How To Unclog A Central Vacuum System Pipe

[@silviasolis1883]

Amazing! We were able to do it with our shop vac and it worked, ours was really, really clogged, we appreciate your advise. Thank you! (June 2023)

[@robrepovs]

Thanks so much! You just saved us a $150 service call. Bravo!!

[@jeffdavis5341]

Thank you so much. Was gonna do a service call but watched your video first. There was an obstruction and it is now cleared. Working great and appears full suction restored. Hopefully we can get many more years of service from the unit. Great job to post this. Saved me many $$ I suspect for a service call or a new unit.

[@xilbus]

Thank you so much for this video. This saved me from buying a new system. I lost suction and the dirt tube going to the central vac was 100% clogged.

[@thesilverstandardband8056]

Thank you for the help! Local store has ignored me for a week and with a Golden Retriever in the house that is a disaster! This took me 20 minutes of back vacuuming with a 5 amp shop vac and some tape to seal the attachment. Just as I was about to give up it popped with debris and a wine cork! Cheers!

[@jeffblake4966]

Thank you so much, worked like a dream and saved me a service call.

[@sassenach17]

This video was awesome! It helped me unclog my central vac with ease! I had felt so frustrated until I saw this video. Thank you!

[@thedoorknocker]

Had a clogged up central vac big time. Watched the video. Took the advice. DID THE TRICK!! Thanks Roget for saving me some money!

[@coreybarnett4269]

Thank you so much for posting this video, my central vac has been clogged for a month and I used a shop vac to suck out a big piece of glass and other stuff that was blocking the line. Thank you!!

[@chrisschmitz836]

Hooked my mom's Electrolux into the port like you showed,ran it for less than 10 seconds and felt 2 clogs come through and now working like a charm. THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

[@Centralvacuumstores]

+Chris Schmitz - We're so glad our little trick worked for you! If you ever need any assistance, parts, or new products for your central vacuum system, we hope you'll consider www.CentralVacuumStores.com in the future. Merry Christmas to you, too!

[@Jimmy_Hoffa-v3k]

Saw your video and Saw the vacuum you used to clean out with. Bought one and presto my central vac pipes are open for business.

[@Roger-lg1ez]

Awesome work. Great info exactly what was wrong with my system ( plugged line ) thanks probably saved me atleast $250 in a service call.

[@ThisMightBeRandom]

Thankyou for this video! It help me to have someone also hold open another one of the vacuum ports in another room

[@halimmuslu]

WOW! Thank you so much. This saved me a repair bill.

[@sarahkato5063]

I love you. Thank you, Roger - I am going to fix my system on this Nor'Easter day in NJ.

[@chadmcleod8856]

Thanks for sharing this. I unclogged the pipes with the other vacuum.

[@michaelhoule4889]

Sucking out the ports worked great once I understood from you that the canister has to be off. Thanks for the help !

[@karenm8757]

Thank you so much for this professional, and informative video. You helped me unclog my central vacuum system! Only took me about 10 minutes. I'm quite proud of myself haha

[@spazzio123]

Thank you so much for this video! Also thank you for the help over the phone! Top notch company. I highly recommend this company. What a pleasure.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Monica Mazzeo-Vaccarelli We're so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for your business!

[@rukmanir]

Thanks so much! The disconnected pipe was the culprit....damn painters! This video is the perfect troubleshooting tool!

[@sylviadavis7335]

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing, it helped me unclog my central vac system!! I am very grateful!

[@violetzharku8976]

Thank you for this video! It helped me with my central vacuum clog.

[@sdirose]

Thank you for this video. I lost suction to my system. It wasn't until you explained how if there is air coming out of the vacuum for longer than 10 seconds, there must be a disconnected pipe. It suddenly dawned on me that I was doing construction in one of my rooms and had removed the cover to the vacuum outlet. Problem solved.

[@pgl5833]

Thank you. Solved my central vac issue in no time flat!

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Awesome! Glad that it was such a success!

[@jonolson2702]

Awesome video...the shop vac cleared the clog right away. Much appreciated!

[@charmainewilson5282]

THANK YOU!!! Totally solved it!! I had tried so many things before this and no luck!

[@andresjaramillo4135]

I want to say thank you for this video. The nickel advice helped me clear my central vaccum system. I was about to take the whole thing apart.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Glad we saved you from a miserable weekend, Andres! Thanks for letting us know it was helpful and we hope you consider www.centralvacuumstores.com for any future central vac needs!

[@chipcater5835]

Fixed my system in 10 minutes with shop vac over outlet. Nickel trick is genius for not rasslin' with hose with a snake.

[@dianem3108]

Thank you, Roger. I was able to get rid of a clog in my central vacuum. Your advice still works!

