hoover

I had a Panasonic vacuum in the early 90's and it was the most worthless pile of junk I ever bought. Never again

I've had my Hoover Turbopower 2 for 8 years without any problems

 

I need a new vacumme and am tempted by a Sebo Felix in the Fun Colour. Oh I would feel so gay but they do use these in the hotel trade always a good sign. (them and henrys)

 

The phrase it beats, as it sweeps, as it cleans, reminds me of an eloctrolux upright that my mother used to own. The revolving brush on the front had two sets of bristles and also a plastic 'Beater bar' .

Good to see that there are so many domestic cleaning saddos out there, all joining in

 

I collect dust and grit on my hands and knees, using my fingers and place it in a plastic bag for later use in cooking.

 

bought a Dyson once, would NEVER buy another one.

centre of gravity was all wrong and it kept falling backwards if you caught the mains lead even slightly and breaking the clear plastic parts. was totally knackered after 13 months. the old "shake and vac" Hoover model was far more robust.

now use a Henry.

 

So why not another Henry then? I have a Henry - mainly due to the reliability and the fact that it's probably the last thing made in England. I find them awkward to drag, with a tendency to roll over, but otherwise excellent. You can use them with or without bags too.

 

I've just recently dumped an Electrolux "cylinder" type. It lasted us 7 years with no problems until one day it just stopped working. It was either the motor or the on/off switch. I could maybe have had it fixed but didn't bother because they are relatively cheap to buy and usually fixing those sorts of electrical goods cost nearly as much. Got an actual Hoover now. So far so good, though it does seem somewhat more flimsy than the Electrolux was.



On the subject of electrical goods, I've also very recently had to buy a new kettle. Our last Stainless one started leaking !! It was a Russel hobs. It lasted less than 2 years !! Got a new one by Krups now, another S/S one. I just hope it lasts better, our first plastic kettle is still going strong after a good 4 years of service.

GTM

 

I must be lucky with electrical appliances! We were given a Russell Hobbs SS kettle for a wedding present 25 years ago. We still have it and I make my breakfast cuppa with it every day.

 

Tsk, tsk! It probably only needed brushes and they cost pennies!

A new switch isn't expensive either and if they aren't available you can always hard wire it and switch it on and off at the wall.

Another example of the throw-away society in action

 

unfortunatley these days its often cheaper to replace rather than repair,i picked up a panosonic bagless thingy for less than bits i needed to keep my 30 year old hoover junior running.Biggest hassle is emptying them every room or so,unlike good old bags which were almost fit and forget

 

I like Hoover!
I bought a wet and dry Hoover about 15 years ago for £110. And managed to get a pair of free flights to Malaga into the bargain (one of the lucky few who did!).
And it's still going strong - despite having washed the carpets with it quite a few times, and clearing up the flood after a chimney fire melted some heating pipes.
Proper heavy duty value.

 

Talking about kettles we got a really frigging expensive one (£96) after three months it leaked. We took it back to John lewis and got it replaced. After another three months that one was leaking.

We went to a different John Lewis in Southampton and realised we forgot our receipt. They still replaced it.

Cool (we got a different kettle)

 

It would certainly appear most appliances recently are not built to last that long. Most of my parents appliances that they got when they just married lasted 25-30 years as I don't remember they ever broke down during my childhood. Their Hoover is now over 30 years old and still going strong.

Since moving into my own place I have gone through 4 electrical kettles in 6 years. Fortunately, I only paid for 2 as the second one kept breaking just before the annual waranty runs out (also from John Lewis). So far the £35 Panasonic vacuum cleaner seems still ok probably because it is used once a week. I only take it out when the surface layer of dust on the hifi toys look too thick and might interfere with their preformance.

 

I leave the dust there - I find the size of the particles is just right to screen out unwanted HF radiation..

 

Well feeling silly I bought the Vacumme.

Its a Felix http://www.sebo.co.uk/Pages/felix_1_premium.html

We got the gay orange, marvellous. Its arrived today and lived up to expectations. German build, its solid and light. There is a separate motor in the actual brush head so although 'only' 1300 watts its dedicated to the suction. It is a beauty to use, the head/body swivels and the thing practically goes flat under furniture.

Above all else, they seem to believe in their products with 5 years parts and 2 years labour on it. Fair play.

 

I have discovered that there is an upside to the "buy it cheap, throw it away" mentality....

Apparently rates of burglary have dropped significantly because no one will pay worthwhile money for a stolen DVD player or whatever when you can buy a new one for £20.

Otherwise, it is a problem.

