New to forum - Sanitaire question

[sanitaireguy]

Hi all,

I am now a proud owner of a Sanitaire (blue 7-amp, circa 1997) and this is seriously the BEST vacuum I've owned. I've had very inferior vacuums that cost $200-300 yet I found this Sanitaire at a secondhand store, in MINT condition, for $12. All it needed was a bag. Nevertheless, I brought it home, and nothing else could not clean my carpets any better. It runs like a top. However, I have been wondering why a light film of dust has been appearing on the plastic hood (on the top where the motor vent is) every time I use the machine. Is there a motor seal that is compromised somewhere, or what else could be causing dust to blow out of this vent? Under the plastic hood, there's like this cardboard-like shroud that goes around the top of the motor, if that helps. Also, I have hand-washed the bag and blew the works out with an air compressor, yet this still happens.

 

[briankirbyclass]

Welcome to the club!

Does this machine have a disposible paper bag/liner, or is it a dump out fabric bag? Either way, more than likely, the problem is the bag itself.
Evidently Your bag is letting very fine dust blow out, and alot of it is settling on the vac itself. Yes, the Sanitaires are excellent suction and carpet beaters,,but how well does it filter? How much dust and dirt is being blown out the exhaust?

Have you taken the bag off and washed it, changed the bag, ect ?


Most vacuums need at least 4 plys of paper, or a Hepa type fabric or paper in order to catch pratically ALL of the dust that the vac picks up. (Water is another filter used in vacuums such as the Rexair Rainbow)

If you have just a one ply fabric and/or paper liner, alot of the dust and dirt is blowing right out the exhaust and back into the room, settling back on the carpet, and the vac itself.

Anyway, i dont know if Hepa type bags are avalible to fit your machine, but i would check if they are.
If you were to Get at least 4 ply of some kind of Hepa filtering paper bags on the back (exhaust) end of the vacuum, it will help alot.

 

[twocvbloke]

It could be the gasket where the bag base connects to the motor unit, I had that issue with mine, the easiest option I found was to make up a silicone seal with just regular bathroom sealant (the stuff that stays permanently flexible), just remove the existing foam (or whatever is there), run a fairly thick bead of sealant round the bag base where it will press against the motor unit, leave it to cure (might take up to two days depending on what sealant you use), and then refit, that should stop any dust leakage...

 

[sanitaireguy]

I am using disposable bags, but I'm not having any problem (that I can see) with the bag system. I thought that this would be really important to bring up: I poured some flour on my floor on purpose (I know, this is very strange) to try to hunt down the problem, but when vacuuming, my Sanitaire not only blew flour particles from the vent, the motor actually sounded like it was struggling and went to a low growl (as if it wasn't being fed enough electricity, if that makes sense). Of course, I immediately stopped the machine and cleaned up the rest of the flour with a Shop-Vac, but this issue is probably quite serious if dust is getting inside of the motor unit...any spedific ideas??? I'm sure, ordinarily, the machine would 1) pick up the flour without any struggle and 2) not be blowing flour (or any other kinds of particles) from the exhaust vent. From my understanding, the motor should NEVER see anything that the fan sees in these units (or most, if not all, direct-air units). Any ideas???

 

[twocvbloke]

The first issue, the slowing down, is normal if you pick up too much fine powder in one go, that'll happen with any dirty-fan vac, just try not to pick up too much at once in future...

The second issues, it could be the seal on the motor being either damaged or missing, or, you might have a damaged fan case, you'll need to pull it all apart to check the seal (easy to replace, using some foam tape or with a bead of silicone applied in the same manner as I suggested for the bag, you may aswell replace this gasket anyway as it can wear out over time), or you could have a damaged fancase with a chip, crack or small hole somewhere in the base, it'll mean complete disassembly of the base to find where it's leaking...

If there is damage to the fancase, you'll need to fix it, which will require filling the opening in with a decent 2-part glue (over in the states I'd guess that'd be something like JB Weld), find the leak, clean the area thoroughly front & back with soap & water and allow to dry, then finally with an alcohol wipe to degrease it, mix up he glue and spread it over the hole making sure to press it in so it seeps through, then leave to cure before reassembling...

That's pretty much the only two reasons why it's leaking like that, just needs some thorough investigation for unwanted holes...