Here’s my complete guide on how to troubleshoot and fix an air purifier not turning on.
Air purifiers are very simple devices. There’s not much that can break if it does not turn on.
So, they are relatively simple to repair.
In this article, my goal is to list every possible reason why your air purifier might not turn along with how to fix it!
After reading this article, you’ll know exactly how to fix your air purifier. And even if you can’t fix it, stick out until the end of this article. I still have a couple of ideas to get you a working air purifier quickly.
Please note that all the sample images in this post are from my own air purifier (the Levoit Core 300). But air purifiers all work exactly the same!
It doesn’t matter if you have a Levoit, Dyson, Germ Guardian, Philipps, Nuwave, or Blueair (or any other brand).
The tips in this fixing guide apply to all air purifier brands.
First of all, there are two different ways air purifiers don’t turn on. We will cover both of them in this article. Feel free to skip to the section you need:
- Your air purifier does not turn on after pressing the Power button
- Your air purifier turns on, but the fan does not blow air
Reasons and fixes for an air purifier not turning on after pressing the power button
This section covers all the possible reasons and fixes for your air purifier not turning on after you press the power button.
Some of the reasons and fixes are obvious to most people. But I will include them here anyways (you wouldn’t believe how simple some people’s problems are to solve).
For each cause, I will additionally include at least one way to test for the cause. The test helps you to check whether this cause applies to your case.
#1 Blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker
Normally, air purifiers don’t blow fuses or trip circuit breakers because of their low power consumption. But if you have a blown fuse, regardless of which device caused it, it’s going to prevent your air purifier from turning on.
How to test it
Locate your home’s electric service panels. You will see a couple of circuit breakers, and, if your home is older, fuses.
Check that all circuit breakers are switched ON. If there are fuses, have a close look and check that all the wires inside the fuses are intact.
If that’s the case, not only will the air purifier not turn on, but other devices in the same room as well.
Another way to check is to try your air purifier in a different room (or even a different house). If the two rooms are on different electric circuits, your air purifier will work.
How to fix it
You can fix a tripped circuit breaker by simply flipping the switch. If one of the fuses blew you should be able to get a replacement fuse with a similar rating at any hardware store or online.
You can read the rating off one end of the fuse. Mostly it’s 15 or 20 Amps.
Once you have the right replacement fuse, replace the fuse in the electric service box.
Your air purifier should work now.
#2 Defective wall outlet
Possibly, the wall outlet you’re powering your air purifier from is defective. This usually happens after you plug a high-power device into your wall outlet and the high current welds parts inside the wall outlet together.
But, of course, it can also be as simple as something inside the wall outlet breaking through force.
In any case, let’s test it.
How to test it
Testing for a defective wall outlet is simple. Just plug your air purifier in a different wall outlet and see if it works there.
If your air purifier works on a different outlet, there is definitely a fault in the wall outlet you used before.
Also, burn marks on your wall outlet are telling.
Alternatively, you can use a multimeter to check the outlet’s voltage.
How to fix it
To fix a faulty wall outlet, first, get a replacement outlet. Switch the room’s circuit breaker (in your home’s electric service box) to turn your room’s electric power off.
Then, follow this video to replace the outlet:
If you are not comfortable replacing the outlet, you can hire a technician to do it for you. But honestly, it’s not too hard. And I’d say anyone who wants to do it can do it themselves.
Nothing can happen as long as you turn the power off before starting the replacement.
#3 Faulty power cord
It might as well be that the power cord that connects your air purifier and the wall outlet is broken.
Honestly, this does not happen a lot. Power cords don’t just break. Especially, if you don’t move them around a lot.
Air purifiers are stationary devices. And unless you carry it around the house multiple times a day, I don’t see a reason your power cord should be broken.
But, of course, it could be broken.
And since this is a complete guide, let’s do a quick check:
How to test it
First of all, let’s make sure that your wall outlet works. To do that, plug any device into the outlet and see if it works. You can use your phone charger, a hairdryer, or any other device nearby.
If your wall outlet is fine, plug your air purifier into the wall outlet again. Move it around. Also, move the power cord.
If the power cord has a loose contact, your air purifier’s power indicator light could turn on for a moment.
