Your Hills central vacuum just went quiet in the garage, and the badge on that power unit belongs to a company that hasn’t made vacuums in years. That’s the moment most owners start searching, and find dealer pages that still talk about “Hills service” as if the brand never left.
Here’s what you’ll know by the end: which Hills 1600 parts still exist, which faults are worth fixing, and when swapping the power unit while keeping your existing pipes beats spending more on a discontinued machine.
Hills Central Vacuum
A Hills central vacuum is a discontinued Australian ducted vacuum system, usually the CentralVac 1600, still running in homes built before 2017. The power unit is gone from shelves, but the in-wall pipe network is a universal standard, so motors, boards, and whole power units swap in without opening a wall.Why Hills Vacuum Searches End in Confusion
Most searches for a hills central vacuum land on repair shops and parts catalogues because Hills Limited exited the vacuum business years ago, leaving a gap independent technicians filled. Three things cause the confusion: the company’s history, its 2017 brand sale, and a naming clash with US suburb dealers.
The Hills Hoist Company That Quietly Left Vacuums
Hills Limited built its name on the 1948 Hills Hoist rotary clothesline, and ducted vacuum sat alongside it as one line in a broader home living range, never the headline product.
A company known for hoists and ladders was never going to fight hard to keep a niche vacuum line alive once home products stopped being a priority. Ducted vacuum was a side note in the Hills story, not the headline.
What Happened When Hills Sold Its Home Brands
AMES Australasia bought Hills Home Living, the division covering clotheslines, laundry, and other home goods, from Hills Limited in 2017. Six years later, Hills Limited entered voluntary administration in 2023 after a Court of Appeal ordered its health division to pay roughly $5.5 million in damages.
The 2017 sale stripped Hills of the appliance brands that might have backed vacuum parts, and the 2023 administration confirmed no corporate parent exists for a Hills 1600 warranty claim. Is Hills ducted vacuum still made? No, and now you know why.
One Name, Two Meanings for American Searchers
Searching “hills central vacuum” from the US returns results for Rochester Hills or Dix Hills, not this Australian brand, since Hills Limited’s ducted vacuum line was never distributed in America.
Those suburb names share the word “Hills” and nothing else. American readers should set Hills-branded results aside and judge local installers on who makes the unit, how long parts stay available, and who handles repairs.
The Hills 1600, the Builder Special in Aussie Homes
The Hills CentralVac 1600 (HCV-1600) is the power unit most Australians mean by “Hills central vacuum,” and it became the default spec for volume builders, favoring low cost and easy installation over standout suction.
Why Builders Installed It in Thousands of Homes
Builders chose the Hills 1600 because it was cheap to spec in bulk and easy to install across a standard floor plan, not because homeowners picked it. Volume builders running dozens of identical floor plans wanted one spec that fit everywhere, and the 1600 covered small to medium homes with up to four inlets.
Worth remembering when a technician quotes a repair: you didn’t choose this unit for performance, so don’t feel obligated to match it on the way out either.
A Bagless Cyclonic Design With a Washable Filter
The Hills 1600 separates debris with a cyclonic cone before air reaches a washable polyester filter, the same basic principle behind how a ducted central vacuum system works in any brand.
Debris spins out of the airflow in the cone and drops into a 16 litre dust bucket. That filter is washable, not disposable: rinse it, dry it fully, and put it back, with no ongoing bag costs over a decade of ownership.
The Muffler and Mounting Details Nobody Mentions
The Hills 1600 ships with a built-in exhaust muffler to cut motor noise. Behind a garage wall, that muffler is the difference between a dull hum and a noise that rattles through the house. Some retailers list 63 decibels, but that figure comes from product listings, not an independent lab test.
Here’s a detail nobody mentions: the compliance plate cites AS/NZS 1044, an electromagnetic compatibility standard confirming the motor won’t interfere with other electronics, not anything about noise or suction.
Reading Hills 1600 Specs Without the Marketing Gloss
A “1600 watt” Hills central vacuum tells you how much power the motor draws, not how well it cleans, and that distinction trips up almost every owner comparing units. Suction performance depends on a separate measurement dealers rarely publish.
Input Watts Are Not Air Watts
Input watts measure electricity the motor consumes. Air watts measure cleaning power delivered at the hose end, calculated from airflow and suction together, and Hills only ever marketed the first number.
Think of input watts as how hard the motor’s heart works, and air watts as how much of that effort reaches your hand as suction. ASTM F558, the industry test method, combines airflow and water lift into one figure, and Hills never published a certified air watt rating under it.
A forum full of owners reporting their 1600 still runs fine after ten years says more about durability than any spec sheet Hills never released.
