My shark steam mop heats up but won't steam. help

Problem: mineral dleposits. Just fixed mine.... DO THIS OUTDOORS. Add 1/2 c CLR to the tank, let sit for an hour, turn on, allow to heat and pump. May have to refill with CLR and repeat. Be persistent, and eventually you'll blow out a wad of dissovled minerals followed, happily, by billows of steam. Again, do this outdoors and keep the mop pointed away from people, plants and things. (I aimed mine into a cardboard box.) Follow up with a couple of tanks of water and pump until empty to clean out any residual CLR and loosened deposits. (I continued to get some black precipitate through the first water cleaning.) I will add that I began this process first with white vinegar, then with Lime Away..no luck put perhaps I was not sufficiently persistent. Or perhaps it was the sequence of attempts. (Also, do not take off the mop head...the part to which you attach the pads...it's tough to get off, does not allow access to parts that need cleaning (thought it would, not not so), and practically impossible to get back on.)
Alternatively, call Shark...they'll offer to repair for $18 plus $10+/- shipping, or may offer you a new one at "preferred customer" rate of $39.95 plus shipping. Good luck, and please remember to try the CLR outside.

Here is a video that shows how I cleaned the heater core.

http://youtu.be/S4NglGXVv50

I had the same problem...after four uses, my SHark steam mop stopped producing steam.
I poked a pipe cleaner into the hole where the steam is supposed to come from because I figured there might be some build up in there. Then, I poured some white vinegar in the water resevoir and gave it a few shakes. After a few minutes, I plugged the mop back in. It took about 45 seconds, and after one pump on the handle, steam shot out of the base, and I was back in business. My kitchen smelled like vinegar, but at least my mop worked again.
I have heard that using distilled water can help avoid this problem.
Good luck, everyone.

FILLED STEAMER WITH WHITE VINEGAR & SAT OVERNIGHT. EMPTIED IT & FILLED WITH WATER & PLUGGED IN. MACHINE GOT HOT BUT NO STEAM. UNPLUGGED MACHINE & STUCK A PIECE OF FLORAL ARRANGING WIRE UP INTO/INSIDE CHANNEL OF STEAM OPENING. SUDDENLY THERE WAS A WHOSH SOUND & BIG RELEASE OF STEAM SPRAYING OUT SMALL PARTICLES OF RESIDUE, THEN PLUGGED IN MACHINE & IT WORKED FINE. NOW ONCE PER MONTH, WILL INSERT FLORAL WIRE INTO STEAM OPENING ON BOTTOM OF MACHINE WHEN IT IS COLD/NOT PLUGGED IN, TO HELP KEEP LINE OPEN.

I shared the same problem of the shark not steaming. And I was able to fix it on my own with a some pilers, a small phillips screw driver & a safety pin (or tack). The most difficult part was putting the cover back on.

Being very frustrated when spending around a hundred that it lasted just shy of a year (didn't get around to it until after a year & the warranty void), I decided to open it up to determine & fix the failure. I first openned it up & plugged it in (CAREFUL - when working, it will get extremely HOT). This quickly told me that it heated up (dripping a couple drops of water on the metal heating unit will verify this), and it didn't steam due to a clog or leak.

After poking around & carefully pulling it apart, I found a build up clogging the path of the steam. I would imagine clogging others may be experiencing will be in the same location, and being a very simple design, it should be easy for me to explain where to locate it. I found the clog on the exit end of the heating unit, not in the hose, but in the port connected to the hose. Use the pliers to unclamp & take this hose off only at the heater end; this will be the hose inbetween the steamer & the where the steam comes out. Don't worry if a little bit of the spring in side of the hose breaks (it happened to me); it's only there to keep the hose from pinching. It was very obvious that the port on the heating unit had a build & was clogged by looking at it. It has a small openning, so a safety pin was all I had that would fit & all I needed to clean it out.

Hopefully to finish up, place the hose back on & then make sure to test it (aiming the steam in a safe direction) before completely it putting all back together. Again, CAREFUL when testing as parts & steam are extremely HOT. Best of luck & best of luck putting the dumb cover back on.

Same thing here....Am proud to say its working great now. First I swore at the thing a couple times, beat it against the floor, stuck a wire in the steam hole( while it was plugged in no less) Then I added vinegar, baking soda and food grade peroxide (found at health food stores works on many household things including teeth whitening. I was then patiently mopping for a few minutes and finally it started steaming again. I love this dammed thing!

My problem was in the mop head itself where flexible tubing meets the plastic. I took out the 4 screws that connect the swivel mechanism, then the two that hold the flexible tube in place. Once that was free I could get a large straightened paper clip in the hole to break out the clog of mineral deposits.

