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Installing Central Vacuum

2K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  PA318Guy 
#1 ·

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#3 ·
First link n/g. That vac system is pretty neat but what happens if there is a problem with the retractor of if the hose has to be replaced?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Good questions. Hoses are installed very last thing. I put them in there to try them out and make sure there’s enough tubing to store both hoses before buttoning everything up. Made sure also the hoses will reach every corner (they do).
There is no retractor mechanism, but rather the vacuum action that pulls the hose back in.
 
#6 ·
Sounds like you have that covered too. :fing32:
I've had mine for 22 years with no issues. Gee, you will never have the pleasure of dragging those hoses out of a closet hose hanger with coats and clothes in the way. :tango_face_grin:
 
#7 ·
I installed a central system when we had to redo our house after the flood in 2012...it's kind of like Central air or in ground sprinkler..once you have it...you will never want to live without it....but that in the wall thing is a really nice feature...how long is that hose?
 
#9 ·
Here are a few more pictures. Very difficult to get any pictures that are easy to tell what’s what.

Downstairs outlet and some plumbing snuck behind the furnace.
Kitchen vac pan and upstairs hose outlet (dead center of the picture).
Unit out in the garage (i’m crouched down looking up) with some plumbing visible, and the mud room vac pan. Bottom of the vac unit is about 3’ off the ground. It can easily be moved down if I want to, but I like it up high so I can put stuff under it if need be.
 

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#10 · (Edited)
Do you mind mentioning the cost? Its obvious you are doing the work yourself but when I looked up the site online its only giving me installed prices. But i'm not sure if that's labor only or everything. And its not showing me equipment prices at all, unless i'm looking at the wrong site? The house we live in now used to have a central vac. Its a single story ranch 1000sf so I'd only need one outlet and maybe a vac pan as those are pretty slick. I can't imagine that'd cost me 2k?
 
#14 ·
Don't know if you are still looking to install the system, but I bought the unit I installed in 2012 for a little less than $800 from Vacuums Direct or something like that....and it included two 35" houses and enough of that special size PVC to do the job....and it included a couple of the "outlets" that you need...after about 2 years it needed replacement motor...under warranty but it was hard for them to come up with a motor and I had to pay the guy who handled obtaining the motor and switching it out $125...then about 2 years ago the motor went again ...this time it was out of warranty ...so I took it to a local vacuum cleaner place that fixes and sells machines....he had it for a few days and could not get a motor....turns out it was manufactured in 1992...so I wound up buying a new unit (Simplicity...just like some of my tractors....good omen)...the new unit was about $725...and it works fine...if you are still thinking of doing it....just buy from a local guy...it may be a few bucks more, but you may fare a little better....good luck....even with the problems.... I still like it better than a regular vacuum
 
#11 · (Edited)
From memory, the total cost was $2,006. However, I had to buy about $40 worth of stuff to complete it. I ran out of the special central vac tubing (schedule 20, I think), and had to improvise/adapt/overcome to make standard schedule 40 work, of which I needed about 40 feet. The walls of schedule 40 are thicker, so it isn't any good for the hide-a-hose system, but it works fine with the vac pans. The OD of schedule 40 is a little different also. The trick was (pause for dramatic effect...)

Fernco boots. They just barely fit over the vacpan outlet, and then connect schedule 40 to the central vac tubing, which has a slightly different OD. I used 45 degree connectors with about a 10" piece of pipe between them, as I wasn't happy with even a long sweep elbow. Where they needed to be is NOT easily accessible in the finished construction, so I wanted to make sure nothing would get stuck there. It's only used in the kitchen vac pan. I opted for 1-1/2 schedule 40 rather than 1-3/4 (or was it 1-3/4 instead of 2" I don't recall), because I wanted more air velocity rather than air volume. I chose to adapt down in ID rather than adapt up. It was a thought out tradeoff. Whatever we suck up in the kitchen will probably be pretty small but possibly heavy. If it will fit through the opening of the vac pan, it will fit through the tubing, and the moving air will have the velocity to pull it through the tubing. In an extreme example, if I went with say, 4", I'd have a lot of air volume, but not enough velocity to pull a pile of sand through the tube. The larger the tubing, the less efficient the system overall. Even as it is, I have to wait a few seconds for the central unit to pull decent vacuum before sweeping anything into the vac pan.

