M.D. Manufacturing Inc. is proud to announce the addition of a number of new positions within their company as they are experiencing growth. A number of efforts are increasing their market share and industry recognition facilitating this move.

Steve Spriet, formerly US Sales Manager – Floorcare & Commercial Division for Plastiflex, has agreed to take over as the Vice President of Dealer Sales for M.D. Manufacturing.  Steve brings with him a wealth of knowledge gained from 18 years in the central vacuum industry. Many of you recognize Steve’s face as a prominent representative for the premier hose manufacturer, Plastiflex, a regular at the VDTA Trade Shows. Steve also has been working closely with M.D. Manufacturing Inc. insuring a seamless integration of their products into MD’s product line.

“Steve has always had an excellent grasp of our product and is the perfect type of representative we desire,” stated Grant Olewiler, M.D. Manufacturing’s General Manager. “We hate to loose him as a supplier but believe that our growth in the marketplace demands that we retain the best-of-the-best.”

Steve will be in charge of sales to all of MD’s dealers throughout the USA as well as developing additional dealers in areas where MD lacks adequate representation. “A truly unique opportunity, I’m excited to assist MD in partnering with clients to sell a product that I believe in and use.” says Steve Spriet. One of his unique qualities is that he has been installing MD units on the side for over five years and can adequately explain the process to prospective clients. “It is rare to fine a candidate with this rounded of a skill-set who already familiar with our product line,” states Olewiler.

Mike Kretsinger, who formerly held the position will be moving into a consultant role assisting MD in its Six Sigma and other quality control issues. He has actually taken on a new position that has been a dream of his, becoming a Youth Pastor as a local Bakersfield, CA area church. “While we are very sad to see him reduce his involvement within MD, we are extremely excited about the opportunities his new job will provide,” states Olewiler.

M.D. Manufacturing also announced the addition of Mark Weighall a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Certified Financial Manager to oversee their accounting department. Mark, a Bakersfield native, brings an energetic new approach to the company that should allow them to prepare for the growth they are experiencing. His experience with financial and managerial accounting in tandem with effective financial management will continue to allow MD to provide the best products and the optimum price to the dealers.

M.D. Manufacturing has been manufacturing central vacuums since 1961 under the names Silent Master, AirForce, Modern Day, AirMaster, FloMaster and Stealth. Their industry acclaimed www.builtinvacuum.com website has become the knowledge-base for the entire industry. For more information call (800) 525-2055.

Typically you will find that the cyclonic units are the ones with the motors on the top.  They bring the dirt in the side of the unit, spin it around with a cyclonic action, and rely on gravity to drop the major portion of the dirt out of the airstream and then pull the air off of the middle of the cyclone that is created.  Some of them then locate a filter in the middle of this space.  MD’s paper bag system prefers the motors on the bottom for the following reasons:

1. Each vacuum motor typically employed in central vacuums contains a separate cooling fan that draws air into the motor to cool it.  They do not rely on vacuumed air to cool the unit.  In the event that there is ever a clog in the system, a central vacuum will not burn its motors up as long as it has this intake cooling air.
2. The location of this intake cooling fan is critical.  If it is located on the top of the unit it will draw air from around it.  For units with the motor on top, it draws this air from the hottest portion of the unit; where the hot air exhausts.  On the MD units with the motor on the bottom, this air is drawn from the very bottom of the unit; the coolest air location.
3. If the motor is also located up high in the garage and this motor is on the very top of the unit, it is operating in the hottest portion of the garage.  MD’s motors on the bottom of the unit, are located very close to the floor, thus also drawing from the coolest resource of air available.  Hot air rises thus a unit with the motor on top runs hotter than one with the motor on the bottom.
4. Typically cyclonic units are located about eye height.  This puts the motor much closer to the user’s ear as opposed to MD units with the motors down near the ground, further from the operator’s ear.
5. All of the cyclonic units (with the motor located on top) have some sort of filtration system.  Either you have to pull a cloth bag down and shake it, clean out a cartridge, or reach up to scrape off a screen.  With the MD unit you simply lift a lid, wad up a paper bag and dispose of it.  You are always back to a brand new filtering system once you change the bag.  With the cyclonic filter types you are never back to the original pure filtering system (unless you replace a cartridge.)
6. The key to MD’s filtering system is the cloth bag behind the paper bag.  This allows a much more porous paper to be used as the strength of the bag is maintained without compromising suction.  The supporting cloth bag is tapered, thus the air is not sucking through the trash but through all the pores simultaneously.  The air is rather turbulent when it enters the bag and actually “scrubs” debris off the sides of the paper bag.
7. Once the paper bag is full on an MD unit it begins to loose suction.  On many of the units with the motor on top, when the unit is full it will then allow the debris to suck directly into the motor.
8. On most units that have the motor on top, the cooling fan intake is located on the top cover of the unit.  Often we have seen that homeowners will place a box or other object on top of the unit inadvertently believing this to be a convenient storage location.  Unfortunately that box then completely blocks the cooling air intake and the motor will prematurely fail.  Having the motors on the bottom, MD units mount 6” off the ground and thus the cooling air intake is extremely difficult to accidentally block.

