Central Vacuum powerhead - advice

[panofan]

So here is my dilemma.
I currently have a central vac & a few kenmore vacuums (1 upright, 2 canisters include the new soft clean one for my ultra plush carpet).

A while ago I got rid of my electric hose & powerhead - I didn't like the electric hose - too much to fiddle with the pigtail, didn't move as nice as the basic air only hose, had less airflow than the basic 1 3/8" hose (I measured).

My thoughts - use the basic hose & a turbo nozzle most of the time, occasionally go through with one of the regular vacuums with a powered brush - say monthly - to pick up dirt that was missed.

I really think the only difference here is the amount of agitation - when I measured working vacuum pressure in the central with the electric kit, it was about the same as the basic air only kit with a wessel werk turbo nozzle (tk 270) attached - which tells me the same volume of air is moving through.

But, I've heard over and over that the turbocat is just about the best turbine. What do y'all think? The tk270 doesn't stall on my frieze carpet and seems to agitate it gently, but I have 1 rug it struggles with.

I'm thinking of:
a) keeping everything as is and being happy
b) getting a turbocat for better cleaning with the central
c) trying a way to make a powernozzle work again - maybe picking up a WW EBK340 or EBK360 & one of those 35' long cords to convert any hose to electric (with the manual connection of course). Doesn't solve the day to day pain, but then for a monthly deep clean, worth the hassle to get the cvac benefits

Is a turbocat that much of an upgrade?
Is the plasticflex electric hose a lot better (mine was a centec one before).


Thanks

 

[tolivac]

Replace the Turbocat with a Volt cordless electric powernozzle-You will be glad you did.The Volt has a primary suction fan along with the rollerbrush.Perfect for use with non electric hoses.It will run for about an hour on a charge.And you can use the Volt with any other vacuum you can fit the hose onto the Volts wand.

 

[ocscott3085]

I get your dilemma. Here's my current setup with the central vacuum -

*Garage - basic 40ft Vacuflo non-electric hose for the cars and garage floor

*Basement - we have a few standard outlets but don't use it down there so no tools

*Main Level - 3 standard wall outlets (only used by cleaning lady) and a 40/50ft Hide a Hose outlet that we use most of the time due to all of the hardwood flooring and area rugs. We usually use the Turbocat on our rugs which provides a gentle agitation but nothing compared to an electric head. We have a Nutone 598 powerhead with a 35ft extension cord that we occasionally use with the HAH outlet when we want a deeper clean of our frieze carpeting in the family room. It's a little awkward to juggle both the hose and the cord but it's doable. I really am thinking I'll be buying a Volt powerhead because the juggling gets old quickly and the Turbocat doesn't clean as deeply as I'd like.

*Upstairs - we have several more standard wall outlets and we keep the electric hose and powerhead that came with the system upstairs in our laundry room. We decided to keep the electric hose upstairs because our five bedrooms all have wall to wall carpeting. Our system came with the white Vacuflo Edge powerhead kit which is basically the Wessel Werk EBK360 in white with a headlight. That thing REALLY deep cleans the rugs but is kind of heavy for a powerhead.

Truthfully, I HATE the electric hose and this is coming from someone who grew up with a central vac system and was insistent that it be installed in the house. For some reason, our electric hose has been kinking since the day we moved in to our brand new home. Perhaps it was stored funny in the manufacturers box. I really dislike the gas pump style handle compared to the pistol grip electric hose I used growing up. I'm also lazy and hate wrapping it up after cleaning. If I only have to do one room I pull out one of our uprights and use that instead. On the main level the HAH outlet gets used multiple times per week. Our cleaning ladies use the electric hose and nozzle on all three levels when they clean every other week. I'm currently looking into purchasing the Volt powerhead and then the Vacuflo Turbogrip hose for the bedroom level which I'll just use with the Volt. The electric hose will be relegated to the basement.

 

[panofan]

Thanks!

I just finished cleaning - first with the central vac and turbo brush, then with the kenmore ultra-plush canister - man, the canister is so much more pleasant to push across the carpet!

