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Probably mad but....

NavisBD

By NavisBD
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NavisBD Explorer

NavisBD

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This one's a bit left-field, as my kids would say, but bear with me.

 

At the moment my boat is completely off-grid. The one thing I miss above all is a vacuum cleaner! I'm yet to find a 12v dc vacuum cleaner which is worth buying. I've had two, and they were both so useless that I ended up binning them. I know I could run an ac one off an inverter, but I was wondering if one of the miracle inventers on this site has come up with a design for a completely manual vacuum cleaner? It may be that such a thing is impossible, but I'll never know till I ask!

 

Mind you, I only found out recently that there was such a thing as a fridge which could be run off gas, so what do I know?

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Richard10002 Veteran II

Richard10002

Posted
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Have you got a generator to charge your batteries via the shorepower input plug? If so, you can power a 240V vacuum cleaner with it, whilst still off grid. I have an cabled upright Dyson and a cordless Dyson V6 which charges via the 240V part of the system.

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Guest

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What about a dustpan and brush? Works fine for us.

I think it depends on flooring type but yes our boat had 'hard' flooring and in the end this is all we used too.

 

For extra cleanliness the mop and bucket came out too occasionally.

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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Posted (edited)

An ejector fitted to the engines exhaust pipe will make a good vacuum, very simple, no moving parts.

Also a vacuum hose could be connected to the engines air inlet manifold, incorporating a vacuum draught diverter to prevent the dust entering the engine. The diverter might not be reliable though, dust is very searching, plus all the Mites in it tend to act as marshals and direct the dust out and back from whence it came to effect their escape and save their lives, as they're not keen on the risk of entering into a hot engine and getting bounced about on the pistons and the compression squeezing would make them very ill before getting blasted out of the exhaust pipe in a terribly dizzy and stunned condition.

The ejector would be more efficient in that respect and kinder to natures little blighters.

Also a bicycle pump will create a small vacuum if the handle is pulled out sharply. A small bore extension tube screwed into the connector hole to make it more useful for sucking up the odd grain of dust.

Your coal stove would also make quite a powerful vacuum cleaner, here's how. Remove the lower air knob completely and make an adapter to fit snugly over the hole left in the door. Fix a long vacuum pipe to the adapter. Attach your favourite attachment to the other end of the hose. Stoke the fire up until its roaring away like billyo. The fiercer it is the stronger the vacuum, no mess either and another form of ejector.

Edited by bizzard
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Athy Veteran II

AthyDonate to Canal World

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Do you live on board? If not, you can get small 12 volt "hoovers" which you can charge up at home and take with you when you visit your boat. Not sure how long a charge lasts, maybe an hour or so, which is enough to vacuum the average boat floor several times. We have one of these but it's on the boat and we're not, so I can't tell you the brand name. It's certainly not useless.

 

I am not sure if Bex Bissels are still made: they used to be quite efficient manual sweepers, but were more effective on carpets than on hard floors. As MJG says, it depends upon the type of flooring which you have.

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manxmike Proficient

manxmike

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We have a carpet sweeper (like a bex bissel) which is very effective provided you empty it from time to time! It's cheap, effective and stores away easily - simples!

We found it on ebay, search for "carpet sweeper"

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chubby Rising Star

chubby

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Posted (edited)

How bizarre

 

I am a liveaboard , off grid & always looking for ways to trim my electrical needs . I have a small dyson which runs off an inverter which ive used for several years & will continue to do so

 

BUT yesterday i ordered a carpet sweeper , which required an investment of a full £15 so i hope it works as it represents the price of 2 large doner kebabs which i will have to go without now .

 

I will report back on its performance of this bit of kit in the coming days - exciting stuff eh ...& to think - some people think the forum had become dull !!

 

cheers

Edited by chubby
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Murflynn Veteran

Murflynn

Posted
Posted

An ejector fitted to the engines exhaust pipe will make a good vacuum, very simple, no moving parts.

Also a vacuum hose could be connected to the engines air inlet manifold, incorporating a vacuum draught diverter to prevent the dust entering the engine. The diverter might not be reliable though, dust is very searching, plus all the Mites in it tend to act as marshals and direct the dust out and back from whence it came to effect their escape and save their lives, as they're not keen on the risk of entering into a hot engine and getting bounced about on the pistons and the compression squeezing would make them very ill before getting blasted out of the exhaust pipe in a terribly dizzy and stunned condition.

The ejector would be more efficient in that respect and kinder to natures little blighters.