The Numbers Dealers List and What They Mean
Retailers commonly list the Hills 1600 at 1,600 watts input, around 123.69 CFM airflow, and roughly 3,250mm H2O water lift.
| Spec | Listed figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Input power | 1,600W, 220-240V | Retailer listings |
| Airflow | ~123.69 CFM | Retailer listings |
| Water lift | ~3,250mm H2O | Retailer listings |
These figures come from spec comparison across Australian parts retailers, cross-checked against the ASTM F558 formula. They’re a believable range for this motor size, but without a factory datasheet, treat them as an estimate, not a certified rating.
What Actually Fails on an Ageing Hills System
The Hills 1600’s motor is rarely the first thing to fail. Owners report the circuit board, dust bucket seal, and worn brushes giving out well before the motor quits, and that order should set your repair priorities.
Owners Say the PCB Dies Before the Motor Does
The PCB, the small board controlling power switching and inlet detection, is the most commonly replaced part on a Hills 1600.
On Whirlpool’s forums, owners of ten-year-old Hills systems describe the same pattern: suction stays strong, the bucket and filter look fine, but the unit won’t switch on, or cycles without an inlet open. Swap the board, and the same motor runs another few years. A board swap costs a fraction of a new power unit.
Why Your Dust Bucket Is Now a Secondhand Hunt
Replacement dust buckets for the Hills 1600 and Crystal Force Platinum are no longer manufactured, so owners needing one are buying secondhand units pulled from other systems.
A cracked seal around the bucket lid doesn’t stop the vacuum running. It just lets the motor pull air from the crack instead of the hose, so suction drops at every inlet with no obvious cause. Check the seal before paying for a “weak suction” call. A cracked bucket signals the whole power unit, not just the motor, is nearing the end of its life.
The 2 Stage Tangential Motor You Can Still Replace
The Hills 1600’s replacement motor is a 1,600W, 220-240V, two-stage tangential motor, 145mm in diameter, and the same unit fits the Valet Value Vac CV620 and the Hoover CV300.
A tangential bypass motor pulls cooling air across the windings on a path separate from the dust-carrying air. Two-stage means air passes through two fan impellers in sequence, building suction in steps.
| Brand and model | Motor fitted |
|---|---|
| Hills CentralVac 1600 | 1,600W two-stage tangential, 145mm |
| Hills Crystal Force Platinum | Same motor platform |
| Valet Value Vac CV620 | Same motor platform |
| Hoover CV300 | Same motor platform |
Hills, Valet, and Hoover badged the same commercial-style motor under three names. Forum owners report drop-in replacements around $150 by ordering on spec, not brand. Confirm mounting bracket and shaft length first, since production runs can vary even when wattage and voltage match.
Repair or Replace, the Question Every Hills Owner Faces
Every Hills 1600 eventually reaches a point where repair costs compete with replacement costs, and the right call depends on which parts failed, not the unit’s age.
Can You Still Buy a Hills Central Vacuum System Today?
No. New Hills central vacuum power units aren’t sold anymore. The Hills CentralVac 1600 is discontinued, along with the Power Vacuum and Crystal Force Platinum, and only parts and servicing remain.
Still available: replacement motors, circuit boards, washable filters, hoses, and most inlet valves, stocked by independent service centres. Gone for good: factory-made dust buckets for the 1600 and Crystal Force Platinum, and model-specific trim pieces too rare for aftermarket suppliers.
When a Motor Swap Beats a Full Unit Changeover
A motor or circuit board swap makes sense when the bucket, filter housing, and pipework are sound, typically a few hundred dollars against several hundred more for a full changeover.
When a 1600 is otherwise solid, this order protects your money:
- Replace the circuit board first. It’s the cheapest part and the most common failure.
- Replace the motor only if the board swap doesn’t restore power or suction.
- Inspect the bucket and seal before approving either repair.
- Price a full changeover before paying for a second repair on the same machine.
Stop repairing if a second motor failure hits within a few years and the bucket is already cracked, or the house is mid-renovation with pipework needing rerouting.
What a Replacement Power Unit Job Really Involves
A changeover means unbolting the old Hills power unit, connecting the new unit’s intake and exhaust to the same pipe entries, and rewiring the low-voltage control line, usually in one visit.
Most installers reuse the existing wall mounting position, since the pipe entries line up with where the old unit sat. Some service centres accept walk-in units too, testing, refurbishing, or swapping them without a callout fee.
Your Pipes Outlive the Badge on the Wall
The in-wall pipework connected to a Hills central vacuum is built to a shared Australian standard, not a Hills-specific one, so it outlasts the power unit by design and works with almost any modern replacement.
