Sometime within the past 2 years I bought a Shark WV201 (I cannot for the life of me remember where from and I don't have any email records) and it recently started acting up after trying to vacuum pellet stove soot that spilled out of my shop vac. The Shark got completely clogged up. I have since disassembled and cleaned out the interior.

The problem is that the vacuum will not charge. I bought a new battery and am still having the same issue. Before replacing the battery, I cleaned out the area where the battery goes, which was also full of soot dust.

When the vacuum is placed on the charging dock it will first light up like it's charging but then immediately start blinking to indicate the battery is dead. My best guess is that there's still a blockage in the vacuum where the battery connects but it's not somewhere I can easily reach. I've tried canned compressed air and rubbing alcohol. Since I can't find a record of my purchase, I can't reach out for help from Shark.

Does anybody have any other tips that I can try to fix it? The vacuum worked perfectly fine up until the soot episode and I'd hate to waste money replacing it if I don't need to.

Thank you for your time!