Power Head for the Central Vac - Montana Owners Club

ChuckD · 02-24-2008, 04:23 AM

A few months ago someone posted that they had found a power head for the Montys central vac at Walmart. They included the part number but it seems that I am looking in the wrong places and I need your assistance. In the mean time I have also missed placed the part number, could anyone help me, I checked with the local Walmart and they did not have a clue on what I was asking for.

racerjoe · 02-24-2008, 04:40 AM

I was told by dsprik that the Turbo Cat zoom will work on our central vac, I believe the model # is PB102 We located it online at the Central Vacuum factory,

Parrothead · 02-24-2008, 04:45 AM

We purchaed a Shop-Vac air powered for under $25 on line. Look in the shop vacumn section at Wal-Mart. I also saw one at one of the wal-marts we've been in that was in the vacumn dept. and was a pet hair one.
We really like the one we have and the price was right.
Happy trails................

OntMont · 02-24-2008, 04:47 AM

I have seen them at a couple of hardware chains, and Home Depot in Canada, but never in the U.S. You can buy the battery operated power head (and other accessories) from InterVac Design Corporation, Palm City FL. 1-888-499-1925 or www.intervacdesign.com. We have the battery operated powerhead, and it works well. I think we will order an extra battery though, so that we always have one fully charged one on hand. The powerhead is model X453 (BB300). You can also buy generic air turbine operated heads, we have one of those too, but the battery powered one works much better, but it is expensive ($169).

I am not sure what the relationship is between InterVac and Dometic, but the products are identical so far as I can tell.

illapah · 02-24-2008, 04:59 AM

Dirt Devil makes one for the central vac. You may contact them directly or look at:

http://www.rvupgradestore.com/index....S&Category=228

ChuckD · 02-24-2008, 06:03 AM

Thanks everyone for the help. I got it on order from RV Upgrade Store $40.00 with shipping. again Thank You all.

4 beader · 02-24-2008, 01:16 PM

Will the RugRat Cleaning Tool that goes with the Eureka work with / fit the Dometic?

ChuckD · 02-24-2008, 01:53 PM

Thats what I ordered Rug Rat $29.00 & 11.00 plus change again Thanks for the help

bncinwv · 02-24-2008, 02:03 PM

For those who are interested, the aisle in Wal-Mart where all the vacuum cleaner bags are located is where I found the pet attachment. Seems like it was just laying on one of the bottom shelves, but I think they had a designated hook for it. It had the beater bar and an upholstery attachment as well. I can testify that it is well worth the money, seems like it was around $30 if my memory is not failing me.
Bingo

sreigle · 02-26-2008, 07:40 AM

We have the one we bought in Kansas City. It works well but requires frequent cleaning. Cleaning requires removing several screws and disassembling the whole thing. So we're on the lookout for something better.

Ozz originally posted about finding one in Walmart.We've since looked in at least a dozen walmarts and none had it. Only one had a place marked for it but, of course, they were out. We look both with the shop vacs and the regular vacuum sections.

Sue, I did not think about looking online. I think I'll do that soon as I can.

paperheart · 02-28-2008, 04:07 AM

I know you all are tired of beating this old horse but there are 2 different heads we can order (within that $29-$39 price range). 1. the Rugrat, 2. the one from Intervac.
The question-- the one from Intervac says "mini". Is that one smalller or is it just the same. The heads are a little differently shaped, anyone seen a comparison? TIA paperheart

stiles watson · 02-28-2008, 06:15 AM

Thanks OnMont, we have been been thinking ourselves into inactivity, probably because of my Scot blood that squeezes pennies and nickels. I wanted to buy the less expensive vacuum driven head, but wondered if it would do a masterful job. You own and have compared them for me, so now I will bite the bullet and order the battery powered unit.

sreigle · 02-28-2008, 07:54 AM

Is the Dirt Devil RugRat easy to take apart and clean or does it require removing a bunch of screws?

Does anyone know the width of the rugrat power head? Is this a mini?

Does it come apart for cleaning without removing a bunch of screws?

Stiles, we currently have a vacuum powered head. It works very well except by the time the hose is stretched all the way to the bedroom closet from the living area the vacuum is weak enough the power head is not spinning as hard as I'd like. But it improves quickly as I move away from the mirror edge of the floor by the bed. The problem with mine is it requires removing a lot of screws and disassembling the entire unit to remove those fibres and whatnot that get caught up in the mechanism. I forgot the brand of ours but it is not dirt devil.

sreigle · 02-28-2008, 10:43 AM

I just emailed the company in the link for the RugRat and asked the width of the powerhead. Here is the reply.
-----

Thank you for your unquiry, the powerhead's width is 6 inches. We do have them in stock and therefore could ship out immediately.

You can reach us at the 800# listed below.

RVupgrades.com
Ph: 866-332-7881

OntMont · 02-28-2008, 12:15 PM

Ours is a Riccar brand one. It is about 6" brush with, 6-1/2 overall. It can be taken apart, but it is not all that easy. The problem we have with it is that dog hair and bits of thread get caught in the turbine and slow it down to the point that is not functional. When the turbine is clear, it works fine, but it clogs up easily. For someone who does not have a dog, and does not do sewing in their trailer, it may well be satisfactory. The InterVac battery operated one, is about a foot wide, the narrow width of the turbine model is handy for cleaning some small spaces, like beside the bed.

Bob & Lee · 04-21-2008, 03:59 AM

Found this on the costco web site but not in the store a little high priced but I need a larger one than the one I am using it is very small and takes a long time to vacuum.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

sreigle · 04-21-2008, 07:46 AM

John, the one we have also can be taken apart but is not easy. And we have the same problem with carpet threads and other debris get wrapped up in the turbine spool area. It takes about an hour to take it apart, clean it out, put it back together. I'm looking for one that mostly snaps open to access the roller, at least. Now I have to remove several screws to get to the roller/brush.

Also, the rug rat is pretty narrow for vacuuming the entire 3400. The one we have now is quite a bit wider. So, I'm looking for a wider one than the rug rat that's easy to take apart and clean. I'm probably dreaming.

We've checked the vacuum row and the shop vac row in every Walmart we've been in since Ozz posted about the one he found there. We have yet to find one although in one Walmart they had a place and tag for it but were out of them. We've not been able to find them at Lowe's and Home Depot, either. I'll have to check some of the links in the above posts.

OntMont · 04-21-2008, 08:14 AM

Steve, the Riccar brand one (we bought it at an independent Vac Shop the RGV) is about 6" wide, but it does have provision to open the turbine for cleaning with a simple release button. I am pretty sure that they also had larger ones as well. There is no other information on it other than the brand name RICCAR.

krtam · 04-21-2008, 09:08 AM

We are currently using the Power Paw w/our Intervac that came with our Eureka upright. It is also about 6" wide. The problem I have found is when you push harder on the wand to pick up the pet hair, the air driven beater bar slows down. Does the battery operated one slow down? That one is on my list for purchase(not sure what # it is on my list, though), also I would look forward to a wider sweep.
Sharon

OntMont · 04-21-2008, 03:58 PM

We are quite pleased with the performance of the battery-operated intervac power head, it does a good job on pet hair (at least border collie hair, not sure about labs and other breeds). You don't have to bear down on it to get it to pick-up, so it does not slow down.

The battery seems to last for about two vacuumings of our trailer. We bought an extra battery so that we would always have a fresh one available. That may not have been necessary, as long as you recharge after the second vacuuming. The batteries are Ni-Cd, and subject to memory effects, so it is good practice to let the battery run right down until the motor slows to a crawl, and then recharge fully.

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