I appreciate this may not be of great interest to everyone but I've kind of ended up doing it following up on my last post in the Panda 2003 to 2012 section, so apologies to anyone who finds it boring.
All our married life we've had upright vacuum cleaners and once I'd got motor racing out of my system and returned home to a more normal married existence part of our split up of duties included me doing the hoovering. We had a Hoover junior at that time which later was replaced with an Electrolux. Both worked well and were repaired as and when needed. - I enjoy repairing domestic appliances and am lucky enough to have an excellent source of supply not far from home (Edinburgh Components who, at a pinch, are even within walking distance). The Electrolux:
Now "retired" in the garage and keeping our carpet shampooer company, has lasted about 30 years but lately plastic bits have become brittle and started dropping off. So when it's motor overheated the other day I decided to call it a day and invest in a new machine, which is a bit of a pity as I'd just treated it to a new brush roller and flexi pipe and I have 3 new unused bags.
So I started looking for a replacement and got a bit of a shock! These things aren't cheap any more are they? Then I had a brain wave, I'll ask the good folks round at Edinburgh Components which machine they would recommend and they might sell me one at a good price being as how I've bought lots of spares from them. All right said they, first question, Upright or cylinder? Well, I've only ever had an upright, but my son had a Henry cylinder for a while. Well what would you recommend I asked? I use a Hetty at home said he but I can do you an upright Hoover if you prefer. Then he mentioned that they keep the commercial versions of the Henry - Nuvac branded - on the shelf and he could do me an attractive deal on one of them. I went home and did some internetting including contacting Numatic themselves (Nicky in sales and Ron in their tech dept were very helpful) and decided to go for a James as he doesn't have the wind up cable reel on top (I'd had to repair the electrical contacts on my boy's Henry and the James model just has a flex which you wind round by hand). But, oh dear, James stocks are so low I couldn't find one. Rang up EC (Edinburgh Components) to see if they could get one, but no, they are on about a two month back order. Why don't I have the commercial version which is the Nuvac VNP180? and they can do it a bit cheaper than the domestic James branded machine.
I went home and got on the internet again and found numerous pictorial adverts showing that the VNP180 is almost identical to James but has no tool storage docks on board - the James does - So rang EC back with what I'd found out. Don't think that's right said they, but hang on and I'll unbox one. They were back in a flash with, "thought so, it's got onboard storage". I jumped in Becky and shot straight round. They were right of course and I bought one on the spot. I've subsequently concluded that they are now using the same molds for all these smaller machines so including the tool docks. You can easily tell the older machine, which some still seem to be selling, because it has the on/off switch directly above the motor whereas the newer machine has the switch at the rear of the top casing. Also the older machine had a hoop handle and the newer one has lugs (one of which can be swiveled out of the way) on the handle to help retain the cable, and, of course, the newer machine has the docks on the back. Here's a couple of illustrations of the machine I bought:
You can see the cable retaining lugs and switch position. It comes with a commercial version of the sweeper head which has a metal base plate:
The domestic machines now have an all plastic head (which by all accounts, from reports I've seen, works very well) The VNP kit also has a dusting head (for curtains, nooks and crannies, etc) and a normal crevice tool. The domestic versions also have a small upholstery head which the commercial versions don't - but you can buy for a few quid. It also doesn't include the adaptor to fit the crevice tool/curtain tool to the end of the flex hose directly you have to fit it to the metal tube. This is slightly less convenient and I think it should be part of the standard commercial kit. You can see it on the top of the machine in the picture two above. I have it because I decided to buy the Turbo head with it's powered brush roll and EC very kindly gave me the extension piece FOC. Here's the Turbo head and I can thoroughly recommend it:
I've shown it with the turbine compartment hatch open so you can see the turbine and also how easy it is to clean if you ingest something too big for it to deal with, which hasn't happened to me yet.
