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Question: My Goliath vacuum does not seam as strong as it once was. What things do I need to check?
Answer: Things to check for (vacuum leaks)
1. Does dump valve leak with water in the waste tank and the machine is turned off? If yes the air is sucking backwards through the machine.
2. Check all hoses and hose clamps in the motor box. These do get loose. Make sure the hoses are push all the way onto the vacuum motors.
3. Check the waste tank lid gasket, is it still holding and firm?
4. Is the top of the Goliath level. The new Goliath's have a metal piece of aluminum angle directly under the waste tank lid hinge to prevent the roof of the Goliath from sucking down and in. Best I can tell this was contributing to Goliath lid gasket issues. The roof would suck down and this would allow the air to start grasping the gasket near the hinge and cause the gasket failure.
5. With the vacuum on, place your hand over the pump out discharge hose and see if the check valve in the waste tank is stuck open. It is common to have a small leak here but a large leak. Plumbing check valves where designed for water and we are using it in an air vacuum system.
6. Some portables have sucked hair into the bottom of the vacuum motors. This is only visible when you remove the vacuum motors and flip them over. This is also only caused by customer that do not use their hose mount lint filter and waste tank ball float and cage assemblies. In your case I know you are filtering your in coming air and water so this will not be your problem. It is easy to correct with a curved dental pick to clean out the bottom of the vacuum motors and re-install.
7. Vacuum motor gasket suck in. This is hard to detect. The only way to check is see if you can take a small dental pick or screw driver and test all the way around the base of each vacuum motor. In all other branded portables vacuum motor gaskets are just squeezed between the bottom vacuum manifold and the bottom of the vacuum motor. With the Goliath the vacuum is so extreme the gaskets have to be glued in. Compression alone will not prevent the suck in. In some cases the vacuum motors have to be removed to check the quality of the gasket. I use one 1/4" wide bead in a complete circle in the middle of the gasket to secure it on both sides.
8. Vacuum motor bearing failure. This too is hard to detect. If you suck foam into the vacuum motors this washes out the grease in the bearing that is inside the vacuum motor. This is not correctable other than replacing the vacuum motor. You can run an amp test on each vacuum motors and they should be at about 7.5 amps each. If you have one motor that is higher than this, this would be the motor that is dragging because of the washed out bearing. Please take a look at the auto pump out float and rod system. On the plastic vertical rod, their is a small usually white band around the float shaft. Please lower all the way to the top of the float. This will be hard to move but it is movable. What this will do is make the auto pump out turn on sooner and minimize moisture suck up into the vacuum motors. Ultimately you will have to change out the vacuum motor.
9. Lose hose cuffs. You will need to check each hose cuff and joint and make sure they are all tight. Some customer like to glue the hose cuffs to the hose, other like to just screw them on. The just screwed on hose cuff will get loose after some use.
10. Garbage stuck in the head of the cleaning wand and or hose. To start make sure that the inside of the vacuum hoses are clean. Lay out all the hoses and turn on the vacuum. Run some large ice cubes down the vacuum hose. You will hear and see the ice make it all the way into the machine. If you have pick up some tooth picks and they lodge sideways these obstructions will start to build up with hair and fibers and block the hose. The ice is usually strong enough to break through these clogs without making the clog worse. If the head of the wand is clogged used a bend close hanger to sweep out the trash.
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Answer: Things to check for (vacuum leaks)
1. Does dump valve leak with water in the waste tank and the machine is turned off? If yes the air is sucking backwards through the machine.
2. Check all hoses and hose clamps in the motor box. These do get loose. Make sure the hoses are push all the way onto the vacuum motors.
3. Check the waste tank lid gasket, is it still holding and firm?
4. Is the top of the Goliath level. The new Goliath's have a metal piece of aluminum angle directly under the waste tank lid hinge to prevent the roof of the Goliath from sucking down and in. Best I can tell this was contributing to Goliath lid gasket issues. The roof would suck down and this would allow the air to start grasping the gasket near the hinge and cause the gasket failure.
5. With the vacuum on, place your hand over the pump out discharge hose and see if the check valve in the waste tank is stuck open. It is common to have a small leak here but a large leak. Plumbing check valves where designed for water and we are using it in an air vacuum system.
6. Some portables have sucked hair into the bottom of the vacuum motors. This is only visible when you remove the vacuum motors and flip them over. This is also only caused by customer that do not use their hose mount lint filter and waste tank ball float and cage assemblies. In your case I know you are filtering your in coming air and water so this will not be your problem. It is easy to correct with a curved dental pick to clean out the bottom of the vacuum motors and re-install.
7. Vacuum motor gasket suck in. This is hard to detect. The only way to check is see if you can take a small dental pick or screw driver and test all the way around the base of each vacuum motor. In all other branded portables vacuum motor gaskets are just squeezed between the bottom vacuum manifold and the bottom of the vacuum motor. With the Goliath the vacuum is so extreme the gaskets have to be glued in. Compression alone will not prevent the suck in. In some cases the vacuum motors have to be removed to check the quality of the gasket. I use one 1/4" wide bead in a complete circle in the middle of the gasket to secure it on both sides.
8. Vacuum motor bearing failure. This too is hard to detect. If you suck foam into the vacuum motors this washes out the grease in the bearing that is inside the vacuum motor. This is not correctable other than replacing the vacuum motor. You can run an amp test on each vacuum motors and they should be at about 7.5 amps each. If you have one motor that is higher than this, this would be the motor that is dragging because of the washed out bearing. Please take a look at the auto pump out float and rod system. On the plastic vertical rod, their is a small usually white band around the float shaft. Please lower all the way to the top of the float. This will be hard to move but it is movable. What this will do is make the auto pump out turn on sooner and minimize moisture suck up into the vacuum motors. Ultimately you will have to change out the vacuum motor.
9. Lose hose cuffs. You will need to check each hose cuff and joint and make sure they are all tight. Some customer like to glue the hose cuffs to the hose, other like to just screw them on. The just screwed on hose cuff will get loose after some use.
10. Garbage stuck in the head of the cleaning wand and or hose. To start make sure that the inside of the vacuum hoses are clean. Lay out all the hoses and turn on the vacuum. Run some large ice cubes down the vacuum hose. You will hear and see the ice make it all the way into the machine. If you have pick up some tooth picks and they lodge sideways these obstructions will start to build up with hair and fibers and block the hose. The ice is usually strong enough to break through these clogs without making the clog worse. If the head of the wand is clogged used a bend close hanger to sweep out the trash.
Links