My Shark Mop stopped working (steaming) after using it only 4 times. My solution...I filled tank with white vinegar and allowed it to soak in tank for an hour. I then took a wooden skewer (pointed end) and gently poked and turned it in the opening of mop head as far as it would go without taking the chance of breaking the skewer. Put pad on, started her up and VOILA...she steamed. I used the mop with the vinegar for a few minutes to, hopefully, clean out any mineral deposit residue and then rinsed tank out with distilled water. I will use only distilled or filtered water from now on. I always use filtered water in my iron and in my coffee machine because I know there can be problems with those appliances when using tap water. Guess the Shark needs the good stuff also! Margi

I had the same problem. The only thing I had at home at the time was white vinegar. I filled the water tank with white vinegar. I placed the head of the mop on without the cloth pad. I pumped the mop several times. It steamed a little, but was not completely fixed. I let it sit overnight and then tried again in the morning. After several times of pumping the mop, it works just like it did when it was new!

Please be careful if you are trying this. We tried the vinegar and nothing happened so we tried the CLR. The shark steamer blew up on us inti bits with a loud explosion - very very frightening.

No solution - just a thank you for the posts here. Mop fixed!!! CLR was the answer. Used 50/50 solution, let sit for an hour. Plugged unit in and pumped and it sputtered and spit and cleared it out.
Before doing that I tried straight white vinegar - no joy. Then I tried the wire in the steam exit orifice - no joy. Took the cover off and the inner works are too snuggly fit to attempt taking apart - and I LOVE taking things apart. Put the cover back on.
Bought the CLR at Target.
Thanks again!! Bob 12/18/2010

I had only used the shark steam mop twice and on the third time it would heat up but no steam. I put 1/2 cup of CLR in the steam mop and let sit for an hour. I also took off the cloth padding but left the plastic mop head on. I took it outside, set it on cardboard (to soak up moisture and cushion it) plugged it in and just started carefully pumping the mop and within a matter of minutes it was working like new. I made sure to rinse the reservoir out well afterwards and use water to steam out any CLR remaining in the tube leading to the mop head. Remember that the steam will be the CLR and to make sure all of it is out of the mop. This is a great solution from Libby OBX. Thanks.

I have a Steamtek steam mop that stopped steaming...but there seemed to be steam coming out of the handle.The red light no longer turned green telling you the unit was ready to work.... Unplug unit before going any farther !!!so let the unit cool down...took off the back and discovered there is a small length of tubing connecting the actual steam chamber to a part just above steam chamber and this little tubing was cracked and ready to break off,seems to be quite flimsy...I am going to home depot or where ever I have to go to try to find a replacement piece of tubing...hope this helps

I have then Vac then Steam Mop and it was steaming but not coming out of the bottom. I took it apart and found the water tube blown out.. Luckily it was blown out at one of the ends so I could cut and reinstall. There is a spring in the tube that we had to cut a little because it was kinked but I think that was caused by the first time we took it apart. I'm going to call and see if I can just get the tube otherwise I will have to buy a new steam vac. I believe Hoover makes one that also dispenses a cleaning solution. I always sprayed down a bleach cleaner before steam mopping so the Hoover sounds like it may be a better buy.

Thank you, thank you to all of you that took the time to post solutions. I was all set to clean floors this morning with my Shark Steam Mop, and no steam!! My heart sank...it's my favorite floor cleaner! The tank was heating, but nothing was happening at the end that matters. I found all of these posts and decided to try the easiest one first...vinegar. I filled the reservoir with straight white vinegar, let it sit for about 10 minutes, plugged it in, pumped the handle a few times, and the machine started emitting that satisfying steam hiss. I then unplugged it, let is sit for a while, and then repeated the pumping and hissing. I don't know if I needed to do it so many times, but I wanted it to keep working. My kitchen smells of vinegar, but I don't care! My favorite mop is working again. Thanks!

I had the same problem - heat but no steam. Used the little fill cup to put 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 distilled water in tank. Let soak for 2 hours. Plugged in and pumped like crazy and nothing happened. Unplugged and let it cool. Removed swivel head attachment, and used a straightened out paper clip to clean out the mineral deposits in swivel head and the main part of the steam mop. Plugged in again and warmed up and pumped like crazy. After 5 minutes or so, suddenly WHOOSH out came the steam! Kept pumping to clear out the mineral deposits and now it seems to be working perfectly.
Key things that I didn't know prior to this: USE DISTILLED WATER in the tank, EMPTY THE TANK after every use, and REMOVE THE SWIVEL HEAD immediately after every use. I also think I'll have to go back and use the vinegar and/or paper clip trick every couple months to keep it in working order.
Have patience, keep trying and you'll be able to fix it!

I had the same problem with my steamer not steaming, the tank would get hot but nothing...So, I took off the pad and looked at the bottom of my steamer. There is a very small hole there, so I stuck a toothpick in it and VOOM! all this steam just jetted out of it. My steamer was unplugged when I did this. I put the pad back on and filled with distilled water and it works just like it never broke. The only thing is have the steamer pointed away from your face when you insert the toothpick. You will hear it start steaming, so thats when you know to aim your steamer elsewhere.

Could coca cola work? If coca cola can dissolve a steak, do any of u think it could work?

