How to maintain your vacuum:

If you want your vacuum cleaner to last years instead of months you MUST perform these easy-to-do steps that are very simple if performed frequently enough. 

WHY do vacuum belts NEED to be changed if they are not broken? 

Your vacuum cleaner belt is the least expensive but yet most valuable part on your vacuum. Vacuum cleaner belts should be replaced at least twice a year. Why, you ask.  It is hard to get a new vacuum belt on because it is much shorter than the old belt. Every day your belt looses elasticity (think of a 2 inch rubber band that you stretch to 4 inches and leave it that way for a few months) Even if your vacuum has never been turned on the belt is stretching and loosing elasticity as you read this. Every single day it doesn't work quite as well as the day before. It will still pick up hair and light dust but can't agitate the heavy sand and gritty soils to the surface of the carpet fibers to be sucked out. After 6 months the brush-roll starts to slow down. It may even stop spinning completely when the vacuum cleaner nozzle is lowered onto the carpet.

To work properly your vacuum cleaner must pull a large volume of air into the vacuum, filter and trap the dirt from the airflow and then exhaust the air back into your home. 

 Almost ALL vacuum cleaners have two very important filters that must be occasionally cleaned and/or replaced to prevent pre-mature motor failure. Many consumers use their vacuum week after week simply just dumping the dirt cup or replacing the bag because they bought a vacuum that has "lifetime" or "washable" filters.    

    
1.    The pre-motor filter or bag prevents sand and grit from being sucked into the motor. If you don't clean and/or replace this filter/bag frequently it's like you are throwing grains of fine gritty sand into your motor continuously whenever it is running. The gritty soils quickly build up in your vacuum motor grinding away at the moving parts in your vacuum motor. 

    In bagless vacuum cleaners (especially ones with "lifetime" filters) the pre-motor filter needs to be cleaned and/or washed after each use.  If the pre-motor filter is washable you should own at least two so you have one to use while the other is drying. A washable filter can take days to dry. If you put the filter back in the vacuum while it still has moisture in it, you will be sucking that moisture into your vacuum motor which can cause the motor parts to rust. 

    In many bagged vacuum cleaners the bag acts as the pre-motor filter, it should be replaced approximately once a month in the average home for proper performance.  

2.    After the airflow passes through the motor it exits the vacuum through an exhaust filter which has very, very tiny pores to filter out microscopic contaminants.  If you do not replace the exhaust filter often enough you will be spewing the allergens, mold and mildew spores, etc. back into your home. Most of these microscopic particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye and are continually floating through the air in your home waiting to be inhaled into you or your family's lungs contributing to allergic reactions and asthma.

3.    As these two filters trap soils and allergens they become clogged which restricts the airflow passing through the motor. The airflow is what keeps the motor cool and prevents premature motor failure. 

Most of the vacuum cleaners brought into my store for repairs have suffered pre-mature motor damage because the owner neglected to clean and/or replace the filters and bag.  They didn't realize they had a problem until it was too late. Don't let it happen to you and ruin the motor in your vacuum cleaner. 

I hope this helps you to maintain your vacuum cleaner making it last for many years.

Disclaimer:

The part you order may look different than the part in the picture, please call us toll free at 877-656-4861 if you have any questions.