Vacuums

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mete

mete

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Jun 10, 2003
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anyone have suggestions for a vacuum ? Upright canister, wet/dry, corded, .Multiple use , house/shop .No cheap stuff ,good quality.
 
I got a Kenmore canister for the house and a HDX 8hp for the shop. I like them both. The HDX is small in size but really sucks.
 
Having used both upright and canister vacs, I prefer the uprights.

Much of the time if you're using a canister vac, you'll need a power head to beat the carpet which then sends the dirt and dust via a hose to the canister. So in effect, you have a powered head with a motor (which can be heavy sometimes), a hose which can get tangled on furniture, and the vacuum motor, which can also be heavy. An upright vac combines all those into one unit. Using a canister vac on stairs is something I'll never do again.

In the past, upright vacs didn't have quite the suction of canister vacs, but new designs have closed the gap.
 
About 25 years ago, I spent what seemed like a lot of money with a friend who sold commercial vacs to purchase for my household use a Sanitaire vac, the commercial make of Electrolux.

Earlier this year, the zipper on the bag gave out and I though how silly it was that such a simple part should be the death of it, but 25 years is a long service. I took it to a local repair shop expecting to be laughed at for having such an old thing.

"Is next Tuesday ok?"

"What?"

"Well, we're awefully busy and one tech is out having a baby. I don't think we can get to it much before that."

"You can repair it?"

"Oh yeah. No problem. We can replace the bag, and give it a full overhaul for you."

"The parts are still available?"

"Sir, look to your left and a little behind you, that blue one for $950..."

"Wow. That looks almost exactly like mine."

"It basically is. They've changed the logo a bit and the new ones have different, actually better, heavier-duty cord. But everything else is the same. It's a classic, a great model. We sell a lot of those."

"$950!?! I think I paid $400... and that seemed like so much to spend on a vacuum at the time."

"You made a good choice. We'll fix this bag... and your belt looks a bit worn... and these brushes are getting on... for about $100 and it will last you another 25 years... at least. These things are really well-made. Basically, these things are made to be used 16 hours a day, five days a week. If you're using it for 20 minutes once a week, it'll last forever."

So, my advice to you is this: buy quality and you'll only cry once.
 
My experience with Dyson is poor.

Go industrial. Electrolux is awesome.

That being said, shop around. You can find old beat up vacuums that are identical to electorlux, but 25 years old, for $20 at used vacuum shops.
I have my Grandmother's.
The thing is designed to survive WWIII, back in the days prior to the Zombie Apocalypse.
 
We've been very happy with the Dyson. It works well, is solid but not overly heavy to cart around. We've had it about maybe 8 years or so and no trouble thus far.
 
I have a USA made Oreck XL upright. It is light and does the job, and I can work on it and replace anything that it needs (never needs anything) myself. I found one in the trash one time and all that was wrong with it was it was clogged. I disassembled it and cleaned it up - that is the one my daughter uses today.

For shop and garage, I like Shop-Vac brand. Made in USA, and very good quality. They are plastic, but don't let that fool you - I had a "nice" Hoover all metal "garage vac" and it was crap - the can for the outside looked quality, but all of the internals were cheap junk, and when it broke (from a 2 foot drop or so) I found that Hoover has been sold into Asia, and you cannot get piece parts - you had to buy a whole new motor at almost the cost of a new vac.

The Shop-Vac I have was half the price of the Hoover, and it still works great today -

Find a brand/model you like and then call them for a "customer service issue" to see if the company is responsive.

best

mqqn
 
Can you use the Shop-Vac for your regular house vacuum? They are pretty cheap and everybody says they are pretty good quality.
 
Shann said:
Can you use the Shop-Vac for your regular house vacuum? They are pretty cheap and everybody says they are pretty good quality.
Click to expand...

Sure. They're big, ackward, noisey, and actually don't do a good job of filtering out fine dust.

Also, they're no good on carpeting because they don't have a beater/brush.
 
I've got a Dyson and while it sucks really well, it's still to early to determine how long it's going to last. I bought it refurbished on amazon for a really good deal, so the price really wasn't much more than the walmart specials. The amount of plastic parts (nearly all) kinda of scares me, but it hasn't been a problem yet. Gollknick has a good point about parts, dyson has so many models that I'm afraid that in a few years I may not be able to get parts. Knock on wood I haven't had to replace anything in the couple years I've had it.

Someone said the Dyson was the sebenza of vacuums. Honestly I think that title goes to Kirby. They are much heavier built vacuums and carry the same price relationship as sebenzas do to other knives.
 
I ordered one from McMaster-Carr , I think made by Shop-Vac .Shop-Vac makes many models .The old one I had was one and it certainly not loud.It was a 'commercial' not and 'industrial' model.
The new one will be M-C 63305T36. That seems to fit my needs about the best.
Thanks
 
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I've had a Dyson for about 6 years now. Best vacuum out there IMO. I used it as a shop vac when I was building my house. Sucked up drywall chunks, nails, bits of thinset mortar, sawdust, you name it. Still going strong. Never had a problem with it. Best part though, no bags to deal with. Those suckers are expensive.
 
raindog101 said:
I've had a Dyson for about 6 years now. Best vacuum out there IMO. I used it as a shop vac when I was building my house. Sucked up drywall chunks, nails, bits of thinset mortar, sawdust, you name it. Still going strong. Never had a problem with it. Best part though, no bags to deal with. Those suckers are expensive.
Click to expand...

I might add that my dyson gets similar abuse. I have vacuumed up lead shot from reloading shotgun shells with both the hose attachment and the regular vacuum part. Even vacuumed a few primers by accident. I suspect that if they weren't spent primers I might have found out whether or not I could find parts.
 
Wife broke down & got a Dyson a few years back. She's happy with it. I'm happy she's happy with it!
 
I found a kirby g5. All the parts it needed were still available! The thing is heavy but for $50 for a new cord, belts and beater brush? Why not. This thing will last for a LONG time. As soon as you see one you'll know why.
 
We bought a Kirby new about 6 years ago and we've had zero problems with it. The vacuum works great and seems like it will last forever. It weighs a ton, but it's self-propelled and we live in a single story house. So, who cares?!!
 
Looks like you already ordered something, but my posthumous 2 cents would be a kirby. I used one from the 90's as recently as last year and it blew everything else out of the water. Apparently the thing cost a grand even back then
 
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