Power Nozzle Filter Queen Majestic

[FilterKing]

Hi all, hope I posted this in the right section. I have a Filter Queen Majestic model 95 (brown) with a model 96 power nozzle. My understanding about power nozzles used to be that the beater bar units are better.

I live with my sister to help take care of our father who is 98. My sister had a nutone 350 that was installed over 25 years ago when the house was built. The original power nozzle which I believe was a Eureka with the nutone name on it broke. The motor had failed. She did not tell me and went out and bought a cheap Eureka upright. It could not handle the thick plush carpeting that she has. Then she purchased an Oreck. When I moved in with my sister to help take care of our father I also did the housework. I tried to use the Oreck but it was very hard to push and I was afraid the handle and upright neck was going to break. I don't know how she used this thing. Since we still own my fathers house where I had been living I went home and got my Filter Queen. What a difference. The house is 3600 square feet and was no problem for the Filter Queen.

I had an old power nozzle from a Kenmore top of the line model that I purchased in 1987 and paid $500.00 for. I had that vacuum for 15 years when it started to have a lot of problems. It was not worth fixing and I knew some people who had the same vacuum so I kept the power nozzle. I tried to retrofit to the nutone bu with the current hose my sister had it was not easy. I did get it to work how ever. I notice the nutone now 25 years old did not start up at full speed, it took 17 seconds (I timed it) and then it was fine. When you shut off the unit, it took 30 seconds to wind down. My sister ordered a new hose since the old one had seen better days. When it arrived I connected it and the motor in the nutone gave out. She did not want to spend the money to replace it but she changed he mind and ordered a new nutone. After she placed the order she got a call from the place she ordered it from and they told her that Nutones don't last like the used to and suggested another brand, Drain Vac. She order the Drain Vac instead and we are very please with it. It's very quiet and has great suction. The nutone sounded like a jet engine.

So we use the Drain Vac with the Kenmore power nozzle which I had cleaned and lubricated and replaced the belt. This power nozzle has a plastic beater bar and two rows of brushes. It does a decent job. One day I vacuumed the family room, a 25' x 20' room with the central vac, taking my time, it took me 45 minutes so I was sure I did a good job. The bag in the central vac was new with hardly and dirt in it so I emptied the Filter Queen and vacuumed the rug again. I got a lot more dirt out of the carpet, I was very surprised.
Now comes my understanding about the two power nozzle. The Filter Queen has the chevron brush, bringing the dirt from the edge to the center. The Kenmore has the brush and beater bar that go from one end to the other. The kenmore does not seem to do as well as the Filter Queen even though the central vac seems to have more suction.

What's your opinion? I still use the central vac daily as it does groom the carpet pretty well. I have to say that I love my Filter Queen, I've had it for ten years and never gave me a problem. I maintain it as well as the power nozzle, replacing the belt every two months and cleaning the power nozzle.

Rich

 

[durango159]

I love canister vacuums!!

Despite my love of canister vacuum cleaners, I have found that Filter Queen power nozzles tend not to be very powerful. Yes, they have a chevron dual brush agitator but the bristles are soft, the motors tend to be a little weak and they don't have agitation edge to edge.

Your Kennmore power nozzle that you're describing sounds like a Cen-Tec CT14DX. That is the standard power nozzle that Kenmore used on most of its canisters at that time. Pictured below is the power nozzle with different coloring and different logos but otherwise same outer shell design as the model I think you have. These power heads do a decent job cleaning and have decent motors. Therefore my thinking is that there is either a clog in the wands or power nozzle or your agitator may be shot.

A few things you can do:

1. Check the height setting on the power head. Most likely it should be set to XLow or low. Unless your carpet pile is a shag, style loose weave, then on most denser pile carpets the CenTec nozzles work best set on Xlow. Also make sure the height adjuster is working well, wheels should sink all the way in and raise out accordingly as you depress pedal.

2. Check your wands and hose, ensure that any suction relief valves are closed so you're not releasing suction anywhere.

3. With power nozzle motor off, but Central vac suction on, check the suction at the power nozzle. Try running it on bare floor and see that its sucking up dirt easily.