To really ensure the power cord is broken, you have to disassemble your air purifier, plug it into the wall outlet and measure whether any power arrives at the built-in circuitry.
How to fix it
Fixing a broken power cord is a bit annoying since power cord replacements require soldering. Or at the very least, it requires disassembling your air purifier. Unless, of course, your air purifier’s power cord is detachable.
I tried disassembling my Levoit Core 300 and found out that simply removing the screws is not enough. For a Levoit air purifier, you additionally have to use a kitchen knife to disassemble the air purifier.
See this video for instructions.
Of course, this is different for every model. So, if you have a different air purifier, try to unscrew all the screws you see. And if that doesn’t suffice, look up disassembly instructions for your specific model online.
Once your air purifier is disassembled, you should have access to the brown and blue power wires the power cord connects to.
Simply remove the connection, either by cut or by unplugging the wires (of course, depending on what type of connection your purifier’s power cord uses).
Then, use any replacement power cord, and cut off its female end to expose the inner wires. Solder color-matching from the replacement cord and your air purifier together.
#4 Power button fault
Another potential cause of your air purifier not turning on at all could be a broken power button or touch panel (depending on the model you have).
How to test it
To verify your power button is broken, disassemble your air purifier until you see the electronic circuit board the power button connects to.
Check with a multimeter whether voltages change if you press the button. Also, do a path continuity test on the power button’s connectors when the button is switched ON and OFF.
How to fix it
Find out what exactly breaks your power button. It could be a torn-off wire or a short circuit, or something else.
You can fix most of these issues with a soldering iron.
If you don’t know what’s wrong with your power button, get a replacement. Since there are dozens of power button types, you have to dig for a matching replacement part online.
#5 Fault in the electric circuitry
Electric circuitry faults are the most interesting types of faults.
Almost any issue in the electronic circuitry will prevent your air purifier from turning on.
I’ve worked in an electronics repair department of a large factory, so here’s my very special advice:
How to test it
The simplest way to check for electric faults is by staring at the electric circuitry for 5 minutes.
I promise you this works better than any measurement device.
Look out for:
- parts broken off
- burn marks
- connectors “hovering” over their connection points (solder joints not connected)
- blown capacitors
These are at least 90% of electronic failures I’ve encountered at my job. And for none of them, you need a measurement device.
How to fix it
If you locate a broken-off part, you can try to solder it in place again. Your air purifier might turn on again.
However, if you see burn marks or blown parts you will have to replace something.
Usually, resistors that receive too high voltages burn out. And capacitors that receive too high voltages blow out.
Locate the burnt or blown part and, based on the text on the label, or based on the color coding, buy a matching replacement part.
Try to run your air purifier. If it works, great!
If it doesn’t work, likely you just solved the symptom, but not the cause. There might be a different broken part somewhere on the circuit board that causes the voltage overload.
Have another look. If you don’t see anything, use a measurement device to check.
#6 Obvious: Remote control battery
This one is obvious, but I just want to make sure.
If you’re using your air purifier with a remote control, maybe the battery inside the remote is empty.
How to test it
If your remote control uses infrared, there’s a neat trick you can do:
Point your phone camera at the remote’s small infrared LED and press the ON button. With bare eyes, you can’t see anything.
But your phone’s camera picks up the infrared radiation and displays it. If you can see the light, your battery is full, else it’s empty.
Here’s what that looks like:
Alternative test: Some remote controls don’t use infrared. I’d say the simplest test is to just put a new battery in your remote and try.
How to fix it
Replace the battery in your remote control and try turning your air purifier on again.
If the battery was empty before, it should work now.
Reasons and fixes for an air purifier fan not turning on
So far we’ve looked at all the potential causes of your air purifier not turning on at all.
This section covers all the potential causes for your air purifier fan not working.
#7 Fan motor power supply not working
The electric circuitry in your air purifier drives the fan. There is one component that essentially converts the fan speed setting to an actual voltage to deliver to your air purifier’s built-in fan.
Any issue in this motor driver component will cause your air purifier’s fan to not turn on.
How to test it
Disassemble your air purifier until you see wires connecting to your fan. Check these wires. Are they intact? Is there a loose contact or short circuit?
If not, trace these fan power wires to their origin point on the circuit board. Check the circuit components in the vicinity of the power wires.