The 32mm Standard That Makes Any Swap Possible
Australian ducted vacuum systems run on 50mm OD PVC pipe for the wall network, connecting to inlet valves with a roughly 32mm bore that matches standard hoses across brands, including Hills.
That’s the single most valuable fact in this guide, and almost no Hills-branded page mentions it: the pipe behind your walls isn’t a Hills part. It’s the same tube and inlet bore used by most major brands sold across Australia.
Will a new ducted vacuum fit existing Hills pipes? Yes, almost always, and a new power unit bolts on without wall work. Top New Zealand central vac picks cover the same standard, since Australia and New Zealand share it.
Matching a New Unit to Your Existing Inlet Count
Size a replacement power unit by counting your existing inlets and longest pipe run, not your home’s square footage.
A Hills 1600 was specced for up to four inlets in a small to medium home. Count yours: a two or three inlet home with short runs needs less motor than a four-inlet home with a run to a second floor. Suction drops with every extra metre of pipe run and every elbow beyond the original layout.
The Low Voltage Wiring You Should Check First
Hills inlets trigger the power unit through a 24V control circuit, often called a figure-8 cable, and a broken wire there looks exactly like a dead power unit even when the motor is fine.
Before paying for a service call, pull the cover off the nearest inlet and check the two thin wires with a multimeter. No continuity means a break in that line, not a motor or board failure.
Choosing a Successor Without Repeating the Orphan Problem
Pick a successor by checking who actually manufactures it and how long they support parts after discontinuation. Those two questions, asked about Hills a decade ago, would have set realistic expectations from day one.
Ask Who Makes It Before Asking What It Costs
Many Australian ducted vacuum brands are badge names for a handful of actual manufacturers, the same pattern that put a Hills badge on a motor also sold as a Valet and a Hoover.
Hills is the cautionary template here, not the exception. Before buying, ask the dealer who manufactures the unit, and whether that manufacturer publishes a parts catalogue you can check yourself. Brands with published documentation and a local service network let you verify support before you’re hunting for a secondhand bucket. Bvc central vacuum features explained covers one alternative’s specs and support model, though dealer availability still varies by region.
Filtration Claims That Deserve Your Skepticism
Certified HEPA filtration captures 99.97% of particles at 0.3 microns under a recognized test standard, and terms like “HEPA style” or “HEPA type” meet no certified standard at all.
That gap matters for allergy households. The Hills 1600’s washable polyester filter handles general household dust fine, but it was never tested or marketed as HEPA-grade. Health-relevant filtration claims deserve the certified standard named in writing, not just the term on the box.
The Warranty Questions That Reveal Brand Stability
Three questions before paying any deposit reveal whether a brand will still support your system in ten years: who honours the warranty if the importer disappears, how long parts stay stocked after discontinuation, and whether repairs go through the dealer or the manufacturer directly.
Hills owners are living the answer to all three right now: no importer to call, parts available only through independent initiative, repairs handled entirely by third-party technicians. Ask these questions before you buy.
Conclusion
The badge on your power unit being dead doesn’t mean your hills central vacuum system is dead. That’s the shift here: from “my system is obsolete” to “my pipes are universal.”
Tonight’s job: photograph the model plate and pipe entry positions, then test the 24V trigger wire at the nearest inlet. Our brand-by-brand comparison hub covers what’s on the market now. A sound pipe network with a fresh power unit cleans for another decade, something no portable vacuum has matched.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Hills central vacuum still being made?
No. Hills Limited no longer makes or sells new central vacuum units, including the CentralVac 1600, Power Vacuum, and Crystal Force Platinum. Only parts and servicing remain through independent suppliers.
What happened to Hills Limited, the company behind the Hills ducted vacuum?
Hills sold its home living brands to AMES Australasia in 2017, then entered voluntary administration in 2023 after a separate legal loss, leaving no corporate parent for vacuum warranty claims.
Can I still get parts, bags, and filters for a Hills CentralVac 1600?
Yes, for most parts. Motors, circuit boards, filters, hoses, and most inlet valves are still available through Australian parts suppliers, though 1600 dust buckets are secondhand-only now.
How do I replace the motor in a Hills 1600 ducted vacuum, and what motor does it take?
Order a 1,600W, 220-240V, two-stage tangential motor at 145mm diameter, the same unit fitted to the Valet Value Vac CV620 and Hoover CV300, and a qualified technician can swap it in an afternoon.
Why has my Hills ducted vacuum lost suction?
Check the dust bucket seal first. A cracked seal lets the motor pull air around the bucket instead of through the hose, which causes the same suction loss as a failing motor without one actually failing.