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Vacuum Recommendation Request

  • 1.  Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Posted 03-25-2017 20:54
    What is the best vacuum to use for cleaning dust out of customer's pianos?

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    Gary Howell
    Melbourne FL
    http://www.cranecreekpianos.com
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  • 2.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-25-2017 21:25
    Hi Gary:
    Every once in a while, we have this discussion. It's got to be in the archives.
    A lot of techs like the Metro Vac. I use the Hoover PortaPower, which has lasted for almost 30 years, and it was already used when I started working at the store.
    Other mentions: Interstate canister (used, not available new), basically anything portable. Oreck, Shark, etc. I once used a customer's huge shop vac which almost sucked dust off the soundboard through the strings. Not exactly what I'd want to cart into somebody's home, but I wish my vac was as powerful.
    Paul McCloud
    San Diego




  • 3.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Posted 03-26-2017 06:49
    Metro Vac-N-Blo.
    Second choice Shark.

    At the end of a long list would be Oreck. Had one, returned it the next day.

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    Regards,

    Jon Page
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  • 4.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Posted 03-27-2017 04:05
    We've had a James Dyson Bagless Vacuum Cleaner since they first came out 20-something years ago - and it's still very good. Their latest is a portable battery-powered Model V6. Check it out at:


    I imagine it's available in the U.S.A.

    Michael    UK





  • 5.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-26-2017 16:51

    My Metrovac may be the exception, but:  other than being small and light weight I can't say much good about it.  The shroud that includes the  in-take hole has never stayed tightly connected to the body of the machine, so that it falls off during operation, spilling dust etc onto customer floors or into their pianos.  The suction is weak (understandably, in view of its size) and recently, one of the screws that holds the other end of the machine together fell out, and I couldn't find any screw at the hardware store that would tightly re-secure this piece.  The power cord is disintegrating. I've owned it 10 years and it's had what I'd call light use.   It's really a cheaply made unit.






  • 6.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-26-2017 08:46
    There is a baby shop vac at costco right now.  I believe it is $29.  It would be perfect to take on the road.







  • 7.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-26-2017 09:44
    This is what I've been carrying for over a year on recommendations from this list. Works very well.

    https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/metro-reg-vac-n-39-blo-reg-automotive-vacuum/1018267365?skuId=18267365&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_cleaning_&adpos=1o3&creative=43742633029&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&product_id=18267365&gclid=Cj0KEQjwzd3GBRDks7SYuNHi3JEBEiQAIm6EI-zjV-WfAr1u4_A8QUMVE7vKFPKx5_H1aR9SIm9Tes0aAphu8P8HAQ

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    -Phil Bondi
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  • 8.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-27-2017 12:16
    I was going to mention this. I have been using these "baby shop vacs" for many years now. Recommended by a band inst. repair guy. The better ones come with a longer hose & cord but I have just been using the Walmart version. The first one lasted only about 8 years. My second one is still going strong after about 12 to 13 years. It fits in a 5 gallon bucket with the hose, attachments, etc which (as a bonus) keeps all dust & odors contained & even spiders 🕷! from getting out & starting spider webs in my vehicle. (Don't ask 😤). Pretty good value for the $25 range.
    Best! Kevin




  • 9.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Posted 03-26-2017 13:48

    Metro Vac N Blo is best. Be sure and get the 4HP model and paper bags unless you want to be cleaning the cloth one that comes with a lot. Attachments are sturdy and so is strap and handle. On certain pianos it will even suck up through the strings from the soundboard.

    Chris Solliday






  • 10.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Posted 03-26-2017 14:45
    Gary,

    I think Paul answered your question. Just as long as the vac is easily portable and has a crevice tool attachment. Some tuners want a disposable bag so they don't breath in all the mouse droppings and dust. My Sanyo vacuum weighs 7 pounds and I can carry it with three fingers. It has the crank type filter empty system and never needs a bag. I just hold my breath when I dump it out every month. Like Paul's Hoover, it is also about 30 years old and I have two identical ones as back ups but they don't have the retractable cord like the the one I use for piano cleaning. I do clean and polish the vacuum case every year so it doesn't look like it has been laying in the landfill.  I remember buying the two back up Sanyo vac's at the same time and paying about $17 each for them at the going out of business sale of Woolworth's stores.
     
