Utility of the Central Vacuum Inlet

UIBThe CVAC hose inlet mounted next to or attached with the power unit is often called a “utility inlet”. These inlets  are often promoted as an easy option for cleaning in the garage or basement where many vacuum system power units are mounted. Today the utility inlet is promoted as an important feature of central vacuums, but that is not how they started.

The utility inlet was originally devised for maintenance of the vacuum system itself. Many of the first consumer central vacuums used cyclonic separation which is unfortunately quite messy when it comes time for regular emptying of the bin. The separation cone, filter screen and internal shrouds are all places where dirt and dust will accumulate and during maintenance when the bin is removed these soils often fall out of the vacuum.
For some of us a little dirt on the garage floor is not exactly new. Some cyclonic vacuum system owners keep a garbage can with liner sitting just under the vacuum at all times. This will catch most of the debris that might fall out of the vacuum during maintenance of the bin and the filter screen in cyclonic vacuums, and gives you a convenient place to dump the bin when full. If your messy cyclonic central vacuum has a utility inlet you need only hook up your hose to recover escaped debris once your bin is reattached to the vacuum and your filter screen has been cleaned.

Aspria Vacuums offers the more advanced permanent filter system or sealed bag collection system, both of which keep their dust in the bin or bag during regular maintenance and not on the floor. Instead of permanently mounting the utility intake into the front of the vacuum, Aspria includes an inline switched utility inlet that allows you to place the valve where it is best for you. Often our clients find it best to mount the utility inlet near a garage door which allows cleaning of one or two cars in the garage and one in the drive all from the same inlet while keeping your vacuum mounted nearer to the front of the garage out of the way of traffic and away from any weather that may come in from an open garage door.

Aspria GQ and HHQ series also include optional intake mounted utility inlets when used in bagless collection mode that allows installation of the utility inlet directly into the body of the vacuum along (old-school style) with the inline mounting option included with all models of Aspria vacuum. A built-in utility inlet may have been more useful in the older cyclonic separation design than newer permanent filtered or bagged vacuums but we like the idea of giving the client all options and letting the client decide which is best for their home.

Get Control Of Yourself.

cvac_control
If presented with the two above component cards and asked which you would rather have in your laptop as a high speed graphics card for game play you would quickly select the card on the right. This card is clearly outfitted with some advanced technology and would make a much better choice of graphics card.

What if presented with the two same component cards again and asked to select which card you would rather have connected to your kitchen light switch?  When you flip your wall switch for your kitchen lights this component card will turn the lights on or off. In this scenario you instinctively would choose the card on the left. The card on the left has many fewer components and for a simple task and it would be more reliable because there are fewer parts to fail. Both component cards perform the exact same task so the one that does it with fewer parts is more efficient and statistically more reliable. Continue reading

Vacuum Motors: Thats Hot!

Bypass Central Vacuum MotorIt is the middle of summer and in south Texas it is hot! The temperature outside does not impact the operation of a homes central vacuum system, but cooling is very important. Cooling has a big impact on how well vacuum motors perform and how long they will last. Two motor designs are used most often in central vacuum systems and the primary difference of them is how they are cooled. The traditional central vacuum motor design is called bypass, and employs two fan systems – one to work and one to cool. The working air bypasses the motor, hence the name, and the cooling fan uses other (cooler) air to keep the motor cool. The other motor system is called thru-flow, which uses one fan system to both work and cool the motor hopefully after the airflow has been filtered. Thru-flow motors use the working air to flow over the motor, hence the name, and carry away the built up heat. There can be other differences between the two designs but cooling is most important.

Bypass motors are always cooling themselves at the same level anytime they are running and are not affected by other parts in the vacuum system, maintenance requirements or the vacuum user. On the other hand a thru-flow motors cooling efficiency is affected by nearly every part of a complete vacuum cleaning system and also by how the vacuum system is used and maintained.  Thru-flow cooling is affected by filter performance, debris particle size, length of PVC tubing, degree & number of elbows in the tube system and the composition, design and length of the vacuum hose, and perhaps most importantly the orifice of the cleaning tool being used. Continue reading

It Has Become Aware.

“The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth” – [said guy who didn’t like machines]

This is the new user interface on the front of the latest central vacuum. It is beautiful and mesmerizing to look at, and probably more computer power than the first manned mission to the moon. This central vacuum also sucks up dirt, but with such amazing beauty and the incredible manufacturers suggested $1,099.99 price tag you may not want to actually get it dirty.

New central vacuum power units have become aware. Not exactly Cyberdyne aware, but a motion sensor wakes the front lcd panel and led surround lights when someone is near the unit. It is very cool indeed. All of this electronic hardware in your central vacuum power unit does beg the question, does this help clean better or make the vacuum last longer?

In general the added bells and whistles do not help you clean any better or help your vacuum to actually last long, However the lights do provide a very cool motion activated night-light for your garage or basement – can’t beat that for $1100.  Flash and glitz are often a way to hide what’s happening inside the vacuum. Pop the hood on this cylon and what you might find is more hot-mess than supermodel.  A real party monster with an amazing light show – but seriously lacking in the work department.
We see how you roll Cyberdyne…

Board To Death

ebk360sc01There are many features in the new Wessel-Werk EBK360 powerbrush to be admired. LED headlight array, sculptured augured brush roller, 5-position step on height adjuster and redundant cooling systems just to name a few. But it is what’s missing in the new EBK360 powerbrush that gets us the most excited about the new design.

Like most other electronic systems these days the powerbrush has gone hi-tech. When the rubber belt was replaced with the geared belt it was technology that became responsible for the upgrade. While rubber belts are slow, underperform and often need replacement due to wear, they did have one great feature – they would break. Breaking the belt does not sound good to most folks, but the alternative would have been much more costly permanent damage of the powerbrush motor. Rubber belts are cheap & easy to replace. Powerbrush motors are neither cheap or easy to replace. 

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