help with the volt nozzle

[n0oxy]

So, just got my tax refund, and decided to order the volt nozzle, actually been meaning to do this for a while. This will be awesome to add to my collection of power nozzles. My apartment is mostly hard floors, but looking forward to using this nozzle for area rugs and to clean things such as my mattress and couch, can't wait to try it with my straight suction canisters, and even though I have an adapter that lets you use an electric power nozzle with a backpack, I want to try the volt with those too. Anyway, I'm a blind person and the manual for the volt does not seem to be available on line. Was wondering about a couple of things. I used it at the convention last year, it was awesome, but never looked at the charger for it. When I get it, how do I charge it? Does it just plug in with a cord, or is there a charging stand? If there is a stand, how does the nozzle attach to the stand? I do have enough vision to see when something is lit up, I'm assuming something lights up while it's charging, and I shouldn't have any problem with the battery meter, if the room is fairly dark, I can see if only one LED is lit up or several. My other question relates to changing the belt. Hopefully I won't have to worry about this for a while, but is it possible to change the belt without sight? Also, does this nozzle have any kind of automatic shut off if the brush does jam, or does the belt just break right away? Definitely looking forward to getting this, I think once I do, I will have most if not all of the power nozzles that can be used with many different vacuums.
Mike

 

[luxflairguy]

Volt/Hide--a-hose nozzle

Mike: Go the Central vacuum store and go to battery powered power nozzle. There are lots of pics as well as a video of the Volt nozzle. The nozzle has a typical cord that plugs into the batter pack and a light bar across the top. Can't tell you how bright the lights are. Greg

 

[kirbysthebest]

I don't know about the volt

But the belt set up appears to be the same as it is for my RSL4 Superlite. You should be able to change the belt by feel. There are two clips that you press to remove the rug plate, then pull up on the brushroll to remove. The belt is a stretch belt that wraps around the wooden brushroll and the motor shaft. I make the assumption that it is not a permanent belt, as the permanent belts are usually on the machines with a metal brushroll with replaceable strips. The Supralite has a breaker that will trip if the brushroll jams. I have not had a belt break due to a jam, and I assume the breaker is more of a motor protection.

On the Superlite the motor shaft end you have to turn the belt sideways and ease it through the gap between the vacuum body and the shaft. Then with both feet, both hands and an army of strong men, put the other end back around the brushroll and leverage it back into place.

The first time I changed the belt it was a job, but you get a technique that works for you. I am used to the Kirby belt lifter system, which spoils you to belt installation. If you can change a belt on a Sanitaire upright, Hoover convertible or Panasonic upright; this won't be a challenge for you.

The illustration on the Central Vacuum Store website shows the charging cord plugs into a charging port. It appears to be on the back of the battery pack, and you should be able to orient it by touch.

You will have to let us know what you think after you get it. You should be able to get more information from Tom G., as this is his area of sales and promotion. [this post was last edited: 4/13/2017-08:51]

 

[n0oxy]

pictures

I can't see good enough to view pictures, or even read print for that matter, hopefully it will make much more sense once I get it.
Mike

 

[kirbysthebest]

I don't think you will have any problems. You should be able to tactilely orient fairly easily.

 

[dysonman1]

Hi Mike:

The charger that comes with the Volt, plugs directly into the battery pack on the back of the nozzle's handle. There's a small raised circle, if you press it, the green lights will illuminate. Here's a good guide. There are five bars of green. You lose one bar of green for each 15 minutes of run time. From 'dead' to full charge takes approximately one and a half hours. The charger shuts off as soon as battery capacity is reached. After each use, plug it in. If you unplug in one hour, or the next day, it won't hurt the battery and you'll always have full charge.

Enjoy your new Volt. I have a lot of fun running it with vintage canisters, as you will remember from the Vacuum Collectors Convention last year. We plan to do it again this year at the Convention in June at the Vacuum Museum.

 

[n0oxy]

thanks Tom

Looking forward to getting it, yes, pairing the volt up with older canisters such as the Kenkart and Eureka canned ham vibrabeat was very interesting. This year I want to pair it up with the Sunbeam duel deluxe. Looking forward to pairing it up with some of my straight suction canisters such as the Miele C1 Olympus, Sebo airbelt D1, and Electrolux ultra one, and let's not forget Henry, don't want him to feel left out. The new Henrys are actually very impressive, a 620 watt motor but just as powerful as vacuums that use twice as much energy. Can't wait to get it, and I just ordered my seventh backpack, the Mosquito super hepa construction model, one of the only backpacks to use a two stage motor.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

got my volt, awesome!

