My Vacuum Cleaner.

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I think I posted somewhere, and a while ago, about the "angst" I went through when trying to decide what to replace our ailing, and very old, Electrolux upright vacuum cleaner. We've had it for many many years and it's served us very well but, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, it spectacularly and odorously - sparks and smoke - burned it's motor out! When I looked at it in detail I realized there were actually quite a lot of small other problems with it - broken plastic fittings etc - so a new machine seemed to be the way to go.

I'd had no reason to even consider vacuum cleaners and there are so many to choose from that I couldn't make my mind up but I remembered how easy it had been to mend my boy's "Henry" when it stopped working at 2 speeds, (new ones seem to have only one speed. I think the 2 speeds were an energy conservation thing but now they use a much more efficient motor in them all) whereas my other boy's Dyson (which has stopped working twice this year) is a relative nightmare to work on with quite expensive parts too. :bang: Then I remembered about a brief conversation I'd had with our local trade domestic appliance parts supplier where I buy parts: https://www.edinburghcomponents.co.uk/ If you are an Edinburgh based person I can really recommend these folk. They strongly recommended Neumatic vacuums (most famously known for their "Henry" vacuums), but also sell other makes. The person I spoke with said they actually used a "Hetty" themselves. I looked into things a bit more - which I detailed in that other post - and ended up deciding to buy one of their less "glamorous" commercial offerings, which they simply brand "Nuvac" - Sadly perhaps? we've decided ours will be called "Norman". Mrs J decided "Pneumatic Norman" had a certain ring to it? https://www.averncleaningsupplies.c...E_LqJ5Li7jgwSZoxT51aK4zt_7bHIocQaAs2FEALw_wcB They also produce a "consumer" version of the machine called "James" if you want to pay an extra £20 to get it in blue! I can very much recommend the optional airo brush with it's rotating brush assembly - in fact I think they should supply that as a standard part with the cleaner - the standard head works very well in cleaning terms but needs you to "scrub" it to and fro when using it so it's a bit More "physical" to use.

So, having now been using it for several months for a full house clean a couple of times a week, I'm just changing it's bag for the first time. Yes it's a bagged cleaner, which I prefer, and it's a big bag too. I recon it lasts maybe twice as long as the Electrolux bag would have lasted and the bags come in at much the same price (they come in packs of 10) https://www.ransomspares.co.uk/part...HfcxciZO2WVwqqQgl3k5KvInCrZQixBUaApyDEALw_wcB It's very easy and "clean" to change too. I chose the most basic version of the machine with the cable being wound up manually and stored in the groove on the top of the machine. I chose this because of it's simplicity and potential ease of replacement if the cable ever got damaged but I have to say I would choose the one where the cable winds up inside the top if I was buying again. Having the cable loose can, under certain circumstances, be just slightly unwieldy and, being a nice long cable, it takes a bit of winding up. The length of cable is very useful by the way. with the Electrolux I had to plug in at two locations up stairs and two downstairs to get to every corner of the house. Norman can, at a pinch, reach the whole house from just the one plug. Although he won't quite get into the conservatory without replugging in. However he does the whole upstairs plugged in on the landing and the whole downstairs , conservatory included, plugged in downstairs. I also find that, once you've got used to his "body" following you around (I guess it took a couple of whole house cleans to get used to this after the "all in one" upright) I actually prefer using him to the Electrolux. His hose is quite long so localized use doesn't cause the body to move and the hand held tube and head are light to use and much much more maneuverable and able to get under and around things like tables and sofas which the body of the Electrolux would have made impossible. I just carry the body by the handle when doing the stairs, it's not really that heavy, definitely lighter than the Electrolux was. But if you want, they can supply an extra long hose which would let you do the whole run of stairs leaving the body in the hall or top landing.

