Dirt Buildup In Canister Vacuum Powerheads

Delaneymeegan, thanks for your suggestion but unfortunately that wouldn't work in this case. When you ride a bike in the winter, the snow gets ALL OVER the bike....around the kickstand, gears & even the bottom of the frame, to the point I have a old rag that I use to wipe as much snow off as possible before bringing inside. Those would be too narrow & more of the snow, sand & salt would land on the floor surrounding the trays.

As for ruining the vacuum? That's not something I am worried about. Like I said, the vacuum I am using is a "beater" vacuum, & isn't particularly valuable or rare. If it breaks down tomorrow, I'm not going to regret or worry about it, & it gets pitched into the garbage. It's a Dirt Devil Jaguar Pet canister from 2009, so about 7 years old, with their branded version of the Dustcare PB11 powerhead, just it has the hood that both Dirt Devil & Nutone central vac powerheads used a while ago. I got it free from a local thrift shop....I bought a couple of vacs from them in the past, it was a donation they got without the powerhead & they knew they could never be able to sell it, & since I was buying a Eureka Sweep & Groom powerhead from them, they gave it to me knowing I could make use of it. The powerhead is from a Dirt Devil Jaguar II that I picked up off Kijiji for free, a family was giving it away for parts or repair as it's motor had recently died. I thought it could be fixed & it was perhaps something like a loose wire, but when I got it home & examined it this vacuum had seen some VERY ROUGH abuse, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did! So I kept the powerhead, wands & certain parts from the canister itself & scrapped the rest. The canister itself I changed the HEPA filter since it was filthy & I use the Riccar Type Z HEPA Cloth bags for the Riccar Pizzazz/Simplicity Snap. I also changed the brushroll brsh strips to the ones the Eureka powerhead uses, since the Dirt Devil ones are rather wimpy & don't allow the powerhead to groom carpeting very well. If the vacuum dies tomorrow, I won't regret it & of course it owes me nothing LOL. A link to the vacuum is below.

Rob & Harley - Thanks so much for your suggestions! Rob, I don't think the lawn mower underspray idea would work on a powerhead, just like my idea to spray WD 40 didn't work, reason being is you're talking about using a solution where the surface being applied to is METAL, not plastic, which would absorb some of the spray & decrease it's effectiveness. I was hoping someone would know of a plastic polymer spray of some kind that would make the plastic more "slippery" so the dirt wouldn't stick, but admittedly that is wishful thinking LOL.

As for using a shop vac, that would probably be best for this situation, LOL. Our local Shoppers Drug Mart is actually doing the same thing for their rubber mats by the front doors, they have a industrial wet-dry vac with a stainless steel tub right by the door. For my situation, though, it wouldn't be appropriate....being an apartment dweller, I wouldn't be using it for anything else, it wouldn't be used for cleaning up messy garages, etc. I also have VERY limited closet space in this apartment, it's a 2 bdrm apartment & this building was originally a motel that was converted to apartments. My canister vacuum actually sits beside a shelving unit in my combination kitchen/living room, I don't even have a closet it can go in. But, having said that, I think situations like this would be a PERFECT excuse to replace my Hoover carpet extractor that died a couple of years ago & have it ready to use. I also found a bag saver attachment on Amazon.ca that I think will be helpful in this situation. If it can catch dirt, then it could also be used to catch water, I could use this with a couple of plastic wands & a upholstery tool to pick up the dirt & water BEFORE using the powerhead to vacuum with. A rug/floor nozzle wouldn't work in this case to pick up water, as it wouldn't concentrate the airflow of the vacuum enough, if you were going to spend the money on a nozzle a dedicated carpet extractor nozzle like from a Bissell or Rainbow Aquamate would work much better & better to spend the money on. This wouldn't eliminate the problem entirely, but would definitely alleviate it a bit, & would come in handy for wet spills on carpets where a extractor is helpful.

I am thinking,though, most likely I will replace the carpet with a couple of rubber floor mats that are used for front entrances, like shown in this picture here, I think this would be ideal since you could just take it outside & give it a quick shake to get rid of the water, sand & salt debris. A rubber cargo mat, like what is used in vans, would also work but would be much more costly.

Rob

www.partswarehouse.com/Royal-Dirt...

www.amazon.ca/Cen-Tec-Systems-585...

