Shark Navigator Lift Away Filter Set
Tips:
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.
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.
Even the finest or most expensive bag or cyclonic, whirlwind, or windtunnel type vacuum cleaner can't filter all the grit and fine dust from the large volume of fast moving air.
1. The pre-motor filter prevents sand and grit from being sucked into the motor. If you don't clean and/or replace this filter 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.
On most 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 it 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.
2. After the airflow passes through the motor it exits the vacuum through the HEPA Exhaust filter which has very, very tiny pores to filter out microscopic contaminants. If you don't replace the Exhaust filter often enough you will be spewing the allergens, mold and mildew spores, etc. back into your home and the air your family breathes. 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. 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.
WARNING: Failure to change your vacuum cleaners belt at least once a year will take years off the life of your carpets and flooring. A little rubber band is the cheapest and the most important part on your vacuum cleaner. It must be tight enough to make the brush roll spin fast enough when its forced into the carpets fibers to agitate and loosen the heavy soils so the vacuum can suck them out of the carpets.
WHY do vacuum belts NEED Changed if they're not broken?
It's 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. Each day it doesn't work quite as well as the day before. It may still pick up hair and dust but can't agitate the heavy sandy, gritty soils to the surface of the carpet fibers to be vacuumed out. After 6 months the brush-roll really starts to slow down. It may even stop spinning completely when it contacts the carpet.
Slipping belts and/or brush-roll agitator may cause the following: