Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Vacuum Cleaners Need Cleaning Too!

Gerard Vacuuming With Our Tri-Star
We bought a very good but very expensive Tri-Star vacuum cleaner in 2003. Several parts broke and we were too lazy to take it into the center to get it fixed so bought a cheap Dirt Devil last year to use instead of getting the Tri-Star fixed. We did take it in several times before.

Last week the Dirt Devil quit working. Gerard vacuums every day so this was just very upsetting to be without a working vacuum cleaner. It would go on but would not pick up anything. I looked in the instruction manual troubleshooting page. Sure enough, there was a "won't pick up" problem listed with the solution being that the filter should be cleaned. Oops! Gerard never cleaned the filter since we bought it! It says we are supposed to tap it against the trash can until the dirt stops flying out of it. Well, before we gave this a shot, we got a call from Tri-Star saying their office nearby us closed and now they come to the house to provide the annual maintenance for our Tri-Star. I set up an appointment for them to come and fix ours last Saturday.



Tim, the Tri-Star "vacuum expert" found all kinds of things wrong with our Tri-Star: the cord was worn, the pocket that collects the dirt should be replaced because it got stretched out from not being emptied enough, two attachments were broken and needed to be replaced or repaired, the extension that goes on the hose was cracked, the filter was black instead of white and the inside filter by the motor had to be changed. The good news is we don't have to buy a new one and they will repair this and mail it back to us via UPS. What makes no sense is that they come to get it, but do not come back to return it. They are about an hour drive away. We signed up for the automatic replacement things like the filters that we need to change every 6 months and bag liners that we are supposed to be changing every month. They will send us these each year and I now have another thing to mark on our calendar--"change vacuum filters" and "change vacuum liner."
No Wonder It Wouldn't Work!


While Tim was here, he was very nice and took a look at our broken Dirt Devil. He found all this dirt/fur stuck in the tube which clogged up the vacuum cleaner. He pulled it out for us and noticed the belt was also broken. He showed us how to replace it and so off to Walmart we went for a new belt.

Cleaning The Filter For The First Time!

I am happy to report that I was able to change it and screw things back together and that now our Dirt Devil works once again. I showed Gerard how to clean the filter, but we should really get a new one of those too. Yes, Gerard, you have to clean the filter every time you empty it--oh, and empty it every time you use it because it fills up so fast! It was not the way we like to spend our Saturday, but at least it was a productive day and now we know how to take better care of our vacuum cleaners!

Do you clean and change your filters regularly? How did you spend your Saturday?

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5 comments:

Rebecca said...

Before we renovated the downstairs of this house, the previous owners had carpeting everywhere-- living room and even the dining room! There was some old stuff in the kitchen, but it had been mostly covered with vinyl. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time vacuuming, especially the dining room! We changed that filter every time, ugh.

When I renovated, I ripped out all the rugs and replaced them with hard flooring. Ah!

Pets do make a lot of dust and dander, and they do wear out vacuums quickly. It's nice that the Tri-Star guy made a house call. Maybe when you drive out to pick it up, you can make a day trip of it-- see something neat and blog about it. I always like to read about Ohio.

Have a great week.

Anonymous said...

Do I clean and change filters regularly? Yes I do. I learned a long time ago that doing general maintenance on machinery is a must if you want it to last.

BeadedTail said...

Well we certainly don't vacuum every day and don't have any extra time to even begin to think of doing that but we do clean the filters and empty the bag too. It tells us when to do those things so we don't even have to wonder when it needs to be done. We spent our Sadieday enjoying the beautiful weather here!

Lucky Lady said...

I love to vacuum so I always took care but for christmas my daughter got me a dyson canister it says wash the filters every three months so I will do that and dump the thingy after ever time I am use to bags so we will see how this goes. on sat. we usually go to walmart and then the grocery store

Lynne said...

I have changed the filters on my vacuum, but maybe only once or twice. I am fortunate in that my vacuum has a light that goes on when the bag is full, so I know to empty it before it clogs the suction tube.

Glad you were able to get both of yours fixed!

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