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To clean up a mess of broken glass and lots of liquid, (a six pack of beer shattered all over the carpet in the study) my husband used the central vac.
I tried to use it the other day, about a week later, and surprise, surprise, when I pulled open the wall flip-lid, a bunch of old beer came pouring out.
I cleaned it all up, stuck wadded-up paper towels into the pipe as far as I could, and dried it out. But when I connected the central vac hose and turned it, nothing happened. (The other central vac outlet on the same level works fine).
Anything I can do short of calling a professional?
To clean up a mess of broken glass and lots of liquid, (a six pack of beer shattered all over the carpet in the study) my husband used the central vac.
I tried to use it the other day, about a week later, and surprise, surprise, when I pulled open the wall flip-lid, a bunch of old beer came pouring out.
I cleaned it all up, stuck wadded-up paper towels into the pipe as far as I could, and dried it out. But when I connected the central vac hose and turned it, nothing happened. (The other central vac outlet on the same level works fine).
Anything I can do short of calling a professional?
Sounds like all the beer wasn't spilled on the floor, a goodly amount must have reached hub's stomach and brain, to do such a foolish thing.
Nothing smells as bad as stale beer, so even without the clog, the smell will be terrible.
As for the clog, you might try a snake to see if you can reach it, but all the piping is inside the walls, which might require removing drywall and cutting out a section of pipe, if you can even locate where the clog is. Hopefully the clog is very close to an opening that can be reached with a snake. Perhaps make an adaptor and try air pressure to blow it loose??
Doesn't sound like a fun project. Good luck.
To clean up a mess of broken glass and lots of liquid, (a six pack of beer shattered all over the carpet in the study) my husband used the central vac.
I tried to use it the other day, about a week later, and surprise, surprise, when I pulled open the wall flip-lid, a bunch of old beer came pouring out.
I cleaned it all up, stuck wadded-up paper towels into the pipe as far as I could, and dried it out. But when I connected the central vac hose and turned it, nothing happened. (The other central vac outlet on the same level works fine).
Anything I can do short of calling a professional?
Reason I will never have central vac again, once they go or have problems the cost of fixing all the damage it might have required to fix not worth it... I hope your is minor fix it....
Are the outlets trhe type where the system turns on only whn a hose is inserted in the outlet? If so, when you pushed the wadded up towels inside the outlet, you may have damaged the sensor trigger. Look inside a working outlet and look inside the non working outlet, is there anything that doesn't look the same?
Pop open the flip lid on the wall outlet as if you were going to plug in the hose and use the vacum. Look inside. There should be two small metal spring loaded brass pins inside the hole. On your hose there should be a metal band where the hose fits in the wall outlet. That metal band shorts the pins completing the circuit by making contact and that turns on your central vac motor. You can take a pair of needle nose pliers with insulated handles and try and short the two pins in the outlet. The vac motor should come on. The beer probably corroded the contacts on the back of the outlet. Or could corrode the pins themselves. The wall plate should be removable. There should be two screws holding the outside plate to the wall ring/pipe connector. Removing the outer cover should give you access to the inside terminals where you can cut strip and reinstall the wires or replace the whole outer part.
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