Is there a recommended time limit for Vacuum Cleaner usage ?

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jmurray01

jmurray01

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Dec 12, 2011
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Location
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The reason I ask this is because I gave the house a really thorough vacuuming today with my 2000 Electrolux Tango cylinder and took a whole hour doing so with the motor constantly running (I fluctuated the wattage for different tasks however).

Nothing adverse happened - it worked fine, but it got me wondering if there is a time limit as to which you shouldn't exceed with a domestic Vacuum Cleaner ?

I know dirty fan cleaners have their own cooling fan so can run for hours and hours, which is probably why they are used for commercial use, but clean fans run hotter and rely on the one fan alone to generate air flow AND cool the motor.

After a lot of non-stop use would the motor continue to heat up uncontrollably ?

I know all modern (and some older ones ?) Vacuum Cleaners are fitted with Thermal Cut-Out switches, but running a motor until it reaches cut-out temperature can't be good!

Sorry if this seems like an asinine thread, but I'm always interested in learning more about Vacuum Cleaners and this is a question that just popped into my head.
 
When I worked at Electrolux prototype and tests machines had to run a minimum of 500 hours constantly, that was what we wanted them to run most managed 650 to 700 and some double that. 


 


a vacuum motor is at its hotest after you have switched it off because there is no air running through it to cool itoff, Its called heat soak and it is the same with cars too.


 


As long as the bag is not over full and the filters are clean it can do no harm to run the machine for any lenth of time. 


 


Hope that helps 


Gareth 
 
Thank you very much Gareth, you've been most helpful!

I did know about heat soak, which is caused by the residual heat in the motor and lack of air flow after motor shut down.
 
One machine we tested a very quiet one the motor got 15deg hotter in the first 5 minutes after shutdown. It depends on weather there is a lot of sound deadening material in the machine aswell 
 
Is there a reccomended time limit for vucuum cleaner usage?

Gareth,
I have noticed on my Rainbow that it does not ever get even warm on the outside of the case and the exhaust always feels cool.
They tell you it is ok to run 24/7 in the lower speed for air cleaning. It has an 8 year warranty on the motor and cicuit board controller.
Is this because it is a switched reluctance motor or the fact that the machine uses water and not a bag with resistance to to the air flow?
I have noticed that my Electrolux's get quite warm on the outside case as do many of my other machines even after a short time runnning and the exhaust becomes almost hot.
 
William 


To answer your question yes its due to the new improved brush less motor, this motor is similar to the moor found in industrial equipment and they are designed to run 24 hours no problem. I have never seen the new rainbow motor but normal motors like this use a capacitor to start the motor and then its just up to the magnetic fieds inside the motor to carry on the momentum. They spin at much lower speeds normally only 1000 to 3000 rpm were as a normal new vacuum motor like those found in eurekas and bissels will run any were between 27000 - 45000 rpm that's also why they do not last. 


 


Wap use to have special motors for there standard industial vacuums that were long life brushless motors for machines hooked up to cnc and other industrial equipment.


 


You could run a normal brush drive motor all day with out it overheating however you would simply run the motor life out in about a month. if you needed a vacuum to last longer than that you would use brush less drive induction motor 
 
As for your other Vacuum Cleaner's cases becoming hot and the exhaust air heating up, that is perfectly normal for a clean air Vacuum Cleaner.

My 1994 HOOVER Turbopower starts blowing hot air out of the exhaust after only a few minutes of vacuuming.
 
vac running time

Above information is good for modern vacs.I have seen an instruction book(dont recall brand)for a circa 1910 canister that recommended letting the machine 'rest'from one room to the next.
 
For heavens sake JM stop being so pedantic, otherwise I'll pick on everything you say! Cold or hot, if there's air then it's working properly.

As for vacuum cleaners "back in their day" they were much better built than most modern TAT you can find nowadays. The motors were also better built and may well have carried warnings about what to do with machines when left idle - but then user manuals back in the day were far more positive and had more insight than a lot of user manuals these days that have an underlying marketing push to sell something extra.

I doubt that you will ever burn out your motors on the machines you have unless you are OCD about using vacuums every day for more than 10 hours each day.
 
I'd say that it was a perfectly valid question, after all, you don't learn if you don't ask, and when you have people complaining about such questions, such as yourself, then you make the forum feel more like a clique for only those who hold the knowledge of such things and refuse to share the info, meaning less people post, and less people feel welcome...

If it's non-essential to you, then go do something else, simple as that...
 
Sorry, but if you want to complain about someone who's younger than you simply because they are younger than you, then you're being very intolerant and quite ageist, I'm not taking sides, but I will help defend someone who is being attacked without a valid reason, and you're not exactly giving a very good reason for doing what you are doing...

