Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Thank God for those who try.  I can't always give high scores in regard to the worth of their efforts but they do help to keep life interesitng.  And per the news link -- http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080926/0437655.html -- Bissell certainly is trying.

I can't find any information about the new Bissell Versus (see below) but the article states that HSN has it and that it will be in the hands of retailers this month.

Best,

Venson

Hi Venson:

Thanks for the info.  Nice idea.  Puts me in mind a bit of the Dirt Devil Kruz, also an HSN seller, which retails for $99.  The Kruz is straight suction, like the Versus, and has a triangular shaped floor cleaning nozzle.  The Kruz nozzle is on the order of the BISSELL Versus but designed a bit differently.   The proof is in using.  HAve to try out the BISSELL and see if it is "victorious."

BTW, if you go to the BISSELL Web Site and type in Versus, you can read the specs on the product.  No manual tho.

Carmine D.

Interesting design, and I see where it could be useful on external corners, near cabinets and such.  However, the outward V-shaped design would make it virtually impossible to clean flush with walls.  I also wonder how well the airflow would be channeled through the nozzle.

Good concept, though, but I'll stick with my traditional rectangular bare floor nozzles.

-MH

Motorhead wrote:

A better design and functioning nozzle head would be one that keeps the "V" shape but allows the user to pivot the head around so both the top and bottom"V" can be used in a forward position depending on the cleaning application.  This is easy to do by separating the wheels from the cleaning nozzle.  Especially since this is a strictly straight suction cleaning head.

Carmine D.

Take no offense for those who like this vacuum...
If this vacuum were a high school experiment I would say nothing, but instead it is the 130 year old (plus) Bissell with Mark Bissell at the helm (I believe).  This vacuum is a joke and a colossal waste of time.  Putting a pitch fork on the front of any vacuum is pure stupidity.  This vacs image should be on the cover of - Stupidity 101.  These things will be returned in droves.        DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Thanks DIB.  Now, based on your comments, I will most definitely put one on my purchase list.  I think it will be a nice sidekick and spare user along with the Dirt Devil Kruz.  My granddaughters argue over using the Kruz to assist their Mother with the housecleaning.  The BISSELL Versus will be a good peace maker.

BTW, I wonder what some would think and say about putting a ball on a vacuum and wheelbarrow?

Carmine D.

I think as Carmine stated earlier, an adjustable "V" would work much better.  Parts of the nozzle could be detached, but I was thinking have the "wings" on pivots so they could be adjusted accordingly.  Except for cleaning around table legs and countertop corners, etc., the fixed V-shaped nozzle would be awkward to use near walls or for getting up close to edge-clean.

Motorhead wrote:

I don't know if it's still available but at one point there was an after-market nozzle that  had spring-loaded wings.  The wingssat straight out on either side but swung inward to conform to the area when pushed into corners.  Don't know how well they worked or if they were durable.  European Rowenta use a triangular, wedge-shaped nozzle with some of its canisters for a long time to make corner cleaning easier.

Venson

I love the wedge shaped nozzle, I use one off of an old Dirt Devil stick vac and use it on my canister wand.  It works great.  I have seen these winged nozzles in the patent filings.  Maybe a photo too.

Here is another silly Bissell way of doing things...  by adding more nozzle (adding one more blade to make up a V) thereby lessens suction, so here’s “the Bissell fix” add a heavier, louder, larger, and more expensive 12 amp motor than the lightweight traditional stick vacs.  Is there a big demand for heavy, clumsy sticks that cannot maneuver (as good as it’s competitors) and cannot fit or fit as easily into places as standard sticks?  What is Bissell thinking??        DIB

 Below is a photo from Bissell's website of their "Verses" hard floor vacuum...


Amazingly  Bissell demonstrates there nozzle cannot clean up to and squarely to a straight line (wall, furniture, etc.). I'm shaking my head in disbelief as to why the suits at Bissell produce and promote this vacuum as in advancement over standard vacuums. Standard vacuums can clean up to a straight edged wall or furniture, when Versus cannot.

 The Versus promo video tells Bissell's logic behind this "V" nozzle. Bissell believes funneling debris via a V shaped nozzle is an advancement. The problem is the filter clogs and loses suction strength. A vacuum with weak suction strength is the reason vacuums cannot suction floors adequately, so this, the real problem.  Bissell invented a "nozzle funneling" solution to a suction drop off problem.  Go figure.

DIB

Hello DIB:

WRT your last post, I understand your frustration.  I'm not fond of the design either unless and until it pivots on its axis to accomplish the normal edge cleaning too.  Perhaps this is a first attempt by BISSELL to patent rights for a new barefloor design/function.  With plans for future refining/modification to do just as I suggest.  In the meantime, the Versus tools on board have to suffice for users like me who intend to buy it.  BTW, it hasn't come yet to the big box store retailers in my area.  I'm thinking my young grand daughters will absolutely love using it!  As they do the DD Cruz.  [which BTW I saw hawked on HSN with a dyson DC14 earlier this year].

No offense to you, but many feel the same about a soccer sized ball wheel on a vacuum cleaner.  Wheel barrows are one thing.  But vacuums?  The maker provides a maneuverability solution by increasing the weight/mass/bulk of an existing vacuum's size.  Worsening the conditions that give rise to the maneuverability problems in vacuums in order to solve it.  Sounds oxymoronic, IMHO?

The age old adage applies: Where you stand depends on where you sit.  Similarly:  Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  Didn't the inventor of the intermittent wipers call his creation the Mona Lisa?  Leonardo must have turned over in his grave!

Carmine D.