Vacuum hose
A pressure component that fails silently. A crushed hose sounds identical and lifts noticeably less.
In detail
The hose is the part of a vacuum most likely to be degraded and least likely to be inspected. Conservation purchasing guidance treats it as a real specification — hoses should be long and flexible enough for the spaces being cleaned, crush-proof options are recommended, ball joint connections make the machine follow the operator, and anti-static hoses are available where dust is being held by charge. It fails in three ways, none of which announces itself. It can be crushed or kinked so the bore is reduced; it can develop a split or a loose cuff, which admits air and drops suction at the nozzle without any change in motor noise; and it can accumulate an internal deposit or a blockage that a user never sees. Because the symptom of all three is 'the vacuum seems weaker', the hose is worth checking before the machine is replaced. Detaching it and looking through it takes a moment.
Sources for this page
Sources
Conserve O Gram 1/6: Choosing a Museum Vacuum Cleaner
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 2003 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That hoses must be long and flexible enough for the spaces to be cleaned, that crush-proof hoses are a good option and help eliminate damage to the hose, that ball joint connections make the machine move more smoothly, and that anti-static wands and hoses are available. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The sections headed Filtration System — Dry Vacuums, Wet Vacuums and Wet-Dry Vacuums, plus the physical-feature checklist. Supports the claim as stated. Gives the vacuum record a filtration standard and, more usefully, a ranked comparison between three machine types that consumer coverage treats as equivalent.
Last reviewed by a person on .