November 14, 2020 - Replace Vacuum Door Connector

The new inlet for the vacuum in Marge arrived today. Although it is from the same company and is the exact part number, it is different.  They have changed the way the door mounts and the way it connects electrically.  Here is a picture from the front and from the side.

It is a rainy day so I decided to mess around on it and see what I could get accomplished. When I worked on the inlet the last time I had to unload everything from the front compartment and take down the wall to get access to the hose to reconnect the vacuum.

The old inlet mounted with four screws to a metal plate behind the wall paneling. The new one has two screw holes for mounting it into an electrical box. There has probably been an update in the electrical code that now requires it to be in an electrical box even though it is a low voltage wire to turn it on. 

Because of the new design the new inlet would not attach to the metal backing plate. Upon looking at the situation I decided that if I cut the metal backing plate out I might be able to connect the vacuum hose to the new inlet from the inside.  I got busy with my Dremel tool and cut the metal plate into a couple of pieces and pulled it out. Once it was out, through the double wall, I could see the plastic hose laying about six inches below the inlet opening. I thought if I could get ahold of it I could pull it towards me and connect it to the new inlet from inside. Trying to retrieve an inch and a half PVC fitting six inches away through a double wall with a two and a half inch by two and a half inch hole proved challenging. I was finally able to get under it with a piece of coat hanger wire and lift it up. Once I had it up even with the hole I was able to grab it with needle nose pliers and pull it into the room. Luckily there was enough hose to pull it in about four inches so I could connect it.

The next problem was that the pipe fitting on the back of the new inlet was smaller than the old one and therefore did not fit tight in the inch and a half PVC pipe. I didn't want to just Duct tape it on because this fitting needs to be tight for suction. Plus Duct tape tends to dry out over time and the hose could fall off in the wall. I needed a thin "O" ring to go around the fitting on the new inlet. In looking at the old inlet I noticed it had such a ring around it which sat in a groove. The new inlet did not have any such grooves. I pulled the "O" ring off and put it on the new inlet but it was too tight for the PVC fitting to slip on. I noticed that the pipe fitting on the new inlet is tapered on the end. Here is a picture with arrow pointing to the taper.

I moved the "O" ring to the taper and pushed it on to the PVC fitting. Once I got it on straight it pushed into place and even became very difficult to turn. A good tight fit. I don't think it will ever come off on its own. Making this connection saved me all the hassle of pulling everything out of the front compartment and pulling down the wall to access the vacuum hose for connection. YES!!!!! I then marked holes for mounting of the new inlet and screwed it to the wall. Here is a picture of the finished project.

I think it will work fine but if the two screws, which are just into the 3/16 inch plywood, do not prove strong enough I will have to figure out how to reinforce the inlet mount to the wall.  One thing I like about the new inlet is that it does not have a switch which turns on the vacuum when the door is opened. That is how the old one worked. This one relies on pushing the hose into the socket with the metal band on the hose completing the circuit and turning on the vacuum.

This should be the last project on Marge before we leave for Florida the end of this month. I have some outside projects planned when I get down there and need something to do as we isolate and social distance.