Thermax AF.1

[blackheart]

I bought this Thermax off of ebay it's got pretty strong suction but it's airflow is very weak. I've looked through the contemporary archives to see if anyone else has had similar problems with the AF1 before but found no information on poor performance with them. Any ideas on what the cause of this could be? I've already removed and cleaned the motor that didn't seem to help it at all.

With my baird meter i get a 0 at the end of the hose granted it is a long hose but my patriot can pull a 4.5 at the end of the thermax's hose
At the top of the dome (gravity assisting) it pulls about a 3 if i get it to seal decently i can get a 4.5 if i use some foam rubber as a seal at the bottom of the tank.
If i put the meter at the intake at the bottom of the area where the tank goes it can pull a 10 (again gravity assisting)
It has a Lamb DI 117825-13 motor in it
Any ideas as to what could be causing this lack of airflow?

 

[kirbyvertibles]

well I don't know what the problem could be. I will say no the thermax isn't the best vacuum in the world however I do like them. I have never used a tester like yours but on my tester my Patriot pulls 100 at hose end and my thermax af1 and af2 pull 80 same as my oasis. My Rainbow d4 pulls about 70 and hyla a little less. Only complaint I have with the thermax is the power head. I'm not a fan of the hoover made power head that thermax uses. Put a wessel werks or good old eureka power head and improve the cleaning about 80 percent.

Just had a thought, do you have the small tube that drops into the dome lid? This might have a lot to do with airflow

 

[blackheart]

That must be with a suction meter It seems to have good suction but i lack the tool to tell you if it's also pulling 80. I was told that these motors have 90 cfm at a 1" opening so it should be pulling a bit more than it is pulling i mean it's not actually going to have 90 cfm at the dome or the hose.
I actually have tried it out with both a wessell Werk EBK340 and my Lindhaus PB14

Out of curiosity i hooked the wands and powerhead to my patriot and covered a fairly small area i went over with the thermax....man it picked up a decent amount of sand left behind the hoover just needs a higher airflow vacuum for it to work well.

 

[tolivac]

It really seems like the Thermax is NOT really to be used as a vacuum cleaner-but as a wet carpet and upolstery cleaner.I used to have two of these-sold them to a vac shop needing them for parts-got the Thermaxes from a former Kirby dealer trade in pile.Like Rainbows better.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Yes I would really like to try a newer 2 speed Rainbow but haven't found one in my price range yet but I think I would like it a little better over all

 

[kirbykid63]

Just tore one down

There filters around the motor in mine they were stuffed with dirt and dog hair,also the vents on the bypass motor were mostly clogged.I would bet its needs a good internal servicing.I am selling the parts in my ebay store they have all been cleaned and in great shape.

Richard Groski
new2youvacuums

 

[blackheart]

Internal cleaning

I've already taken care of that, i've taken the motor apart cleaned the fans (which were surprisingly clean) i took it apart again to wipe down every seal in it this last wednesday i think i've done everything i can for it and i'm ready to say that it's just a poor performer, sure the suction is good but the severe lack of airflow makes it a very poor vacuum. It's really a shame that it's so weak i was expecting a rainbow on steroids, and was considering becoming a thermax distributor for the area if i liked this one.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I became a thermax dealer here too because everyone here wants a water vac but no one is interested in the thermax (mostly because it doesnt have 2 speeds like the rainbow). Sadly the new af-2 has less than the af-1 I think