Vacuum Belts and Vacuum Performance

There are hundreds of different sizes and several different styles of vacuum cleaner belts. The roller brush, or agitation device, on your vacuum is driven by these belts. Flat belts, round belts, or geared belts are the types of belts that are most commonly used in vacuum cleaners.

The performance of your vacuum, and the durability of the belt, will be determined in large part by the type of belt that your vacuum uses. Since agitation accounts for around 70% of your vacuums ability to remove dirt, your vacuum belts condition is directly related to your vacuums performance.

Other important part of removing dirt form your carpet is suction. Suction is especially important for removing dirt when you are using attachments or cleaning a bare floor surface. Agitation is what will actually clean your carpet, although suction is important to take the dirt away from the floor and into the collection canister.

Belts are used by almost all vacuum manufactures to drive the roller brushes. These brushes can be made from wood, metal, or plastic.

The easiest belts to produce and design were the round belts, so that is what appeared on the market first. The problem with the round belt is that it is usually placed in the same area where the vacuum collects dirt and debris, and so becomes vulnerable to damage from any item that passes by.

This type of vacuum cleaner belt must be stretched tightly which places additional stress on the motor bearings and roller. You still see the round belt being installed in modern day vacuum cleaners.

Flat belts were an improvement on the round belt. While they still were run in a circular fashion they took a better route to delivering performance in the right direction. The flat belt does not need to be placed down the center of the roller belt but can instead be placed to one side. This helps to extend the life of the belt.

The best, and most recent, belt design is the geared belt. There are many different types of geared belt, but they all offer improved performance over the round or flat belt. They allow the energy of the brush motor to be directly transmitted to the roller brush, and are thus called a positive brush system.

There is a cogged belt that uses fixed teeth instead of tension to lock the brush and motor together. No matter how old the belt the brush can be driven at high speeds, improving the overall efficiency of the vacuum cleaner.

While the flat style of belt is in use it warms up and stretches, causing a reduction in tension. In fact all vacuums that have a belt that relies on tension loose tension as the belt continues to stretch all the time.

The only real downside to purchasing a vacuum with a geared belt is cost. Two motors are usually required for the use of geared belts. You need a separate motor for both the suction and the brush and a sensor that will alert you when there are problems with the brush.

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