There are a lot of posts on line from people who rave about these vacuums and now I'm one of them. Although it only has a 650 Watt motor it has incredible suction. It will suck the carpet clean off the floor if you don't learn how to use the air bypass on the handle properly. With the turbo head fitted it cleans just as well as the Electrolux used to. I wondered if the brush would be powerful enough being as how it's powered by the air flow through the head but I needn't have worried. It even works on our thick pile fire rug in the livingroom which stopped the Electrolux's brush every time.
When not in use it stacks away quite neatly with the wand located in the dock on the rear:
but it does take up a little more room than the Electrolux due to it's hose (which you could unscrew and store separately but I'm just going to make room in a cupboard for it assembled.
So, if you need a jolly good machine at very considerably less cost than most of the competition and a very big monetary saving you really should take a look at one of these. In use it takes a few minutes to get used to the thing following behind you but the extra maneuverability of the head far outweighs this. You can twist and turn it into corners the Electrolux never even got close to and it goes right in under furniture very easily. Also it's about half the weight of the Electrolux so doing the stairs with the crevice tool is now a breeze (in fact I can get half way up with the body still on the downstairs floor and I could buy an extension hose if I wanted but it's light enough I just carry it to do the top steps.)
The last thing in it's favour I can think of saying is that it's a ridiculously simple machine - just a box containing a sophisticated filter bag and separate reusable fine filter with a suction motor on the top - and it's a big 8 litre bag too. Take a look at an exploded diagram of a modern upright by comparison. So I doubt if it will be either expensive or difficult to repair if it throws a wobbly?
Oh, and the name? Well, unlike the Henry, Hetty, James, etc, named versions, the commercial machines are just Nuvacs. Mrs J took one look at him and said - he's definitely a Norman! What, why, said I. Well it's obvious isn't it? Numatic Norman! So Norman he is!
Finally, apologies to all who may have been expecting one of my, more usual, car related posts. I can only plead temporary insanity brought on by being cooped up with Mrs J for so long, due to this ruddy virus, without any other diverting activities - too old for "other" diverting activities anyway!
All our married life we've had upright vacuum cleaners and once I'd got motor racing out of my system and returned home to a more normal married existence part of our split up of duties included me doing the hoovering. We had a Hoover junior at that time which later was replaced with an Electrolux. Both worked well and were repaired as and when needed. - I enjoy repairing domestic appliances and am lucky enough to have an excellent source of supply not far from home (Edinburgh Components who, at a pinch, are even within walking distance). The Electrolux:
Now "retired" in the garage and keeping our carpet shampooer company, has lasted about 30 years but lately plastic bits have become brittle and started dropping off. So when it's motor overheated the other day I decided to call it a day and invest in a new machine, which is a bit of a pity as I'd just treated it to a new brush roller and flexi pipe and I have 3 new unused bags.
So I started looking for a replacement and got a bit of a shock! These things aren't cheap any more are they? Then I had a brain wave, I'll ask the good folks round at Edinburgh Components which machine they would recommend and they might sell me one at a good price being as how I've bought lots of spares from them. All right said they, first question, Upright or cylinder? Well, I've only ever had an upright, but my son had a Henry cylinder for a while. Well what would you recommend I asked? I use a Hetty at home said he but I can do you an upright Hoover if you prefer. Then he mentioned that they keep the commercial versions of the Henry - Nuvac branded - on the shelf and he could do me an attractive deal on one of them. I went home and did some internetting including contacting Numatic themselves (Nicky in sales and Ron in their tech dept were very helpful) and decided to go for a James as he doesn't have the wind up cable reel on top (I'd had to repair the electrical contacts on my boy's Henry and the James model just has a flex which you wind round by hand). But, oh dear, James stocks are so low I couldn't find one. Rang up EC (Edinburgh Components) to see if they could get one, but no, they are on about a two month back order. Why don't I have the commercial version which is the Nuvac VNP180? and they can do it a bit cheaper than the domestic James branded machine.
