What would you do?

11 years ago

I just built a home and paid a ridiculous amount of money to have a central vacuum system installed. Unfortunately, we were not given a choice in brands and models. The wiring company did the installation and gave us the Dirt Devil 990 Pro Series Central Vac. It's a 4,500 sq ft home with an outlet in the unfinished basement, 3 outlets and vac pan on the main level, and 3 outlets on the upstairs level with the 4 bedrooms. We haven't received our tool kit yet as the company is coming out on Friday to deliver them. My question for you is if you are familiar with the system because I heard they are made by HP just like Vacuflo? I borrowed my parents' hose and the suction feels very weak. It feels like it has half the suction of any vacuum I have ever owned. Is this typical for this brand/model? In fact, I purposely made my parents bring up their Turbocat (they have a MD Silentmaster with centec power nozzle) to see if it would clean the rugs and the brush barely even spins off the Dirt Devil. When the Turbocat is hooked up to my parent's Silentmaster it sounds like it will take off! I'm wondering if I could convince the wiring company to refund the price of the system? I doubt they're willing to do this but I cannot imagine cleaning without the convenience of a powerful central vac! If they do, what are your brand recs? Thanks so much for any insights/advice!

Comments (4)

Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
You must have brochures or something on it...I'd check the stats and compare it with your folks' and see what the differences are...it could be that yours is not installed properly.

Ours works great but it wasn't until we had another issue in the basement that DH noticed that the pipes to vent to the outside were never connected properly and all the exhaust air was just getting blown through our basement. If you have a similar issue on the intake side it could explain the difference....

Otherwise, I'd contact the manufacturer, express your displeasure and see what they recommend....perhaps they will try to make good or go back to the builder who didn't give you a choice and see what can be negotiated.
popeda
11 years ago
Wait and try the stuff they bring; make them stay around and see how poorly it is doing.
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mx702
11 years ago
Did you have Super Valves installed? They are just standard outlets, but come euipped to supply 120V to power a vacuum's beater bar as opposed to relying on suction power.
kellyeng
11 years ago
I have the same unit, installed almost five years ago. We have 3600sf, three outlets and two vacpans downstairs, one outlet upstairs and all outlets have the 120V power for the beater bar. With or without the 120V plug, the suction is ridiculously strong. I can't remember how far apart each outlet is but our hose is 35 feet and stretches to the limit before needing to switch to the next outlet.

This unit is suppose to work for a home up to 8000sf. I would definitely check to see if the unit was installed properly before giving up. It might be something simple.