Before you begin. This procedure is general reference information, not professional advice. Equipment varies by manufacturer, model, and year. Always follow the documentation supplied with your equipment — where it differs from this page, follow the manufacturer. Verify that you have the tools, the working conditions, and the ability to do this task safely. If anything is unclear, if the equipment is damaged, or if the task exceeds your experience, stop and use a qualified professional. You are responsible for your own safety and for the outcome. This site accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury arising from the use of this information.
Specifications marked unverified could not be traced to a manufacturer source. Do not rely on them — obtain the value from your equipment documentation.
A smell of burning rubber, a brush roll that has stopped turning, and a vacuum that pushes dirt around instead of picking it up are all the same fault: the drive belt has stretched, slipped off or snapped. On most uprights the belt is a rubber loop under a screwed plate on the underside of the machine, it costs a few pounds, and changing it takes half an hour with one screwdriver.
Two things on this page matter more than the belt itself. The first is that the machine must be disconnected from the electrical supply before the plate comes off — a brush roll that starts while your fingers are around it is a hand injury, and on a cordless upright that means taking the battery out, not just checking the cord. The second is the brush roll bearing test: if the roll does not spin freely, a new belt will destroy itself within a week, and this page tells you how to check that before you fit one.
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Phillips screwdriver | BISSELL and Hoover both give a cross-head screwdriver for the brush plate. |
| Scissors | BISSELL tells you to cut the hair and the string from the brush roll. |
| Small container | The screws from the brush plate are small and easy to lose. |
| Flashlight optional | The space around the motor pulley is dark. |
| Camera optional | A photograph of the belt in its position helps you at the end. |
| New drive belt for your model material | The part number is different for each model. |
Estimated 4 min to 17 min
DISCONNECT THE VACUUM CLEANER FROM THE ELECTRICAL SUPPLY BEFORE YOU OPEN THE BRUSH PLATE.
The brush roll can start at speed. It can catch your hand and injure it.
REMOVE THE BATTERY FROM A CORDLESS VACUUM CLEANER.
Hoover gives this instruction. A cordless machine has power in it with no cord and can injure your hand.
LET THE VACUUM CLEANER BECOME COOL BEFORE YOU TOUCH THE BELT.
A belt that slips makes the belt and the motor pulley hot.
Estimated 8 min to 18 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
USE ONLY THE BELT THAT YOUR DOCUMENTATION GIVES FOR YOUR MODEL.
A belt of the wrong type slips and causes damage to the brush roll.
Estimated 5 min to 8 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
Estimated 3 min
LOOK AT THE BRUSH ROLL BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR HAND ON IT.
Pins, staples and glass collect in the bristles. These objects can cut your hand.
Estimated 9 min to 19 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
KEEP THE POINTS OF THE SCISSORS AWAY FROM YOUR FINGERS.
The scissors can cut your hand.
Estimated 6 min to 9 min
Estimated 4 min to 8 min
DO NOT MAKE THE SCREWS TOO TIGHT.
A screw that is too tight breaks the thread in the plastic.
Estimated 4 min
KEEP YOUR HANDS AND YOUR HAIR AWAY FROM THE BRUSH ROLL BEFORE YOU START THE MOTOR.
The brush roll turns at speed. It can catch your hand or your hair and injure you.
This page uses one term for each item and holds it throughout, as ASD-STE100 requires. Equipment sellers and other guides use the names below for the same parts.
Stop if the brush plate has no screws. Some uprights hold the plate with clips only, and some make the brush roll a sealed part. Speak to the manufacturer before you use force on a plate.
Stop if your machine has no belt in its parts list. Some uprights drive the brush roll from a motor in the floor head. There is no belt to replace on those machines and this procedure does not apply.
Stop if the brush roll does not turn freely after you clean it. The bearings or the end caps have damage. A new belt on a seized brush roll breaks in days.
Stop if the motor pulley does not turn, or if the machine has a smell of burnt electrical parts. Do not open the body of the machine. Speak to a repair technician.
Stop if the cord has a cut, a break or exposed wire. Do not use tape on a cord. A cord is a replacement part and not a repair.
Three symptoms, usually together: the brush roll no longer turns when the machine is running, the vacuum stops picking up on carpet while still sucking fine on hard floors, and there is a smell of hot rubber. Oreck describes the mechanism plainly — a belt that has stretched or been cut makes the revolving brush slow down or stop completely. Tip the machine over with it unplugged and turn the brush roll by hand: if it spins with no resistance at all, nothing is driving it.
Because the belt is slipping rather than driving. Something is jamming the brush roll — usually hair or string wound tight around an end cap — and the motor keeps turning while the belt skids across the pulley. That friction is what you can smell, and it will destroy the belt in minutes. Switch off, unplug, and clear the brush roll before you use it again.
None of the four manufacturer sources on this page publishes an interval, so this page does not print one. What BISSELL publishes instead is a condition test: check the belt for wear or cuts and replace it if you find any. Oreck goes further in the other direction and says its own Endurolife belt is designed for long life and does not need changing at all. Judge the belt, not the calendar.
Only the part number in your model's documentation will tell you, and it genuinely matters — manufacturers sell several belt types for their uprights and a flat non-stretch belt is not interchangeable with a stretch belt. The model number is on a label on the body of the machine. A belt that is nearly right will either slip and cook itself or run tight enough to wear the brush roll bearings out.
Almost certainly the brush roll, not the belt. BISSELL publishes the check that catches this: take the brush roll out, rest it on its side and flick it — it should keep spinning for several turns. If it stops dead, the bearings or the end caps are seized, and any belt you fit is being dragged across a roller that will not turn. Replace the brush roll as well.
No. Some modern uprights drive the brush roll from a small motor inside the floor head and have no belt at all. Others use a sealed brush roll assembly. The quickest check is the parts list or exploded diagram for your model: if no belt is listed, there is nothing here for you to change and a brush roll that will not turn is a different fault.
Yes, and it is the step people skip. Hoover's own instruction for cordless machines is to remove the battery, not merely to switch off. A cordless upright has its power source on board, and a switch knocked while your fingers are around the brush roll does exactly what a plugged-in machine would do. Take the battery out and put it in another room until you have finished.
Every specification on this page is traced to one of these sources. Tier 1 is a manufacturer document, a published standard, or a government safety authority. See Standards for the full tiering rule.
Current version 1 · updated 2026-07-29 · next review due 2027-07-29
Corrections to this page are listed in the public corrections log. Reports that are credible and not yet verified are listed in the public errata register, and an open one renders above the step it concerns.
Found an error? A correction with a manufacturer source is applied and logged publicly. You can also write to corrections@fixchecklist.com.
Every step above carries its own report control, which tags the report with that step so a correction reaches the right place. For anything about the procedure as a whole — the order of the sections, a step that is missing, something that did not match your equipment — use this: report something about this whole procedure.