[@coolfreerider]

I had a sock stuck in a pipe and used my 6 hp shop vac and it pulled it out perfectly. Thank you so much for the advise.

[@wyomingmusic9231]

First of all, GREAT video, the most comprehensive on troubleshooting my vac that I found!! I have a Vacuflo 960 that is around 20 years old. I have poor suction that recently began to be an issue. After watching your video I ran your tests and found the following: There are 3 openings to the canister. The one on the left is connected to the pipes in the house. There are 2 on the right--both exit the house and have mufflers. One is obviously the exhaust and the other is an intake. When I disconnect all 3 and cover the house inlet side, the outside inlet sucks in air and the exhaust keeps blowing. If I block both inlets the exhaust dies off. What is the purpose of the 2nd inlet? Could I just cap it off instead of having it exit the house? The problem I believe for the drop in suction inside is that the outside inlet got goobered up and was a little bit open. before I found your video I had already taken out the filters in the mufflers and cleaned them. When they dry I can check my theory--the outside inlet was letting in air.

[@ruthchen2020]

Thank you so much for the advice of using a coin to identify a clogging hose issue. I was totally in the dark and clueless. Now I know it is a small problem ...... I solved the issue later, thanks a lot!

[@mrpurrhead]

Great video. Really helped me out with my low suction issue!

[@digger26]

Thank you, Thank you! We walked through your troubleshooting one at a time and when we tried the last one of using another vacuum to suck the outlets in reverse it worked! After sucking our outlets using my shopvac we had one thing left which was the floor pan baseboard outlet. We weren't sure how to suck backwards on this outlet but decided to test the system before trying this one (we were going to try a crevice tool). The system worked fine so we didn't have to go to the baseboard outlet. Wondering if we would have had to try the baseboard what your thought are for the best way to suck it backwards. The crevice tool I mentioned or ???/

[@sunilshah2445]

Thank you very much Roger, I saw your video and it is very helpful. I have one question. In my central vacuum when we do vacuum , suction was stopped. So we checked on unit , when we start air is blowing constantly, not stop as per your video. What this means? What I have to do? Please guide me. Thanks Sunil

[@bnduny]

Thank you! My hose was not clogged. One of my 5 kids (I assume the 2 year old) stuffed a bunch of baby wipes in one of the outlets. My shop vac sucked them out just as you demonstrated.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Happy to help, Brent! Sounds like you've got your hands full. Is there anything a 2-year-old can't disrupt? We're here to help when he figures out inlets also make a perfect racetrack for Hotwheels. Seriously...we just helped a customer with this exact scenario. Sigh... Best of luck for any future family dramas.

[@phillips411]

Thank you!!! This helped me get an iphone charging plug out of my central vac!

[@epaige3170]

thanks so much for this video. What adapter piece did you put on the end of your sanitare to create the closed suction around your vacuum end please?

[@marciasiegel6062]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It worked! We brought in our Shop-Vac and we able to suck up a bunch of foam bits from one of our outlets. The main culprit was one of our cat's toys (a small, round crinkly ball).

[@selectyoutuification]

using the coin part is a good advise for me because that's my case Thank you I would never know without your coin advice but instead of a coin I used an old battery

[@jeffreylear7594]

I have a Beam Electrolux whole house vac system. When I connected my 20' hose to the furthest inlet, i found the suction was really low (no difference when I set nozzle to Lo or Hi) . I 'nickel- tested' the hose, and it was clear. Next I went to each inlet and shorted out the 2 pins. The furthest away inlet seemed sub-optimal, so I shorted the pins on the other 3 inlets and 1 inlet upstairs. I found slight improvement on the downstairs inlets, but the one upstairs had great suction. Next I went to garage, emptied the receptacle bucket. While there, I shook the sack/filter and removed lots of debris and pet hair. I checked the inlet to the canister and removed some more pet hair and clutter. Then with the input to the canister disconnected, I used the manual switch to turn the system on, I cupped my hand over orifice, and almost zero air coming out exhaust and I have real good suction. So I know the unit is working fine. So we want to check if any air comes out of exhaust with the system sealed. If it does, we have a problem with our tubing. * * * WE HAVE A PROBLEM * * * I'll have to call US Alarm and talk with Brian... I'm sure it's under the house, a pipe is disconnected... I need some 'coveralls' if I'm gonna find and fix. Called Brian, coming 15th May 08:30 BTW: The filter inside the tank makes needs to be vacuumed with my Shop-Vac.. I rattled the dickens out of it, and each time lots of dust flys from it. I can't see anywhere how to remove that filter... its got 9 years of dust embedded.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Hi Jeffrey- In regards to the exhaust, if the system is closed and you turn it on after about 15 seconds there should be very little blowing out of the exhaust. If you have a lot of air coming out of the exhaust that is an indication of a leak in your vacuum unit or the tubing in the house.