View Full Size


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Post# 345400 2/25/2016 at 19:04 (2,976 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)
Checkrate/Likes I have a "interesting" problem I could use some tips on. During the wintertime, I ride my E Bike outdoors....yes I know, I get crazy looks & comments about riding in the winter, but that's what studded tires are for :-). I store it indoors in my apartment, since the brake & gear lines would freeze up if left outside. I store the bike on a old piece of carpet I made a "bike mat" out of. Now, here's the problem....the snow on the tires....when it melts, it makes for a very damp rug, but of course it eventually needs to be vacuumed to get rid of all the salt & sand buildup, not only on the bike mat but near my front door too. And then there's also how it affects the vacuum, it's a old beater I don't really care about, BUT the inside of the powerhead looks gross after a month or so! I have already had to take it apart twice this winter to clean it out. So....does anyone know of a chemical that can be sprayed or applied to prevent the dirt buildup inside the powerhead? Anyone here ever have to deal with taking care of a gross vacuum on a regular basis? I did try one tip I found online for repelling dirt....it said that using WD-40 on bicycles would help keep them clean & repel dirt....tried it on the powerhead & it didn't work that well :( . Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Rob

Post# 345415 , Reply# 1 2/25/2016 at 19:21 (2,976 days old) by vacerator (Macomb Michigan)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Take it* apart, clean it, and don't use carpet freshener powders. If a carpet is at all damp when you vacuum, dirt is going to build up on the inside of the air path. Any oil based product is going to hold dust in a cleaner.

Post# 345418 , Reply# 2 2/25/2016 at 19:49 (2,976 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)
Checkrate/Likes 4 If it doesn't stick in the powerhead it will in the hose/ tubes

Post# 345432 , Reply# 3 2/25/2016 at 22:10 (2,976 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 For lawn mowers they make compounds to spray on the undersides of decks to prevent grass from sticking to those but I have noticed them to not be very successful. Perhaps one would work on a power nozzle since it's not near as high a volume of stuff coming in and not as large a material as what a lawn mower encounters.. At the same time I can tell you from personal experience that any wet dirt coming into any machine is going to make a mess inside a rotating brush housing. Dirt will absolutely stick to the housing if not in the power head then also up the wands and through the hose. For a garage rug to run a brush roll operated machine the rug should really be bone dry. Now an option for when the rug has any moisture could be a straight suction carpet/ bare floor nozzle attached to a wet/ dry vacuum or a Rainbow water filtration like unit or a garage central vacuum, etc. You could remove the nozzle and rinse in a sink after every usage depending on how bad it looks. With a high powered suction vac a combo rug floor nozzle should do a great job on stones, dirt, grasses and even some light hair if you have a pet that gets out there. Numerous manufactures available to find a nozzle. Some with wheels and some with out wheels. Riccar, Simplicity, Hoover, central vacuum attachments, etc. This would be my suggestion for your situation!

Post# 345464 , Reply# 4 2/26/2016 at 08:37 (2,976 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)
Checkrate/Likes 1 The Fish market down the street from my house has carpet in their entry way. They have the same problem as you during the winter months. They finally switched to a Shop-vac Wet/Dry vac to handle this mess. It's straight suction, and can easily clean the hose and attachments with water.

Post# 345533 , Reply# 5 2/26/2016 at 17:33 (2,975 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)
Checkrate/Likes 4 I think it's great that you recognize the situation with the bike thawing out and leaving behind a mess AND wanting to do something to capture that mess so it doesn't ruin the flooring. If it were me I would choose a hard surface container to park your bike in, so you can easily rinse it out. If you continue to subject the pn to such substances, it's only going to ruin it. You wouldn't want to do that, would you? I suggest, getting two Wallpaper soaking containers. They are about 24" long and with one for each tire, you should be able to capture whatever ice or gunk melts off. Then just rinse out.

