Why doesn't my vacuum cleaner's brush roll spin?

A broken drive belt, damaged brush roll, jammed brush roll bearings, tripped brush roll motor overload, failed brush roll motor or a wiring failure in the wand or nozzle can prevent the brush roll from spinning.

Follow these basic troubleshooting steps when you notice the vacuum brush not spinning:

• Check the condition of the drive belt and replace the belt if it's worn or broken.

• If the drive belt is okay, but the brush roll won't spin, check the bearings on the sides of the brush roll for debris such as hair that may be tangled in the bearings and preventing the brush roll from turning. Remove hair and other debris that you find in the bearings.

• Check the brush roll for damage and replace if it's damaged or broken.

• For a canister vacuum, the brush roll motor often has an overload reset button. The brush roll motor may have tripped if the brush roll overheated. Let the brush roll motor cool down and then reset the overload by pressing the reset button. If the brush roll motor overload keeps tripping, you may need to replace the brush roll motor because windings in the brush roll motor are damaged, causing the brush roll motor to overheat and trip the overload.

• Check the wire harness connections in the wand and nozzle if you have a canister vacuum. Reconnect any loose wires and repair any broken wires. Look for melted or broken wiring contacts in the wand wiring connections. Melted or broken wiring contacts in the wand won't allow current to flow to the brush roll motor so replace the wand if wiring contacts are melted or broken.

Whether it's a Hoover, Dirt Devil, Eureka or Kenmore vacuum brush not spinning, these troubleshooting tips will likely help you fix the problem.