help with dirt devil central vac

bigmichael · 03-10-2009, 08:45 AM

We have the built in vac but keep having trouble with the power brush head that came with it. These are the air driven heads. The first one stopped working after about 4 months. I called Dirt Devil, they were very quick to say they would send another out as they don't repair them. And they did. Now that second one has stopped working after about a month and a half.

I can't believe we just got two defective heads, so either these are junk--or there is some simple cleaning issue that I'm not aware of. I cleaned everything off the brush etc, but no go. Anyone else have this issue or am I just lucky?

We like the convenience of the vac, and it seems to work really well with the head working. But the other attachments don't really seem to go down into the carpet to get a good cleaning the way the brush does.

thanks

rockintom · 03-10-2009, 09:43 AM

BM,
I'm in a hurry now, but will tell you they are junk. I've had them apart after they fail....and the bearings get dust in them and fail. I've had three heads in one year and just gave up on them. I use the regular head attachment. Sorry to be so blunt....but rockin' shoots straight from the hip! Hey where's my emoticons?????

Endeavor2BnC · 03-10-2009, 04:54 PM

We never use ours. DW wants "deep cleaning". Has me on hands and knees making sure I get in all the corners real good.

abarkl · 03-10-2009, 05:10 PM

Maybe you are not getting the maximum amount of suction to drive the head. Perhaps your bag needs replacing, hoses cleaned, or canister moved to allow more ventilation.

Endeavor2BnC · 03-10-2009, 05:17 PM

I just went and checked ours to change the bag prior to moving and "oh boy"!!!!!! The bag had come off the input port and the unit was full of dirt. Cleaned it out real good and it sure does have a good suction now. Should clean "deeper" now.

MakinSmoke · 03-10-2009, 05:29 PM

Maybe Miss Jo doesn't vacuum as much as you guys but ours is 2 years old and still working.

rockintom · 03-10-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Endeavor2BnC

I just went and checked ours to change the bag prior to moving and "oh boy"!!!!!! The bag had come off the input port and the unit was full of dirt. Cleaned it out real good and it sure does have a good suction now. Should clean "deeper" now.

Tim,
I've written about this issue some time back. Briefly, I put a strip of Gorilla tape around the circumference of the neck (piece that mounts in the box where the bag connects) to act as a shim where the bag connects to it. Then make sure the bag is pushed all the way on - good. Works good now.

It is my understanding that the new white bag fits better on the neck than the blue bag according to the Dirt Devil folks. I have 2 more blues to use up before trying the white ones. SirVacuumExpert!

Lee C · 03-10-2009, 09:45 PM

Traveling with 2 long haired dogs, a vac with a power head is must for us. We bought an Intervac battery powered head from https://www.centralvacuumstores.com/cvs/nozzles.php. Its a little pricey but we have been very happy with it and the Dirt Devil .....

Bruce and Jenna · 03-15-2009, 09:32 AM

Same answer. Power head NG for deep cleaning, particularly dog hair.

Two solutions for us
1 Dirt Devil Classic hand held vac. Gotta crawl around to use it, but it has a powerful motor and no bag.

2 Traded in our fur machine Corgi

for a no shed Australian Terrier. Priceless!

evan0810 · 03-15-2009, 05:58 PM

We thought of the central vac as a novelty that might be good for cleaning up spilled M&Ms. We bought a Dirt Devil upright at Meijer for $60 that does a great job and takes up very little space. Our previous vac was a hand held that did a good job, but crawling around on my hands and knees got old. Can't remember the brand, but had a detactable hose for corners and crevices(about $40).
Ed

Lindaxtwo · 03-16-2009, 05:56 PM

We got the central vac thinking it would be a great space saver but it's junk. We're on our second power head.....stopped using it. As stated by others, doesn't work well with dog hair and with two border collies, we decided to use regular upright. Stands in the corner and doesn't take up much space and works so much better.

Follow our travels: http://lindaxtwo.blogspot.com/

bigmichael · 03-16-2009, 06:38 PM

I love the fact that the Dirt Devil central vac advertisement is the one currently playing at the bottom of this posting page

Thanks--looks like "junk" is the consensus.

rockintom · 03-16-2009, 08:29 PM

I didn't say the Dirt Devil system overall was junk. My power beater head and the regular vacuuming carpet tool are junk, but as far as suction and convenience it is fine with me. Generally speaking, I do agree that it is pricey for what you get.

Endeavor2BnC · 03-17-2009, 04:38 AM

I, for one, like the central vac feature. We have a 19V hand held for the small jobs and the car. I only use the three small tools on the central vac for all our cleaning. The other two pieces have sat idle the whole time we've had the RV. I don't mind the hand and knee action because the getting up and down helps as I "mature"

more and more. God knows I need all the help I can get to stay limber. If I work it right, I even get a couple of pushups in there.

Besides, when I'm all done DW thinks I'm really doing a GREAT job

and those points are worth it all. Gets me more fishing time because I've worked "SO HARD" to help out cleaning up the RV.