Got the volt, wow, that was quick, good thing St. Louis is not too far from the factory, I hope it likes its new home, so far I think it does. I can't wait to show my straight suction canister vacuums that they will now have a new friend. Of course, you can also pair it with power nozzle canisters, but I think the volt shines even more when you turn a straight suction canister not only in to a power nozzle canister, but a tandom air canister. Thanks to Tom and everyone else who tried to describe the layout of the nozzle and how to charge it, it was a big help. It's happily charging right next to my intervac central vacuum power unit, and I do have enough vision to see the number of LEDS that are lit up on the battery, and it looks like the light on the charger is green when you first plug it in, and while charging, it turns red, not sure if I'm correct on those colors, I can only guess color based on how bright it is. It would make sense that the charger would turn off when the battery is charged, with lithium ion batteries, there is really no trickle charge like there is for nickel based batteries and lead acid, the charger turns off when the battery is full. I remember reading a couple messages from a few members in Europe who wanted to get a volt. In theory, it should be possible assuming you can get it shipped. The charger is a switching power supply, and these can usually handle voltages from 100 to 240, 50 and 60 HZ. You would just need an adapter to convert the plug. My battery came with one bar of power in it, so I briefly turned on the nozzle, the air that blows out of the end is amazing, it definitely has quite a fan. So, here is an interesting comparison, for those who have tried the top of the line Riccar nozzle with the three brush strips and the volt, which one do you think cleans better? Ok, going to post this and go see how the newest member of my vacuum family is adjusting to its new home. A couple other questions, is it ok to store the nozzle in the upright position? I remember reading somewhere that brushes could be damaged if they were always sitting on the floor, but maybe that was for carpet extractors, can't remember, for my other power nozzles, I store them in a closet with the brushes facing up instead of the brushes always touching the shelves, but with the volt, that would not be practical since it has the handle coming out of it. Also, how do you know when it's time to change the belt? I do have the instructions for the volt, I may try and scan it using an app on my phone.
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

took the volt for its first spin, love it

Was trying to decide which straight suction canister would have the honor of being the Volt's companion, I decided to try it first with my Miele C1 Olympus, this is a straight suction canister, the hose is very light. The area rug outside the door of my apartment does not get cleaned as much as it should, a perfect way to test the new nozzle. All I can say is it's awesome. It was quite satisfying to hear that nozzle pull the dirt out of that rug. I know there is some debate as to whether manual height adjustment is better than automatic, I'm not sure what my view is on that, I can see advantages to both, even though the Volt's height setting is automatic, it was definitely using its brush to dig in to that rug. I'm going to take it to my girl friend's place tomorrow and hook it up to her Electrolux Ultra One classic, another straight suction canister. She has two cats and they're always leaving litter dust on her bed, and there will be plenty of litter dust on the area rug that the litter box is on, she has a Wessel Werk EBK340 which works well, but since the hose on this vacuum is also nonelectric, it requires plugging in a separate power cord, hooking up the volt will be much easier and faster. I remember reading on another thread that someone was wondering if this would take sales away from turbo brushes such as the Turbo Cat. I don't see why it wouldn't, this is better than a turbo brush in every way. The volt is quieter, cleans much better, and, rather than robbing the vacuum of power in order to spin the turbine, it gives more power to the vacuum since it also has its own fan. The volt is a bit more expensive than a Turbo Cat, but it's well worth it. It's kind of interesting, if you open the suction relief valve on the hose, you can actually hear the motor sound of the volt through the opening.
There are only two things I would do differently with this nozzle. When charging the battery, I noticed that the charger gets quite warm, not too hot to touch, but warmer than most chargers do. This probably indicates that the current draw is being pushed to the max for the power supply. I would provide a charger with the same voltage output, but that's capable of putting out more amperage. A regulator could be added to the battery pack if it's drawing too much current. I'm assuming Tacony tested this and did not have any problems, but the charger will definitely get toasty while the battery is being charged. The other change I would have made would have been to use a serpantine or cog belt. I know this would have made the run time shorter than using a rubber belt, but I think that not having to worry about belt replacements outweighs the disadvantage of a shorter run time.
It's really interesting to have an electric nozzle connected to a nonelectric hose. In many cases, electric hoses are heavier because of the extra wiring, although some electric hoses are very light, the plastiflex central vacuum hose and the hose for the Riccar Prima are some examples. I'll let everyone know how it does with cleaning up my girl friend's cat litter, I'm sure it will work great.
Mike[this post was last edited: 4/14/2017-11:27]

 

[n0oxy]

vacuuming cat litter

So, tried the volt nozzle for vacuuming cat litter out of my girl friend's area rug. It actually had some problems, it pulled some of the strands out of the rug and these got caught in the brush, we managed to remove them, but I can tell there is still some litter inside the nozzle, not sure how I'm going to remove that yet, I'm thinking of attaching it to one of my vacuums that has a blow function to see if I can get it out this way. So, for cleaning litter, the results were kind of disappointing, the litter should not still remain in the nozzle, perhaps it needs to be sealed better on the inside. If anyone else has any ideas on how I can remove the litter that's still in the nozzle, that would be helpful. The nozzle works fine, but I don't like the idea that a foreign object is still in side it, even if it's small.

 

[fantomlightning]

Litter...

Collection along with other grit is pretty normal for the Volt/Tacony lightweight machines. The issue comes from how the belt channel is set up. It doesn't really get sealed off all that well and allows heavier particles to bounce out of the air stream and into the case. If you remove the rug plate, remove the belt and brushroll you should be able to easily take the crevice tool from a vacuum and clean out the cavity. That should take care of most of the debris.

 

[n0oxy]

removing the plate

Since I'm a blind person, I may get some sighted help to do that, will it cause any problems if I leave it? It doesn't appear to be slowing down the brush or fan, to any other volt owners, do you clean yours every time if you can tell something is in the case, or do you just leave it?
Mike