What to Do If Your Central Vacuum System Gets Clogged

What happens when you’re vacuuming along with your central vac unit and accidently suck up something that wasn’t meant to be sucked up? It’s a problem many central vacuum owners deal with each year. A toddler’s toy or a stray sock gets sucked into the hose and, in an instant, there’s a bad noise and no more suction. What do you do?

The first step is not to panic! Clogs and loss of suction can happen in any vacuum—whether it’s caused by accidentally sucked-up items or just a buildup of debris over time. The steps to fixing it are actually quite simple, and there’s almost no risk of doing damage to your central vacuum system. You can make fixes yourself or call for central vacuum repair in Palm Beach County, FL.

Troubleshooting to Fix the Suction

The first thing to do is locate the source of the blockage. Test the vacuum hoses in multiple rooms of your home. If the problem is confined to one, the blockage is somewhere in that specific line; if all rooms have an issue, the blockage is close to the central suction source.

• If a specific inlet is giving you trouble, turn on the vacuum and put your hand over the hose to create suction pressure. After a few seconds, let go and see if suction power is restored to that inlet. Keep trying 4-5 times to see if this alleviates the blockage—if not, keep troubleshooting.
• If building pressure doesn’t get rid of the clog, you may try using a plumber’s snake or fish tape to try and grip and physically extract the source of the blockage. Again, this will only work if the problem is confined to a specific inlet.
• If you can’t extract or force the blockage from a single inlet, it’s worth contacting a professional to inspect and repair your unit. Short of disassembling the entire channel, there might not be much more you can do aside from snaking it!
• For blockages that are near the central suction or at the heart of the system itself, the problem is most likely something to do with the collection area or the suction mechanism. Check these for debris, buildups and other impediments and remove them wherever possible.

These four steps will generally eradicate most common blockages and sources of frustration. You’re likely to find yourself fishing out that accidentally-suctioned sock or a big ol’ ball of lint, restoring the full suction power to your central vacuum unit.

Persistent Clogs and Blockages

If you find yourself with a major blockage that just won’t go away or clogs that creep up every few days or weeks, it’s a smart idea to call for central vacuum repair in Palm Beach County, FL. Recurring or extremely entrenched clogs are usually the sign of some other problem and may benefit from repairs by a professional.

Above all, don’t let blockages sit idly in your system and try to resolve them entirely before using your vacuum. Trying to vacuum with a blockage anywhere in the line is going to put undue strain on your system, leading to expensive failure or repairs.

Categorised in: Central Vacuum System Repair

This post was written by Writer