Vacuum Configurations

Vacuum cleaners are devices that use an air pump to
create a partial vacuum to suck up dirt and dust,
normally from carpeted floors. Most homes that have
carpet floors have a vacuum for cleaning. The dirt
that is pulled up from the carpet is collected by
a filtering system or even a cyclone for later
disposal.

There are several type of configurations possible
for vacuum cleaners.

Upright
Upright vacuums have the pump mounted directly above
the suction intake, with the bag mounted directly on
the handle, which will rise to waist height or so.
The upright type designs normally employ mechanical
beaters which often rotate brushes, to help disturb
dust enough to be vacuumed up. These beaters are
normally driven by a belt that is attached to the
vacuum motor.

Canister
Also known as cylinder vacuums, the canister type
designs have the motor and bag in a seperate canister
unit that connects to the vacuum head by a flexible
hose. Even though upright units have been tested
as being more effective, the lighter and more
maneuverable heads of the canister models are quite
popular. Some models have power heads, which contain
the same type of mechanical beaters found it upright
units, although they are driven by a seperate electric
motor.

Wet vacs/dry vacs
These types a specialized form of the canister
vacuum and they can be used to clean up wet or liquid
spills as well. They will commonly accomodate both
wet and dry soilage, with some being equipped with
a switch or exhaust port that reverses the flow of
air. This is a very useful function for everything
from clearing clogged hoses to blowing dust into a
corner for easy collecting.

Back pack vac
These types of vacuums are commonly used for
commercial cleaning, as they allow you to move about
quickly and efficiently in a large area. They are
basically canister vacuum cleaners, except for the
fact that straps are used to carry the canister
on your back.

Built in or central
These types of vacuum cleaners will move the suction
motor and bag to a central location in the building
and provide vacuum inlets at strategic places
throughout the entire building. You only need to
carry the hose and pickup head from room to room,
while the hose is normally 25 foot long and allows
a large range of movement without changing vacuum
inlets.

The plastic piping will connect vacuum inlets to
the central unit. The vacuum can either be unpowered
or have beaters that are operated by an electric
motor or an air driven motor. The bag in the
central vacuum system is normally so big that
emptying it or changing needs to be done less as
often, sometimes only once a year.

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Vacuum Cleaner Bags

Everything that a vacuum picks up, no matter what
type it may be, needs to be deposited somewhere -
normally in a vacuum cleaner bag.

Back in 1920, the Air Way Sanitizer Company of
Ohio introduced the first vacuum cleaner with a
disposable vacuum bag. Until that time, the bags
for vacuum cleaners resembled the type of bags that
golfers used to carry their clubs. They were
somewhat heavy and awkard devices made out of
thick, stiff canvas, designed to be very flexible
and still keep dust and debris from the carpets
from escaping out into the air.

The improvements made by the Air Way Sanitizer
disposable vacuum bag went a long way toward
improving the effectiveness of the vacuum cleaner.
Made out of paper, the bag was designed to fit
inside of the cloth bag. Not only did it make
cleaning the vacuum easier, but it also kept the
insides of the stationary bag clean at all times
so that less of the dust and debris could be
blown out of the vacuum and make its way through
the home again.

In the beginning, each manufacturer designed
their own disposable vacuum cleaner bag made out
of different types of paper. You couldn’t
interchange the bags from one machine to the next,
as the fittings were different sizes with
different configurations for the opening of the
intake. Manufacturers who were once very
dependant on the sales of their machines had now
discovered an entirely new territory for the
disposable bags, and once again sales went through
the roof.

Before, a housewife had her vacuum cleaner and
the only thing it needed was to be cleaned and
serviced every now and then. If the man of the
house was around, the job normally went to him.
After a while, repair shops that specialized in
vacuum cleaners began to pop up all over the
place.

These days, there are very few vacuum cleaners
that use bags. Bagless is the way to go these days,
and for good reason. What was once a revolution
in household cleaning, is now rapidly fading away
and fast.

Models such as the Cyclone or Dirt Devil, are
now using cylinder technology to store the dirt
and dust. When you have finished vacuuming, you
simply empty the cylinder into the trash. Vacuum
bags can be very frustrating, which is why
millions of people are using bagless vacuums.

If you own a vacuum cleaner that uses bags, you
should look into upgrading it. Bagless vacuums
will save you time, money, and replacement. If
you’ve grown tired of the bags, now is the time
to get a better vacuum.

Not only do the bagless models have more power,
but they will also save you quite a few trips to
the store and the closet. They don’t cost a lot
of money either, and they are the perfect addition
to any household.

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Essential Parts

There are many places that you can use to find parts
for a vacuum cleaner that is broken, providing you
have someone around that is handy enough with tools
to take a swing at fixing it. The part that breaks
the most on most less expensive vacuum cleaners
is the drive belt. It’s the rubberized belt that
is around 6 inches long, that when stretched out
turns the brushes on the bottom of the vacuum.

When you take the vacuum over objects that don’t
belong in the vacuum cleaner, such as pieces of
rope or a cat’s tail and the unit comes to a screeching
halt, the burning smell that will soon fill up the
air is your drive belt slowly melting away.

Luckily, the drive belt is available at several
locations, so many in fact that your local drug
store may even carry them! They are cheap to buy
and a snap to replace with a screwdriver and a bit
of common sense. For other types of problems that
you may encounter, there are a lot of resources at
your disposal just in case you decide to tackle
the problem on your own.

You should never forget that when you buy parts for
your vacuum cleaner, most of the parts you’ll need
are going to be specifically made for your particular
brand name and model. With the exception of basic
items such as drive belts and most bags, most parts
aren’t interchangeable between brands and between
different models of the same brand.

The first thing to try when you need a part for
your vacuum cleaner is the local Yellow Pages
book. Inside of the Yellow Pages, you’ll find
many listings for appliance parts and suppliers.
You’ll have to call each one of the individually
to find out if they carry parts for your model
and brand. In the rare event that they don’t
carry what you need, they can normally order it
for you quickly and easily. If that fails, you
can always call the company direct that manufactured
your model of vacuum cleaner and order the part
that way.

Most of the time, you won’t have any problem
getting your hands on a part for your vacuum
cleaner, unless it is a more intricate part that
isn’t readily available. Parts such as the intake
or exhaust port are very tricky to replace, and
you will probably want to have a professional
fix these types of problems.

Drive belts, vacuum bags, and little problems such
as these are a snap to replace. With the older
style of vacuum cleaners, you don’t have to be
an expert to fix a majority of the problems. The
newer models however, require quite a bit of
skill and technique.

One of the most common problems that will happen
is clogging. If your vacuum stops picking up
dirt and dust, chances are it has become clogged,
which is normally not a parts problem. All you
need to do to fix it is take the front assembly
off, then manually clean out the agitators and
the housing where the dirt makes its way upwards
through the vacuum cleaner. This is very easy
to do, and won’t take you but a couple of minutes.

Anytime you encounter a parts problem with your
vacuum cleaner, you should always take things one
step at a time and don’t rush. You can almost
always get a hold of a part. If the part is more
expensive than you anticipated, you can always
scrap the vacuum cleaner and buy yourself a
better one – which will save you a lot of time
and headache in the long run.

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