bissel still a POS

steve g

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steve garrett
after hearing about how great the $49 bissel was I went and bought one, at first I was very happy with it, it vacced great with lots of suction, then after a few uses I found the thing would get pretty dusty looking and had to be wiped down alot, this along with the small dirt cup made working with it harder, but the worst thing I found was that after a period of continued use the filter on the bottom of the dirt cup becomes more and more easily clogged, which gets to the point of stopping up the vac nearly altogether, this is a problem because once it happens you must take the thing apart and wash it with water, which means not using it again until the filters are dry, I have 2 bissels now and they have been relegated to my own house use, sanitaire 887 is still the best all around vac IMO
 

Ron Werner

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Sooke BC, Lower Vancouver Island
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Ron Werner
thats been the problem with the bagless vacs, the filters. Costs too much to replace them.

I'm using the Amway Cleartrak, I can easily wash the filters and they don't cost $40 each. I get a few years out of them and then replace a few parts and its like new. I'd be lost without it.
 

Fon Johnson

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Oct 15, 2006
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That is the same set of problems I ran into with that stupid cleanview.. If you get that much crap on the outside of the vac, what makes it to your lungs? I know people complain about buying bags, but c'mon, let's face it: If you cannot afford to buy some vacuum bags, maybe you oughta re-think your business.

If you want a vac that rocks, try the Clarke combivac. I have one that is about 12 years old, and I LOVE it. I'm going to try the powrflite model that is supposed to be the same thing. If it works, I'll buy more, if not I'll be buying more combivacs.
 

John Watson

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Oct 7, 2006
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Well, you tester guys said the POS bag less Hepa canister I brought down for testing last year didn't pick up nuttin... Now that was surprising to Helen and I cause it was our 4th one in 2 years (We sold 2 of the others to clients as a used Vac after 6 months) and Helen was always bitchen at me to empty the damn thing. (We did so before starting a new job) We had many comments from our clients as Helen pre-vaced (the canister vac with separate power head didn't bother her Rheumatoid arthritis like the standard up-rite did) every job about how much we would get in the see threw canister especially after they had just vacuumed.

Well, regardless of what we knew the vac picked up, we took part of your professional advice and retired that unit to shop work only.(You said to shit can it)

We replaced it with a Hepa filtered bag type up-rite that I now have to use on cut pile carpets, (Helen's RA won't let her use this type most of the time) This is also the Lindhaus vac (brought by Ricky G) you tested at Mikeyfest07. You also said this unit didn't pick up very much in your testing procedures.

After 11 months of use, the Lindhaus Vac has done an excellent job for us, pre-vacing 95% of the jobs we do. This vac almost makes a solid adobe sized brick of the waste bag before the full light comes on. I seem to always be checking to make sure the full light still works.

But, again, the majority of the carpets we clean don't look there that dirty to begin with.
 

Fon Johnson

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The time spent taking it apart, walking outside (especially out of the customers view), whacking it against a tree, cleaning the other filter, and putting it back together, and then finding a place to wash the dust off of your hands and arms, will cost more than what a replacement bag for a real vacuum would cost to begin with. Then God forbid you have a wind shift that blows that nasty dust on your customers deck, Corvette, Mercedes, BMW, windows, or up your nose.

I save money by replacing bags since I don't have to constantly clean filters and dump the cup. The bag catches the crap, and does not create a dusty mess when removing it. I don't wanna touch what I suck outta carpets, muchless breathe it..
 

Jim Martin

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Arizona
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Jim Martin
Dyson...............

over 2 years.........

never bought a belt,bag,or filter yet

every 3 months I take it apart and fire up the compressor and blow everything out......

I pull this thing off my truck 3 to 4 times a day 5 to 6 days a week.....
and give it one hell of a work out.............

most don't like them but it is one of the best I have used.....
 

Jimmy L

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Lindhaus and the DYSON are not that highly rated by consumer's reports.

For that kind of money I expect perfection.
 

Fon Johnson

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I don't know anything about Dyson, so I can't comment either way. Not to bust on my ole pal Jimmy, but I take what I read in Consumer Reports with a grain of salt. I have found them to be very, very wrong on more than one occassion. That is why I don't get a subscription any longer.
 

Shane T

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Waukesha, WI
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Shane Tiegs
I'm with Jim Martin on this one. I've been using a DC17 now for a year. It does such a good job of keeping the dust in the cup that the filter has only been rinsed out twice. If you believe what Consumer Reports says you probably believe most of what you hear on these BB.
 

asupremeclean

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Oct 20, 2007
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The sanitaire 877, great vac, easy to service, inexpensive parts, Changing bags sucks but something sucks about all we do.
 

Bob Foster

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Oct 8, 2006
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It does sound like the Sanitaire reigns supreme.

For those that don't know we tested vacuums at last years MF.

The top one was the Sanitaire and the cheap Bissell came in second which surprised everyone.

The test only measured what vacuums picked up the most by weight and not the ease of use or any issues about durability.
 

Fon Johnson

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Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, the Bissell sucks like crazy and it has a very aggressive brush. It does no better than my combivac in that regard. What I find most disturbing is the dust all over it. I do worry about making messes, but more importantly what goes in our lungs. I have never had any mess on the housing of the combivac because it contains every speck of dust, and no messy filters to clean.
 