Going back to the cost, I opted for the filtered cyclonic collector unit thing rather than true cycle or a standard filter bag unit. The bag unit was out because bags are stupid and can plug up pretty easily, then need replacing. The filter is reusable. I can easily recover stuff I accidentally suck up from the canister. The true cyclonic had to be vented outside, which I just didn't want to do. If I want to, I can vent the one I got outside and it would be even quieter. Not that it would matter, as it will be in a garage separated from the house by a 2x6 wall with R30 foam insulation. The collector was like $800 or something like that. Tubing was a fuzz over $1 per foot. Vac pans with installation kits were maybe $40 each. The 2 valve hide-a-hose option was $850. Accessories were like $200. I probably didn't need the vac pan installation kits, but they were only like $7 each, and I mayhave used a fitting or two. I'll probably regret not doing more vac pans, but I really don't have anywhere else right now I can think to put one that's easy to do. Besides, the only other place I can think of (basement slider) is small, and the more tubing I run, the less efficient the system becomes. It would also be hard to run tubing perpendicular to the joists. Ideally, the one in the kitchen would be installed under a toe kick in the island, but that's kind of hard for me to do since there's no island there yet and ai wanted to get the system buttoned up now. I'd rather not have tubing just floating there until then. It might be easier to get to it with a broom if it's flush with a wall flanked by thin trim rather than tucked under a toe kick, anyways.

Today I finished the system as far as I can really go with it. I wired each outlet with the low voltage control wire, and secured it as needed. The vac pans are just kind of chilling there, as I really can't mount them until the floor is finished. They need to sit directly on top of the floor's surface. I'll have them install faux cold air return grates on the back sides of the walls where the vac pans will be mounted so they'll be easy to service later if needed. I didn't secure the tubing within 3 or 4 feet of the elbow above the vac pans, so they can float upward a couple inches as needed. I'll aslo remove the hide-a-hoses and outlets after our builder gets the chance to play with the system a little. He's not familiar with the hide-a-hose sytem and wants to see it in action. I'll take off the outlets and install the blank plates until drywall is complete. Oh yeah... I need a couple more nail guards. I got most of them covered, but I don't like the crappy puney little ones I got at menards. I also removed the central unit from the wall in the garage and locked it up in the barn for anti-theft reasons - garage doors aren't on yet and it's visible from the street.

One last edit - The company I got the system from has a flat non-flexible rate of $900 to install it. Doesn't matter if it's new construction or a retrofit. Had this not been a new construction application, I think I would have just paid the $900 and would have been smiling the whole time they were there, clamoring through the attic and guessing where plumbing/electrical/ductwork is. And the finished interior walls will be filled with fibergalss insulation for sound deadening. Good luck running 2" tubing through that.
 
#12 ·
The system has worked well since we moved in about 3 months back... Up until this week. I went to suck up a pile with a vac pan in the kitchen, and the system didn't turn on. I checked the breaker and outlet, both OK. I even plugged the unit into an extension cord plugged into another known good outlet. Just for grins, I emptied the collection bin, still nothing. I tried jumping the relay the control wires go to, which I can hear clicking, but still nothing. I went inside, turned on each switch one at a time, and still nothing. I left one of them on, went out and looked at the unit as if I could see what the issue might be, and... nothing.

I. decided to contact the distributer in the moring, because it should still be under warranty. Mad I shook my head and stepped away from the unit, it kicked on like nothing was ever wrong with it. Strange... So I unplugged it and plugged it back in a couple times (remember a switch in the house was still on), and it worked like it should. Ok, whatever. As I walked away, the motor sputtered and died, never to power up again.

Long story short, the company is sending me out a new motor Monday (which I figure would be the worst case scenario). They say they aren't difficult to change out, so my warranty won't be voided.

Here's to hoping it works. This system is really slick. The only thing I really don't like about it is the carpet attachment isn't ergonomic to use. It's basically the hose going into a straight tube down to the attachment for the carpet. There is no handle per se. You just kind of hold on to the tube at a really awkward and unfomfortable angle.
 
#13 ·
On mine, the end of the hose is permanently connected to a plastic handle. All of the attachments connect to it, and as you pointed out, it makes it much easier to use the rug attachment. I'm wondering if you could fab a handle that clamps to the end of the hose. Even better, ask the manufacturer if they offer such a thing. That would make the Mrs. very happy. :unsure:
 
#16 ·
When we had the house built 23 years ago, it came with a Hoover central vac. We once had a partial blockage in one of the pipes within the wall. I didn't know how to clear it without ripping apart walls so i called a service guy. He simply tore up small pieces of toilet paper and fed it into the blocked section from the nearest inlet and that cleared it instantly. I haven't had the problem since then but thought someone else might give it a try, if necessary. I don't know if these pipes can be snaked because of the elbows in places.
 
#17 ·
One of things I have to fix in the house is getting new covers for all the inlets, they leak like a sieve and can't be found anymore (1968 Kenmore system). But really like the system, just have to remember where all the inlets are at as you vacuum, needless to say I'm way more familiar with those now.
 
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