I’ve got what must be a problem carpet, because my vacuum cleaner goes through belts like crazy. By the time I’ve done the whole house once or twice, I need to replace the belts!
Can someone recommend a model that would be a good fit – a kind that either doesn’t use a belt to drive the brush roll agitator, or uses a really heavy duty belt? Thanks for any suggestions.
Comments are closed.
I would check the vacuum cleaner first.
With the belt removed, the brush roller should spin very easily. If not, find out why. There could be hair wrapped in the axle/bearing or crud built up in the housing that catches on the brushes.
Is there any crud on the pulleys? That leads to belt slippage and stretching which creates heat that softens the belts and they die a quick death.
Use the correct belt. They should be tight (cogged belts will be looser) so they don’t slip and make heat.
Are the pulleys aligned? If the belt wears on the sides then it’s not aligned and will wear quickly. This could be due to a cracked housing or worn bearing.
Is the height setting correct? Folks tend to have the brush set too low and that overworks the brush and belt. The brush/beater bar is primarily to ‘flick’ or shake the dirt off the fibers while the vac sucks it up before it lands and to grab lint off the top. It’s not supposed to scrub the carpet – just flick it.
With that said, look for a model that uses a flat cog style belt. They are noisier and the rest of the vac may be worse than what you have.
Buy a Kirby