Background

A good friend of mine recently asked me if I could help by having a look at her Electrolux Ultra Active, which refused to run, this vacuum cleaner has been to local repairers on two previous occasions and after each repair it failed again after very little use!

I have learnt through life’s many challenges; that if you are going to attempt to fix anything, the more information you can gather the better. I located an operator’s manual on the internet; however, this contained very little information on troubleshooting or the basic fault tracing “Ok I know that is the norm” but you have to start somewhere!

Fault description

Plug the power cord into the wall socket and the electronic display just below the handle flashes what appears to be 7, press the on / off switch the machine refuses to run! I searched many different internet sites but could not find any information relating to this fault scenario. 

All things considered, it seemed like I needed to take a look inside! However, it is not very obvious as to how the beast comes apart, and I am not keen on discovery learning when everything is made from a variety of plastics! When I found your video on how resolve a sticking cable retract button on an Electrolux Ultra Active; that was fantastic, the hints and tips about the common faults, like the upper casing distorting also proved very helpful. 

To cut to the chase, After watching your video, I was able to effectively dismantle the beast, check out the motor and power control board, which enabled me to establish that the motor was in good shape and serviceable, leaving me to ponder which of the circuit boards maybe faulty? If you have seen this particular model, you have a small circuit board for the on / off switch which connects to the display board, which then connects to the power (motor speed) control board, in addition you have a small radio receiver board (for the remote control in the handle of the suction hose) which also connects to the display board. The owner advised me that the remote control had not worked for a long time, even after the machine had been repaired before! OK, for the cost of a Battery (CR2032) it would be worthwhile to replace it and see if the remote control will operate, which could help in proving which circuit board is faulty. New battery fitted to the remote, plugged the machine into the wall socket, pressed the remote on / off twice and the flashing 7 became a 0 and on the next press of the remote, she bust into life, all five speeds operated and the machine could be switched on or off via the remote control. Ok this only left the small circuit board for the manual on / off switch untested! With the upper casing still removed, I checked the operation of the manual switch now functioned normally! 

With your tip on the upper casing distorting being fresh in my mind; I refitted the upper casing, it then became clear that the casing was very slightly distorted, causing the manual switch to stick in the depressed position occasionally. “Ok, so the machine needs a new upper casing”, but getting parts here can be difficult and expensive, so using a thin strip of paper between the button and the housing it was possible to locate the troublesome spot and a little dressing around the edges of the button resolved the problem. 

Reflecting on your comments about how important filter condition is; not only for good suction, but for motor cooling, I took a good clinical look at the filters which visually seemed to be fine. However, I noticed that after running the machine for a few minutes the casing became quite hot and the exhaust air also appeared a little too hot. I spoke to the owner who confirmed the filters had been changed recently! However, further investigation proved the post motor filter to be the problem.

If anyone has similar problems with their, Ultra Active Aero-pro ZUA3840; before they dig too deep, make sure the manual on / off button is not sticking in the depressed condition, then try to use the remote control to clear the fault and operate the machine.