No suction I am getting no suction on my central vac at the vac. I do not believe that the piping is plugged up, the vacuum is not creating suction. What are the causes of no suction at the vacuum and how do I take the top half of the Nutone central vac off?

I suspect the hoses are plugged with debris.

Disconnect the actual pipe where it meets the vac. Then test the intake for suction. If you have poor suction still, check the intake itself from inside the vac body for blockage, then check the gasket on the pail for mis-alignement.

If you have suction at the actual intake, your issue will be in the house piping. Look for any damaged inlet doors which are ajar, also look at any inlets you may have recently removed for painting or renovation work. Each inlet has an o ring seal which must be properly aligned. If not aligned you will hear a hiss at the inlet when the door is closed.

Last check where any exposed pipe or pipe joint could have been jarred loose or damaged, basement , garage, etc. Post back to advise what you find

Have you checked for a clog in the lines or in the hose? If there is no clog in the system anywhere, then your motor could be dying.

You might have a plug or clog in the upstairs lines. for information on how to remove a clog in a central vacuum system see this article:

http://centralvacproducts.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-unclog-central-vacuum-system.html

You need to approach this step by step. If you have insufficient suction at all locations you need to check as follows:
1. Hose, drop a coin through from the handle to the wall end, with the hose detached from the wall. If the coin goes through from one end to the other the hose should be clear. If the coin stops it will rattle inside where the obstruction is if you gently shake the hose you will feel it through the wall.Obstructions in hose or pie need to bee **** wards out of the hose or pipe.
2. Vac. Go to the vac itself and see if the onboard inlet has suction. If it does your problem is beyond the vac. If not your problem may be a leak, either a broken inlet, with a cracked or sagging door or jammed hinge, a clogged intake in the vac, or damage to the pipe within the house or a twisted gasket where the pail of the vac secures to the body, or an issue with the motor itself..
3. Take the hose, inlet to inlet and check all locations in the house. I mark a tissue with a number for each inlet and plug in the hose, one inlet at a time. If the tissue makes it all the way to the bucket from each location, that means the branch line for that location is clear. I work from the closest inlet away to the furthest checking for tissues one inlet a t a time. This will help pinpoint location of any blockage in the main line.
4. If you have had any renovations or painting done it is not uncommon to disturb the seal behind and inlet or pierce your piping with a nail or screw. Check for all these and post back to say waht you have found.

1) Have you checked the filter? If it is clogged your suction will be low. Also, you could have a pipe loose where you can't see. Make sure that you can get a coin to go all the way through the hose. make sure the suction motor ( the unit ) is coming on.

2) Call the repair man.

This sounds like you have a loose pipe connection somewhere in your system. Physically check all connections. If you can't find anything suspicious, call a vac repair man that specialies in central vac repair. Joe

You can use a Tornado Cloth to clean out your central vacuum piping. Its the simplest and most cost-effective maintenance routine you can do.

You can purchase them from here

http://www.thinkvacuums.com/new.htm#Maintenance

You can try these as long as you have some airflow. http://builtinvacuum.com/tornado-power/ If you have no suction or airflow from one particular inlet, you can reverse the main unit by hooking the inlet piping to the exhaust of the unit. Tape all other inlets closed, and turn the unit on. This should blow the clog out through the inlet door. (be prepared for a some mess with newspaper or something else to protect your floor in front of the inlet) If you still can't unclog it, borrow a portable canister vacuum or a shop vac and try to **** the clog from the inlet while you blow from the other end with your central unit. Good Luck!!

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Generic problem for all Vacuums
No suction on lower level
Posted by phil55555 on Apr 23, 2008
Nutone central vac
no suction on lower level second floor fine
ran fish tape but it does not go all the way through,
do i need to take pipe out.

Hello,
I would advise you to ALWAYS to FIRST UNPLUG YOUR VACUUM before beginning any service procedure.
Not @ first, try to get a central vacuum cuff and go to each and every inlet / outlet down the basement and put the cuff in the inlet – the central vac should come on and possibly might unclog the pipe, 2nd, try taking another canister type vacuum while the central vac is running and open the inlet door and try to “pull apart the clog in the pipe” – this does work upon occasion if not you can try a plumbers snake – but be careful because the walls of the pvc pipe are thin wall and you don’t want to poke a hole in the pipe or other wise you will have to replace the pipe. The absolute last resort should be to replace the pipe if all other do not work. Feel free to contact your local vacuum dealer in your area or in the yellow pages , or contact the factory @ the phone #’s listed below:
http://nutone.com --- Customer Service
NuTone Inc.
9825 Kenwood Road Suite 301
Cincinnati, OH 45242
In U.S.A. call:
1-888-336-3948 for Customer Service
1-888-336-6151 for Technical Support

In Canada call: 1-888-882-7626
Thanks, Don – The Vac Man
Go Ahead. Use Us.