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Some motorized or mechanical devices can somewhat unintuitively be damaged by operating them in a situation where they have to do "less work" than normal. Some examples:

  • Applying the accelerator in a motor vehicle where the tires aren't touching the ground can damage the vehicle (transmission?), because torque that is intended to move the vehicle is far too excessive when the tires have no resistance.
  • "Dry firing" a spring-powered weapon such as an airsoft gun or foam-dart blaster with no ammunition loaded can damage the firing mechanism, which is designed to transfer the spring force into a projectile. The same applies to releasing a bowstring with no arrow nocked.

Modern devices may have mechanisms to avoid damage in these circumstances; for example, a modern car may disengage the drive train if it detects that a tire is spinning freely with no contact to the ground; power tools may include a belt to provide resistance when the tool is not in contact with anything.

For an upright floor vacuum, normal use of the vacuum would involve pushing it across the floor; regardless of the type of floor, there should be some air resistance from the floor. However, if we lift the vacuum while it is operating (for example, to carry it over an obstacle or across the room) there will be much less air resistance while the vacuum isn't in contact with the floor. Will this damage the vacuum over time?

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    Used a vac to get spiders webs from the ceiling & walls - works fine.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Dec 27, 2021 at 22:17
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    Would think less air resistance would be good for a vacuum. More air resistance, like sucking your hand over a vacuum hose will damage/overheat the motor. Even the brush motor will not over speed, but keep a constance speed.
    – crip659
    Commented Dec 27, 2021 at 22:45
  • not a home improvement question
    – jsotola
    Commented Dec 27, 2021 at 22:47
  • I’m voting to close this question because it's not about home improvement.
    – JACK
    Commented Dec 28, 2021 at 13:20
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    @user45623 I agree with your comments and have used whatever vacuum was handy to cleanup a work area. Your question dealt with how a particular vacuum might respond to load of no load. All vacuums run under some load because of the filters and vacuum bags. Other operating conditions that could damage a vacuum would be stated in the operating instructions. Anything here would be a matter of opinion.
    – JACK
    Commented Dec 28, 2021 at 22:48

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Less air resistance will not damage your vacuum.
Sucking while on a floor (hardwood or maybe concrete) will not create that much of a drop in air resistance to even cause the pump to change its suction power. Therefore, it's okay.

On the other side, restricting the airflow, such as reducing the intake, or even restricting it entirely, will cause issues with the pump. Majority of the products will be able to determine some issues, such as overheating, and shut off themselves until optimal conditions, temperature, are reached.
I have noticed this feature even in a very cheap vacuum that got clogged.

In addition, I have used vacuums (that were intended for floors) to suck in dust or smoke for long periods of time. No issues to the vacuum whatsoever.

Unless you have some highly specialized vacuum intended for a specific type of workload and you are using it in a completely different environment, I would not worry about it at all.

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A vacuum cleaner is an air pump that draws dirty air through some kind of filter.

When it's moving air the motor is under mechanical load.

Due to the way centrifugal pumps work the motor is under least load not when air is flowing freely, but when air is not flowing. this is why the motor speeds up when you block the hose.

Running a vacuum cleaner with the hose or outlet port blocked for long periods is bad for it as the motor needs air-flow for cooling.

Running it air flowing freely does not significantly change the load on the motor.

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I find it very unlikely that the lower air resistance (as in, air just flowing straight rather than having to creep around the edges of the vacuum cleaner to get under and into the vacuum cleaner) would be any problem at all.

What might be a problem is that the roller which normally has its brushes in contact with the floor would essentially spin free. However, I think there are other limiting factors so that it may spin a bit faster than normal but not so fast that it would cause any serious damage.

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    The common vacuum has a universal brush motor. The more work it does the more power it draws and the slower it will run. Restricting the suction flow will cause the motor to do less work, speed up and draw less current. Opening the suction all the way will cause the motor to do more work, slow down and draw more current. This is easy to prove, just connect a amp meter and try it. Motor cooling is a factor and the requirements vary by device and design.
    – Gil
    Commented Dec 29, 2021 at 0:54

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