I thought that it was kind of strange the first time around, when I blew out the thermal fuse on the Shop-Vac. But blowing the fuse a second time really threw me for a loop, since I didn’t think that the filter was even that dusty to cause the Shop-Vac to overheat. Go figure.

At least I was smart enough to install the replacement thermal fuse with bullet style electrical quick connects, in case it ever needed to be replaced again. This time around I going to use a slightly higher temperature thermal fuse than the first time around. So this time I’m going to go with a 291.2F (144C) thermal fuse. Since the next highest temperature thermal fuse at Radio Shack was 550F, but at that temperature, I would think that the plastic housing would start to melt before the thermal fuse would trip. Which would kind of defeat the whole purpose of having a thermal fuse to begin with.

It took me about 10 to 15 mins to do the thermal fuse swap, and I was back up and running with the Shop-Vac,  so we’ll see how long this fuse lasts.

New Fuse:
Radio Shack part# 270-1320, 291.2F (144C) Thermal Fuse

All it took was less then $4.00 in parts from Radio Shack, and my Show-Vac was back in action. It cost me $1.69 for a thermal fuse, with a 129C limit/10amp rating, and $2.19 for a bag of mixed bullet electrical connectors. At first I thought about just hard wiring the fuse to the circuit. But if the fuse blew up once, more then likely it will blow up again. So I might as well make my life easier, and wire it up using bullet connectors. That way it will be easier for me to swap out the thermal fuse in the future.

This Shop-Vac almost turned into the proverb about “all for want of a nail“. But it helps that I have at least some technical knowledge to get me out of a jam. I would categorize this situation as only a small jam, hence only about an hour or two of time invested into this project, and now I’ve got my Shop-Vac back up and running.

And the hits just keep on rolling.
I set out some time tonight to finally vacuum and mop the whole house. And while I was vacuuming my bedroom, which by the way is the only room in the house with carpet, my Shop-Vac stopped working out of nowhere. At first I thought that the extension cord had gone bad. After that was ruled out, all I had left to troubleshoot was the Shop-Vac itself.

After the instruction manual left me wanting, I turned to a couple of online forums and my worst suspicions were confirmed. I ended up blowing the thermal fuse that is all the way inside the motor housing. As you can probably tell from the exploded view below, you really have to take apart the whole shop-vac to get to that little part. Luckily I think that I may have found a replacement thermal fuse at Radio Shack (always saving me in an electronics pinch). So all I have to do is swing by the one that is a couple miles from my house, and pick up a replacement fuse. Wish me luck.