I have a central vac. About a year ago one of the outlets clogged up and despite repeated attempts to snake it clear it stayed clogged and I just worked around it.
Now the entire system has poor suction. Any recommendations for an do it yourself fix?
If the entire system is clogged now, I’d presume you either pushed the clog or it was sucked to a point between the vacuum itself and the closest outlet. Try going at it again with a snake from the vacuum end of it. (Perhaps a snake with a small hook at the end since it’s probably (hopefully) a wad of dust (or something similar). Otherwise you may need to start tearing the system apart piece by piece. Or you could call up a central vac pro and they could come out and fix it. One other thing. Have you recenly checked the vacuum to make sure it’s not full, the filter is clean, and that the outlet isn’t clogged. Also check your hose.
I did make sure the main container was empty. It’s not the hose, I’ve unclogged many of those in my day. When the vac is on and I open an unused outlet the suction is very poor, but the same as at the end of the hose. There is an outlet in the basement about one foot away from the vac itself, and that sucks poorly as well. I was intimidated about trying to go at it from the vacuum end, but that is what I will try if I can figure out how.
Well, if you are getting any suction at all, that is good. I’m thinking of all the whacky stuff I would try in that situation.
I would get a piece of kite string and wrap a tissue that is tied to the end of the string in double sided tape. Then I would let the vac suck the wad of tissue covered in tape towards the suspected block. Then I would pull out the wad and see what is stuck to it.
I might repeat that a couple of times if I’m getting a bunch of stuff out.
Another thing I would try, if you have a stand a lone vacuume would be to shut off the central vac and stick the stand alone vac in each of the outlets to see if that gets anything out. In fact, you might want to leave the central vac canister open to allow more air flow.
Good Luck,
-Sandwriter
Is the outlet clogged? Or maybe the motor is on its way to dying?
p.s. – by “outlet” I mean the vent to the outside.
Come to think of it that’s what I meant to. (Even though I referred to the “inlets” as outlets also)