madman
Well-known member
I mean... any of those little air blowers for inflating mattresses and such are sucking up the same air with the same dust in it. I'll grant you, a proper air compressor should have an air filter on it.
Damage from using it as a blower
- Thread starter rivstg1
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huskyvacs
Well-known member
Filtering the air going into an inflatable mattress, chair, pool toy, etc is a mindless exercise. There is no purpose in it. It has no effect on the inflatable item if the air is dirty.
Just walking around downtown in any city in the summertime is going to have 20x more dirty air than a vacuum cleaner.
Also just FYI the air inside an air compressor is full of rust and motor oil as well as mildew from condensation from expansion and contraction of the air. That's why they have drain tubes.
An old air compressor that was not cared for and exploded: http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160317/f5043f769cc1f88e747d227d9ac67762.jpg
Just walking around downtown in any city in the summertime is going to have 20x more dirty air than a vacuum cleaner.
Also just FYI the air inside an air compressor is full of rust and motor oil as well as mildew from condensation from expansion and contraction of the air. That's why they have drain tubes.
An old air compressor that was not cared for and exploded: http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160317/f5043f769cc1f88e747d227d9ac67762.jpg
texaskirbyguy
Well-known member
Interesting thread, Kelton - goes to show engineering in reverse. That Sentria intake cover is a joke and no wonder the meltdown occurred. How was it even supposed to blow anything with no intake? Safety laws are likely for this blunder- got to make sure someones hair will not get sucked in when they lay in front of the Kirby...
Even the early intakes/crystalators are too restrictive to use the machine as a good blower. I tried it on my Tradition long ago and the leaves on the patio barely moved. I added a sawed-off crystalator (was broken anyway) and the leaves took flight - it was amazing in difference. I only pity low flying birds that get too close...
YOu would be better off using the rug nozzle as the intake and even on low speed you would get some usable blowing action.
What is happening here is air friction (through compression) is causing excess heat in the fan chamber. The fan gets so hot that the plastic begins to melt and 'grow' through centrifugal force. This is why the blades bent also. (Metal fans are much more tolerant.)
There is just just enough air coming in through that restrictive snout to keep the fan chamber full of air but does not let the air come out fast enough to keep fan chamber air temps down. It heats up fast. Same goes from using the pool toy inflater tool. I think the instructions on later models state to limit use to a few minutes with that attachment.
As a test, when using the hose, you can restrict the air a lot for 20-30 seconds and when released, you can feel the blast of superheated air coming out of the bag.
It might be better off to have a full intake restriction when the fan chamber actually enters into a vacuum to have less air to try to compress...
As for problems using only the hose a lot, I would not worry a bit. I have done those tests many times through actual use of my Tradition in regular use. Four times a year it gets about 4-5 hours of hose use with little shut down time as I dust everything with the dusting brushes. It has a white plastic fan and it still runs great. It does get restricted a bit when in use, but for very short times.
Now if you drop the hose and it sucks on to something and you leave it that way for a while (like a few minutes or more), then you may have problems.
Ever notice that bicycle tire pump hoses heat up at the bends after you have been using it? Yep, air friction. It is why air compressors have cooling fans on them as well.
Kirby could learn a lot from a bike pump...
Even the early intakes/crystalators are too restrictive to use the machine as a good blower. I tried it on my Tradition long ago and the leaves on the patio barely moved. I added a sawed-off crystalator (was broken anyway) and the leaves took flight - it was amazing in difference. I only pity low flying birds that get too close...
YOu would be better off using the rug nozzle as the intake and even on low speed you would get some usable blowing action.
What is happening here is air friction (through compression) is causing excess heat in the fan chamber. The fan gets so hot that the plastic begins to melt and 'grow' through centrifugal force. This is why the blades bent also. (Metal fans are much more tolerant.)
There is just just enough air coming in through that restrictive snout to keep the fan chamber full of air but does not let the air come out fast enough to keep fan chamber air temps down. It heats up fast. Same goes from using the pool toy inflater tool. I think the instructions on later models state to limit use to a few minutes with that attachment.
As a test, when using the hose, you can restrict the air a lot for 20-30 seconds and when released, you can feel the blast of superheated air coming out of the bag.
It might be better off to have a full intake restriction when the fan chamber actually enters into a vacuum to have less air to try to compress...
As for problems using only the hose a lot, I would not worry a bit. I have done those tests many times through actual use of my Tradition in regular use. Four times a year it gets about 4-5 hours of hose use with little shut down time as I dust everything with the dusting brushes. It has a white plastic fan and it still runs great. It does get restricted a bit when in use, but for very short times.
Now if you drop the hose and it sucks on to something and you leave it that way for a while (like a few minutes or more), then you may have problems.
Ever notice that bicycle tire pump hoses heat up at the bends after you have been using it? Yep, air friction. It is why air compressors have cooling fans on them as well.
Kirby could learn a lot from a bike pump...
I wonder if the same thing has happened to people that use the rug renovator a lot.
With the tension of the belt on the head and the restricted air flow thru the solution tank to produce the "dry foam" to clean the carpet, I would imagine that could happen in that instance as well.
Two sources to produce excessive heat. I know the belt shaft can get extremely hot with heavy use with any of the belt driven attachments.
With the tension of the belt on the head and the restricted air flow thru the solution tank to produce the "dry foam" to clean the carpet, I would imagine that could happen in that instance as well.
Two sources to produce excessive heat. I know the belt shaft can get extremely hot with heavy use with any of the belt driven attachments.
rivstg1
Well-known member
kirby519
the answer would be a big NO for rug renovator use. I have the renovators for all my Kirbys.....have identified no damage and I've taken a few apart and would have seen it .
the answer would be a big NO for rug renovator use. I have the renovators for all my Kirbys.....have identified no damage and I've taken a few apart and would have seen it .
rivstg1
Thank you for the update. So far I haven't seen that as a concern talked about here.
I have a commercial box extractor that I use to clean the carpeting and furniture there for If I use the renovator head it is just to work in the pre treatment in the high traffic areas.
I don't even put the tank on the machine for that procedure. There for there is the full air flow thru the machine with bag left in place.
Thank you for the update. So far I haven't seen that as a concern talked about here.
I have a commercial box extractor that I use to clean the carpeting and furniture there for If I use the renovator head it is just to work in the pre treatment in the high traffic areas.
I don't even put the tank on the machine for that procedure. There for there is the full air flow thru the machine with bag left in place.
juju93
Well-known member
This maybe irrelevant to be bringing up, but we’re due for a new Kirby anytime now. I mean avalir 2 (really sentria 4) is going on 3 years now. Time for something new
With all this going on-we are using the Kirby as a centrifical compressor.The impellors in these do get hot,of course.The gas flow cools them.Maybe this would be a good reason to go back to the METAL fans-no problem!For the inflating and similar uses you should just get a common air compressor.For the large centrifical compressors machines steel fans are used----EXPENSIVE-but withstands the pressure of the gases.Refrigeration and blast furnace gas compression!and these compressors are multistage!!more than one impellor-runs in series.Machines driven by steam turbines or very large motors.For the Kirby should be no problem if the airflow is not restricted like with the inflator tool.
