Central Vacuum

Topic: Central Vacuum (Read 1389 times) previous topic - next topic

Central Vacuum

January 07, 2020, 10:45:51 am

thinking of installing a central vac in my 02 U320.
Where did FT put the factory installed central vac?
Where was the factory hose outlet put inside the coach?
Am I better off keeping my small shop vac and forgetting about the central vac?
thanks,
OH

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #1 – January 07, 2020, 10:50:47 am

Use a small vacuum or shop vac. The built ins went the way of the covered wagon.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #2 – January 07, 2020, 10:58:21 am

Quote from: Old Hippie – January 07, 2020, 10:45:51 am

Am I better off keeping my small shop vac and forgetting about the central vac?

Yes.

We removed our OEM central vac when we installed a residential fridge.

Never regretted the decision.

But that's us.

You should DWMYH

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #3 – January 07, 2020, 11:44:00 am

We bought a cordless Dyson. It works better than our central did and takes up less space than the hose did for the central.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #4 – January 07, 2020, 12:01:23 pm

I thought about it briefly. They are in the small bay on our coach, where the aqua hot resides. Below the kitchen sink area. I decieded not to do it. As said, a small well built vac is all you need. something like this

This if you have all carpet maybe

I like allergy buyers club. They have great products.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #5 – January 07, 2020, 12:10:39 pm

On mine its located inside the very small cabinet under the fridge. The cabinet is too small to store much and the vac is still working strong.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #6 – January 07, 2020, 12:21:54 pm

When I show our coach to folks I lift up the vacuum door right below the fridge and the vacuum makes loud noise because the switch is tripped. Folks go:"WOW, a built-in vac." And that is the only time it is on. The accessories for the vac are up on a shelf in our garage.
A small canister vac in the coach closet is sufficient for our needs.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #7 – January 07, 2020, 01:11:23 pm

I'm with the Hawk. We don't use ours much but its original equipment so I'm keeping it, kind of like the dash air conditioning on the GVs. I can tell that it works better to vacume our Jeep with the central vac than our house vac. The shark is a pain to use with the hose AND the cord for the toad.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #8 – January 07, 2020, 01:45:23 pm

OP is seeking opinions about installing a new central vac system in a coach that did not (I assume) come with one from the factory.

That's a totally different question than "Should I keep the original OEM central vacuum system in place".

My opinion (everybody got one): his money is better spent elsewhere.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #9 – January 07, 2020, 02:15:01 pm

Mine is in mounted to the roof of the basement bay directly underneath the refrigerator, and the hose outlet was underneath the refrigerator. And the hose stays rolled up inside the cabinet under the fridge. Ours is OE, and does not work very well. I've wondered if there's a better model out there because I like the idea of a built-in unit, but I think the advice here to get a good cordless one is probably worth heeding.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #10 – January 07, 2020, 02:18:05 pm

Rick. Check out a coach with the central vac and test the performance and convenience. IF you have hardwood floors instead of carpet and want to use it for upholstery and the hardwood it should work fine. Personal I think our central vac works great but I'm married so there's that.

Ours is directly under the fridge in the bay. Minimal amount of plumbing cause the electric is righ there and the vac goes directly up through the floor and out through the cabinet.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #11 – January 07, 2020, 02:37:14 pm

Dyson stick vac is the way to go as the Johnston's pointed out, go with the stronger power one. Central vacs as someone else said are passé ! They often have useless suction and use up a lot of space for the canister and so much hose and handle. Save money and space with a stick vac.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #12 – January 07, 2020, 02:37:32 pm

My 01 had the factory vac installed in the wet bay directly above the water pump. I pulled it out, tossed it and hoses in the dumpster, and bought a Dyson V8 Animal. Installed the charger/holder in the closet and ran charge power down thru closet floor and up to outlet behind bedroom TV...access outlet by pulling out top dresser drawer. Carpets are much cleaner now and don't have to drag around all that hose. JWID. Woody

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #13 – January 07, 2020, 02:41:27 pm

Michelle posted about the Dyson V-6 when it first came out. I bought one that day and have never regretted it. Now they have a V-10 but until this one quits I can wait.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #14 – January 07, 2020, 04:50:04 pm

A lot of customers who complained about the small wonder oem vac had the lid on crookedly. Look close

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #15 – January 07, 2020, 05:50:16 pm

We added a central vac (interVac brand, out of Florida: FOR THE RV) in our previous '03 U295 36-ft and loved it.