Does anything look off?
You can also try to power the fan yourself with a battery and two wires. If the fan rotates, the fan is working and the issue is definitely in the electronic circuitry.
How to fix it
Any issue in the wires themselves is easy to fix. You can just resolder the wires if they are loose or broken off.
If you found an electronic fault, find a matching replacement part and replace it.
#8 Fan is blocked
A very simple reason for your fan not blowing air could be a blockage. It is very unlikely for your fan to block because of dust since any air entering your air purifier first passes through the filter before it reaches the fan.
With HEPA filters and their 99.97% particle collection efficiency, dust should never be the reason for a fan to be blocked.
Instead, a part of the fan could be broken due to the air purifier tipping over.
How to test it
Disassemble your air purifier until you see the fan. Try to rotate it by hand.
A very light touch should already turn the fan with almost no resistance.
If your fan does not turn by hand easily or not at all, it is very likely broken.
How to fix it
Remove the fan (usually you have to remove a larger nut from the fan’s axis) and check whether the rotational axis turns on its own.
If the entire fan doesn’t rotate, but the rotational axis with the fan unmounted does turn, then there is a blockage in the fan blades somewhere.
If the rotational axis doesn’t rotate, there might be a bigger issue, such as broken fan bearings.
Also, check for loose or broken parts.
Once you know which part is broken, you can either:
- Remove the part: You can remove unimportant parts and run your air purifier without them. For example, if a part of one fan blade broke off, you can safely discard it.
- Replace or fix the part: For important parts, the fan would not work without, such as the rotational axis, you either have to fix or replace it.
Air purifier replacement parts are incredibly hard to get. I checked Amazon, manufacturer websites, and Chinese wholesale shops (like AliExpress). None of them had a replacement fan.
You still have two options:
If the broken part is fixable and made of plastic I recommend gluing it together with this J-B Weld epoxy glue (click here to view it on amazon).
If it is not fixable, you can also buy a matching defective air purifier online to harvest replacement parts.
#9 Air purifier in locked mode
Some air purifiers have a setting to lock their touch panel controls. If your touch panel is locked, you obviously can’t use it to turn the fan on.
How to test it
Some air purifiers have a “lock” icon on their touch panel. Usually, the lock icon lights up when it is active.
( My air purifier is a Levoit model, so I assume most Levoit air purifiers have it )
If you see the lock icon, try touching different buttons on your touch panel.
Do the buttons work? If yes, your air purifier is not locked.
If the buttons don’t work, even though your air purifier is turned on, your touch panel is locked.
How to fix it
Touch the lock sign for 10 seconds.
The lock sign does not glow anymore.
You should be able to turn on your air purifier fan now.
What if you can’t fix your air purifier
I tried listing all of the possible fixes for your air purifier not turning on. In case the fixes did not help, or in case you don’t have the tools to fix yours, here’s what I would do:
Sell your broken air purifier online: There are plenty of people interested in buying, fixing, and flipping electronics. Someone will happily pick up your air purifier.
This way you get some of your money back.
Buy a new air purifier: Air purifiers are very simple devices. There are very few things that can break as long as you handle them properly.
I recommend buying a good quality air purifier.
In this article, I showed you my Levoit Core 300 (click here to read my review).
I disassembled it to take pictures for this blog post for you to follow along (not because there was a real fault in it).
And there is one thing I noticed: This air purifier is rock-solid.
Although it’s made of plastic, the way it is assembled is almost bulletproof. Once I was able to remove the cover and reach the fan, I noted that the fan turns incredibly smoothly, but it does not shake around.
And that’s what I love about this air purifier. I know that it will possibly last me for the next two decades without any problems.
So, if you hate repairing things, or you don’t have the means to, just buy a new air purifier.
Air purifiers are not expensive. And worrying about them is not worth it.
Conclusion
The most common causes of an air purifier not turning on are the power source not working (wall outlet or power cord), or issues in the electronic circuitry.
Mechanical failures like parts broken off or clogged fans are almost impossible since air purifier fans last a very long time and there is no chance of dust accumulation because of the built-in HEPA filter.
I hope you were able to fix your air purifier not turning on with this complete guide!
However, if you still can’t figure out the issue, just get a new air purifier and stop worrying.