I went home and got on the internet again and found numerous pictorial adverts showing that the VNP180 is almost identical to James but has no tool storage docks on board - the James does - So rang EC back with what I'd found out. Don't think that's right said they, but hang on and I'll unbox one. They were back in a flash with, "thought so, it's got onboard storage". I jumped in Becky and shot straight round. They were right of course and I bought one on the spot. I've subsequently concluded that they are now using the same molds for all these smaller machines so including the tool docks. You can easily tell the older machine, which some still seem to be selling, because it has the on/off switch directly above the motor whereas the newer machine has the switch at the rear of the top casing. Also the older machine had a hoop handle and the newer one has lugs (one of which can be swiveled out of the way) on the handle to help retain the cable, and, of course, the newer machine has the docks on the back. Here's a couple of illustrations of the machine I bought:
You can see the cable retaining lugs and switch position. It comes with a commercial version of the sweeper head which has a metal base plate:
The domestic machines now have an all plastic head (which by all accounts, from reports I've seen, works very well) The VNP kit also has a dusting head (for curtains, nooks and crannies, etc) and a normal crevice tool. The domestic versions also have a small upholstery head which the commercial versions don't - but you can buy for a few quid. It also doesn't include the adaptor to fit the crevice tool/curtain tool to the end of the flex hose directly you have to fit it to the metal tube. This is slightly less convenient and I think it should be part of the standard commercial kit. You can see it on the top of the machine in the picture two above. I have it because I decided to buy the Turbo head with it's powered brush roll and EC very kindly gave me the extension piece FOC. Here's the Turbo head and I can thoroughly recommend it:
I've shown it with the turbine compartment hatch open so you can see the turbine and also how easy it is to clean if you ingest something too big for it to deal with, which hasn't happened to me yet.
There are a lot of posts on line from people who rave about these vacuums and now I'm one of them. Although it only has a 650 Watt motor it has incredible suction. It will suck the carpet clean off the floor if you don't learn how to use the air bypass on the handle properly. With the turbo head fitted it cleans just as well as the Electrolux used to. I wondered if the brush would be powerful enough being as how it's powered by the air flow through the head but I needn't have worried. It even works on our thick pile fire rug in the livingroom which stopped the Electrolux's brush every time.
When not in use it stacks away quite neatly with the wand located in the dock on the rear:
but it does take up a little more room than the Electrolux due to it's hose (which you could unscrew and store separately but I'm just going to make room in a cupboard for it assembled.
So, if you need a jolly good machine at very considerably less cost than most of the competition and a very big monetary saving you really should take a look at one of these. In use it takes a few minutes to get used to the thing following behind you but the extra maneuverability of the head far outweighs this. You can twist and turn it into corners the Electrolux never even got close to and it goes right in under furniture very easily. Also it's about half the weight of the Electrolux so doing the stairs with the crevice tool is now a breeze (in fact I can get half way up with the body still on the downstairs floor and I could buy an extension hose if I wanted but it's light enough I just carry it to do the top steps.)
The last thing in it's favour I can think of saying is that it's a ridiculously simple machine - just a box containing a sophisticated filter bag and separate reusable fine filter with a suction motor on the top - and it's a big 8 litre bag too. Take a look at an exploded diagram of a modern upright by comparison. So I doubt if it will be either expensive or difficult to repair if it throws a wobbly?
Oh, and the name? Well, unlike the Henry, Hetty, James, etc, named versions, the commercial machines are just Nuvacs. Mrs J took one look at him and said - he's definitely a Norman! What, why, said I. Well it's obvious isn't it? Numatic Norman! So Norman he is!
Finally, apologies to all who may have been expecting one of my, more usual, car related posts. I can only plead temporary insanity brought on by being cooped up with Mrs J for so long, due to this ruddy virus, without any other diverting activities - too old for "other" diverting activities anyway!
