# Bissell ProHeat 2X carpet/floor cleaner suction



## jsfrisbie (Apr 13, 2015)

My Bissell carpet cleaner model 9400-T has been working, until recently, just fine. Now as soon as I try to use it, the red float trap door slams shut (as if the waste tank was full). This occurs when the waste tank is completely empty. I have been to the Bissell Support site, which suggests calling Bissell for this issue, which I did. Their solution was to send me (at no charge) a new trap door. Skeptical though I was, I installed the new part. The problem persists.

My interim solution is to operate the unit without the trap door. This seems OK, since I only use it to clean carpets and, because of the amount of water left behind in the carpet, the waste tank never gets full before the clean water bladder tank goes empty.

I would like a permanent fix. Does anyone have a suggestion? Is there a potential issue running the machine without the trap door, as long as the waste tank dos not get full?


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

Jsfrisbie:

I know a little bit about carpets and carpet cleaning. The purpose of that float is to prevent liquid water from getting into your vaccuum motor. The water level in the recovery tank raises the float to plug up air flow through the vaccuum motor if there's a risk of water going through the vaccuum motor. If that's what's happening with the recovery tank empty, then I'd suspect the float isn't dropping down as far as it should to leave the air flow path unimpeded. Either that, or the normal air outflow path is blocked, and so ALL of the air flow is going through the motor (which it shouldn't).

You have exactly the same sort of thing on Shopvac style wet/dry vaccuum cleaners. A plastic cage holds a floating ball that blocks air flow into the vaccuum motor if there's a chance of water being sucked in with the air.

Water, especially dirty water, is dangerous to vaccuum cleaner motors because vaccuum cleaner motors use carbon brushes to make contact with the rotor. Carbon brush motors deliver higher torque for relatively small size motors, and are what's normally used in corded power tools and on the starter motor of your car's engine.

The vaccuum cleaner is designed to divert A LITTLE of the air flow created by the impeller(s) through the vaccuum motor to keep that motor cool. The problem is if this air has dirty water in it, it will act as an electrolyte and that water can get all over the carbon brushes and short out the motor, thereby possibly ruining it.

Anyhow, the risk of using your carpet shampoo'er without that safety feature is that if dirty water gets sucked into your vaccuum motor, it can ruin your vaccuum motor by shorting it out. 

If no water gets sucked into your vaccuum motor because the water level is too low in your recovery tank, then operating your carpet cleaner without that floating trap door in place won't do any harm to the vaccuum motor. But, I expect people will bark at me for giving that advice because it's over-riding a safety feature built in to your carpet cleaner.


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