Vac maintainence, who needs it?

[I.B. Washincars]

I am one of those operators that never does anything to a vac until it doesn't work. I have never replaced a brush and never clean bags, never. Well, today I had a vac that wouldn't pick up anything. I took the lid off and discovered that one of the three motors wasn't running. I always write the date on the motor when I install one. Usually if I am already into a vac and a motor is over two years old I just replace it while I'm at it. Well, I was looking for the date on these, which wasn't written where I usually write it. Much to my amazement, all three had June '01 written on them. That's when I bought the vacs! They are original and two are still running! This is not a vac on the back forty, behind the dumpster. It is in a very prominent location and is one of the heaviest used at this wash. There's no telling how long they would last if I took care of them.

 

[Waxman]

Who's the Mfg.?? Honda????

Haha.

I just clean em out and replace brushes when the motors stop turning.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

It's an IVS with Lamb motors.

 

[bigleo48]

All my vac motors won't last a year unless the brushes get changed. That's the same for all motors (more or less) including Lamb. I don't know how 10 years of normal use it possible.

 

[JustClean]

All my vacs are three years old and nothing has stopped them so far
I was always wondering if I did something wrong (right) that mine didn't break down. Haven't touched any of them either. Gee...good to hear they can even last 10 years.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I am one of those operators that never does anything to a vac until it doesn't work..

Ditto. except to empty the trash.

AFAIAC the cost / labor benefit made it non productive. Learned this from a former National Pride Chain manager when he told me they stopped changing brushes because by the time that was needed so many other parts were worn / corroded any life extension was nominal compared to the labor and reliability factor.

I may have some that lasted many years. never marked them when new. Kind of like some light bulbs seem to last forever.

 

[mjwalsh]

Our experience

I am one of those operators that never does anything to a vac until it doesn't work. I have never replaced a brush and never clean bags, never.

Pat,

If our bags ever get damp from water sucked up &/or otherwise every 6 months or so we actually put our bags in one of our front load washing machines & hang them to air dry. We notice better performance for our customers by doing that & by using a long stiff snow brush wearing a mask everytime we clean the vac dirt out.

It seems like some brands of Vacuums have fewer filter bags in them which also effect performance. At one time we had a 3 motor vacuum & we notice our Vintage 1987 Doyles being cleaned more regularly actually seem to outperform that 3 motor Monorail that we had. I notice that the brushes are supposed to be broken in & seated by running I believe with 30 minutes of fifty percent voltage applied. That is accomplished by wiring 2 motors in series ---- this might explain why the originals lasted longer than some brush replacements.

Mike

 

[MEP001]

Some motors require the brushes to be broken in, but most don't. It's probably a good idea to do it anyway, but then you're getting into the area of the time spent not being worth the cost of just replacing the motors.

I've switched to the lighter, thinner bags that don't do quite the job of filtering the revery fine stuff, but they're really easy to clean. I don't routinely pull them out and wash them anymore because there's no need to; a light shake each time I clean the vac gets them working as well as if the bags have been changed.

I switched to using Domel vac motors; I was using the GS to replace the original Lambs but the bearings would often fail before the brushes. They're so bad that I've already replaced all the replacement GS motors. I plan to start changing brushes in the Domels to see if they hold up. I never replaced the brushes in the Lambs because it's almost more trouble than changing the motor. The Domel are very easy and the brushes are cheap.

 

[Greg Pack]

I check my vacs every time I pull the money. I pop in the money, test the functions, then pull the quarters. It helps keep me on top of them.

I could understand a service company not changing brushes, but I can change brushes on the motors on a Coleman vac in less than twenty minutes. It probably takes me 45 minutes on a fragramatics combo because of the poor design. When I change brushes, I change brushes on all the motors in the same vac. That keeps me from having to rebuild the other one in three months. It's probably get at least another year out of the motor after a brush change-maybe more.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I decided this zombie thread needed reviving.

After servicing a vac the other day, I was again reminded why I don't waste time doing unneeded service on them. A Fragramatics combo wasn't sucking very well so my attendant pulled the top off and discovered one motor wasn't running. I jumped up there and checked the dates written on them. The date was 3-5-07 on all three. They are 10 years old! I have discovered the secret to long lasting vac motors...leave them the heck alone!

 

[Randy]

I decided this zombie thread needed reviving.

After servicing a vac the other day, I was again reminded why I don't waste time doing unneeded service on them. A Fragramatics combo wasn't sucking very well so my attendant pulled the top off and discovered one motor wasn't running. I jumped up there and checked the dates written on them. The date was 3-5-07 on all three. They are 10 years old! I have discovered the secret to long lasting vac motors...leave them the heck alone!

I guess if the vacuum never got used much the motor would last 10 years. I have to replace the brushes in my vacuums at least once a year or the motors if I don’t the brushes. I have to clean the vacuums out 3 times a week.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

It's actually one of the most used at the wash. It's a moderately busy 3&2 with 6 vacs. This vac is probably the 2nd most used at the wash.

You may clean your vacs three times a week, but not because they need it, but because you need the money.

 

[MEP001]

What motors are you using that lasted ten years?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Of course, they were replaced by something else, but I think they were GS. I don't know if they have been discontinued or K/R just doesn't handle that brand anymore.

 

[MEP001]

The G/S motors Kleen-Rite had were discontinued. I'm surprised you got ten years out of any G/S motors - I could barely get one.