 

The trouble is cheap crap pervades our whole way of life now. In many cases there simply isn't any ulternative. Take tools. I have been working hard on a new Kitchen these past few weeks. I fitted it myself (well me and the wife) and I needed a fair amount of tools.

Being in the crappy wide spot of the 303 Andover, there was not a terrific amount of tool stores (actually there is but I didn't know)

So we got things like a router and sander at focus, as well as simple thinks like screwdrivers etc. The routers still going. The sander worked for a while but stops now when you touch a surface. And all the small tools, screwdriver bits, the screwdriver, drill bits etc all knackered. And the trouble is Focus et all, its all crap.

I learnt a while ago that buying cheap is not an option. I paid for the kitchen:



We also paid out more for sofas etc, its just not worth paying cheap, our old hoover is a case in point, its lasted 6 months.

 

Love your Dyson

and it will love you. Dyson DC07 'Animal' upright.

Just thought i'd drag this one back up after recent experience. basically where has all my suction gone ?

Dysons seem to get a lot of bad feedback, however when they are working well I reckon they are much better than neary all of the their peers. As with all machines a bit of on going preventative maintenance as well as general servicing will keep things ship shape.

Pre motor filter
Dysons don't have Bags but they do have filters. The 'Pre' motor filter is a dense open celled foam affair that is washable. This needs to be done at least once every 6 months.Basically clean it in the bath or shower under clean running water, until it looks clean and the water runs clear. You then need to allow it to dry naturally for about 12 hours underneath a radiator ( NOT on top to prevent damage) The filter housing is also washable. I have two cats and a dog in our house so do mine about every 3 or 4 months.

Post motor filter
The is also a 'Post' motor filter, this one filters all of the the air to HEPA standard before it is exhausted back into the room. It looks like a paper or synthetic material filter and not washable. After just over two years my Post filter is still looks clean , which i assume means that the Pre filter and Cyclone unit are doing their job.

Rubber seals.
The machine has several rubber seals, used to seal interfaces between hoses and different sections of the machine. I have found that nearly all of them are remoavable and not glued in place. Over time these seals can accumualte dirt, dust and age, possibly prevent a gas tight seal. Simply remove the seal ( noting which way it came off !), clean it in warm soapy water ( an old tooth brush comes in handy), rinse with clean water and dry. I also used a specific rubber cleaner to clean and re-condition the rubber surface of each seal . ( CaiKleen RBR - made by the de-oxit D5 people - excellent for TT belts too !). The machine will suck better if all of the gaps are sealed properly.

Brush assy
Take a sharp knife, or pair of scissors and remove all of the threads and long hair ( Girls !) that will be wound around the brush, also check out the brush assy and sole plate for blockages and correct fitting. Mind the foam seal here , it can be fragile if not handles correctly. New brush assy's are cheap to buy via either Dyson or e-bay if the bristles are worn.

Cyclone top

If your machine overheats and cuts out , whilst also losing suction then there is a very good chance that the Cyclone unit is blocked. The lid to the Cyclone is held in place by 3 T15 Torx screws. You will need a flexible light source ( i used a white LED attached with a lond piece of wire ). At the bottom of each cyclone cone there is a small hole. This hole can become blocked if hairs get trapped and then attract a build up of dust. It is fiddly to do but you need to shine the light source through the bottom of each cyclone cone and then, looking though the small hole on top , use a bamboo skewer, long straw , or peice of wire ( i used a piece of wire coat hangar - bend one end over -watch your EYES !). You need to poke the hair and dust out so that the hole is clear, be advised that there is a small plastic 'web' running through the centre of the hole - probably a nozzle guide vane to direct airflow into the cyclone. I have also been told by a Hoover service type chap that the pro's just attach a garden hose to each one and blast them through in reverse flow with water to clean ( not tried this myself - seems very plausible though).

After spend a little time doing this my Dyson was like new again and could be felt trying to suck the whole carpet up !

Customer service
Even experts like me ( ) mess things every now and again. I knocked the cyclone and bin assy over with the flap open and broke off the bin flap attachment catch. This was a major PITA especially when it cane to bin emptying time. although did manage a temporary fix using a specialist plastic super glue. A quick private mail/message to one of the many e-bay spare part traders, located a good 'used' catch for just £2 (all inc). I then phoned Dyson Customer care just to see how much a new part would be. Unfortunately It is only available as part of the whole cyclone assy ! The guy checked my details on computer ( i always return warranty cards). he saw that I'd had the machine for over two years , but that it was my second Dyson. He sent me a brand new Cyclone unit totally FOC ( and without me asking) as a gesture of good will to good customer ( brand loyalty ??) . It arrived this morning.

Happy hoovering....