Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

It's been a while since I've been on Abby's Guide.  I wanted some opinions.  I found a Miele Red Star on Craigslist for $15.00.  I felt like I couldn't get their fast enough to snag it up.  The cover over the bag was damaged so I dropped it off at my local Vac Shop for a replacement.  The cost will be around $120.00.  The Vac Shop guys said that other than the damaged cover this Red Star is in excellent condition and even the power brush looks brand new.  It came from a pet free home so it will definitely be put to the test in my home. 

Was this a good find and is it worth the $120.00 to fix it?  Even though the Red Star is an older model is it one of their good ones?  Any thoughts on how it will hold up to lots of pet hair?  My S7 still works great, but sadly it has gotten that "pet odor" even with the HEPA filter.  Ugh.

Thanks.

Melanie

Well if its the S7 upright, the hose and wand part can still be "washed" with wet wipes and then dry wipes pushed up and down the parts to dry the hose and pipes out. As with my cylinder post I have stated that all parts have to be dried.

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson

The s7 is a beautiful machine to say the least...would love to service one and check it out at the shop.

In the case of the riccars/sebo/s7..how do they compair overall in build quality...motors, filtering , electronics  ect. to eachother...

Ive yet to use the radiance i was gifted....as i want to tear it down and do a look over ....working on the radiance is not alot of fun when your at the shop so ill do this one at home and at a leisurly pace....i have the 8 series of this model...used a couple months then returned...and forgotten about. Im not impressed with the tool air-flow/suction either...meager to say the least but customers rave about it and it does well at the shop ...so im eager to see what it can do at home....but all in all i cannot complain one bit about the radiance....it was FREE and im very happy have one....btw''''in your shopping for the s7 did you ever consider the radiance....and what all did you try out....i only ask ask because i love to hear user feedback on any vacuum....thank you for your time venson.

turtle

retardturtle1 wrote:

Hi turtle,

Well, if you check yours out you should see more metal in stategic places.  Here's a link to its page at the Riccar site.  http://www.riccar.com/products/uprights/?prod=RAD

Click on the "Features" link.

In answer to your question, the two main reasons for the Miele S7 purchase was one, to expand my personal knowledge and two, to have it around a while to see what it was like to work with day to day.  I really didn't think you could say much about it without trying it. 

It wan't so much about going out looking to see what was available.  I seldom go shopping online or brick-and-mortar establishments without already having researched the thing I want.  By the time you see me in a store it's more a matter of me looking for what I want at a price I want to pay. 

Miele of course, had been selling uprights all along but for once here was one that wasn't outsourced from Panasonic or elsewhere and was also somewhat different from others of its kind.  Yet, I already had bought the Capricorn canister and needed one more vacuum cleaner like a hole in the head. But -- it just so happened I had a little mad money AND no one to stop me.  I'm glad.  However, being perfectly honest, I would not have bought the S7 unless there'd been a really good price on it.  I got my Tango model at a very, very nice price

I'd seen the Radiance well before this.  Elegant by way of overall style, I loved the look of the brushroll and its "Tandem Air" system was a nice notion I thought.  Then again the direct air part of the deal did not enthuse me much.  All I could think of was the clatter and clang of overlooked coins, paper clips or whatever when they hit the fan.  I hate that.  Pricewise, per Riccar's website,  the Radiance lists at 1,100 bucks and the new Radiance Premium at around I,500.

As for endurance comparisons, re Sebo, Riccar and Miele, I can't say.  I have owned vacuums old and new but tried to take care of them.  The biggest problem for a good vacuum is its owner.  The person who changes the bag or empties the collection bin and also replaces or cleans filters in timely fashion will probably get far more mileage out of the same machine someone else can kill in five years or less. 

Venson

Ive had two repairs on my old Sebo X1 Automatic - the lifetime belt eventually snapped (the previous owner, my Uncle seriously abused this vac) after 13 years and it lasted 2 years more before we sold it on. 15 years isn't bad going; our old Hoover Junior lasted 13 years before that with constant repairs and more money spent on it to the value of the Sebo which had been brought brand new. Having only owned Miele cylinders for the best part of 8 years now, I'd say Sebo and Miele are both considerably longer lasting. However the S7 isn't as easy to break down like the Sebo X models are when it all goes wrong.

vacmanuk wrote:

I only recall one American vacuum series by Shetland-Lewyt that put out a line of canisters back in the day that were "modular" in nature allowing easy removal of motors, etc., for alledgedly easy customer self-maintenance.  The idea being, should a motor fail or some other part of the machine suffer damage, you could simply pop it out or off and replace it with a new one yourself.  Great idea but the series did not last long on the market.  Why, I don't know.

Nilfisk, in my opinion, so far makes some of  the easiest to self-service canisters  though ordering and replacing an entire motor unit is one thing.  Changing motor brushes is more radical, less expensive but best handled by a competent service person.

The S7 has those special screws that require a specific tool to undo them.  My curiosity, for once, is not that great I find.

Venson

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