I did spend a bunch of time looking at it - this uses the much nicer, newer style filter (from what I can tell, much improved from the old kenmore cardboard encased filter - this is well sealed and is made of abs plastic).

 

[myles_v]

I may be able to help! I recently upgraded to the Turbocat from the TK270 and all I have to say is do it.

My major issue with the TK270 is that the brush roll is too small, it doesn't really extend from the nozzle very far to touch the carpet much.
The turbine in the Turbocat is also much larger, and you can really hear and feel the difference when using the two nozzles.

I've never tried the Volt nozzle, but honestly from my point of view the Turbocat does a perfect job on my medium pile carpeting. I still use various other machines on the carpet pretty often, so the Turbocat doesn't need to every single bit of the dirt out of the carpet.
I really question how much the additional fan in the Volt nozzle truly contributes to the cleaning of the nozzle. Central vacuums already produce such a high amount of suction and airflow.
I've never used a Volt, or even the cordless Freedom, but I wonder if there are some systems that have enough power to cause a Turbocat to clean/spin the turbine and agitator better than the battery operated Volt.

I may try to get a quick video comparing the TK270 and the Turbocat. I'll post it in a reply if I'm able to.

 

[panofan]

Thanks! That would be awesome.

Do you have the original turbocat or the turbocat zoom?

 

[myles_v]

Original Turbocat. I had some concerns about the durability of the Zoom.

I'll try to get the video made in the next day or so for you

 

[durango159]

The Volt agitates carpet extremely well!! It is a very good nozzle that is battery operated. It's more powerful than an Oreck plug in upright.


The fan in any turbine power nozzles robs the central vacs power to run the air driven brush roll. It also shrinks the air duct that dirt travels. The Volt creates a Tandem air vacuum combining benefits of direct air vacuum with and bypass design for a true deep clean.

While I love the Volt, as I've tried one in person, I also love standard electric power nozzles. I recommend a crush proof plastiflex style hose with a hose sock. MD has hoses now that come with hose socks already installed. If you despise pigtail cords then you could have direct connect vac inlets installed.

The Wessel Werk EBK360 is a very powerful power nozzle, with great agitation. However, if that's too heavy you can also get a Panasonic Plush Pro nozzle for your central vac just like the one that comes on your Kenmore, but wands would be configured for the central vac.

http://www.centralvacuumstores.com/.../centec-ct23qd-response-ii-electric-powerhead

 

[tolivac]

I will stand behind my Volt,too.I also have a Turbocat air powernozzle.They are sort of fun to use-but they make more noise than cleaning results.As above they rob power from the host vacuums suction system to spin their rollerbrush.The dirt openings in these are small and easily clogged.The Volts fan ADDS power to the vacuum system!And it helps boost dirt picked up on its way thru the host vacuums system.I have two other Central vacuum powernozzles-Sebo and Lindhaus.Like the Volt better than any of them.My Turbocat sits on the closet shelf.I also have an older unmarked brand air powernozzle that the vac shop gave me-well used-its turbine fan eroded and cracked from the debris that has passed thru it.That nozzle was traded in towards a Lindhaus one.If your vac shop has a Volt-Try it-you may get hooked!Like how it can be used with ANY vacuum you can fit its hose onto the Volts wand-even-just for fun-used it on my Kirby Avalir in its "canister" mode just for fun!Worked great,too.

 

[n0oxy]

I would also suggest the volt rather than the turbocat

The plastiflex electric hose is a good hose, though I also am not a huge fan of the gas pump grip, but that's personal preference. No question, the volt will clean better than any air powered brush and it will be much quieter. The turbo cat zoom has a very loud whine to it, think of a dentist drill on steroids. And as others have said, it will remove power from the vacuum in order to spin the turbine. The volt cleans very well, at the vacuum convention earlier this year, I actually turned it on and started moving it over the carpet and felt dust coming out of the end of the wand, so the fan in the nozzle holds its own. When you combine that with the power of a central vacuum, it's quite impressive. I would say go for the volt, don't bother with the turbocat.