Our steam mop had the heats-up-but-won't-steam problem. We tried the vinegar but it didn't work. So I inserted a wire into the steam hole (while it was unplugged of course) and moved it around for a couple of minutes. Then I plugged it in, and after about 30 seconds a huge plume of steam came out along with a bunch of dirty water. It's working great now and I'm SO glad I didn't pay EuroPro any extra money to fix it.

My vac stopped steaming after 2 uses....sometimes mineral build up......in vented area I put cup of CLR in tank left it for 24 hours then dumped out liquid refilled it with water....plugged it in and after about 15 minutes steam jetted out. It works just tried it yesterday! Happy camper now thought I needed to buy another.

I took apart the unit 6 screws, not hard and found the heater tube was disconnected. Reconnected the tube with a spring inside to the end unit with niddle nose pilars, success!

I just took taking a very small, long screwdriver and poked it up inside the hole the steam is supposed to come out. It seeded to break up anything that was blocking the steam, and I'm back in business. Good Luck

I was experiencing the same problems: heat, but no steam. I put a little CLR cleaning product and water in the tank and the problem was solved. Hope this helps.

Have you worked it before and now it’s broken or is it your first time? Remember you have to pump the handle to let the steam out.

You need to clean the whole shark inside n out

Mine stopped steaming as well, after reading all of the answers on here I decided to try some CLR. I mixed it 50/50 with water, took the pad attachment off, plugged in the unit and pumped the unit into the sink. Cleared a lot of black deposits out of the unit (made a loud pop noise flooded by a steady flow of steam), then put each floor attachment pad on and repeated the process. I will say it would have been better to do outside (for ventilation purposes), however I opened a window and that sufficed. Was a super quick fix!

Steam is a special thing with a special safety certification mark there are some rules and torsions inside by service manual to handle but one thing is very important to safe a lot of money if its a unit that not much should be used once a year then its good to learn howto clean the solenoid valve that controls the steam on or off there is the most case trouble that it hangs on lime aftera long time inactive since almost all steam cleaners suffer from inactive times
How To Repair an ASCO Solenoid Valve Affiliated Steam and Hot Water

here is not exactly the same but in principal the same thing to handle if the metal piece is
******* in the brass and very stuck make it on the brass part short time little hot with a burner it will loose inside is all the same the same principle a simply removable coil and inside the pipe
a little disk that closed and opened if its free of lime. there are more problems to have after a while but vinegar can prevent a lot and fill it with destilated water.

It is worth noting that "Bottled Water" and Distilled water are TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!
Bottled water is spring (or even tap, lol) water that has been bottled. Some mfgs. even add more minerals for flavor.
Distilled is just what it says, and is free of all component-clogging minerals.
Distilled is less than $1/gal, is found in the bottled water section (often on the bottom shelf) and will keep your steam mop working clog-free.

I read the same article about Coca-Cola it's worked on my dishes,laundry,garage,and change from the bottom of an old purse so far .I've tried it on other things it also removed the dirt between the grout in my bathroom without removing any grout.

I've tried the vinegar tip, and also tried taking it apart but no luck. Mine is the steam and spray model. I'd like to get a skewer / paper clip in to clear it but I cannot actually find the point where the steam comes out from (never noticed while it was working!) - it isn't obvious when I look at it. Could someone tell me where the outlet is that I should try and clear out? Thanks!

I think someone else mentioned this above, but my problem was not due to mineral deposits. Our Shark would heat properly, but when we pumped it would expel UNHEATED water. After removing the casing, I discovered that the hose leading from the heating element was split at the connection point, which was preventing hot air from mixing with the water. I cut off the broken part of the hose, reattached and now it works like a charm! If vinegar/CLR does not cure your problem, examine the hoses inside the machine NEXT. And do not remove the mop head either, you will waste a lot of time trying to get the darned thing back on properly!

I have a friend with 2 of these, she replaced one that was doing this exact thing, and now the newer one did the same...yes its mineral deposits, the newer one was a clogged tube from the heater unit to the outlet. the older one was the heater output was clogged. i used a very small stiff piece of steel wire to clean the tube. the older one i had to use a wire drill bit with a pair of vise grips to carefully open up the opening.. best way is to disassemble, if the unit is still hot wear leather gloves, carefully remove the heater unit till it is loose and can be moved aqround ( remove 2 screws from one side mount is easiest. slide the sping clip back, slide the heat covering back.. use an angled scribe to release the tube as it will be baked on by minerals, if it breaks off no problem there is still enough to reattach..clean the tube or nozzle ends.. scrub with clr to get all the deposits off the nipple end or you wont get the tube of spring clip back on... re assemble, fill the tank with CLR/ water mixture, plug in, find an old towel place on a tile floor or concrete, let the unit heat up and start pumping to flow the mixture to start cleaning the unit,,, run 3 tanks of this,, then 2 clan "distilled" or bottled water..use ONLY distilled or bottled water for now on!! run CLR thru once monthly and you will never have tyhis problem again!!!

I just bought mine and no steam! What is this any solutions or should I return it?