Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

I am currently in the process of moving, and with my Dyson already shipped with most of my other stuff, I needed to get a vacuum to clean up my mess.  So early in the morning I drove to Wal-Mart to get some supplies and a vacuum.  The Hoover Platinum Cyclonic on the shelf caught my eye, and I decided to get it to give it a try.  After I got home and unpacked the machine, I gave it a whirl around my home and gained some fairly strong first impressions from this machine.  The performance and suction of this machine seemed fairly strong, and the electronic height adjustment is a very cool feature that raises or lowers the sole plate with a push of a button.  The weight is probably around 20 lbs, but doesn't feel too heavy when carried around by the handle in the back of the machine.  The hose lenght is shorter than I'm used to (only 8 ft.), and the dusting brush/upholstery combo tool is a complete joke, and is unacceptable for a $400+ vacuum cleaner.  The length of the cord is a whopping 40 ft, which allowed me to clean more without having to unplug the cord to find a closer outlet.  I had a DC25 not long ago that had a 25 ft cord, and the whole unplug routine became annoying to the point where I started to use a 50 ft. extention cord.  My DC23 has a combined 33 ft. cleaning range, which is better, but I would definitely welcome an extended range.  I also noticed that this Hoover does not use the typical auger shaped brush roll that other windtunnels use, but rather a straight cylindrical wooden brushroll (with the same neon green bristles). 

I was amazed to see how efficient the Hoover's multicyclonic filtration system was in comparison to, lets say, Dyson's Root Cyclone system (non-Level 3).  When I vacuumed a large portion of my home, I noticed that there was hardly and dust and fluff accumulating in the separate hi-speed cyclone chamber, aside from some fogging from a thin layer of light dust.  I went to inspect the pre-filter (FYI - it is a direct knock-off of Dyson's netted prefilters used in their newer machines), and I was surprised to see no dust accumulated on the filter.  However, some grains of sand did manage to bypass the cyclones, which is a problem shared with Root Cyclone as well.  I was curious to see how efficient the Hoover cyclone system can be when it comes to vacuuming up super fine dust, do I took out a container of N.O.xplode (a fine powdered creatine/energy workout supplement), and vacuumed several scoops of the pink powder.  Just about all of the pink powder remained in the low-speed cyclone collection bin with the rest of the large debris, with an extremely thin layer of it caked on the walls of the multi-cyclonic chamber, and just trace amounts left on the prefilter above the cyclone air inlets.  Now, if I didn't decide to vacuum the powder, the pre-filter would have remained clean, as it did over the past several days of use.  My older Dyson DC25 was not as efficient; once you start using it after cleaning the filter, you immediately notice dust on the prefilter, should you stop vacuuming and pull the filter out.  My DC23 does a much better job like the Hoover because of its Level 3 system (something which Dyson has yet to spread across its line up.....how odd). 

Overall, I think this Hoover should serve as a defintely wake-up call to Dyson.  The competitors are catching up, fast, and Dyson needs to invest more time, effort, and money in technology that will improve performance.  Airmuscle™ is a step in the right direction, and it is something that needs to be a notable piece of Dyson technology as much as the Ball (i.e. - massive marketing campaign.....it's a shame Dyson didn't air an Airmuscle commercial during the American Idol finale).  I would definitely like to see the DC27 as the new entry level model, along with the DC28 Airmuscle as the mid range, along with a DC29 Airmuscle with Level 3 Root Cyclone (something that should have been featured on the DC28 to begin with..)  The Ball line, with their deeply discounted pricing as of the late, may be an indication that they just aren't selling well.  If that's the case, I would like too see them canned altogether.  There's no reason Dyson should be bleeding money because of a failed concept. 

iMacDaddy - what's your impression of the general quality of this machine? Some people who I've discussed it with were pretty dismissive, but they tend to be the sort of people who sneer of anything that's not made of metal! How well do you think it would stand up in general use?

Model2 wrote:
Even though I think this machine delivers good cleaning and filtration performance, some of the materials on this machine leaves much room for improvement.  In other words, I would be afraid to accidentally ram it into a corner or wall.  If this Hoover is used by someone that is capable of taking care of a vacuum cleaner, and not abusing it by treating it like a battering ram, it can last (however, long term quality is yet to be determined with these newer Hoovers).  However, in the wrong hands, I can see this machine breaking.  I just have to note that the highest impact plastics are used in all of the necessary places: motor case, sole plate, and the spine.  All of the metallic silver plastic pieces that you see on the machine feel thin and brittle, and highly susceptible to breaking, given exposure to the right amount of impact.  The piano black accent on the floor nozzle feels like it can easily crack is someone were to "accidentally" step on it, or if something with enough mass and weight is dropped onto it.  I also have some mixed feelings about the material of the stretch hose.  The material feels too soft, and too susceptible to tearing; I think Hoover will receive many warranty claims on the hose, unless they implement a more durable hose, pronto!  In comparison to my DC23 canister, I would say the DC23 has far better quality plastics that seem more resilient, and better able to absorb impact.  The Hoover, on the other hand, has some exterior plastic pieces that feel more brittle and fragile.  Now, that is not to say that the Hoover is rubbish; it feels sturdy when in use, and all of the pieces have a good fit and finish; just don't abuse it, or take a wrench to its casing.

