Whole house Vacuum - update

[Russ Filtz]

Awhile back I posted about a lack of suction in my vacuum, theorizing a clog. Got a bunch of good tips to try and identify where it was. Tried snaking it out, no luck. Got desperate and sucked a ping pong ball down the lines. The ball wasn't much smaller than the pipes (at least the inlets) and figured I was flirting with clogging it worse. Well the ball made it fine through all inlets.

Figured it was time to tear open the vacumm itself and see if there was some fine dust clogging the fan. I was surprised to see TWO motors, not just one powering the thing! One of the motor's bearings were completely shot and I was only getting suction from one motor, hence the reduced suction.

A simple call to the local vacuum repair shop and an $80 motor and I'll be back in business!

[Don Farr]

What brand of vacuum do you have? I have a Beam and was wondering if I might run into the two motor thing some day. Good info to know.

[Russ Filtz]

It's called Air-Flo I think, kind of a generic contractor model. The motors are in a skirt at the bottom with vents around the perimeter. Does not duct the air outside like most newer ones do. Here's a link, mine looks like the Modern Day.

http://www.builtinvacuum.com/products.html

[Don Farr]

Mine looks similar to that but it does vent out in the garage. I'll have to check it out. I am curious about the two motors.
Mine looks most like the Serenity on this site.
http://www.beamvac.com/products/residential/residential.htm

[Russ Filtz]

Mine was out of warranty, so I didn't mind digging into it. There was a little sticker across the piece covering the motors warning about voiding the warranty if broken. I think from an engineering standpoint, it must be easier for these units to have two smaller motors instead of one big motor to get the flow rates they need. They're really pretty simple inside. Once I got the unit unwired on the outside, there was only one bolt and set-screw holding the motor shroud on. These motors use brushes and it says to clean these every three years anyway. The brushes on mine look like ceramic insulated cartridges which can easily be adjusted or replaced. The motor was only held down by two simple brackets and only had to undo two wires and it came right off! One wire had a push-on connector and the other one is bare, so if the new one comes that way it'll be hard to mis-wire. The old motor is a ball/sleeve bearing based on the part number, and I upgraded to a double-ball bearing unit. Should last longer.