Help on Wanda Central Vacuum Cleaning System

[keithe85]

Hello all,

We moved into our home a couple years ago and this Wanda Central Vacuum Cleaning unit was in the house when we moved in. Neither of us had ever seen a whole house vacuum before, but we eventually figured out that's what it was.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me about it? I really didn't find anything about Wanda Vacuums, so it can't be very popular. I'm not well versed in vacuums myself to be honest.

And, I'm not really sure what to do with it. It turns on and makes weak suction, but I don't think I'm interested in trying to acquire all the accessories or parts to try to fix and use it.

Thanks for your time!

 

[rainbowd4c]

Did this come with the hose or any attachments??? I'm telling one of our residential central vacuum people to check this out. He has his own central vacuum business.

 

[rainbowd4c]

Did this come with the hose or any attachments??? I'm telling one of our residential central vacuum people to check this out. He has his own central vacuum business.

 

[hoover706]

I found this...

I am not sure if it will be of any help.

https://twitter.com/vacwanda

 

[keithe85]

Thanks y'all! Maybe I will try to give them a call. I'm sure it could probably be repaired, but don't have the funds for that currently. Right now it's mostly just in my way and I'm trying to decide what to do with it lol.

Unfortunately, no hoses or attachments. I suspect those were lost or thrown away while the house was being remodeled prior to us purchasing it. Just the unit, comprised of two cylinders connected with a hose on the top.

 

[collector2]

Looks interesting. Could we get some better pictures showing the whole machine and some of the valves?

 

[centralvacs1928]

"Wanda" is a weird one

I have only seen this advertisement online, and have never come across a Wanda in person. In fact, yours is the first picture I have seen of one.

Perhaps a regional brand that was made, sold, and installed by one firm in a certain area. Without national distribution the product and name couldn't really have spread too far.

I am intrigued about the design of your machine though, especially the two canisters. Another brand that uses two canisters is Vacu-Maid, also based in Oklahoma. The dirt gets separated out in one canister and the motor or motors are in the other. Would enjoy seeing more pictures of your setup!

Please do try and leave the piping and wall inlets intact. Your system can be made to work much better and become a very useful item in your home. The main unit could always be relocated or replaced with a smaller one if you need the room. Not a lot of basements in TX, so I am guessing this is in your garage?

Thank you for sharing! You have a neat item here.

Owen

 

[tolivac]

Central Vacuum International uses more than one piece for their machines-one piece contains the motor-other contains the bag and filters.Connected together with a small piece of hose or pipe.Greenville Sew&vac is a CVI dealer.He now carries CVI,MD and Riccar central vac systems.

 

[keithe85]

Thanks y'all! I took it off of the wall so I could get some more pictures. Not sure what to take pictures of. There are indeed two units connected at the top with a hose. I guess there must be some kind of cyclone action where the heavier bits get dropped into the dust canister, and then the finer particles end up in this big filter bag above the motor.

It is actually in the furnace room, which is in the center of the house. The piping is still there and it's PVC or ABS, so it's fine, but the outlets where you hook up the hose are in very poor condition. There's one on the first floor and one on the second floor, both connected to the same inlet on the canister.

 

[keithe85]

I also like seeing old advertisements like that, they are interesting. This thing seems very well built. I wish more things were built well. I'm sure it was not an inexpensive system at the time, but these days it seems like paying more for something alone isn't enough to guarantee quality.

The suction was poor when I turned it on previously, but I may try to figure out how to clean the filter bag and see if maybe it is just very dirty. I don't have the finances to invest in the accessories / repair right now, but would be fun to see how well it works. I also wouldn't hate being able to repurpose it as a shop vac or dust collection, which would actually be very useful in the wood shop now that I think about it. I'm glad I came here and talked to y'all

 

[rainbowd4c]

What do the wall inlets look like? I wonder if maybe at some point you might be able to get a used set of attachments and if the host will fit in the inlets? The units and filters might just need a good cleaning and that might bring the suction back up to where it should be.

 

[collector2]

In photo 10 the inlet is pretty badly plugged up and that T fitting isnt the proper one to be on there. Its probably what is causing it to plug. At the least it should have a double sweep 90 (Looks like two 2 90 degree elbows with one end merged) so everything flows into the machine. The upper screen on the tank could probably use a cleaning too.

 

[keithe85]

Here are the outlets. They seem pretty simple, seems like it is just a cover that activates a switch to turn on the unit. The wire runs to the unit (it was convenient to run network cables on the same path to get them upstairs).

I'll have to clean the bag out and see how the performance changes. I'm assuming it's hand clean? Is there anything I should sanitize it with? I'm not sure if bleach would hurt it. I think the ring at the top that prevents it from falling into the canister may be metal, it's rigid.

And I do see now where the inlet is clogged, thanks! I didn't even put that together.

 

[discobisco]

WANDA CENTRAL VAC SHOP
QUALITY BUILDERS OF FINE CLEANING EQUPIMENT SINCE 1960

PRODUCT of WANDA Mfg Co
Comanche, OK 73529-0637

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1-888-439-5550
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