Central air vac system

[MiamiCuse]

I bought a house that has a central air vac system. The system is not functional so it needs to be replaced. There is a conduit / outlet in each room.

Here is a pic of the vac unit in the garage:

close up:

I think there should be a hose to be attached to the room outlets. I wonder if I need to replace the unit and the hose, do I need to get the original brand (Nutone) or any brand will work?

Thanks,

MC

[RBM]

I'm no expert in central vacs but I think Nutone uses proprietary everything

[TH]

You should be able to find other brands that will work. I just moved into a house with a central vac that had a missing hose/powerhead. It also had a leak. I crawled udner the house and fixed the leak, a pipe just came loose, and got a new hose and power head from a local vac store. The unit was made by Miele and cost ~ $450.00. I only bought it on the condition that I could bring it back if I didn't like it. We found the hose cumbersome to use, hard to store, and the performance was not as good as our upright vac. I took it back and bought a seperate vacuum for the upstairs which is much easier to use, store and has better performance. Its just my opinion, but they seem to be far more hassle than they're worth. I'm tearing mine out, which will also give my more space in my garage.

Tom

[lp13-30]

On mine (not a NuTone) the hose has a metal ring on it that shorts across two little contacts in the wall box to turn the machine on. I think the control voltage is 24volt, same as an a/c. It has a relay inside the unit that sends the line voltage to the motor. Mine is 230 volt-- plenty powerful! Have you tried any troubleshooing on this unit yet? If the unit is indeed bad, I would imagine it could be replaced with any other brand. Holler if you got any questions-- I installed mine myself:there really isn't that much to one. Larry

[lp13-30]

Yeah, I gotta admit that the central vacs are about as much trouble as they are worth. The best thing about them is that 100% of the dust gets exhausted outside the house, so no dust at all inside. I know they have regular vacs now with fancy HEPA filters that I suppose work pretty well, but from what I have seen, a replacement filter for one of them costs almost as much as the machine does. I got my central used for $50, and probably another 100 for the wall boxes, fittings, a piece of pvc and hose. The PVC is some oddball size (of course) but I used regular pvc and fittings - 2" as I recall- all under the house, and rigged up the special crap to hook up to it right as it came through the floor. No way would I have ever paid the $$$ for a new one, much less paid for one installed. Larry

[LayPerson Tom]

imho:

When you say 'not functional' two things come to mind.

One the machine works, but doesn't clean. There is disconnected pipling, and you might have more elsewhere. It looks like they need regluing.

Two, the machine doesn't work. As in the motor doesn't operate. I belive they sell replacement motors.

Now these are just guesses, since I can't actually look at the machine. Tell us what you found, and what you did.

tom @

[trader4]

You can also buy a whole replacement power head unit, complete with hose, which could be a good choice if the existing one is old and not working. The newer ones have the AC cord embedded in the hose, instead of using clips to hold a cord on, and that's a big plus. Just need to be sure the connection is compatible with your outlets. I bought one a few years ago for a 15+ year old system and found it online. And you're right, doesn't work could mean anything from a shot power head unit, to a shot vacuum, to broken pipes.

[Tom J]

I didn't look at your pictures because I know every brand is different. Since the unit is bad & you don't have the hose, I'd have an installer come out and install a new unit and they would replace the wall plates and hose to match the new vac.

Boy, it seems you bought a real fixer upper!!

Tom J

[hallerb]

my dad has a central vac but went back to a regular upright, its far easier to drag a power cord than a power cord and hose.....

I tried his vac just to see and they are right what a PIA

[MiamiCuse]

Thanks, what I mean is when I turn it on nothing happens. No sound no humming nothing.

MC

[hallerb]

Look for loose connection at main unit, its likely low voltage if so try jumping it out. my dads connectors were lose, I fixed his easy this way.

make certain the outlet its plugged into has power, and check for interlocks which may have prevented it from running.

a lowq voltage line typically goes to all the places you plug hose in, opening these trip the main unit on.

have you tried more than one location?

[pkmicro]

I have Nutone Central Vac in our Garage and I also have the brochure. If you like I can scan and send you a copy. I can see that it has your Model CV-350 but it's in red. The number for Nutone on the brochure is

800-543-8687. I don't know if they are still in business though.