Is there a recommended time limit for Vacuum Cleaner usage ?

[jmurray01]

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.

 

[gsheen]

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 

 

[jmurray01]

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.

 

[gsheen]

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 

 

[williamr1248]

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.

 

[gsheen]

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 

 

[jmurray01]

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.

 

[sebo_fan]

Mmm if your Hoover is working correctly, it will start blowing out hot air the moment is switched on.

 

[jmurray01]

Really ?

All my Vacuum Cleaners blow out cold air for the first few minutes until the motor heats up.

 

[williamr1248]

Is there a recommeded time limit for using a vacuum cleaner?

Thanks guys for the information about the motors.

 

[jmurray01]

Not a problem, if I helped that is

 

[rugsucker]

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.

 

[jmurray01]

That doesn't surprise me. Vacuum Cleaners didn't have the best cooling back in their early days.

 

[sebo_fan]

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.

 

[twocvbloke]

oooooOOOOOOOOooooo!!!! Handbags at lunchtime...

 

[sebo_fan]

mmm or an older person who is fed up of the futile non-essential threads from a teenager!

 

[twocvbloke]

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...

 

[sebo_fan]

Don't give me the clique rubbish, twocv - its been known before on here how you side up with JM. My responses won't chase people away, rest assured - my posts are based on longer term experience than JM. Apologies to everyone.

 

[twocvbloke]

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...