Yeah, you have more experience, so what? How did you gain said experience? Did it just "happen", or did you ask questions to learn about stuff to the point of irritating people who were older than you? This is what young people do, they ask questions, they learn, they gain experience, if you don't like that, then that's your problem, don't cast judgement on people because they're younger, otherwise it'll make you look like a sad old intolerant cretin...
 
Eh - let me remind YOU of cross posts YOU and I have had! You're not so perfect yourself so keep your comments to yourself. IF JM has an issue with me directly he should do it directly. I also REFER to another posting by another member on another thread on here: Post# 180815, Reply# 27

"Jamie I have noticed your attitude of late and considering the obvious company you seem to be keeping with some of your comments and name dropping here there and everywhere its not surprising.

Might I suggest bluntly (other members have been dropping hints which you dont seem to be seeing) that you take a step back and assess what you post and how it will be percieved. Sweeping statements with no evidence or poor observing make for poor posting. Quality not quantity again..."

You are actually taking sides because you are flogging a dead horse here - I'm not ageist but I am against those who are ignorant and posting constant, less important threads with underlying information that has APPEARED BEFORE in past threads. AND for your information - I listened and I read people's advice before handing over my own observations on likewise forums and I'm still members of those. I learnt a lot from older established members who have been collecting vacuums far longer than I have. I didn't try and increase my viewpoint without good basis of evidence to raise points, ask theories or otherwise.

Granted the whole principle behind knowing how long a domestic vacuum cleaner should run is perfectly justified and open to discussion. BUT then adding more information about how a dirty fan vacuum runs for longer than clean air is MISLED and unsubstantiated. There are clean fan commercial vacuums that are tested to run for 1000 hours, thus proving that JM has been wrong to suggest the latter. In this instance if JM had been appropriate with the amount of wording and actual single question, it would have been just enough to open up a perfectly good question and for those to answer without my initial response.
 
Here's a question, if something appears on TV that you don't like, do you sit there complaining about how much you don't like it, or do you leave it be and change the channel? Because it seems you're stuck on the same channel and just finding anything to complain about...

Yeah, these sort of posts like what we are doing now are not constructive in any way, they're pointless, and they're ruining the forum, but, if I'm not mistaken, you are not in charge of the forum, nor are you a moderator, neither am I, so it's not for you to say this thread is not valid or helpful, it is for those in charge to decide what is and isn't worthy of being on a forum, not yours, if you don't like threads like this one, then don't view it, don't contribute to it, just report it and go find another thread to read and contribute to...

Everyone is different, and people express opinions in their own way, be they right or wrong, it's their choice, you can correct them if you wish, but do it in a nicer, more friendly way, rather than a derogatory way like you're the fountain of all knowledge...
 
WOW this got nasty fast 


 


Just to put down how much of a valid thread this is.


My DAD has a carpet cleaning company. he mainly uses two prochem truckmounts but also has a few prtables. 


These units are equipped with auto fill and dump , meaning that when the machine reaches its max capacity it will pump the water out and the machine will als refill itself, with clean water, so you can run them all day wihout stopping.


 


They are equipped with a 240v dc  fresh water pump fitted with a voltage rectifier converting the power from ac to dc for spraying the cleaning solution.


 


Recently he had been doing a big job cleaning seats in the theatres, he was basically burning out a pump a day and at nearly      $ 300.00 dollers for these pumps it was getting expensive, It was only when I started talking to the local importer for these commercial pumps that he told me they should never run more than 4 hours at a time or they will overheat and burn out.


These pumps are fitted to a very well known ( in the industry ) professionally carpet extractor by the manufacturer a USA company . Not just that but they fitted them to a machine designed to run for hours at a time.


 


So Jmurry your question at least in my veiw was a very valid one


Gareth  
 
What the heck did I do to make you go off on one sebo_fan!?

I asked a question stating is there a recommended time limit for how long you should use a domestic Vacuum Cleaner non-stop - A thread which I can't see a problem with, I did see a good reason to create, and nobody else has complained about (at least not to me).

So PLEASE, if you see a problem with a thread or post I make, REPORT IT! Don't start having a go at me any anybody else (David in this case) who disagrees with you.

This isn't YOUR forum, so if you don't like something, ignore it, or better still - Report it if you feel that strongly about it.

David's analogy was very apt - If you turn the TV on and there is a programme screening that you dislike, you'd change the channel, you wouldn't start cursing at the screen about how much you hate it.
 
gsheen - yes the original question was valid but it was the info that came after. "I know dirty fan cleaners have their own cooling fan so can run for hours and hours, which is probably why they are used for commercial use, but clean fans run hotter and rely on the one fan alone to generate air flow AND cool the motor. "

Where's the proof that clean air vacuums don't last? It's a sweeping statement - it infers the poster knows that ALL generic clean fan vacuums can't run for hours and hours - it's the way it's been worded that has caused conflict. Doesn't say a lot for those IVAC uprights and other commercial units that sell and are used in the trade - and those are clean fan!
 

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