Hoover commercial CH54115 bag blow-by

[psyberemt]

So I recently moved from an apartment with a mix of carpet and hardfloors to a larger house with wall to wall carpet. I love my Miele C2 Compact Electro + but the bag size is a little small for the house, so I decided it's time for an upright. I should also mention that I have a long-coated German Shedder...I mean Shepherd LOL.

I decided on the Hoover Commercial Hushton CH54115 initially. Being a commercial vac I figured it would stand up to the years of dog hair and I like the fact that it's easy to service. Unfortunately it seems to have a fatal flaw...dust escapes the bag right at the inlet. It stays inside the bag compartment and I don't smell any dust escaping what is supposed to be a sealed HEPA system, but it bothers me to no end. My Miele is 3 years old and the bag compartment looks as clean as the day I bought it.

I decided to just return it and went to my local Sebo dealer and picked up a new X5 Automatic (that I love!).

Unfortunately I waited too long and I'm now past the Amazon return policy. Today I decided to see if I could fix it, or at least improve it. I thought maybe the seal on the pre-installed bag was just worn out from being stretched on there so long so I removed it, thoroughly cleaned the inside of the compartment with my new Sebo, replaced the bag and vacuumed the entire house. Sure enough, still getting blow-by. Any ideas on what I could do to potentially fix this? I still really like the cleaner, but I don't want fine dust going everywhere each time I change the bag!

 

[honestjoe68]

Hi Psyberemt,

I don’t have a clue what is going on with your Hoover Hushtone?? I have owned mine since December 2016 and use it off and on for months and have never seen one speck of dust inside my Bag Container. I have used and changed the bag over a dozen times and never seen this dust leaking. I too have a dog that sheds a lot of hair and a dusty house.

I would recommend you contact Hoover Commercial and send them the details of what is going on and they may have a solution for you, or at least be able to send you a new part or something.

https://www.hoovercommercial.com/contact-us/

Just a few questions: Do you think there was a small tear in the bag or a tiny hole made by the bag holder bracket?? I know when I installed the first bag into the holder I was too rough and noticed I’d made a small tear in the bag and threw it out and started over being more careful.

The other thing is, have you wiped the inlet tube clean with a damp cloth and removed the dust from removing the full bag, Before installing a brand new disposable bag. Sometimes if you don’t remove the dirt and dust from the inlet tube, you slide on the new bag with its rubber gasket and if it’s dusty or dirty sometimes it won’t seal correctly.

Lastly, with this vacuum I have found you cannot allow any of the Yellow Disposable Bag get caught in the Bag Compartment Door, when Closing and Latching the Door. If you get even a tiny bit of the bag caught in the door seal, you might get some of the dust you are seeing.

I’m sure you’ve tried these things and are aware,(So No offense intended) but just not sure what else to say or how to help since I have the exact same vacuum and my bag chamber inside is as clean and dust free as the day I bought my Hoove Hushtone 13+


Best of Luck and thanks for sharing. You’re Miele and Sebo vacuums sound great too, and I’d love to see pics of them too if you can share.

Patrick

 

[madman]

idk, but a few things that come to mind.

1. Maybe a bad batch of bags, or, some idiot in a warehouse somewhere opened a box of bags with a box cutter and nicked the edges of the bags. You'd be surprised how often any number of different goods are damaged in that way. If I were you, I would get some totally different bags, like aftermarket ones, and give them a shot to see if they leak the same or not. If at least for no better reason than to rule out the bags completely.

2. Maybe it's not leaking at all, and the dust gets blown there upon removal of the bag. Unfortunately it doesn't look like you can examine that area without removing the bag. :/ For that, though, I feel like you would notice some dust collecting on the motor prefilter (assuming it has one?). You could place a white paper towel over the prefilter (or at least the hole the motor inhales from), go vacuum a bunch, then check to see if the napkin is dusty. That'll confirm whether there is dust bypassing the bag.

