"Don Phillipson" wrote in message
...
Can we I test suction power of a central vacuum system
(and is this how to test the system in general) when suction
seems to have reduced to feeble?

Motor is 16 years old. Filter bag (between dust
canister and motor assembly) is 22 or 24 years old,
perhaps clogged by decades of use (despite careful
brushing this morning.)

How long do these motors last anyway?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Depending on what type you have, some material may be either stuck in the
piping (look at elbows) or some material may have bypassed your filter bag
and got stuck on some metalwork or grill and is reducing the suction. My
Beam was installed in early 1980s making it almost 30 years old and it is
going strong. Vacs come in permanent bag types, such as mine, replaceable
bags, and cyclonic. Vacs using cyclonic action have a final screen that
stops lumps from hitting the impeller. Stuff that doesn't drop out with the
cyclonic separation builds up on this screen. Just take a shop vac and clean
way up inside and it will be as good as new.

Many newer models are cheaply made of plastic and also don't last as long as
the solid old models, the same as with tools.