Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Tho a couple of months away, the VDTA is slotted for Vegas this year AND central vacuum systems, tho relatively new venue to the vacuum trade organization, are getting increased emphasis.

Carmine D.

vacmanuk wrote:
Great looking pieces,Cant figure out why Sebo never caught on in the USA. Have any insight to why vacmanuk...........

Sebo have "caught on," in the U.S but primarily through commercial units in the Windsor-Sebo range (uprights like Stealth / Ensign / Sensor S / XP ) I believe you can buy Sebo's cylinder / canister vacs in the U.S but they are a small company and don't have as much foot hold as Miele. Sebo have initially been in the U.S since the late 1990s and have sold many units in the USA under different brands.

vacmanuk wrote:

I agree with your observation, many dealers only carry the X series and a few carry the felix, both a great product but very pricey,If the customer is looking for a top shelf canister ot tank,  The dealers lead them towards miele,riccar, bosch, when they were around,

Have any clue why bosch stopped the run in the USA.

MOLE

Well, the U.S have Bosch's uprights in the form of Vax USA. As for their cylinders, they make different ones per country as do most of the brands. Here in the UK although Bosch is seen as a cheaper compact to Miele or Sebo, their biggest downside is that the bags are hard to find and of a practical nature, the tubes and hoses never stick together despite their friction fit design. Bosch are a smaller company when it comes to floorcare. They had a few problems in the 1990s with their upright vacs and them took them off the market. Vax on the other hand kept the design and has continued to sell those heavy uprights known initially as the AVC series and now VX: (X3 in the U.S)

vacmanuk wrote: This was the upright sold as the bagless jet,they also sold a bagged version also,some even sold under the siemens label,powerfull suction but  proved to be problematic and were  quickly shunned by the dealers,I know that there are a few around and are being blown out at $99.00

Siemens and Bosch are the same company; in the UK for example Bosch make brilliant household appliances; we had a Bosch dishwasher for 15 years, our oven is 20 years old and will need replacing soon. The Siemens brand dress everything up in stainless steel finishes compared to the literal white and black limited colours offered on Bosch and as a result hike the prices up accordingly. I only know of a few people who buy Siemens over Bosch because of the elevated prices. Electrolux also have that problem in the UK with John Lewis products since their laundry machines are rebadged Zanussi models and then the price hike and promise of "German engineering," with their AEG brand, when in actual fact all of their machines are made in China!

Both Bosch and Sebo are heavy hitters when it comes to price.  You should have seen the prices on Bosch dishwashers untli as of late.  Miele has an advantage due to being established on the market in many areas -- not just vacuums.

Bosch, even when it was picked up by a relatively well-known vendor like Sears as an add-on to its vacuum roster, it wasn't getting what it wanted saleswise and stopped the line intended for America.  Even at $750 for its high-end model, far less than Miele's top of the line vac but probably about as good, it didn't seem to get off the ground except for some of its less expensive models.  Maybe more advertising with that slight bit of snob appeal that Miele always goes for would have helped. 

The same applies for Sebo since it is basically an indie vendor offering here .  However, I don't see it in as many shops carrying it as I do offering Miele and don't know if it would be counter productive to carry both brands.  A product's lack of visibilty is the one reservation that will me to second thoughts when it comes to buying.  No matter how great I may think a vac is, I want to be sure that I can find consumables and maintenance without problem.  Thus, if I didn't see something show up frequently, at least in indie shops in my local vicinity I'd automatically start to wonder how easy it would be to get fresh bags, filters, etc., when I need them.

Venson

Hey vacmanuk,

I downloaded teh Sebo D4 manual and am saved because it's both in German and English.

Vielen Dank,

Venson

I saw that myself - normally the German manuals are both in English and German.

Granted the new D series looks a little like Vorwerk's Tiger but only a little...




Or the Panasonic MCE 800 series:

vacmanuk wrote:

Hey vacmanuk,

You go! So glad you checked that out.  Though there's little similarity to the Vorwerk Tiger, the design makes me think of the Nilfisk 930 in a roundabout way.  My reason is for this is due to the airflow draw being channeled to originate above the bag.  I don't know if the involvement of gravity was meant to be a key part in dust handling but the set up does to some degree allow dust to fall and collect at the bottom of the bag and leave the top portion of the bag more freed up for allowing optimal airflow.  The Nilfisk 930's filtration medium are housed in the cleaner's lid

http://webparts.nilfisk-advance.com/pdf/Instruction%20for%20use%20GD%20930%20EU.pdf

In response to the poster making mention of the conically shaped hose this was traditionally a trait of American made Electroluxes and also Nilfisk for many years.  Smaller point of entry with larger point of exit was to lessen possibility of clogging.

That said, the rest of this rather inttricately designed Sebo is quite interesting.  The manual shows how the airbelt is set up and how it muffles sound and subdues the motor exhaust.  I also think the "hospital" filter in teh bottom of the machine posibbly doubles its filtering ability by the way it has to be folded over on itself for installation.

For those not familiar with Verwerk vacuums, this is what Vorwerk Tiger canister I made mention of  looks like now.

Best,

Venson