    I always clean, dust with a microfiber rag and use the under string wand on grands, a old thick make up brush for between the pins and they vacuum, before I begin tuning. I have never charged for doing the cleaning, except once when it took me an hour to clean the filthiest Steinway grand I have ever serviced. 

    Bob Highfield







  • 11.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-26-2017 15:26
      I meant to post these the last time this came up. I bought this vacuum at a shop on Union Square in New York in 1990. I was working a block away at a jazz club and was making an unholy mess by filing the hammers on a new model B. I think I paid about $30 for it which was a sale price as the store was "going out of business". Oddly, the same store was "going out of business" for the entire 7 years I lived in New York. When I got back to Steinway Hall that day my colleagues in the basement thought my little eureka was the funniest thing they had ever seen. The very idea that a technician would clean up after themselves seemed beyond the pale.
      When I moved to Florida and in home service became a bigger part of my practice I decided that I would include an interior cleaning as part of my standard service call.( Thanks to something LaRoy Edwards told me in 1984 I sell service calls instead of tunings ) Cleaning the inside gives me a chance to do a quick inspection of the instrument and more than once has kept me from starting to work on a piano with major problems I'd have otherwise missed. 27 years in, the little eureka has outlived 2 hoses, 3 plugs, dozens of bags, 3 or 4 sets of Spurlock soundboard squeegees and 4 suitcases. I started carrying the cleaning kit in a suitcase when I learned that, to a doorman with a bad attitude, a suitcase and a camera bag makes me look more like a visitor and less like a contractor. Anything that looks like a toolcase can result in a 10 of 15 minute delay while said doorman consults the oracle at Delphi for the proper incantation to admit a piano tuner to the sacred condo tower.
      I've no doubt that the Metro is better in almost every regard but I've grown attached to the little beast. You can still get one for less than $80 online. Perhaps you could get an even better deal if you're in New York and near Union Square and that same shop is still "going out of business".

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    Karl Roeder
    Pompano Beach FL
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  • 12.  RE: Vacuum Recommendation Request

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-26-2017 15:34
    Recently, I changed from the reusable cloth bag to a paper one. I got tired of the huge volcanic eruption of dust that spewed every time I emptied the bag. Also, the cloth bag gets gradually clogged, and diminishes the suction. Bagless would be better, except that it also exposes the dust when you empty it. Not good, especially if you happened to vacuum up some rodent droppings. Yuck!
    Another consideration is the noise. My wife's Oreck came with a portable canister vac that would wake the dead. I never took it with me on jobs. I recently purchased an Electrolux Oxygen canister vacuum for her. Literally, it is so quiet you can't hear it, just the rushing air sound coming from the nozzle. I would use this, except it's a little bulky and tad bit heavy, not exactly the portability you need for our work.
    Paul McCloud
    San Diego



    Gary,


    I think Paul answered your question. Just as long as the vac is easily portable and has a crevice tool attachment. Some tuners want a disposable bag so they don't breath in all the mouse droppings and dust. My Sanyo vacuum weighs 7 pounds and I can carry it with three fingers. It has the crank type filter empty system and never needs a bag. I just hold my breath when I dump it out every month. Like Paul's Hoover, it is also about 30 years old and I have two identical ones as back ups but they don't have the retractable cord like the the one I use for piano cleaning. I do clean and polish the vacuum case every year so it doesn't look like it has been laying in the landfill. I remember buying the two back up Sanyo vac's at the same time and paying about $17 each for them at the going out of business sale of Woolworth's stores.

    I always clean, dust with a microfiber rag and use the under string wand on grands, a old thick make up brush for between the pins and they vacuum, before I begin tuning. I have never charged for doing the cleaning, except once when it took me an hour to clean the filthiest Steinway grand I have ever serviced.


    Bob Highfield






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