I had this same problem occur with my shop-vac. Fortunately I happened to have an old eureka vacuum cleaner with a bad cord that I didn't have the heart to throw away. I tore it apart and found the thermal cutoff screwed to the motor housing. I am not sure what the rating is on the eureka cutoff but after cutting the heat-shrink tubing off of it (to eliminate any insulation for the thermal switch) and placing it in approximately the same position as the original in my shop-vac it works great. I have not had it kick off yet and even if it does I can just let it cool down and it will reset. Hope this helps.

 

All of the "thermal fuses" I've ever encountered are not "self resetting". They act like a normal fuse and open permanently. That's the maddening thing about them, because there are no readly available exact replacements like normal over-current fuses.

Looking for a replacement for my daughter's PIZZAZZ pizza baker. I can find them but: one on eBay for $11+shipping, or 10 (minimum order) from the fuse manufacturer for $26 with shipping.

Ken

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"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

 

Ken, check out this website where I bought mine.
Bill

Thermal Fuses at Goodman's Small Appliance & Housewares

 

Now that looks do-able. Thanks! I'll bookmark that resource.

ken

__________________
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

 

Check out the thermal protection used in most modern household vacuum cleaners. According to the instructions supplied with said vacuums if the motor overheats the fuse will kill the motor. If this happens simply allow the motor time to cool while you clean the filters or change the bag to ensure proper airflow the fuse will reset and you are off to the races.

 

Check out this site
Thermtrol Corporation - Our Products
They are the manufacturer of the protection device.

 

I posted a link to Thermtrol the manufacturer but it doesn't seem to be up yet.
The device I found in my eureka vacuum appears to be a SX8AM Series thermal protection device which is shown on the Thermtrol website. I does state that you have to remove power in order for the fuse to reset, so besides cooling down I will have to unplug my shop-vac.

 

Yes, I'm aware of resettable over-temperature protection devices, but they are not "thermal fuses". They wouldn't fit into the location of a thermal fuse.

Ken

__________________
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

 

I had to remove the yellow block that held the original thermal fuse entirely from my shop-vac. I will disassemble my shop-vac and get a couple of pictures to show you how it all fit together.

 

The thermal fuse is for a PIZZAZZZ pizza baker, not a shop vac. But thanks.

Ken

__________________
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

 

Sorry, this tread was started with a question about a shop-vac.

 

I work for a large hardware store and do repairs on the Shop Vacs that are returned when they quit working. In 95% of the caseas the thermal fuse has
opened and an ammeter reading ( oscilloscope monitored for peak inrush) plus an analog meter, show no motor defect . Requests to shopvac for additional
replacemenmt fuses go unanswered.

Basic product is OK. Service is NOT.

Recommend do not buy.

I install a fuse holder and put in an appropriate slo-blow fuse reacheable from the outside of the case. Non UL acceptable but in over 75 cases the customer was pleased.

 

Too bad they couldn't have splurged for a resettable fuse of the appropriate rating... It's sad to see a good name like this have problems like that over a trivial preventable issue.

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