Prevent Your Shark Rocket Stick Vacuum From Losing Suction

The Shark NV203 Rocket Stick vacuum cleaner is one of my best purchases of all time!   It’s one of those household appliances that just makes life easier.  But, proper maintenance is required to prevent your Shark Rocket Stick Vacuum from losing suction.  Simply follow these steps and it will run like new for years.

Now let’s assume you’ve accepted that we’re well into the 21st century.  And along with upgrading that large screen TV to a lighter, thinner, sleeker, higher quality flat screen TV, you’ll also upgrade a few other household appliances that will make your life easier and more enjoyable.

One of the appliances you should upgrade is your vacuum.

Just like that new TV, the Shark Rocket stick vacuum is also lighter, thinner, sleeker, and higher quality than the older, heavier upright or drag-behind canister vacuums.   In addition, it’s actually a joy to use.

While Shark and other online reviews tell you that this vacuum never loses suction, I can tell you from personal experience that that statement needs to be amended with… “if you properly maintain it.”

I owned my Shark HV302 Rocket stick vacuum for about 9 months until one day it started making a strange high-pitched noise and seemed to lose the incredible suction that it had when I first took it out of the box.  Now, keep in mind that I vacuum my home often and my other canister vacuum didn’t come out of the closet for those nine months.  I strictly used this light-weight Shark Rocket.

So I called the customer service line at Shark and asked them about it.  The women I spoke to was fantastic!  Here’s what she told me and how I got my Shark vacuum working like new again…

.

Steps to Prevent Your Shark Rocket Stick Vacuum From Losing Suction

Note:  Prior to beginning any of type of maintenance on the vacuum, be sure to turn off the power and unplug it from the wall outlet to avoid shock or injury.

.

EMPTY THE CANISTER OFTEN

The suction on this little, light-weight vacuum is incredible. You will vacuum up an incredible amount of dirt, dust, food, and hair and even though the collection canister is a good size, it will fill up pretty quickly.  The more air that can circulate through the inside of the canister, the better.  So if you see that the canister is half full, simply empty it into the trash.

.

WIPE THE INSIDE OF THE CANISTER

After you empty the canister, notice the long, round tube inside the center of the canister.  This can become clogged with dust,  Take a damp rag and wipe this down.  Doing so will keep that air flow moving.

.

CLEAN THE VACUUM FILTERS

The Shark HV302 has three different filters installed in the handle part of the vacuum.  When these filters get overloaded with dust and dirt, air cannot properly flow through them and it affects the suction of the vacuum.

Open the first filter cover located on the front of the handle.

Remove the first, large, oval-shaped filter.  Beneath it, you’ll find a second thinner filter.  Remove the second filter as well.

Then, remove the cover from the back side of the vacuum handle and you’ll find a third filter.  Remove this filter as well.   Now wash all three filters in the sink with warm water.

Set this filters out to dry.  To speed drying, I set them on top of my dryer while it’s running.  The warmth from the dryer helps evaporate the water much quicker.

You can now re-use the filters, but I suggest buying another set to have on-hand, especially to replace the two thinner filters.

You can buy a set of replacement filters on Amazon HERE:

.

CLEAR THE POWER HEAD BRUSH

Like any vacuum with a rotating brush head, long strings and strands of hair will wrap around the rotating brush head and eventually build up to the point that it clogs the input.  It will take a little muscle, but cut the stands with a pair of scissors and pull to remove them and clear the brush head.

Continue to perform these simple maintenance tasks on your Shark HV302 Rocket stick vacuum and it will continue to perform like new with the incredibly, strong suction it is known to have.

If you’ve read to this point in the post, you may be doing research as to whether or not to purchase a Shark Rocket Stick Vacuum. I have been extremely happy with ours and think you will be too.

Amazon has one of the best prices for these little powerhouse vacuums. Click the image below to add yours to your Amazon cart.

Disclaimer: This post does contain affiliate links;  but all opinions are strictly my own. I was not asked to write this post, I simply wanted to share my experience of a fantastic product with you.  I even bought my Mom one!