so i wonder why a round brushroll and not aero style....how does one wk better than the other?

Hi,

The sturdiest household vacuum cleaners on the American market today are Kirby, Schoettler Industry's Air-Storm and Patriot and Miracle Mate. The Schoettler vacs are even offered with an unconditional five-year warranty on their casings and a three warranty on PNs and other tools.. However, these vacuum price well past the $1,500 mark.

We have to remember that the days of reasonable price and quality build have passed. Stores are probably paying around a couple hundred bucks for the the Platinum Bagless -- if that -- and pricing it at $400 until the squeeze of economic trends causes the public to become even more cautious with its cash. Then they'll jump down fifty or a hundred. BUT business will go on as usual.

Forget Hoover for a moment . . .

I love my new Miele upright but for a vacuum that retails as high as $995 (check out Williams-Sonoma online) you still wonder what you've bought into. I got my first scratch a few days ago which resulted in a long white mark. Why? The molded front casing and the top of the gase are made of white plastic that is spray painted that wonderful metallic cherry red I loved. This came as no surprise as the story is told the moment you open the bag chamber and see how sloppily finished the inside of the lid is. Williams-Sonoma's special model of the S7, the Miele "Pirouette" (gimme a break won't ya) has a base top and bag chamber lid that is plain old white thus lessening the scratch issue. Scratch or no, the cleaner does its job just fine but you do stop to wonder how much more it would have cost to use plastic with color all the way through as was done for hte rest of the molded casing? This is not a gripe but an advisement that no matter how much you spend, be prepared to be nickel-and-dimed somewhere along the line.

$400 to you and me is a good deal of money. However, today in the big business picture it equates to no more than the $70 or $90 we might have been asked to shell out for a super deluxe Eureka back in 1962. The little colored LEDs and servo-motors out of Asia can be had for a pittance and won't put a dent in any vacuum makers production budget even if slapped on by the dozen. Yet they impress the daylights out of the customers.

Venson

iMacDaddy wrote:

Comes with a 6 year warranty!  Trumps dyson's 5 years.

Carmine D.

iMacDaddy wrote:

Thank you.  Should facilitate removing the gawdawful odors that get trapped in most of the bagless brands and models. 

Carmine D.

It looks to me...   Knock-off manufacturing may be infringing on a Dyson patent.  Dyson is the only company (to the best of my knowledge) where a portion of
the high efficiency cyclone resides inside a [fine dust] collector.  All/most all others avoid this infringement by having their entire cyclone inside the fine dust
container/collector.  Bissell avoided the Dyson patent with [dust collecting] tubing and then onto the fine dust collector.

DIB

Hi DIB - In the UK, both Hoover, with their new 'Airvolution Technology', and Vax, with their 'No Loss of Suction' system, seem to have adapted Dyson's 'Root Cyclone' design fairly closely for their own use without any legal challenge.

Here's the inside of the cyclonic separator from my Vax Mach7:







The Mach7, at a glance, looks much like the cleaner it was adapted from, the Hoover Windtunnel + Cyclonic. However, in addition to a more aggressive brush-roll, the Hoover version appears to use a completely different cyclonic system:



I've watched shopping-channel demos of the Hoover machine, and it looked like the shroud was clogging pretty fast with the pet hair-type fibre material they were cleaning up. The shroud in the Mach7 always stays completely clean.

Of Hoover UK’s so-called “Air Force Power” - the Airvolution...
The Airvoluton is an insight into how the suits at Hoover UK think and their commitment to “worlds first” innovations... “Okay boys, lets not get caught this time...  keep this in mind as you reverse engineer and study Dyson’s filtration and patents”


Model2,

Thanks for the breakdown pictures!  I appreciate this and the many other pics you provide (vintage, UK specific products, etc.)


DIB

Just a reminder to all readers with short memories here that the 2009 vacuum winner selected by the Academy to go to all the Oscar winners is the HOOVER Cyclonic bagless with windtunnel technolgy.  The same model that is the subject of this thread!

CArmine D.