3. The bag holder thingy might have a sharp edge that nicks the bag as you install it. Maybe remove the bag and run your fingers over the whole thing to make sure there's nothing sharp.

 

[broomvac]

Hoover synthetic HEPA bags tend to have not only better filtration, but also better seals than their paper counterparts.

Do Hoover make synthetic HEPA cloth bags for the Hushtone? A brief googling came up fruitless, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. Even if they don't exist now, they likely will at some point.

 

[psyberemt]

@patrick -- thanks so much for the detailed reply and pictures! I feel so much better that I didn't just buy a terribly designed machine now! I cleaned between bags and also noticed how rough I had to be to get the new bag to fit. I am going to do a thorough check of my new bags to see if there are holes. Am also going to check the tightness on the fill tube screws and whatnot. Hopefully it's something simple.

@broomvac -- I don't think they do I have searched and searched as I strongly prefer the synthetic Miele style bags, but I can't find any. These allergy bags do seem to have a thin lining of synthetic material inside the paper, but they aren't as good as the real thing.

Really appreciate all the replies and advice! I was kicking myself for buying a dud...maybe it can be saved lol.

 

[honestjoe68]

Hi Dre Gilley,

I hope you find it is something simple and in my humble opinion you did Not buy a dud. I actually love my Hoover Hushtone and it’s held up very well for me and cleans up great after my Chihuahua Corgi mix, Kermit. The best part is it is so quiet he barely gives it a glance from his bed, I have quite a few he really dislikes and I think it is because they have a louder and higher pitch sound.

Anyhow, I have not had any problems once I realized you have to gently finesse the bag into the holder and then make absolutely sure it’s all tucked inside the bag compartment. Otherwise, I’ve used it enough to probably change 7 or 8 bags (the genuine Hoover yellow paper type) and as I showed the insides stay nice and clean. I also am very happy how long the HEPA filter on the side is staying clean and how well the Charcoal filter (After 2 years) still keeps the bag from smelling of DOG! Lol

I’m so glad I could at least help you feel better about your purchase, just wish I knew what caused your internal dust/dirt so I could have helped more. But anytime I see a vacuum I own, I try to always reply and help if I can. I have over 250 vacuums, so I try to rotate and use most of them so I can give better (realistic) advice, opinions, etc. But this Hoover Hushtone 13+ has been a favorite that it gets shared use with my other favorites: Sebo Felix, Miele Swing, Riccar Premium Vibrance, Maytag M1200 and my Hoover Platinum lightweight. I still swap them out often.. but these are my favorites at the moment. Lol (It’s really like Sophie’s Choice for me)

So glad you shared and were so kind to reply. Best of luck with all your vacuums and I hope your Hoover Hushtone works out better for you and gives you better performance. Take care and Thanks!

Patrick

 

[psyberemt]

So I figured it out... user error LOL. As Patrick mentioned the bags are a bit oversized for the compartment. When I put the first 2 bags in I rolled the top of the bag up a bit to make it easier to fit. That resulted in the actual depth of the top of the bag being very limited. My guess is the dust was just immediately hitting the back of the bag and blowing out.

I put another bag in yesterday and instead of rolling it up I gently pressed it into place to take up all the space in the top of the cage. Vacuumed the entire house again and no dust!

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[honestjoe68]

Hi Dre,

Awesome news! Thanks for letting us know you found the issue and your Hoover is no longer leaking dust inside. I was hoping it was something simple as I really do love my Hushtone. If only Hoover would make synthetic cloth bags for this great vacuum, that would make it so much easier during bag changes. But it is not that big of a deal considering how well it performs.

That is probably the one of only a few tiny inconveniences that I found on this vacuum, otherwise mine has been a strong work horse and done very well by my heavy cleaning needs. The only other this I wish this vacuum had was LED Headlights, I want headlights on all my vacuums as I have hallways and dark corners in my older home.

So glad we could be of help and congratulations again on all your vacuums!

Patrick