[@jeffreylear7594]

Thanks for the reply... I was using this post to document what I was doing... When my system was closed and I turned on canister in garage, there was lots of air coming out of exhaust... So I have a loose pipe somewhere. I called the guy that installed my system and he's coming out May 15th. That was a great video. I watched it several times, was a little confused, but finally understood... Thanks again... I'll clean up this post after my sys works well again. Cheers, Jeff

[@HustlerGSUS]

nice! was helpful to me as well :)

[@smilemore209]

thank you for this video! :)

[@progunerjie291]

Your welcome!! Sadly central vacuum stores has gone out of business. It amazing to see that my grandpa videos are still being useful!!!!!!

[@htbu3996]

Thanks Roger! Great video.

[@leslieturcotte9401]

God almighty I miss her voice! I always watch them when I see them or the ones that I saved!

[@emilievan25]

Hi Roger what do we do when there is air coming out of the exaust?

[@kimberleylowrie7151]

Thank you!! Found the problem!!

[@atrain7788]

I covered the vent with my hand & turned it on. I then saw a spark near the exhaust- which was still blowing a lot of air. Do you think this is a electrical problem in the bottom of the tank? Going to call someone to check it out probably. The only branding I could see is "filtex central cleaning system- M&S systems, inc. Dallas, TX 75220"

[@danwoodcock4318]

Can you replace the filter in the central vac?

[@davidzip873]

Tubing is typically not glued. We had a disconnected join in the garage where the vacuum unit was.

[@buixote]

Hey Guys, Here's a good one for you... the outlet is leaking, so I take it off... hoping to do the "electrical tape trick" I've seen elsewhere on the internet. Seems that the pipe is not affixed to anything, so I can't push the outlet back onto the tube. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[@germanninja8323]

Thank you! Using another vacuum did the job :)

[@Centralvacuumstores]

So glad that it worked for you!

[@fartsinthewind]

Worked for me as well! Such a simple thing, I feel silly I didn't think of it. Thanks so much!

[@Faerocious]

Thank you so much for the advice of using a vacuum to clear the clog in the central vacuum system!

[@richardlee3057]

Thank you for the video :) it worked for me.

[@duramax78]

Sir would you know why my cv shuts of every 10 seconds, then after a minutes starts up again.?

[@alext9067]

Had a customer w/ a clog in the hose. 35 feet long. Pushed the garden hose thru in. Perfect. Don't turn the water on. His was clogged w/ candied popcorn which would have turned to glue.

[@saadams4937]

Yup! We did the same to make sure it was clear. The coin test would have been a simpler way to go for just testing though... Live & learn! :)

[@paulatrevor1]

Another simple way to do it is this. Get a plastic shopping bag like the one most grocery shops give you. Tie it at the handles make sure to use a strong length of string, you don't want it coming off in the pipe. Then tie a couple of knots onto the other end, this is the end that goes in first. Start the vacuum at the unit so it runs continuously without a hose, feed in the plastic bag knots first and after a couple of jigs it should dislodge. then simply pull out the bag and start vacuuming as normal.

[@brendahoward1088]

My central vac has low suction from the kitchen floor foot inlet. It is too narrow to put another vacuum hose to suction it out. How can I clear the clog as I know it used to have higher pressure and it is barely any suction there. There are no other inlets clogged. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Typically the VacPan will only clog right at the horizontal plane. So by taking a metal coat hanger or heavy wire, you should be able to pull out the debris or at least the majority of it so that the rest will be sucked back up into the system. Also effective is a crevice tool, especially this flexible crevice tool: www.centralvacuumstores.com/central-vacuum/tools-and-attachments/specialty-accessories/imperium-23inch-flex-crevice-tool-50778

[@suzanneporter2405]

thank you! fixed!

[@4556renard]

Clear and simple i will try tomorow

[@loreliecajigas6843]

This really helped me! Dropping a coin through the hose is brilliant. Helped me find the clog that was actually in the neck of the handle. THANK YOU!!!

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Thrilled to hear it worked for your Lorelie! We hope you consider www.CentralVacuumStores.com for any future central vac needs!

[@thomasmoersch5862]

Thank you. That was very helpful. It did not occur to me to take off the bucket before using my shop vac. That did the trick.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Great Thomas! We're thrilled you found your answer and hope you'll consider www.centralvacuumstores.com in the future. After over 60 years in the vacuum industry, we have even more tricks up our sleeves to care for your central vacuum system!

[@jenniferryan4503]

Husky Hoover

[@mattleone5831]

Wait, I have strong air being forced out of the can when turned on. That means problem is in the can? Can I take the bottom of the can off ?

[@ruthiejankowski800]

@@mattleone5831 I'm confused. I was thinking that by using the shop vac - you are sucking out debri that might be clogging the unit. Wouldn't the bucket be good to "accept" the clogged material?

