Are Central Vacuums With Cyclonic Technology Bad?

Central vacuum cleaners are among the "power-house" type products in comparison with the more conventional upright or canister vacuums. They are more quieter (not every product but most are), powerful, do better deep cleaning and last longer too (this is why they usually cost more actually).

Cyclonic and vacuums seems to go together these days and both manufactures and other experts do have their own positive and negative opinions concerning the cyclonic technology as well.

An illustration of the main chamber of a central vac...

It can damage the motor if you aren't careful

Since cyclonic uses a tornado type artificial movement to suck things in and filter out the dust, what happens is that, smaller dust particles will be taken out of the main chamber but other things like hair, rug or carpet fibers, etc will be left over inside.

Now if don't clean it up frequently, then that trapped dirt can get into the main vacuum motor thus can even damage it (note this is also a common cause for most of the upright bagless vacuums as well). And to make things worse, most manufactures don't cover these type of motor failures either (caused by "intruding dust, etc").

This will also reduce the vacuum suctions too. So never let it fill up 3/4 of the dust bin capacity as a precaution.

Perfect environment for dust mites

This is where the filters come into play. They protect the inside motor and the output air by removing allergens, dust mites, etc with technologies such as microban... as a general standard nowadays. Another cause of hair trapped in the canister on a cyclonic central vacuum is that it creates the perfect environment for creatures like dust mites to grow. So again make sure to clean it often. 

If you have asthma or related health problems, it advisable to not to empty the dust tank/bin by yourself. The safest method is to use a central vacuum that uses bags as the dust storing chamber or let someone else to do it for you. 

Few tips to enhance its lifetime

Just because they are powerful doesn't mean that you can suck in whatever you want. So never pick up things such as ...

*. Fire-place ashes.

*. Construction dust.

*. Sheet rock dust.

*. Talcum powder, etc.

Not only this can damage your filter + the motor but an overheated motor can start a fire pretty easily!. So as finale note, the point of this article is not to say that a central vacuum with cyclonic suctions is a really pad choice, but just remember - they do have their own weaker points and may not as good as the manufactures usually claim.

Generally they (both cyclonic and the non-cyclonic) have a lots of benefits over other more conventional floor cleaner products too. For instance, they have better filtration (nasal allergy reductions as far as over 47% in comparison, etc), quiet and can make your indoor air 50% + more cleaner as well. 

So when using them, try to remember their weakness and things like frequent disposals, use only for the proper material suctions and cleaning the HEPA filters, etc, that can certainly help to get the most out of your cyclonic central vac without a doubt.

Source: this thinkvacum.com article (you should read it!).