Post# 345624 , Reply# 6 2/27/2016 at 16:31 (2,974 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Delaneymeegan, thanks for your suggestion but unfortunately that wouldn't work in this case. When you ride a bike in the winter, the snow gets ALL OVER the bike....around the kickstand, gears & even the bottom of the frame, to the point I have a old rag that I use to wipe as much snow off as possible before bringing inside. Those would be too narrow & more of the snow, sand & salt would land on the floor surrounding the trays. As for ruining the vacuum? That's not something I am worried about. Like I said, the vacuum I am using is a "beater" vacuum, & isn't particularly valuable or rare. If it breaks down tomorrow, I'm not going to regret or worry about it, & it gets pitched into the garbage. It's a Dirt Devil Jaguar Pet canister from 2009, so about 7 years old, with their branded version of the Dustcare PB11 powerhead, just it has the hood that both Dirt Devil & Nutone central vac powerheads used a while ago. I got it free from a local thrift shop....I bought a couple of vacs from them in the past, it was a donation they got without the powerhead & they knew they could never be able to sell it, & since I was buying a Eureka Sweep & Groom powerhead from them, they gave it to me knowing I could make use of it. The powerhead is from a Dirt Devil Jaguar II that I picked up off Kijiji for free, a family was giving it away for parts or repair as it's motor had recently died. I thought it could be fixed & it was perhaps something like a loose wire, but when I got it home & examined it this vacuum had seen some VERY ROUGH abuse, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did! So I kept the powerhead, wands & certain parts from the canister itself & scrapped the rest. The canister itself I changed the HEPA filter since it was filthy & I use the Riccar Type Z HEPA Cloth bags for the Riccar Pizzazz/Simplicity Snap. I also changed the brushroll brsh strips to the ones the Eureka powerhead uses, since the Dirt Devil ones are rather wimpy & don't allow the powerhead to groom carpeting very well. If the vacuum dies tomorrow, I won't regret it & of course it owes me nothing LOL. A link to the vacuum is below. Rob & Harley - Thanks so much for your suggestions! Rob, I don't think the lawn mower underspray idea would work on a powerhead, just like my idea to spray WD 40 didn't work, reason being is you're talking about using a solution where the surface being applied to is METAL, not plastic, which would absorb some of the spray & decrease it's effectiveness. I was hoping someone would know of a plastic polymer spray of some kind that would make the plastic more "slippery" so the dirt wouldn't stick, but admittedly that is wishful thinking LOL. As for using a shop vac, that would probably be best for this situation, LOL. Our local Shoppers Drug Mart is actually doing the same thing for their rubber mats by the front doors, they have a industrial wet-dry vac with a stainless steel tub right by the door. For my situation, though, it wouldn't be appropriate....being an apartment dweller, I wouldn't be using it for anything else, it wouldn't be used for cleaning up messy garages, etc. I also have VERY limited closet space in this apartment, it's a 2 bdrm apartment & this building was originally a motel that was converted to apartments. My canister vacuum actually sits beside a shelving unit in my combination kitchen/living room, I don't even have a closet it can go in. But, having said that, I think situations like this would be a PERFECT excuse to replace my Hoover carpet extractor that died a couple of years ago & have it ready to use. I also found a bag saver attachment on Amazon.ca that I think will be helpful in this situation. If it can catch dirt, then it could also be used to catch water, I could use this with a couple of plastic wands & a upholstery tool to pick up the dirt & water BEFORE using the powerhead to vacuum with. A rug/floor nozzle wouldn't work in this case to pick up water, as it wouldn't concentrate the airflow of the vacuum enough, if you were going to spend the money on a nozzle a dedicated carpet extractor nozzle like from a Bissell or Rainbow Aquamate would work much better & better to spend the money on. This wouldn't eliminate the problem entirely, but would definitely alleviate it a bit, & would come in handy for wet spills on carpets where a extractor is helpful. I am thinking,though, most likely I will replace the carpet with a couple of rubber floor mats that are used for front entrances, like shown in this picture here, I think this would be ideal since you could just take it outside & give it a quick shake to get rid of the water, sand & salt debris. A rubber cargo mat, like what is used in vans, would also work but would be much more costly. Rob www.partswarehouse.com/Royal-Dirt... www.amazon.ca/Cen-Tec-Systems-585... View Full Size

Post# 345633 , Reply# 7 2/27/2016 at 18:42 (2,974 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)
Checkrate/Likes I know what you mean. The one year I lived without a car, I had a bike, and I too rode it one some snowy, icy days. When I got home, I brought the bike inside and put it in the bathtub to thaw with the tub catching everything. Later on I would take the shower hose and rinse it off and all the mess simply went down the drain. In your situation I was going to suggest washing machine pans, but thought that might take up too much space. The floor mats or shoe pans, would probably work best. I want to try one of those cyclonic seperators. It would probably save on bags.