So there you have it. Hope this was useful info and that I haven't broken any forum rules by making recommendations? If you are in the market for a vacuum you really should look at a Neumatic product. They are relatively cheap, of good quality, have excellent spares backup and bits are cheap too. Most of all, for me, it's a very simple device to work on and it really works very well, and did I say? by golly it can really suck! :worship:

 

[DaveMcT]

I bought my first Dyson (DC01) back in the mid 1990s and have not looked back. Their upright machines are not cheap but they work very well indeed and spares are available at fair costs. That said, their (so called) cylinders were rubbish, but they looked rubbish with (flappy handle about the snap off) so I kept well away.

 

[chris3234]

I bought my first Dyson (DC01) back in the mid 1990s and have not looked back. Their upright machines are not cheap but they work very well indeed and spares are available at fair costs. That said, their (so called) cylinders were rubbish, but they looked rubbish with (flappy handle about the snap off) so I kept well away.

Have you not got a modern Dyson?
They are fairly cheeply made and no where near as reliable as the old ones

Things such as metal tubes have now all gone and been replaced with plastic

 

[DaveMcT]

I've got a DC40. The handle is not as strong as I'd like but it's never failed. It's had a new extending hose and that's it.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

In their defence I should say that both my younger boy and my daughter have upright Dysons and they do like them. Both have required "fettling" from time to time though. My younger boy's in particular and I think it's because both his wife and daughter have, beautiful, long hair. This causes two problems: it wraps itself around the brush bar as it did with my old Electrolux but more insideously, it manages to get in between the central spindle and outer brush bar of the rotating brush. This stops the brush rotating. I must dismantle the brush bar and clear this for them a couple of times a year. Other rotating brushes I've come across don't have the same design so although the hair wraps around the brush you can very easily clear it with the likes of a Stanley knife or even scissors without any dismantling. This long hair also causes problems with the Flippy/floppy diverter which switches vacuum between the brushbar and the handle when you put the handle between upright park position and the using position. I also dislike the way they simply fit fixing screws straight into the plastic of the case. This works absolutely fine for something which is not going to be dismantled after assembly but is a poor quality choice for fixings which require periodic dismantling. You have to bear in mind that very occasionally you are going to need filters too, they are washable so can be reused but don't last forever - as my daughter in law thought. Also performance is improved if you dismantle and clean out the cyclone assembly - a disgusting, difficult and time consuming job with quite a high risk of snapping off plastic fixings - but worth doing as it ages. My local trade source is very good at supplying generically made but excellent quality parts which reduces cost noticeably.

I'm so impressed with my "Norman" though that, at present anyway, I can't think of a better purchase.

 

[DaveMcT]

Fiskars needlework scissors (my go-to for all fiddly jobs) have pointed blades 25mm long. Perfect for getting hair off the vacuum cleaner brush bar. Other brands claim to have tech that stops hair wrapping but I'll be surprised if it works once the parts have had some use.

 

[portland_bill]

We have a Dyson hand-held, V6 I think. This was originally purchased for my partner, so I researched the lightest, and this beat the Vax and Shark, just.
I'm not that impressed with the suction, unless you use boost mode, but its efficiency comes from the driven brush bar. Once that's picked up stuff from the carpet, the main motor does not need to suck hard.
Downside then comes with the tiny pot, that needs emptying three times if you vacuum one room, very tedious.
The main filter needs cleaning regularly, but as Jock says, the whole thing needs dismantling annually for a thorough clean out. So many tiny plastic pieces. If not cleaned this way, it will eventually stop working, having sensed that the resistance to suck is too high. At this point, many dispose of them and buy another, or call a Dyson engineer, who will take it out to his van, to dismantle and clean it, so you don't see how 'simple' the fault was. There are YouTube videos abot this.

I still prefer the 'new' Electrolux. A cylinder, bought in 1989, still working well. We added a rotating brush head, but being driven by air moving up the tube, does stop on thick carpets. (Only advantage of the Dyson is the electric motor in the head) When this goes pop, it'll probably be replaced with a Henry or similar from their range.
The 'old' Electrolux, bought in 1979, still works well, but is sidelined to the garage for cleaning the cars or any DIY debris.

We also have a 'Henry Wash'. Looks like a taller Henry, but is purely a carpet washer. Works very well.