Drainvac's 2020 central vacuum series

[n0oxy]

I have several of these units, I use all of my central vacuum units directly without pipes. In my opinion, these are by far the best central vacuum power units you can get and offer the best quality and power for the price. I'll post each one in order of power level.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

Drainvac little Giant

First up is the Little Giant, I'm guessing this one might be good for a condo or something similar.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

Drainvac Powerhouse

Next up is the Powerhouse, this one is good for a house around 6500 square feet. I have this unit and I think it's awesome. They're not kiding when they say how quiet it is, you can still have a conversation while in the same room.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

Drainvac Viper

Next up is the Drainvac Viper. I also have this one and it's just as quiet as the Powerhouse. I'm pretty sure that this is the most powerful single motor central vacuum unit you can get. I plan on bringing this one to the convention later this year.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

Drainvac Turbo

Next up is the Drainvac Turbo, this is a two motor unit but it still runs on 120 volts.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

Drainvac Twin Turbo

Last but definitely not least is the Drainvac twin turbo. This is also known as the beast and for good reason. It's a 240 volt unit and is probably the most powerful central vacuum unit available. I also have this one and I'm planning on bringing it to the convention.
Mike

 

[panasonicvac]

I think there's no doubt that Drainvac makes one of the finest central vacuum units on the market. But unfortunately it would be hard to get one for myself because there's no Drainvac dealer in my state. I could order one from Thinkvacuums.com but I've been very suspicious with that company for a while now and I'm not interested in getting into the shipping business, especially if I had to ship it in for warranty or service work. Just recently I read a review from MD Manufacturing from someone who replaced their Drainvac Twin Turbo with a 240 volt dual motor Silentmaster and they even said that it was more powerful than the Drainvac.

 

[n0oxy]

think vacuums

Ive bought several units from them and have nothing but good things to say about them. Their service is excellent and I have not had any problems. I have an MD Flomaster M85, it's a nice unit, but I think the Drainvac units are better, they are definitely quieter. I would not hesitate to recommend Think Vacuums to anyone. I have the twin turbo, and at least according to the specs on MD's web site, there is no comparison. The Twin Turbo is far more powerful. If you want a Drainvac unit, I would say go for it, they are excellent.
Mike

 

[panasonicvac]

I certainly would love to try one out or even get some used ones for my collection if I did had a Drainvac dealer nearby. Otherwise my next closest option similar to Drainvac which I actually do have some nearby dealers of is Duovac. But again, getting into the shipping business from Thinkvacuums.com is not something that I would be interested in. Drainvac when I contacted them not too long ago advised me to only buy from a local dealer if I wanted the best overall experience from Drainvac.

Based on Silentmaster's top of the line model, they actually have more CFM ratings than the Twin Turbo. I can see why that one reviewer from MD says the Silentmaster has more airflow than the Twin Turbo. Personally though, I'd rather have more airflow than suction power. If I'm looking for a top of the line central vacuum unit, Drainvac even told me to go for a Silentmaster. Plus I even like the bag and motor set up better on the Silentmaster.

 

[tolivac]

I like my silentmaster but I would consider the 120V dual motor turbo version.Too much hassle for the 240V model.If you take the 240V model to a convention-is there a connection to use at the hotel-and most hotels have 208/120V 3Ph service the machine may run from 208V but at reduced performance.I would check with Drainvac to be sure.

 

[n0oxy]

airflow and suction

For hose cleaners, I think suction is actually more important, the twin Turbo is a beast. You can only have as much airflow as will fit through the hose and pipes, but more suction can increase the performance despite the hose and pipe restrictions.
As far as how to run the twin turbo at the convention, there is an awesome power supply called the quick 220. You connect it to two outlets on separate phases and it combines them to give you 240 volts. It works great.
Mike

https://www.quick220.com/-A220-15D.html

 

[n0oxy]

Duovac

Duovac is a great brand as well, also made in Canada. A lot of the best central vacuums come out of Canada. Canavac and Cyclovac are also Canadian companies. I have the Duovac Distinction unit, it's another great unit for sure.
Mike

https://www.thinkvacuums.com/duovac-distinction-9-60-gallon-system.html

 

[cbimmer]

Is there any advantage of having a 240v version over the 120v?

 

[tolivac]

The convertor may only give you 208V if the motel is fed with a 3Ph 208/120V supply.The building where I work has two LV supplies-208/120V for gen building use-and 230V 3 ph for 3 transmitters LV supples.I use a 120V-240V transformer at home to run 220-240V 1Kw MH lights.What amperage does the vacuum draw from 240V?

 

[n0oxy]

amp draw and different voltage vacuums

The 240 volt models that I have do not draw more than 15 amps, they have nema6-15 plugs.
I think MD manufacturing makes their dual motor units in 120 and 240 volt versions. The 120 volt versions use 30 amp circuits instead of the standard 15 or 20 amp. Interestingly, the specs are slightly different for those models so I'm guessing the 240 volt version uses completely different motors than the 30 amp 120 version.
Mike

 

[panasonicvac]

Yes suction is important but I honestly think that suction is the 3rd most important part that a vacuum should have. Now the reason why I don't favor suction as more important is because the more suction that I have on a vacuum, the more it would likely be "sealed" onto the carpet, rugs, sofas, etc. I used to work at a carwash where they have commercial Spencer central vacuums, they have the best suction out of all the other vacuums that I've used. I have seen wherever I would have the vacuum sealed onto the car carpets or rugs, it would have a hard time picking up all the sand, coins or other debris that the Spencer should easily pick up unless if I added some airflow. So if I had a very powerful central vacuum that would easily get sealed onto the carpet, not only it might get harder to pick up dirt but it might also get harder for me to push or pull the powerhead which I don't think I would enjoy. Plus I might damage some rugs or leather sofas if I'm not extremely careful. That's just what I overall think.

In regards to Duovac and other Canadian companies, I think there's also no doubt they sell one of the finest units on the market. I just wish that ACV "All Canada Vac" was still selling powerunits here in the states. If I were to get a Duovac, I would get myself one of the Premium models.

MD does make units in both 120 and 240 volts. And yes you're right about the motors. For example, the S900r (The 120 volt Silentmaster version) uses 117939 Lamb motors and the S900r2 (The 240 volt Silentmaster version) uses 117944 Lamb motors.

 

[n0oxy]

power comparison between silent master and twin turbo

Looking at the specs, the silent master 900 has slightly more airflow than the Drainvac Twin Turbo but it also has far less suction. The S900 has 136 suction and 190 airflow. The twin turbo has 145 airflow and 221 water lift. It's quite powerful. I actually have not had any issues with tools sticking to things when using it.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

bypass motor verses through flow motor

I found a couple of interesting pages on Canavac's web site about this topic. They claim that the bypass motors in central vacuums are better than the through flow motors, does anyone know if this is true? The first three Drainvac models I posted in this thread use through flow motors and are supposed to last 20 years or more. But these pages seem to say that through flow motors' quality is not as good.

http://canavac.com/central-vacuum-motors/

And here is the page where they compare different motors.

http://canavac.com/comparing-motors/

 

[cbimmer]

Bypass vs through-flow motors would make an interesting topic for Owen from Just Central Vacs to cover. I really enjoy his videos. I have a Vacuflo unit in my current house but thinking of putting an MD unit in the new house. A bagged unit would be nicer when emptying the dirt and Owen seems to feature them a lot. I keep waiting for the M&S Systems Airvac that my parents have in their home to die. I never liked it and can't believe it's held up for 20 years.