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Jesse
I still like the Winsdor sensor xp's the best. I've read that the windsor didn't do well at last MF but in the pics I didn't see one.
 

Jimbo

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Oct 7, 2006
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I love my 59 $ Bissel...I jusdt take the filters out daily and Vac them with the tm...I really like the aggressive brush...if I need to prescrub a dirty traffic lane...I just unhook the vac hose...and have at it! I've been using this one for 6 months now...from Best Buy...with a two year warranty.- Jim
 

Jimmy L

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And why wouldn't you trust consumer's reports?

They do scientific testing and show no bias.

Weighting before and after samples bla bla bla.

Filtration,blowby exhaust......

People buy into these high priced POS vacuums because of all the marketing hype and NOT real facts.

Just like SHAMPOO er I mean EnCApsUlATIoN.
 

Fon Johnson

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Why do I not trust CR? OK, here it is (a small percentage actually.)

My in-laws found a "deal" on a car that was oh so highly rated by CR. They were orgasmic that my wife have this car, so much so that they went and bought it behind my back (of course I would be making the payments.) I blew a gasket, and now I'm the bastard bad guy. I have had no less than EIGHT mechanics tell me that was the best thing I did, that the car was a POS. My cousin and her husband bought one and had to unload theirs.. It was a BIG POS too.

The dishwasher detergent they were in love with was leaving our dishes with spots and leaving them dull. It at least did clean fair. I was shopping somewhere else one day and bought the detergent they did not like. Voila! The dishes came out clean with no spots and no dullness.

I have many other such cases, but there is no need to go into it here. One thing I did notice is that there is a sort of anal type of nut that reads CR, and if the item tested is out of the mainstream, they will love it within their reviews. You can buy into it if you want, but if I was a religious follower instead of doing my research, I would be reaaallllly pissed at them. I also know of somebody that bought a big screen tv. It is sad that is does not have as good a picture (not even close) as my 13 year old Ultravision (which probably got a shitty rating.)

I don't know where their testing has become so flawed, but I know for certain they have been wrong repeatedly. Not looking at their reviews has kept me from making some mistakes!
 

steve r

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Feb 12, 2007
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1,109
i like my powr flite. ive sold a couple to customers after they saw me using it. one even called me two months later after hers broke. its light weight low profile and can get under beds and some furniture because the handle lays down flat. 160 cfm helps too.
it has a bag so no filters to plug up also.and you cant buy it at wal mart.
 

Greenie

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Oct 7, 2006
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Mikey P said:
You don't need to wash that filter all the time.

Just whack it against a trash can or tree.

We have several of them, got one here at the shop, the filters are no big deal, and when they exceed banging on the inside of a trash can, a quick rinse in the sink, and compression squeeze with a couple of paper towels sucks the moisture right out of them and they are ready for work in a few minutes of air drying.

Still not a better value in a cheap vac. and just for the record the Sani blows dust too...
 

Jimmy L

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Fon its obvious that you are some sort of backwoods type of guy.
Maybe they read a ten year old copy of consumer's reports and bought a high mileage used VW.


As far as the dishwasher liquid you bought I don't know but you don't wash paper plates or do you?


Your reasoning is absurd when they do actual scientific testing.
 

Fon Johnson

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Jimmy Ladwig! said:
Your reasoning is absurd when they do actual scientific testing.

So, since you like scientific testing, tell us how you feel about the SOA program.

The car was about a year old with about 10,000 miles. They bought it specifically because of it's CR rating. I have not heard one mechanic yet that liked it. The car had lots of problems with service bulletins issued for various things. I don't expect them to get it right all the time, but I'm glad I nixed that one. They blindly followed what CR said. That musta been some good koolaid, because if they had done a little research elsewhere and talked to the actual people who work on them, they would have found that CR was wrong.

As for the dishwasher detergent.. My testing said that our silver and stainless (and even plastic stuff) like the lower rated cleaner better. My testing may not have been scientific, but I could see which one did the better job. Oh, I do use paper plates, but I don't usually wash them. I just brush of the crumbs and use them again if I don't get peanut butter and jelly all over it.. :roll:

I am a techno-geek, and I research anything to death before I buy. There are lots of other resources out there. I go to lots of them. CR is not always right. Take of that tin foil hat and put down the koolaid. You might be surprised.
 

Dolly Llama

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Oct 7, 2006
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North East Ohio
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Larry Capitoni
I'll give up my Bissels when you pry them from my cold dEd fingers

then empty the dust cup, knock the filter out and vac the funeral home carpets before they lay me out for viewing....


..L.T.A.
 

KevinL

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Jan 5, 2007
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East Peoria Illinois
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Kevin Leach
I'm with Fon, I've seen CR tell bull. Years ago they rated bar soap and said Dove didn't wash away quickly. Have you tried this soap? It turns to mush in about 5 minutes. Other things too but I'm getting tired.






Chemlie sucks.
 

Blue Monarch

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Lincoln, NE
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Dirk Wingrove
Jimbo, that's a fine idea! Using it for agitation. The brush roll certainly does go for broke.

The real bonus is that it would already be in the home (if I prevac). That's it, I'm busting it out of the basement.
 

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