Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Sam's club is offering this 8 lb vacuum that is advertised as being made in the US.   It seems like this used to be sold under the Rubbermade brand, the Bissell brand, and the Kenmore brand.  Not sure about the availability of bags.  Has anyone used one of these? 


http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=189078&navAction=push#desc

Description

At only 8 lbs., Piranha's lightweight vacuum has the power to deliver heavyweight commercial cleaning results with an incredible 160 CFM. Tackling even the toughest commercial cleaning tasks, this 8 lb. vacuum will not only maximize cleaning speed and results, it will help minimize on-the-job injuries and worker's compensation claims due to its light weight.

Specifications

Warranty

Assembled Country

Component Country

USA

Hello Severus:

This is a first time seller for Sam's but a product that has been around/sold for many years.  Usually retails for $150-$160 and is a direct ORECK copy.  I suspect Sam's is impressed and taken with the reception/sales of the ORECK combo for $230-$300 by COSTCO club members and wants to offer a lightweight upright only w/o the compact companion canister in its stores. 

Carmine D.

Hi,

Tornado Industries has also been putting this out as "new" product.

http://www.tornadovac.com/store/category.aspx?pid=96

I first remember it under the Bissell name.

Venson

Tacony bought the molds from Bissell because it was competing successfully with their Ricaar/Simplicity Supralight Oreck copies.

It is offered under Tornado, Karcher, and PowerFlite brands. Not a bad vacuum for the price.

Saw a Betty Mills retail advert on this abby's guide page and realized that this Tonado lightweight upright is sold through that retailer.  If I recall Venson mentioned here a while back when dicussions about lightweight uprights were raised.

Perhaps Hertz would like to refresh my memory again for me here if I'm mistaken. 

Carmine D.

Finally got to sample the baby Dyson cylinder today and slightly off topic I think it would be wise if Miele brought out an even smaller cylinder vacuum, something in the vein of the Black and Decker model in terms of size. It would certainly give Miele more versatile use with the S100/S200/Alternative stick vac bags (the UK stopped getting these heavy stick vacs.) that could be used instead of just using it in one model. What does anyone else think?

vacmanuk wrote:

Vacmanuk:  I'd like to know how popular these baby dysons are.

Miele's S2 cann line seems small enough for my liking.  Lightweight and compact but still giving full size bennies like power and dirt containment.  Baby sounds cutzie, tho dyson doesn't call it so, but for me is impractical.  If you want baby size cleaning in a cann, get a compact cann.  Very pervasive in retailers and cheap.  No need to add another niche selling product to an already awesome product reportoire [MIELE].  Leave that for the likes of dyson: All glitter and no go.

Carmine D.

Well, it would do up Miele's D'Art bags as well as the stick vacs; using current bags for future models.

vacmanuk wrote:

The Art series up models are no longer current and for sale per the MIELE site.

Carmine D.

IN the U.S and U.K the D'art isn't on sale but worldwide the model is still for sale. Just because a model isn't in production in one country doesn't mean its like that internationally. Its the same with SEBO; they stopped selling their X1 Automatic long ago but in some other countries the X1 is still sold. What I'm getting to is that Miele could build a new vacuum using the existing bag and match it as per its capacity. They've already done it with the S4 using the FJM 3.5 litre/4 litre bag and the bigger S5 series with the GN bags. Quite why Miele called the S2 the S2 is beyond me as it has a bigger bag capacity than the more compact S4. Several people say the S2 will eventually replace the S4 so who knows...?

vacmanuk wrote:

Not on the MIELE International web site.  Have to presume its not part of the current product line.  Just sold as old stock where available.  

Carmine D.

The only reason the ART did not sell well was its price. If they had priced it right, it would have sold well,  Why do i say that?  It was ideal for bare floors,strong suction, smooth handling, with no weight to support, on board tools.

Trebor wrote:

Hi Trebor,

I kind of agree.  When the Art first came out I was interested but I'd also assumed automatically that it had a brushroll.  Once I'd discovered it did not, I lost interest almost totally. You're talking a fancy stick vac with tools that should not have cost more than a couple hundred bucks. The inclusion of a brushroll might have made the shelf price more excusable. 

Save for the attachment set-up, the idea of the Art wasn't necessarily revolutionary anyway as years before Eureka and Westinghouse put out spins on what was basically a cansiter vac able to execute floor work without tools.  Neither lasted on the market long.

Purely a personal aesthetic, the second thing is that I could only stand looking at the Art model they had in a solid color.  The idea of flowers and fancy designs on a vacuum cleaner has left me turned off since the psychedelic '70s.

As for price, with Miele, by now I think I've gotten used to its ridiculous mark-up on whatever it puts out. That said, I would never buy anything Miele without some substantial discount in the deal.

Best,

Venson

The MIELE Art series was marketed to consumers with more dollars than sense.  The noveau riche in the USA who made huge fortunes in the tech stocks and Wall Street rally during the high flying 80-90's.  When both tanked, the Art series did too.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Interesting point Carmine.  I wonder what's going to happen in future regarding consumers who still have no sense but even less dollars. If necessity is the mother of invention will it also prove to be the author of practical thought?

Venson

The Art could not simply have had a brush roll inserted into its existing chassis. The motor was not designed to power both suction fans and a brushroll. Even if you get around that one, the chassis was steeply rounded, meaning the pulleys would not have been able to to line up to drive the brush. No room for a second motor, and there goes the weight if you add one. No, better to simply have sold it for what it was, a very powerful, effective, convenient bare floor vacuum, but at a more reasonable price.  I think had they hung in with it for a year or two more, people might have gotten over the sticker shock and purchased one. Hard floors are not cheap, and are not easy to properly maintain. The Art had suction strong enough to clean upholstery, not typical of your average stick vac. Some people just don't like canisters, period, and the Art filled a niche that remains empty.

Trebor wrote:

Hi,

I am not saying the exact same design would fit the ticket but something very similar with the motor mounted crosswise allowing a spindle on the opposte end of the motor shaft for belt drive.  How this would or would not allow for a sealed system I can't say but considering as it was of molded plastic, the sky's the limit for the arrangement of things internal.

My only other argument as regards the sticker price is for what this machine cost to buy, you could have bought either a can with P/N or a well accoutered upright and gotten better value for the expense.  The Art however did address limited storage issues.  One question -- was this machine designed for haning flat on a wall?

Venson

I liked the Art's design but having used one, the bags were far too small on dirt capacity and its L shaped suction channel meant blockages happened rather a lot than necessary. Miele could have put a brush roll in if they wanted - hell, Electrolux's small stick vacs from the 1980s have been made to accomodate brush rolls and there was nothing stopping Miele from doing so. I rather think though that Miele's reason to bring out the D'Art wasn't just for Americans - Germans tend to have hard floor surfaces everywhere as it tends to be more hygienic than keeping carpeting.

vacmanuk wrote:

Yet, no longer on the German MIELE site as current production.

Carmine D.