Unusual central vacuum plug/cord

My next door neighbors have a Vacumaid SilentPartner S-3200 split unit Central vacuum. It was installed in 1997 when the house was built, it's a 8,000 square foot home that cost about 3 million when it was built (I guess half for the house and half for their yard). There's this plug/cord on it I don't or never saw on any of the central vacuums I have seen that I find pretty interesting because this house is really not that big. It uses 3 big heavy duty commercial wires on the cord, it uses dual motors, and it says 120 volts but I think it pulls 240 volts which is similar on my Eureka central vacuum which it says it uses 120 volts but it really does pull 240 volts (no wonder it has this cord on and this house does have a huge electrical service panel which does have a switch for this unit) because this thing is a BEAST! It uses alot of power, I will say this is the best central vacuum I have ever used surpassing Vacuflo and Silentmaster. I think it is the best bypass/clean-air vacuum I have ever used in a home. It is designed to have either 2 or 3 people vacuum with this at the same time (haven't tried 3 yet), this house also has 3 electric Vacumaid deluxe powernozzel kits one on each floor, and it uses electric valves around the house except the garage.

So just thought I would share because I think it is very interesting and I really like Vacumaid central vacuums because I think they are my favorite brand of central vacuums of all time (however I still recommend Vacuflo or Silentmaster over it). Although I don't like the looks on the newer models today. It would be cool to see if anyone else on here that has or seen a central vacuum with this cord to prove I'm not the only one with this.

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size


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Post# 350704 4/19/2016 at 20:45 (2,927 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes My next door neighbors have a Vacumaid SilentPartner S-3200 split unit Central vacuum. It was installed in 1997 when the house was built, it's a 8,000 square foot home that cost about 3 million when it was built (I guess half for the house and half for their yard). There's this plug/cord on it I don't or never saw on any of the central vacuums I have seen that I find pretty interesting because this house is really not that big. It uses 3 big heavy duty commercial wires on the cord, it uses dual motors, and it says 120 volts but I think it pulls 240 volts which is similar on my Eureka central vacuum which it says it uses 120 volts but it really does pull 240 volts (no wonder it has this cord on and this house does have a huge electrical service panel which does have a switch for this unit) because this thing is a BEAST! It uses alot of power, I will say this is the best central vacuum I have ever used surpassing Vacuflo and Silentmaster. I think it is the best bypass/clean-air vacuum I have ever used in a home. It is designed to have either 2 or 3 people vacuum with this at the same time (haven't tried 3 yet), this house also has 3 electric Vacumaid deluxe powernozzel kits one on each floor, and it uses electric valves around the house except the garage. So just thought I would share because I think it is very interesting and I really like Vacumaid central vacuums because I think they are my favorite brand of central vacuums of all time (however I still recommend Vacuflo or Silentmaster over it). Although I don't like the looks on the newer models today. It would be cool to see if anyone else on here that has or seen a central vacuum with this cord to prove I'm not the only one with this. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size

Post# 350705 , Reply# 1 4/19/2016 at 21:03 (2,927 days old) by Marks_here (_._)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Look at all the dust in pictures 1-3 on the exhaust pipes. Mine has never looked liked that at all even the VacuMaid I had in Florida & my Vacuflo I have now. I'd say that U.S. in desperate need of a good cleaning & service call. I've seen wires like that on several units here in the Glade that are used in the mansions usually pulling 240v & one that has a single motor it's an older unit huge thing it is LOL had to explain the the people that you have to empty the drum as they thought the dirt automatically disappeared. Some folks!

Post# 350707 , Reply# 2 4/19/2016 at 21:19 (2,927 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington, NC)
Checkrate/Likes As the label says, it's 120 volt and 21 amps. The service for this a single 30 amp circuit. The 2 motors and the transformer add up to 21 amps. It's installed correctly. VacuMaid until recently, never put a power cord on it's 2 motor units. They were always hard wired. I installed my P-350 unit this way years ago. Hope this helps! Greg

Post# 350709 , Reply# 3 4/19/2016 at 21:29 (2,927 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes That's because there's no cyclonic cone on this. It didn't even have one when I fixed this for the first time when the current owners moved in. I bet that was from the previous owner's fault because when they bought this house from it's original owner, they never took care of that house. Lawns and branches were never cut, never took care of the inside of the house, and never paid any bills. The vacuum was in nasty shape when I took a look at it. Pipes, power nozzels, attachments, one of the hoses, and the unit was clogged. Rip on one hose, one hose didn't turn on, some inlets didn't work, and one of the motors on the unit was bad. So I bet they did something with that cone because every model should come with one. I told my current neighbors I could get them a new cone as well as installing in mufflers for the unit because the unit sounds like a jet engine but they never called me.

Post# 350710 , Reply# 4 4/19/2016 at 21:35 (2,927 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes *luxfairguy* You could be right it does use 120 volts. Just thinking it was 240 for being so powerful and very loud.

Post# 350750 , Reply# 5 4/20/2016 at 18:11 (2,926 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes *Confirmed* It is 240 volts

Post# 350765 , Reply# 6 4/20/2016 at 21:36 (2,926 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)
Checkrate/Likes *vacumaid vacuums* Over all, vacumaid makes good products. I have their garage vac pro which is basically a central vacuum unit, but instead of a pipe connection, it has a utility valve built in to the unit, you just connect the hose and flip on the switch, it uses a 5.7 flow through motor which is actually quite powerful. I also have their sr-800 unit, it has an 8.4 two stage bipass motor which is probably the most powerful motor you can get that uses 120 volts. The biggest issue I have with it is that there is no manual switch, the only way to turn it on is through the relay. Since I use my central vacuum units as powerful canister vacuums, it was inconvenient to have to hook up the wires, most central vacuum units have a manual power switch, but the vacumaid units don't.

Post# 350790 , Reply# 7 4/21/2016 at 15:12 (2,925 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington, NC)
Checkrate/Likes Alex! I found the page from a 1993 VacuMaid dealer's update about the 2 motor units and their electrical needs. I'm going to quote: Wiring diagram for double motor units Quite often we are asked the question if 220 volts can be hooked up to the double motor units. We DO NOT currently make any actual 220 volt units for use in the U.S. or Canada. The double motor units each had two 100 volt motors in them. Because there are two motors, 220 volt single phase can be run to the units. To wire the unit you do what is called "split the legs" on the 220 volt line. The 220 volt line will consist of 1 white wire, 1 green wire and 2 black wires. connect the green wire and the white wires to the green and white wires on the unit. Then connect the 2 black wires to the w black wire on the unit separately. Remember that when running 220 volts to the unit, the unit is still running on 110 volts; therefore the electrical consumption is the same as running two 110 volt lines to the unit. On another note, you say there's no cyclonic cone in the dirt can. That's why the exhaust pipes are so dirty! The unit isn't processing the dirt as needed. The dirt can should have a cone and often people dislodge it from it's proper position and don't know how to get it back in place properly. It's an ESSENTIAL part of what makes this system work! A new one is about $25.00 directly from VM. A worthwhile purchase!! Greg

Post# 350793 , Reply# 8 4/21/2016 at 16:08 (2,925 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes *Luxflairguy* I think you are absolutely right about what Vacumaid quoted. Yesterday when I looked into the electrical service panel that has the switches of every appliance, I found the switch for the unit with tape that says "central vacuum 240 volts" so I assumed then it did used 240 volts. It wasn't just a regular central vacuum dealer that installed the vacuum in, it was a appliance company that's no longer in business that installed it in and wrote the 240 volt on the tape to the switch so I bet they didn't knew that much about everything with how voltage works on appliances. Thanks so much for the information!