Eliminating Harmful Central Vacuum Carbon Dust Emissions
One central vacuum dealer recently told MD Manufacturing of a situation where a homeowner went into coughing fits every time the central vac was on. It did not matter that the central vac was in the basement, vented to the outside, or had a caulked muffler. It seemed that the carbon dust from the motor was being stirred up and the dealer was wondering what to do. He had sought out a true measurement of the dust particles, and ventured to think that a brushless motor might be helpful.
In this situation, however, the issue may be one of two things: dirty air from the central vacuum exhaust, or carbon dust allergies.
First, the problem may be dirty air. Just because there is a port on the side of the unit for the exhaust does not guarantee that the motor is housing air tightly and capturing all the exhaust’s dust. With the brand and model number, we can give you a definitive answer about this. Also, if there are any restrictions in the exhaust, it will cause accumulated pressure. This too would cause air to escape around other places of the motor. In fact, it can even force the air back out the exhaust cooling intake vent, possibly creating this particular homeowner’s coughing fits.
Most likely, however, this homeowner is suffering from the carbon dust from the motors. MD has two solutions for this: First we offer our Silent Master Model SR that contains a brushless Switch Reluctance motor from Ametek. The motor has a high-speed computer onboard and sends pulses to magnets evenly spaced around the motor armature. This magnetic force pulls the motor in a circular motion all the way up to 30,000 RPM. It’s absolutely fantastic engineering! The motor does not emit any carbon and is designed to last about 5000 hours. We have been using it for about 4 years. The cost for this motor is a bit more than the normal motor, but has these additional features.
Our other option would be MD’s AirForce central vacuum unit. Although it does contain carbon brushed motors, the motor is totally encapsulated inside the vacuum chamber and so all of the carbon dust is contained in the single exhaust port. You could actually install this unit in a closet and seal the door because it does not require any intake air-cooling.
Harmful carbon dust emissions are not only a problem to allergic homeowners, but they also prevent the home from getting as clean as possible. MD Manufacturing has taken a few steps toward remedying this problem, providing the best central vacuum units available.