Unfortunately this is a very common problem on the
Oreck XL uprights. As you you noticed, there is even an extra belt storage on the machine itself, on the bottom plate. When a vacuum cleaner has to put an extra belt on the machine, this should be a clear warning sign that you're going to have replace belts.....frequently! Unfortunately this is just the nature of the beast. Since there is no height adjustment on the nozzle itself, the vacuum will lower until it hits the carpet, the carpet is the only thing that adjusts the height of the carpet attachment. On other vacuums you have the ability to raise and lower the brush head according to what type of carpet your cleaning. When the brushes are at the proper height, the belt is also running at the proper tension and strength on the brush. Since the
Oreck doesn't have a height adjustment, the brushes have a lot more resistance to the carpeting, which is what leads me assume that's why the machine goes through so many belts.
Oreck XL's were designed for hotels. Their slogan used to be "The Hotel Vacuum for you Home" even. Anyone who has ever stayed at a hotel knows that most have a very low pile commercial grade carpeting. The
Oreck XL does a fabulous job at cleaning low pile carpeting that doesn't have a lot of dirt to vacuum up (restaurants kill most vacuums, but especially
Oreck). The problem is that the
Oreck XL was originally designed for cleaning low pile commercial grade carpeting, and not to clean plush, piled carpeting. The
Oreck's have a 4 AMP motor in them, and where as it's true
AMP's don't equal suction power, it's safe to assume that a 4 AMP motor will not produce near the suction as a 12 AMP would. When cleaning low piled commercial carpeting, you don't need much suction power, even an electric broom can clean this type of carpeting.
Oreck however does do one thing right, and that's advertising. David
Oreck is everywhere! Newspapers, TV commercials,
internet advertising, direct mailers, and more. They spend so much money advertising their vacuum cleaners that everyone is familiar with their products. What most people don't realize is that the customer is the one gets to pay for all of the advertising that's being done! Through the power of advertising,
Oreck has taken what should sell for a $100 electric broom, and turned it into a $600 full size upright! Dyson vacuums are the exact same way, a lot of advertising, but not much vacuum behind the price.
Chances are that if you heard about a product through a info-
mercial, or a newspaper add, then that product automatically is going to be sell for more then it's worth.
Unfortunately I can't help you fix the problem with your
Oreck continuing to burn belts, but I can give you a link to the belts on our site if you need to purchase them. We offer free shipping:
3 Oreck XL® Upright Vacuum Replacement Belts
If you (or your friend) would like a personalized recommendation of a good vacuum specific for your exact cleaning needs, please feel free to add a comment, or contact me, I'd be happy to help.
Chris J.
GoVacuum.com
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