Also a bicycle pump will create a small vacuum if the handle is pulled out sharply. A small bore extension tube screwed into the connector hole to make it more useful for sucking up the odd grain of dust.

Your coal stove would also make quite a powerful vacuum cleaner, here's how. Remove the lower air knob completely and make an adapter to fit snugly over the hole left in the door. Fix a long vacuum pipe to the adapter. Attach your favourite attachment to the other end of the hose. Stoke the fire up until its roaring away like billyo. The fiercer it is the stronger the vacuum, no mess either and another form of ejector.

yeah, but ........................ my yogurt pot has electric solar drive plus a small petrol outboard, and no stove.

 

the 'small vacuum' created by a bicycle pump will not be adequate for my needs.

 

how would I manage?

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Bee Veteran

Bee

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One of these days I will be somewhere near Bishops Stortford and track down Bizzards boat (It'll be the one with a satellite dish pointed at radio 4's long wave transmitter to collect electricity for the battery's and yes that really did happen in Droitwich a few years back) and ask to see the wonderful solutions to everyday problems it must contain. I think we should know if the hamster powered nuclear fission device is anywhere near working yet,

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

One of these days I will be somewhere near Bishops Stortford and track down Bizzards boat (It'll be the one with a satellite dish pointed at radio 4's long wave transmitter to collect electricity for the battery's and yes that really did happen in Droitwich a few years back) and ask to see the wonderful solutions to everyday problems it must contain. I think we should know if the hamster powered nuclear fission device is anywhere near working yet,

 

 

Richard (RLWP) of this parish tells me he once met Mr Bizzard. He goes curiously quiet, his eyes dart about and he changes the subject when asked about it.

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NavisBD Explorer

NavisBD

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Some good suggestions. The carpet sweeper is ok for flat long surfaces, but that's not really what I had in mind. If you think of those instances in a domestic situation where you'd attach a hose to get at fiddly areas - it's that I want to emulate.

 

I'm not going to buy a 'carvac' type thing again, as I believe it would throw good money after bad. No matter what some reviewers (plants?) say, I've yet to meet one of these devices which has any suction power worth the name. Perhaps the physics makes it impossible to generate powerful suction from 12v, although pumping eg in bilge pumps seems to be able to reach a fair head of steam from 12v.

 

The 'recharge at home, use on boat' is certainly possible eg Dyson, but they are hardly a cheap solution. I've also read some pretty scathing reviews, mainly concentrated on the input/output figures ie hours on charge/minutes of vacuuming. Can any of the users here say hand on heart that the suction power in a rechargeable is comparable to a mains-operated vacuum cleaner? If so, I might look further into replacing our domestic hoover, with the wife's agreement!

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chubby Rising Star

chubby

Posted
Posted

How bizarre

 

I am a liveaboard , off grid & always looking for ways to trim my electrical needs . I have a small dyson which runs off an inverter which ive used for several years & will continue to do so

 

BUT yesterday i ordered a carpet sweeper , which required an investment of a full £15 so i hope it works as it represents the price of 2 large doner kebabs which i will have to go without now .

 

I will report back on its performance of this bit of kit in the coming days - exciting stuff eh ...& to think - some people think the forum had become dull !!

 

cheers

o

 

Well i picked up my old skool carpet sweeper . From my childhood memories i was under the impression it would come with squeaky wheels but alas it does not . Maybe a squeak will develop over time .

 

I must say it is very good actually . It takes longer to do and it wont get right into the edges so i used a broom to bring stuff out to the middle of the carpet . Then i went over with the cheap carpet sweep and it worked well . I reckon if i use it daily then it ll do the job fine .

So a walk to Argos & £15 well spent .

 

Now all i have to do is come to terms with what sad sad man ive become

 

cheers

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

The Dyson cordless vacuums can be charged from 12V. They sell an accessory that replaces the mains charger. The V6 Animal is a great vacuum, light and powerful.

 

 

Not for the V6 they don't. Or didn't last time I checked.

 

The V6 uses a different charger from the earlier handheld models.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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it's a standard 5mm centre positive plug and the voltage is 24V so it can't be hard to find something suitable. I'm not on my boat but I plan to check the specs on the charger and then go to Maplin or eBay. I've emailed Dyson for advice.

 

 

I'm pretty certain the LiFePO4 batteries a V6 probably uses need a very precise charge profile, and not plain 24Vdc stuffed into them. That's how to set them on fire.

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