[@shayleighbartlett9523]

What do you do if it's stuck in the hose? What's the best solution to remove the blockage without putting a hole through it?

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Hi Shayleigh - If you have a shop-vac (or can borrow one) we recommend the same technique. Put your hand over the opposite end of the hose to allow the suction to do the work. You can also run a plumbing snake through it if a vacuum does not work. And finally, if your vacuum is too clogged or irreparable, here's a link to find a new hose: www.centralvacuumstores.com/central-vacuum/everything-hoses/8257. We hope that helps!

[@MJT2707]

thank you, very helpful video

[@darnellbrenneman4501]

Thanks for the ideas!

[@dianeholt4494]

I'm having trouble getting the canister off. If I unplug the power is it ok to spray some wd40 to get it off?

[@Centralvacuumstores]

+Marie Freise Yes- using a little WD40 to loosen the connection should not cause any harm. We suggest you wipe it clean once you have it off, though, so the WD40 residue doesn't cause dirt and dust to stick.

[@jonathancyr4981]

Thank you ! That worked for me :) !

[@pnq8787]

Wouldn't a clog be consistent with no air coming out of the outlet pipe same as a normal sealed system?

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Hi pnq8787, When you say "coming out of the outlet pipe" do you mean the power unit's exhaust? If so, you would want to check for a clog in your exhaust specifically.

[@jeremychavis6008]

if your system is clogged you would have little or no air coming out of the exhaust pipe ,... or blow back as we call it

[@jnpletcher]

Thank you for the help!!

[@Blazeweed-nd9ok]

Thank you for helping me! I did the coin trick and my hose was clogged after all.

[@WOLF-mh6kq]

Just wanted to share a fix for a seemingly clogged pipe. We had no suction whatsoever on one upstairs and we thought one of us had sucked up a solid object that had completely blocked the airway, it turned out that the pipe had just disconnected from the outlet. Found this out by putting my hand in it and feeling around. We sealed off that pipe and the other outlets stopped loosing suction. Hope that helped someone

[@Centralvacuumstores]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing the great tip!

[@724ally]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR VIDEO...

[@saadams4937]

Awesome! Worked for us too. Thank you! Gotta remember to take that canister off! Also, when I was clearing one of the outlets, some cat litter fell out, so I poked my finger in and found a big clump of dog hair mixed with cat litter. Pulled it out and kept pulling. More and more. Finally ended up filling up half the tank of our Shark upright with the stuff. So, it pays to probe with the fingers as well, I guess. Thanks again!

[@dylanpadraig9595]

I did the coin trick but my hose was clear so I went to our unit and tried the suction there and it was lower than my everyday vacuum (I literally had trouble sucking up a cheerio) it is on our old M&S air vac central vacuum If it is the motor I can't replace it to much money The filter won't release but it deals like there is dust and sand on the side that the motor sucks on ---------------------------------- Filter \. / \. / \_______________/. In the middle there is dirt that would be sucked into the motor but I can take the filter off I tried vacuuming the filter and the outlets Whoever installed it glued the pipe to the vacuum

[@chrisvansomer794]

Coin trick worked like a hot damn

[@kristinaproctor4673]

How do clean the pipes inside the wall the previous owners must of cleaned up dog doo doo as i cant even open the cap with out gagging!!

[@johnhildebrand8740]

Thanks

[@WOLF-mh6kq]

What if that doesn't work?

[@Centralvacuumstores]

Hi WOLF 226 - Two options... 1) You can try a more powerful vacuum, like a shop-vac you would rent at a home improvement store. Check for suction ratings such as air watts, CFM, or sealed suction lift to verify a stronger unit. 2) Try a plumbing snake featuring a camera to locate a clog within the pipes. These can be rented at a hardware​ store or purchased. Once it has been located, try to remove it with a standard plumbing snake OR access the pipe, open it, remove the clog, and repair it.

[@josephpelias8000]

WOLF 226 o

[@ReallyRoda]

Is this the guy from breaking bad?

[@DeadKoby]

Whomever did the pipe work of my CV (it was here when I bought the place) must have been a plumber... as the "Everything must flow downhill" theory was used. I've NEVER had it clog... with the old motor or the new motor..

[@cb7pwn]

that coin trick is so simple i feel like and idiot 😁🤦

[@dylanpadraig9595]

Feels not deals lol

[@gizzyguzzi]

What about the other 10% of the time? haha. Plumber's snake?

[@Blazeweed-nd9ok]

Thank you for helping me! I did the coin trick and my hose was clogged after all.

[@Centralvacuumstores]

+Dennis Tuong We're so glad our little trick worked for you! Any time you're looking for central vacuum parts (or a new hose) we hope you consider us - www.centralvacuumstores.com/