You might also read our article “Filtration Analysis” located at: http://builtinvacuum.com/filtanal.html

Back in 2006 Dave from Aqua Air sent me a carpet cleaning kit as an attachment for a central vacuum and I must admit that I never really thoroughly tested the concept. Yes, I thought the idea had merit but cringed at the thought of using the central vacuum in conjunction with a water extraction system for “washing” my carpets. I only perform this task once or twice a year (because the central vacuum keeps it clean on a daily basis) and I normally rent a high-powered extraction machine from my local rental company. I figured it would be useless to have this expensive system sitting around for just those few annual usages.

Well I stand completely corrected on the value of this system! First, it comes with a 5-gallon stainless steel bucket on wheels with a 3 foot hose that plugs into the nearest central vacuum outlet. The end of the hose also contains a five or six foot hose bib connection and an extra 20 foot hose to connect to the water-heater or washing machine bib. At the other end of the 30 foot suction hose it has a beautiful commercial-grade connection and trigger system. To this you attach a stainless steel wand and the carpet cleaning head.

Although you cannot spray a cleaning solution from the trigger of the hose (with the water) you mix the carpet solution in a separate spray bottle and pre-treat the carpet letting the solution sit for about 15 minutes. You then come back with the Aqua-Air attachment system and spray hot water on the carpet rinsing it and sucking the moisture out of the carpet with the power of your central vacuum. The wet solution is caught by the stainless steel tank prior to getting into the central vacuum lines. I was absolutely delighted with the results! In fact, I think this is the system did a better job than any extraction system I had ever used! The carpet still looks beautiful five weeks later.

One of the key elements is having a strong central vacuum to create the suction power to properly extract the moisture from the carpet. In my case it was dry in less than two hours. The kit also contained a hand-held wand for cleaning upholstery and stairs. This was the absolute best tool I have ever used for cleaning my stairs with a liquid solution. The staircase looked new again even though my carpet is over ten years old. Again, the versatility of the central vacuum with the long hose made this a convenient and thorough method for proper cleaning.

Probably the most difficult part of this system for most homeowners will be locating an adequate place to tap into the hot water system. I believe a key element to the cleaning is the use of hot water as opposed to cold water. I found the bib on the bottom of my water heater worked well and the 20 foot extra hose helped get me there. At the other end of my home I unscrewed the washing machine connection and attached at that point. If you let the system sit too long the water gets cold and I recommend purging it into a sink or toilet. The stainless steel tank holds quite a bit of water and contains a float that will shut the suction off if it gets too full or if it gets tipped. It was quite easy to simply dump this into a drain but I was amazed at the amount of “yuck” that had come out of my carpets!

Interestingly enough, two days later we had a neighborhood party at our home and five minutes before the guests arrived we were pouring a 3 gallon tub of hot wassail into a glass bowl and it broke, pouring two gallons of sticky fluid all over the kitchen island and cupboards. Having the Aqua Air system handy in the garage, I whipped it out and cleaned up the mess in no time. As the first guest arrived right on time, they had no idea of the fiasco that had just been averted.

So thank you Aqua Air for a great new attachment set. I stand corrected asking your apologies that I did not thoroughly test your product when you first sent it to me. MD will likely be offering these soon to our clients.

Ohio State University recently completed experimentation on vacuums and their effectiveness on killing flees.

Read the full article here.

Central vacuums don’t just assist in killing flees, dust mites, and other creepy crawlers. Central vacuums will go a step further by completely removing them AND their eggs from your living space. Imagine a home free from the terror that these insects cause - no more bites, itchiness and rashes caused by bugs, veterinarian bills due to flees, etc.

Imagine a healthier home and you.

Now here is a great way to advertise. Tom Proctor of Vacuum Cleaner Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C. has gotten serious about using his installation vehicle as an advertising medium. Using classy graphics and tasteful placement he literally gets noticed by thousands of potential consumers every day.

This truck also matches the professional image portrayed in his shop; one of quality, excellence and neatness. Hey, we sell vacuum cleaners so we should be clean, shouldn’t we! This factor was driven home to me in our own factory about five years ago when the employees on our manufacturing floor figured out that they too must keep a clean shop because we sell cleaning devices! Do we believe in “clean” or not?

So if you boldly display your company logo and name on your truck, be sure to present a 100% professional image. I know of a few installers who specifically do not put their names on their trucks because of their bad driving habits! Is that the image you want to portray?

And keep the interior of your installation vehicles clean and organized as well. I used to actually use this as an interviewing technique when hiring installers. If they kept their own personal car clean it was a sign to me that they were conscientious and would also treat all my clients’ homes with respect. It might take a few extra minutes at the end of every day but it also will guarantee you time-savings every day of the week.

Drive courteous, care about others, and your bottom line will see the results.

The US Constitution begins with a statement that we “are endowed by (our) Creator with certain unalienable Rights”   To this Creator is where all thanks should be directed. Because we are not simply cosmic accidents of chance but rather purposefully created to serve our Creator, we humbly should serve one another.  I am thankful for God’s love for me despite my failures. This industry, filled with other caring manufacturers, dealers and suppliers and end users has provided an atmosphere that has allowed ingenuity to thrive. May God’s fingerprint on you apply the freedoms of this great country in a manner that you can impact other’s lives!