Recently, my Dyson vacuum just was not working no matter what I tried, even though the light was on. So, I grabbed my vacuum and started snooping around it to see what might be wrong.
Eventually, I was able to solve whatever was going on. But looking online, I saw that a lot of people didn’t have the same luck. So, I wanted to help by sharing things that can help with this.
Read: Ways to Fix a Dyson Vacuum Not Spinning and Picking up on Carpet
Dyson Vacuum Light On But Still Not Working (4 Tips)
- Put The Battery On Charge
There are a lot of lights that indicate something wrong with the Dyson vacuum, depending on which model you have. These lights can make it easier to narrow down the problem.
I’m mentioning this because the reason why you’re seeing a light is because there’s an issue. The vacuum wants you to resolve this issue before using it.
Usually, when there’s just a light on and the vacuum won’t work, your Dyson vacuum needs to be put on charge. A blue light usually signals this.
You can see in the picture above that my Dyson V11 has been put on charge. If you have a cordless Dyson vacuum, do what I did and put yours on charge too if there’s a light on it.
It will go away once there is enough battery, and your vacuum will work again afterward.
I have made a short video about how you can fix the problem if you see the blue light indicator on your Dyson vacuum. You can watch it below.
Here my Dyson vacuum is not working even when I press the trigger. You also see the blue light blinking here.
This could be caused by a battery issue. Make sure you charge the battery correctly. However, if the battery is not charging or not holding charging, you would need to replace it.
This could also be due to the moisture trapped inside the vacuum or wet filter. Always make sure you dry the filter before you install it back to the vacuum.
The vacuum won’t start if it sense high level of moisture in its components. You need to make sure both the vacuum and filter are fully dried to operate.
- Loose Battery
Speaking of the battery, make sure it doesn’t have any damage on it or isn’t loose in any way. A loose or improperly attached battery will lead to a faulty transfer of power or no power at all.
You could be seeing a light like the battery needs to charge because of this. So, just take the battery out and put it back in again, as I highlighted in the image above.
If your Dyson vacuum still doesn’t work even if the battery is already fully charged, you can read this article I’ve written on how to fix a Dyson vacuum that won’t work even if its battery is fully charged.
- Filter Issues
Another thing that lights or displays on your Dyson vacuums can indicate is a problem with the filter. The most common of these is a dirty filter.
It’s very important that you always keep the filter clean because if not it may also cause problem with the attachments on your Dyson vacuum.
When you don’t clean the filter after a few uses, too much gunk sticks to it. This all combines to block the airway on your filters and stop them from working as they need to.
Just take them out of the vacuum and give them a good cleaning. Use water to get rid of any dirt particles on them like I’m doing below, and make sure you clean around hard-to-reach corners as well.
On a similar note, it could be that the problem was caused by cleaning. Specifically, I’m talking about how people sometimes clean their filters and don’t wait for them to dry properly.
Always let the filters dry for at least a day. Using wet filters will stop your Dyson vacuum from working, and could even potentially ruin the whole device.
A blocked airway is common problem which you can encounter on your Dyson vacuum. I have a video which you can watch below that shows how you can easily fix this issue.
You need to disconnect the parts of your Dyson vacuum to check if there is any blockage. If there isn’t any blockage, the problem could be due to the filter.
You must remove the filter and clean it to remove any dust on the surface of the filter. Then, install the filter back and retry.
If this doesn’t work, you need to use water in order to clean the filter. Make sure you completely dry the filter before install it back to the Dyson vacuum.
- Potential Overheating
Overheating is a common problem with devices like vacuums when they are used too much. If you don’t give them a break, they start overheating. It gets to the point where the whole thing just shuts off.!
This could have happened to your Dyson vacuum as well, which is why it is using a light to tell you that temperatures are too high.
It might have overheated because you were using it in a warm environment, or because you were using it for too much time.
Another potential reason is using Boost mode too much. This takes up so much power that it can overheat the motor and battery due to the high load.
Once your device overheats, just set it aside for a while. A few hours should be enough for it to revert to normal temperatures. Just avoid the things I talked about and it shouldn’t happen in the future either!
