AMWAY CLEARTRAK - No Suction...at all.

[seberhusky]

Hello! I just got a Amway Cleartrak at Goodwill today for about $7. It's in mint condition, however, I've never owned or seen one before, so I think it might be broken.

It is very loud. It has a bit of vibration. It has no suction, but the brushes turn.

It has no suction going through the hose or the brushes at all. I can feel 0 amount of air. It won't even pick up a square of toilet paper even though the motor is blaring away and causing me deafness.

Can anyone tell me what to do, aside from burning it? Like, how to fix this problem?

I see they are selling for $100 to $200 on eBay, I do believe I made a score here! Just hoping there is a way to get it to suck, in a good way![this post was last edited: 4/9/2013-20:47]

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Did you check the filter in the back?

 

[briankirbyclass]

I think there is some sort of dial or knob you turn for hose suction and turn the other way for power head/brush suction. Look for a dial of some sort, either on the bottom or side of the vac somewhere.

 

[seberhusky]

Yes, It's hard not to see that dial. It's about 3 inches across, and on the right side. I turned it multiple times. The motor and belt and brushes turn smoothly, but I am getting no suction from either the brushes or the hose.

I seen some guy's youtube video about his vacuum, and he said that suction escapes out the air vents?

 

[oreck_xl]

Unless you have a whistle someplace, it may not be suction leakage. If the motor is blaring away that might be telltale that the fan is damaged or the bearings are shot, in which case you will need a new motor. I had an earlier CMS 1000 a long time ago with that problem. There is a website though www.cleartrak.com where a new motor can be purchased for $143.85. IIRC these cleaners are manufactured for Amway by Bissell.

- Hershel

http://www.cleartrak.com

 

[s31463221]

Possibly a broken fan

I'm inclined to agree with Hershel on the possibility the fan may be damaged or broken. I will be the first to tell you I know nothing about your model vac, in fact I've never seen one, but the way you describe how it's acting sounds very familiar to a situation I had not too long ago. I was given a Hoover hard bag upright (dirty fan model) sometime ago. It looked great and the brushroll spun freely, motor didn't seem too bad, etc. When I went to turn it on however, it roared like a lion and had I not been holding it, the vacuum would probably have walked across the room it vibrated so bad. I tore into it to see what the problem could be and discovered that the fan had shattered and was mostly gone. The little stub left of the fan was what was causing the racket and vibration. I replaced the fan, which alleviated some of the problems, got the suction back and reduced the noise and vibration......HOWEVER I began to notice that it looked like the 4th of July inside the motor housing. Tore it down and fully went into the motor and discovered the armature was SHOT, I guess when the fan broke, it stopped things from turning and it sat and hummed on that armature so long, it had deep grooves cut in it!

I ended up counting it as a lost cause and tossed it, but based on your description, I think you may have a similar situation on your hands, check everything out good if you tear it apart! Good luck with it!

 

[seberhusky]

There is no bad smells or sparks from the motor. I think it is just off-balanced wich might be over-revving the motor. Your theory about the fan blades makes sense. I will have to check.

If it helps any, it says that it is copyright 1991, and has a serial number of A305274.

 

[dysonman1]

I would venture to say it probably isn't the fan. The motor used in the Amway is exactly the same single-fan GS motor used in the old Dirt Devil vacuums that used the type C bag. It has a metal fan, and is basically a canister vacuum motor with a belt drive shaft coming out the commutator end. There is a pre-motor filter 'drawer' in the back, right below where the end of the hose is when the hose is on the storage rack. Slide out the filter drawer. There are two filters, a black foam one and a white electrostatic cloth filter. Both need to be clean in order to have suction. Nothing locks the filter drawer in place, so it's also possible you don't even have the drawer - which would explain the lack of any suction at all.

 

[suckolux]

The revving does make one think about a blockage, in my mind anyway

 

[seberhusky]

I just looked where dysonman told me to. Guess what? There's nothing there!
It seems the drawers are missing!

 

[suckolux]

Damn!

 

[seberhusky]

I did not see this when I bought it, as I did not know that there was supposed to be anything there. Good thing is that that Amway site lists the filter caddy at $9, and then filters at $4.50 and $6.75.
$20 in parts still is not a bad price on this vacuum.

I think once the air is forced through the filters, it should make some kind of resistance on the motor and maybe it won't spin so fast as it is doing now when it is just blowing air into the air. One would think that if the motor does not feel hot or have any smell or sparks that it is working perfectly.

 

[jonesmic28]

AMWAY CLEARTRAK

I would say it's worth it. Bought mine a couple of years ago and it's really holding up nicely. The website above is great. I buy all my filters there. It really is a great vacuum.

 

[vacuumman206]

The motor in the amway is slightly larger than that in the older Dirt Devil uprights. That was one motor I tried substituting for my burnt out amway motor, and it wasn't big enough. Not having that filter tray certainly will cause no suction. And it probably sounds loud because that filter area is exposed and the motor is right there. The only thing that would cause the motor to go faster is more voltage I think. I'll have to play around with my clear trak and get it working better some time. Possibly try another motor.

 

[janj]

CMS 1000 Maintenance

I tried to skim the replies so I hope I'm not repeating someone. I have a CMS 1000 (over 20 years) and a newer brand -- the CMS is still my favorite hands-down. It's made to self-service. Unless I missed something you may just have a clog somewhere. If you have checked the filters (the little drawer at the bottom in back -- the foam filter should be kept washed/dried and the fiber filters replaced fairly frequently.), then you can progress to check for clog airways. Use a phillips screw driver to remove the back plastic panel... I have a straightened out metal coat hanger I used to probe for blockages (including the hose). There's a fabulous website that still repairs, services and supplies everything you need for the CMS and Amway Clear Trak vacuums. (They even still sell them). I've ordered from them and they were great! http://www.cleartrak.com Hope this helps.

http://www.cleartrak.com/