip off.
After that, properly attach it back like I’m doing in this image.
Depending on how long the hose is, make sure that it doesn’t come off of the tank at an angle when you pull it around. This will ruin suction and water won’t be picked up by the vacuum.
Regarding the technique, you would need to slight press the head/attachment towards the surface.
This helps to increase the suction pressure and suck all the water up!
- Dry and Clean the Filter
The filter on a carpet cleaner is one of its most important components. It traps all the small particles from your carpet, like dirt and debris.
As such, it stops those particles from going back on to the carpet. It also prevents them from leaking into the rest of the device, which protects the internal components from dirt build-ups and clogs.
I recommend that you regularly clean these filters to make sure they stay functional. If you don’t, the build up inside will make them useless, and they won’t be able to collect more dirt particles.
I higlighted in the picture below where the filter is on my Karcher carpet cleaner’s dirty tank water.
Yours will probably be in a different place, but it should still be in or around the dirty water tank.
This will allow excess dirt and debris to reach internal components and potentially damage the device because of restricted airflow and clogging between components.
One more downside of these clogs and build ups is how they restrict airflow. Worse airflow leads to worse suction, and worse suction makes it harder for your carpet cleaner to pick up water.
In short, you need to clean the filter to improve suction if you haven’t done it in a while. This will let your carpet cleaner start sucking up water as intended.
- Loose Water Tank Cap
One more similar reason I want to talk about is a loose cap on the dirty water tank of your carpet cleaner.
This tank is connected directly with the hose, and it should be tightly sealed whenever the device is in use.
If the cap on the tank is loose, the airflow for the hose will be unreliable. It causes a huge loss in suction power, and I shouldn’t have to tell you how it can lead to big messes as well.
So, I want you to always ensure the cap for your dirty water tank is sealed properly and tightly. To do that, take the cap off and then inspect it across for any damages like I’m doing below.
If there’s any kind of chipping along its edgings, it will stop you from seating the tank correctly. The cap should be even across all edges and sit perfectly on the tank.
Once you’re sure there isn’t any kind of chipping or other issues, seat the cap back.
Once it’s properly in place, try to suck up some water using your cleaner to make sure it’s working.
- Leaks Reducing Suction
A final big possibility I want to mention is a leak in your carpet cleaner. I already discussed two specific types of leaks before, but those are much easier to deal with.
Unfortunately, the leaks I’m talking about now are much more troublesome, as they’re harder to find.
For example, there is one hose connected at the bottom part of my Karcher carpet cleaner as shown in the image below.
Make sure to check yours and if there is any leakage.
In the worst cases, the leaks could be completely internal. There could be damage in a specific component, or around the casing of your carpet cleaner.
These are much more difficult to spot and also ruin suction because they could be at any point across your entire vacuum.
I think the best way to deal with leaks like these is to listen for the sound of them all across your device.
Put your ear up close and you should be able to hear any air spilling out of the device.
Once you can hear where the problem is, it will make it much easier to deal with.
You have to patch up the leak, which will bring back suction. After that, your carpet cleaner won’t have any trouble picking up water!
