Super J choked on a fur ball

True confession time: I like vacuum cleaners but I absolutely hate house cleaning. I live alone so it really doesn't matter. But having just gotten that nice, shiny PN-2 for my Super J, I was excited to really put it through its paces, so I decided to vacuum my living room, which I hadn't done since sometime in April or May.

After about half an hour of picking stuff up to the point where it was even possible to vacuum, I fired up my Super J and set to work. At first, everything worked well, but then things started to deteriorate rapidly. The brush roll would extract debris--mainly cat hair and redeposit it. I checked the bag and it was getting sort of full, so I swapped it out for a fresh one, but that didn't help so I swapped out the Power Nozzle and tried my PN-1 without much improvement. Eventually, I got frustrated and called in a "Kirby strike" and finished up the job with one of my G6's. After I had sat and rested for a little while and had drunk a soda, I decided to check the hose assembly for clogs. Sure enough, there was a giant fur ball backed up at the top of the hose where it connects to the wand. I pulled out what fur I could see but there was still an obstruction. I ended up connecting the hose to the blower port on the top of the machine and when I turned it on, out blew enough fur to knit another cat! It was actually compacted to the point that it maintained the shape of the interior of the hose after it was ejected.

I think I learned two lessons from all this:
1. If I let things go too long, especially when the cat is in full summer shed mode, a Kirby is the better choice to get things clean again.
2. Next time I blow out the hose like that, I'll hold the end inside an old grocery bag to catch the flying debris.

I also decided to do a quick suction test (hand over the end of the hose) to determine which of my four Electrolux hoses works the best. I have two woven hoses--the original teal hose with a rare pistol grip that came with my 1205 and a newer white hose--and two vinyl hoses. Surprisingly, the teal hose had noticeably better suction than the white woven hose, which had the weakest suction of the lot. Not surprisingly, the two vinyl hoses outperformed the woven ones. The surprising part was that the teal hose turned out to be not that much weaker than the vinyl ones, despite the fact that it's about 45 years old and has so many cracks in the grip, that it's held together with nylon zip ties.


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Post# 329010 7/10/2015 at 22:12 (3,212 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes True confession time: I like vacuum cleaners but I absolutely hate house cleaning. I live alone so it really doesn't matter. But having just gotten that nice, shiny PN-2 for my Super J, I was excited to really put it through its paces, so I decided to vacuum my living room, which I hadn't done since sometime in April or May. After about half an hour of picking stuff up to the point where it was even possible to vacuum, I fired up my Super J and set to work. At first, everything worked well, but then things started to deteriorate rapidly. The brush roll would extract debris--mainly cat hair and redeposit it. I checked the bag and it was getting sort of full, so I swapped it out for a fresh one, but that didn't help so I swapped out the Power Nozzle and tried my PN-1 without much improvement. Eventually, I got frustrated and called in a "Kirby strike" and finished up the job with one of my G6's. After I had sat and rested for a little while and had drunk a soda, I decided to check the hose assembly for clogs. Sure enough, there was a giant fur ball backed up at the top of the hose where it connects to the wand. I pulled out what fur I could see but there was still an obstruction. I ended up connecting the hose to the blower port on the top of the machine and when I turned it on, out blew enough fur to knit another cat! It was actually compacted to the point that it maintained the shape of the interior of the hose after it was ejected. I think I learned two lessons from all this: 1. If I let things go too long, especially when the cat is in full summer shed mode, a Kirby is the better choice to get things clean again. 2. Next time I blow out the hose like that, I'll hold the end inside an old grocery bag to catch the flying debris. I also decided to do a quick suction test (hand over the end of the hose) to determine which of my four Electrolux hoses works the best. I have two woven hoses--the original teal hose with a rare pistol grip that came with my 1205 and a newer white hose--and two vinyl hoses. Surprisingly, the teal hose had noticeably better suction than the white woven hose, which had the weakest suction of the lot. Not surprisingly, the two vinyl hoses outperformed the woven ones. The surprising part was that the teal hose turned out to be not that much weaker than the vinyl ones, despite the fact that it's about 45 years old and has so many cracks in the grip, that it's held together with nylon zip ties.

Post# 329029 , Reply# 1 7/11/2015 at 08:05 (3,211 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)
Checkrate/Likes Edgar, there is also another way to clear your Electrolux hose without needing to use a grocery bag. Simply take the hose & put it on the blower, & then take the hose handle & stick it into the suction intake on the vacuum. Then the vacuum will blow the obstruction out of the hose & right into the bag. Have done this many times & it works like a charm! Rob

Post# 329033 , Reply# 2 7/11/2015 at 08:40 (3,211 days old) by s31463221 (Frenchburg, KY)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Rob* I too have cleared many clogged hoses that way! I don't remember which one, but I have an Electrolux manual that actually suggests doing that as a way to unstop a hose!

Post# 329036 , Reply# 3 7/11/2015 at 09:51 (3,211 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Good point...* Yeah, I hadn't thought of that but it makes sense. Of course, what came out of that hose would have just about filled the bag. I can see why the manufacturer would recommend it.

Post# 329061 , Reply# 4 7/11/2015 at 17:57 (3,211 days old) by BikerRay (Middle Earth)
Checkrate/Likes At least it wasn't a hamster or an egg roll.