4. Check bristles on power nozzle and check agitator in general. You can swipe a credit card across base of nozzle and see how much bristle is extending beyond the base plate. Also I would disassemble the unit and check belt and agitator. It should be a geared belt but they need to be replaced as well, about every year. Your agitator should turn very smoothly with out getting stuck anywhere, rubbing etc., and be clean.

See how all of that turns out. You can purchase a new brush roll for these. Either online or local vac shop, I would go to one of those over Sears. While new brush strips are still available for that model, I would recommend the new agitator. CenTec changed everything over. I personally think that the newer agitator runs smoother, quieter and cleans better. The newer brush roll replacements for these power heads is a different design now. It's a wooden brush roll with 2 rows of chevron style white bristles.

Let me/ us know how all of these turns out. Also at sometime, we would love to see an actual picture of what you have.
Best of luck and Happy Holidays!!

http://www.centeccommercialvacuums.com/commercial-cleaning-items/CT14DXQD

 

[durango159]

Another power nozzle

Your power head may also look like this one. This is also a CT14DX head but the headlight lens is half width instead of full. Otherwise these ran pretty much the same as the other, shown above.

 

[durango159]

Agitator shot

Here is the blue power nozzle above, but it has the newer style agitator in it. Notice the chevron shape. This also also has a few upgrades over the model made in 1987.

Your 1987 model would have a completely flat base plate front on the bottom. The one in this pic, has ridges carved out to allow better airflow. Also there are more nozzle support bars in this one. They add support to the base while also further preventing area rugs from being sucked in. Your 1987 model would only have 2 support bars on the far side in addition to the belt cover. Of course your agitator is different you have the black agitator with 2 rows of white colored replacable, straight brush strips and green beater bar.

 

[sbakerde]

Carpet is the problem

Ok Here is the deal.

The central vac would have kept the carpets reasonable clean had the original power brush been repaired rather than abandoned. One trick I have learned very well is that carpet is never really 100% clean. This is why door to door salesman are able to sell overpriced machines to people who don't know any better. No matter what vacuum system you use there is some dirt left behind. The filter queen and NuTone are both excellent units which will work great. A new motor would have done the NuTone well over the expense of a whole new unit. If it sounded like a jet engine that is from years of use and not being maintained properly. The filter queen also needs more than just a belt. The filter cone should be changed once a month, the pre motor filter every six months, and the filter batting around the motor once a year. Proper maintanence is key to keeping your cleaning system running at peak performance.

For these reasons my home is all hardwood and I vacuum daily with a central system.

 

[FilterKing]

Thanks for your replies

Hello Durango159 and sbakerde, thanks for your responses. I will check the Kenmore power nozzle brush strips when I get a chance. Vac repair shops in my area are worthless, most are one man shops and don't keep parts for older machines. I usually find what I need online. Since I don't have a job and unemployment is finished, it'shard to make ends meet.

The nutome unit was installed when the house was built with a guarantee that stated the motor had a lifetime warranty as long as the original owner still owned the house. My sister is divorced and the house is in her name only. Nutone no longer honors that guarantee. I took the original power nozzle to several vac shops and all of them advised me not to put any money into to it because a replacement motor was all plastic, not metal like the original. Cost to rebuild the moter from a shop that rebuilds electric motors was $150.00, definately not worth it.

That is the reason why we are using the kenmore power nozzle. I have nothing against this power nozzle as it has been cleaned, lubricated and a new belt every 2 months. Brush strips were replace when we started to use it about two years ago. I don't have the money right now to replace the brush roll and my sister will not put any more money into the central vac system. The kenmore power nozzle is fine for now, there is nothing blocking the central vac system piping, outlets, hose and wands. Tornado central vac cleaning clothes were run through the system from every outlet when the new Drain Vac was installed. Very little dirt came out after running the cleaning clothes through the system before the bag was put in place.

I also keep up with maintenance on the Filter Queen, new cone and pre motor filter every two weeks, (about every month now since it is not used as much) medipure and enviropure filters every six months as well as filter batting around the motor once a year. I have more than enough filters for the vacuum to last the rest of my life time. All are genuine Filter Queen brand. Brush roll was repaced less than one year ago. The power nozzle is taken apart and cleaned once a month, cleaned and a new belt installed. The inside of the canister is also washed out after emptying. I have had this vacuum for 10 years and it has never given me any problems.

Thanks for your advice and I will get around to posting pictures of my vacuums after the New Year. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all.

 

[durango159]

You're Welcome!!

A central vac should have significantly more suction and airflow over your Filter Queen canister vac or for that matter any normal upright and canister. Curious how the suction feels on your hand and how it does picking up dirt through bare floor brush, and/or power nozzle with agitator motor turned off?

Sounds like your agitator brushes are ok. If you have the Kenmore power nozzle that I'm thinking of, you do not need to replace belt every 2 months. It should have a cogged "geared" belt design. These have little tension on the motor and they maintain their grip with the cogged design. Generally they wear well up until anything jams in the brush roll such as sucking up a sock, area rug, etc. Then the belts can stretch. Often on a stretched cog belt you'll hear loud vibration and thumping, thats the gears on belt slipping over each other on motor pulley rather than riding with the pulley. That said, once or twice a year should work fine for that belt, save yourself some money, those cogged belts are expensive!!

Definitely check the brush roll. Ensure its spinning well and brushes are great shape. That power nozzle motor should be more powerful than Filter Queen!!

Any vacuum you use, may continue to pick up some dirt even though a different vacuum was just used. But it should be minimal, unless that rug just wasn't cared over the years.

 

[blackheart]

Central vac airflow

Not always. There are many factors that can effect central vacuum airflow such as the hose. Here's some baird meter readings from my Broan CV-40B for example these were taking pulling the hose right into the central vac

Broan 1 1/4 wire enforced: 0
Aerus wire enforced (unknown diameter larger than 1 1/4): 2
Crushproof 1 1/4: 2
Hanmi 1 3/8 crushproof: 4

The installation of the central vacuum can also effect it's airflow the length of the run, the diameter of the pipes, the number of turns in the pipe.

My central is fairly old and doesn't have the power of modern units i know a beam 225c will pull a 5.5 on that hanmi hose which rivals even my best canister, and that's their basic model.

 

[FilterKing]

Thanks again for your advice and comments

The Drain Vac Little Giant Central vac does have more suction power than the Filter Queen. It does a great job on ceramic tile floors as well as hardword floors. I will hold the hose up to my ear once in a while when vacuuming with both the Filter Queen and central vac and even though the floor looks clean I still hear the dirt going through the hose.

I know I don't have to replace the belt in the kenmore every two months but the kenmore belts are not that expensive. It's just a force of habbit with me. The suction using the power nozzle on bare floor and tile I would say is the same as with the floor brush. Suction of the central vac hose on the hand is very strong. The hose is 6 months old with a 1-3/8" inside diameter. When the vac is turned on the hose does shrink up a little and when turned off the opposite occurs.

The carpeting is 25 years old and has been shampooed twice a year. It has a very thick pile and both the kenmore power nozzle and the Filter Queen power nozzle do a good job opening the fibers of the carpet and grooming it. The Filter Queen also do a good job with the metal rug attachment.

The reason for my post was to see what your opinions were on the different types of the brush rolls. I was told the chevron brush is the best. I used to sell Electrolux's when the supper j was popular, My super J was a $600.00 lemon, the motor burnt out 5 times (siezed) within a period of two years. It spent more time at the shop than it did at home. Electrolux loaner vacuums had to be returned the same day since they did not have enough to go around. My neighbor had the same model and she was using it to clean the wood floor on her enclosed front porch like she always did as long as she had it and one day while I was over at her house she was vacuuming and the vacuum burst into flames. I pulled the plug and kicked it down the stairs into the driveway and we watched it burn. That was the end or that vacuum. Electrolux would not do anything for her, (I had quit my job after 2 months of having only 3 sales) so she bought a Kirby.

Thanks again and Happy Vacuuming