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felix
classic
sebo
Avg. Price: $560
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Sebo Felix - the stick vac that grew up
by VacOMatic (theinvisibleboyy@aol.com) of la ca
Posted on 6/24/2006 |
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For those who tire of fast clogging stick vacs but like the concept, Sebo offers the new Felix line, top of which is the Classic. The floor brush (an improved ETH series with long, soft bristles) connects to the rounded, fabric covered body via a swivel neck.
Felix has an adjustable heigth handle, microswitches to shut the powerbrush off if hose is removed _or_ Felix is stood upright, and a brush motor servo system that warns user if brush heigth is wrong, brushes are worn, or brush roller is jammed. Bags are the standard Sebo paper design, with an internal motor filter and the S-rated exterior, clothcovered filter sheet.
Felix seems to manuever well, proving easy to steer around objects. Its powerhead is lower than most uprights, but the body diameter is pretty fat, preventing Felix from going very far under beds, furniture, etc. The powerhead can be shut off by pressing a switch on the powerhead body, letting Felix work ok on bare floors without scattering stuff. An included parquette brush is easy to exchange for the powerhead. Felix can be converted to a portable by detatching the powerhead and unmounting the hose, but the telescoping handle can get in the way of using it thusly.
Felix seems to groom medium pile rugs well, and also handled a very uneven carpet on a warped wood deck, picking up far more dirt than a modified Hoover Flair had done (the mod was vastly greater filter surface area that let Flair work for several minutes rather than the brief time its miserable cup filter offered). The powerbrush switch, though less convenient than a handle mounted one, worked well.
Minor gripes include rather flimsy strip holders on the parquette brush, chinzy upholstery tool, high friction cord surface making cord removal somewhat tedious, motor whine at low speed (at full speed Felix is a bit quieter than most uprights). Also, Felix tends to build up dirt in the bend in the hose just above the dirt chamber - it's a good idea to tap the hose to dislodge that dirt just before shutting Felix off. The bag is not easy to put in - you have to be careful in aligning it properly. Finally, Sebo has yet to offer filtrette bags, and changing the exterior filter can be tedious due to the way the exterior filter fits into hidden holders.
I don't think the ultimate stick vac has been made yet, but the Felix is certainly a step up in terms of capability.
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good carpet grooming action
easy to manuever thanks to swivels in neck
convertable to portable with little effort
S-class filtration
full size paper bags = large capacity
brush stops if hose is disconnected
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motor whine at lowest speed
dirt can build up in upper bend of hose
brush shutoff switch low to floor
chinzy accessories
cord wind, bag install a little awkward
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Date Purchased:
5/06
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Price Paid:
$560
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Recommended:
Yes
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