However, in our current '00 U295 36-ft, I ended up taking along our Dyson V8 Animal+ stick vac (http://www.costco.com/dyson-v8-animal%2B-cordfree-stick-vacuum.product.100410589.html), removing it from the laundry room of our sticks-and-bricks. It fit in the drawer under the sofa, along with the accessories. I purchased an extra charger (since the original was mounted on the laundry room wall in the house), and was able to keep it charged in the drawer, since the electrical cord from the charger plugs into the 110-outlet shared with the sub-woofer also under the sofa.

In truth... I MUCH prefer the Dyson stick vac, which was just as easy to use in the coach as the interVac central vac (which I really did enjoy at the time... until I fell in love with my Dyson!).

Here's a summary (and photos) of that central vac system that George installed: Storing Vacuum Cleaner Hose

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #16 – January 07, 2020, 06:29:51 pm

I have a central vac, and I do use it. Since it is on 110, I only use it camping when the generator is running, so that's not very often. But if I'm baking something, I grab the central vac and do a once over to get some of the sand off the floor. And the nice thing is it has a way bigger collection bag, so it only has to be changed maybe once every year or two.

But, in between, I use the Dyson handheld, which doesn't last all that long on hi power. On low power, it's less powerful than the central vac, but on hi, it's marginally better. But it's way easier to get into the tight spaces and corners with the handheld. And then I have to charge it, but that's fairly easy because there's a 12v charger that it comes with. I also take the Dyson in the Sprinter van for those trips, so it does double duty.

But if I could only choose one, I'd go with the newest Dyson stick that has the bigger battery for extended use.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #17 – January 07, 2020, 07:22:40 pm

OK........ so I'll be the odd man out here. I actually like the OEM central Vac, it's mounted in the bay next to the inverter, up out of the way. There is a short hose up through the floor to an outlet below the refrigerator, when the door is opened (like magic) the vac is switched on!

The hose stores in a small plastic bin in the space below the refrigerator. It's not the most powerful vacuum that I have ever used but it gets the job done. It does an OK job on the small amount of carpet that we have.(about the same size as our living room rug at home)

It does a good job of removing the sand from the hardwood floors which cover most of the coach flooring. As stated above I only change the bag once a year, easy access, always there and ready to go. What's not to like about it?

Anyway ........ just my opinion on, like noses...... everybody has one. I'll add a photo of it for the OP.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #18 – January 07, 2020, 08:42:41 pm

We have and use a Dirt Devil central vac in our coach...love it! The suction could pull the chrome from a doorknob. We removed the useless 19" tv in the bedroom and installed it there. The hose is long enough to reach the front of the coach. We consider it a great upgrade. The hose is stored on the floor alongside the bed.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #19 – January 07, 2020, 08:54:04 pm

Our built-in Dirt Devil vacuum works quite well & we regularly use it.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #20 – January 07, 2020, 09:16:14 pm

We use our central vac and it does very well. Much easier to store the hose than to find a place to store any thing else of comparable power. We also use a small hand held vac for those little jobs. Have a great day ---- Fritz

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #21 – January 07, 2020, 09:18:26 pm

I did switch out our OEM vac for the upgraded dirt devil one. It has better suction.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #22 – January 07, 2020, 09:36:21 pm

I installed an Intervac like Pat H. I like it a lot. Enlarged the furnace return air grill and mounted it in the grill under the fridge.

Rich

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #23 – January 07, 2020, 09:45:05 pm

Ours came with the vac built in below the drawer that was below the cooktop. When I removed the cooktop and replaced it with a stove oven combo, we lost the drawer below the cooktop. I removed the vac (dirt devil I believe) and installed a small drawer in it's space. The DW wanted the storage space more than the built in vac. We keep a small cordless in the bay storage area. Seems to work for us.

Re: Central Vacuum

Reply #24 – January 07, 2020, 11:02:53 pm

I had a lot of customers purchase a beater bar powerhead from a home central vacuum system. Separate power cord.

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