Vacuum cleaner belts and vacuum performance.

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by: fredwarnell
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Word Count: 676
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 Time: 4:37 PM
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Vacuum cleaner belts can come in many styles
and hundreds of different sizes. Normally, vacuums
use a belt to drive an agitation device, which
is also well-known as a brush roller. With very few
exceptions, most vacuums will use either a flat
belt, round belt, or a geared style belt.

The type of belt that your vacuum uses is very
important, not only for durability, but performance
as well. The condition and type of belt your
vacuum uses will have a lot of influence on the systems
capacity to clean carpet. The proper use of
agitation is almost 70% of the cleaning strength of
a vacuum cleaner.

Suction is also very important. The suction is
what removes the dirt that is sucked from the carpet
into the collection area of the vacuum. The
suction, or airflow, is the key when cleaning
hard floors or when using attachments. Without
suction, a vacuum cleaner could only bring more
dirt to the surface of carpet. Even though both
agitation and suction are essential with vacuuming,
the agitation is what actually cleans them.

Essentially all manufacturers use brush rollers that
are made of wood, metal, or even plastic that
is pushed by a suction or brush motor using three different types of belts - round,
geared, or flat.

The round belts are the oldest kind as they
were easy to fabricate and simple to engineer. The
round style, unfortunately, is commonly run in
the same location as vacuumed dirt. What this means,
is that almost all of the crud, staples, and
hair you vacuum up will pass near the belt;
cutting, nicking, or even scratching it along the
way.

Vacuum cleaner belts have to stretch quite a long
way, placing even further strain on the roller and
the motor bearings. The round belt is still
prevalent, and used even today.

The flat form of belts are usually run in a
circular fashion as well, unlike the twisted
route the round belt takes to deliver the
performance in the right direction.

The flat variety allows manufacturers to run the belt off
of one side of the brush roller, instead of the
center where all of the soil is. This is absolutely a
good innovation, as you can remove premature
failing on account of the grime and dirt in the belt path.

The latest belt style is considered to be the
best in the business. Although there are a lot of
variations out there, the geared belt is the
most effective means to drive a brush. The
geared belt is also well-known as a positive brush system
on account of the energy of the brush motor is
transmitted directly to the brush.

Both the brush and the motor are secured by
fixed teeth to each other through a cogged belt
without tension. The resulting direct connection
leads to better cleaning efficiency because
the brush can be rotated at a faster speed
regardless of the age of the belt.

The flat style can stretch as they become hot,
which will cause them to fail to keep tightness. When
you run your vacuum, the belt is perpetually going to
stretch. Believe it or not, it will lose it's
tautness the moment you put it up to rest in the
cabinet.

There is however, one real inconvenience to geared
belts - the expense of the vacuum. Geared belts
are typically employed on two motor vacuums. Not
only does this require a discrete suction and
brush motor, but it also requires electronic
sensory systems to warn you when something is
wrong with the brush.

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