How to Repair an Oreck Vacuum With a Broken Belt

We absolutely love our Oreck Vacuum XL. It doesn't have the bells and whistles that many of it's competitors have (we're looking at you Hoover) but in it's simplicity lies it's beauty. One bag, no hoses, no attachments, turn it on and go.

It excels on low-pile carpet and hardwood floors. We've got rugs and hardwood floors and our house is about 900 sqft and we go through about 1 bag every 3 months and that's with a vacuum almost every other day.

Another pleasant surprise is the easy of repair. We noticed our Oreck was struggling to pickup anything and sounded strange. One look underneath and we saw the roller had stopped spinning. Cause - broken belt.

The fix is simple and thanks to Oreck no run to the Oreck supply store was needed as an extra belt is stored in the base of the Oreck.

1. Unscrew base
There are 5 phillips head screws to remove.

2. Remove base
Once the screws are loosened and removed the Oreck vacuum base should simply pull off revealing a dirty mess.

3. Remove belt
The broken belt should be in clear view. Just pull it out.

4. Remove roller
Pull the roller straight out and commence cleaning. We used scissors to cut the hair and fabric that had wrapped around the roller.

5. Replace belt
First re-install clean roller then take belt from bottom of Oreck and place it on the spindle coming off the motor first. Then slowly guide it back on the roller. It should go on easily.

6. Re-align and replace base
Make sure the belt is properly lined up and spin the roller with your hand to make sure it's centered. Then re-attach the base and tighten all five screws. Once it's back together turn it back on and make sure the roller is spinning properly.

Charles & Hudson | Comments () |

simples

Im bewildered as to how you had to take the whole thing apart! There's a side door on the Oreck XL which comes away by one screw only. Granted you could take the sole plate off if you only need to clean out the roller brush - which by the looks of it could do with it - but otherwise if its just a broken belt all you need to do is unscrew the side panel and replace the belt as normal. Also there's a handy loop hole on the sole plate/base plate itself where a spare belt can be stored.

Katy Ryan Schamberger

Ummm, wow. You vacuum almost every other day? I'm going to go hide my head in shame now ...

Charles & Hudson

That could be a slight exaggeration but sometimes it definitely feels like that.

Jessi Scurte

We love our Oreck XL as well! Awesome that it can go from carpet to hardwood and has two speeds.