Hey Sweeney, how is the Sanitaire dirt cup vac working out?

[Mikey P]

Got an opinion yet?

 

[joeynbgky]

I'm not sweeney but, get the $500 riccar. it sucks up quarters and such............. Notice i'm not on the oreck kick anymore!

 

[sweendogg]

Its still running like a champ. I even got two months off the belt before I noticed the directions say to change the belt that it came with with the one provided as the the one it came with is the tester belt.

Pros. Nice wide path.
Awesome Suction
Nice variety of on board tools
Professional appearance
Belt style was changed to a more updated flat belt that isn't as prone to problems.
40 ft. Cord that with no ground plug to worry about. Handy in older homes. Don't have to search for the adaptor. Also handy to have a cord holder that still rotates for easy cord unwrapping.
On of my personal favorites: larger Dust Cup: I can dump this cup once compared to 3 dumpings on the bissel. And it held 3 lbs of kitty litter plus cat hair in one canister.
Very nice stair handle below the canister for vacuuming stairs.
No lite to mess with/worry about bulp busting.
Belt Change is three screws.

Cons: Canister is tinted so at times it can be difficult to monitor soil in weird lighting situations.
The vacuum pulls enough air flow that it can make an annoying hiss at times.
The vacuum is not lite, mostly from the heavier motor and heavier duty frame.
Ron Werner is right that the the first filter in the canistoer can be a PIA sometimes, but this is easily remedied by using an air compressor to blow the filter out between jobs or each day if y ou don't return to the shop. (even with the filter caked full, it still had plenty of suction to pull up another three lbs of kitty litter)
Its not automatic adjusting brush height.. *I almost always have it on the lowest setting unless its a carpet that tends to fuzz heavily. The brush roll is aggressive enough to remove soil but has not shown signs of being over aggressive.
The main filter while readily available at any box store, is $20.00.


Over all thoughts:

FINALLY Santaire is catching up with the rest of the world in design. They preserve their rugedness and borrows a few design cues from the Eureka Lineup. But it does the job. I would suggest price shopping for the best price as we got ours for $215.00 from an discount online office supply site. Just like any vacuum, you can't out run physics, nice steady strokes to let the air circulate when using any vacuum. But this purchase has saved me time over the bissel, and I prefer to seee what i'm getting out over a bagged vacuum. I leave the bagged vacuums at the shop for cleaning rugs and showroom.

 

[amazingcleansc]

you like the brush to dig into the carpet, David? or is it just this vac?

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

I'm not sweeney but, get the $500 riccar. it sucks up quarters and such............. Notice i'm not on the oreck kick anymore!

Riccars are sexy. I don't get out much.

 

[sweendogg]

I like the brush digging into the carpet. I've always ran any vac as long as it still maintained good airflow and removal. There are definatly some situatinos when you can't run it all the way down as you lock the head to the floor and no air flow = no suction.

Now for every day cleaning, I recommend my clients run the vacuums at their properly set height recommend by the manufacturer of the vacuum and also recommend at least once a month do a nice slow vacuum with the brush down one setting if its manual adjust do get around the base of the fibers a little better.

That coment was a split in that compared to some vacuums that auto adjust to pile height, this vacuum has to be manually adjusted, but the brush roll is a postivie attribute of this vacuum.

 

[amazingcleansc]

i always pick up a ton more when the brush is set high.

I'm talking about rat nasty carpet and bissell momentum

 

[Goldenboy]

Can you guys give me a model number I am due for a new vac.


Golden Boy

 

[amazingcleansc]

Can you guys give me a model number I am due for a new vac.


Golden Boy

do yourself a favor..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AR3OPU

 

[Goldenboy]

Thanks Dave. Sweeney I have read a few reviews saying the hepa filter gets clogged up all the time. True? Mikey P are you done with the Sanitaire 887 cup model?

Golden Boy

 

[sweendogg]

http://www.buysanitaire.com/Products/SC ... 5845B.aspx

Hardly anything gets to the HEPA, the first filter gets almost all of it. So I don't see how the hepa gets clogged up. I blow them both out though between jobs or at the end of the day.

 

[Goldenboy]

Do you have to blow them out with a air compressor?


Golden Boy

 

[amazingcleansc]

probably thats why his never gets clogged !gotcha!

 

[Mikey P]

Thanks David,

I'll be getting one soon.


Yes Waldo, the 887 belt was driving me nuts. Could not get one to last more then a day at best.

 

[sweendogg]

One thing to take into consideration in your case Mikey. I'm 5'6" and your... well much taller than I am. My brother (6'5") thought it was a comfortable for him...(I got screwed the height gene in the family apparently!)

 

[Mikey P]

another thing I love about the Shark is how tall it is.


Tallest on the showroom floor actually.

 

[steve g]

Thanks David,

I'll be getting one soon.


Yes Waldo, the 887 belt was driving me nuts. Could not get one to last more then a day at best.

I have found better belt life by storing my 887 with the belt off, I just roll it on every time I use it. something needs to be done about the 887 belt life, it would be the perfect vac if someone could figure out a way to make the belt last on them. my old purple bissels still have the original belts on them.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

What do you do if you don't have an air compressor on your truck? I have not heard one valid argument why a bagless vacuum is better than a bagged other than you can see the dirt going in. I can hear it in a bagged model.

My next vacuum will be another bagged upright. If I went with a bagless, I would get two bissels and keep extra filters on hand. I noticed the other day the filter has changed. The previous filter could be rinsed with water, but the new paper filter did not look so durable or like washing it would bode well.

 

[amazingcleansc]

I bet those hepa filter-getting-clogged online reviews are armchair quarterbacks commenting on the fact that its not a dual cyclonic design.

 

[amazingcleansc]

wait scratch that. i see the new one now! hey i like that.

 

[sweendogg]

What do you do if you don't have an air compressor on your truck? I have not heard one valid argument why a bagless vacuum is better than a bagged other than you can see the dirt going in. I can hear it in a bagged model.

My next vacuum will be another bagged upright. If I went with a bagless, I would get two bissels and keep extra filters on hand. I noticed the other day the filter has changed. The previous filter could be rinsed with water, but the new paper filter did not look so durable or like washing it would bode well.

Read the entire thread Daniel... I don't keep the compressor on the truck. Most times I schedule two bigger jobs a day and fill in with rugs, or carpet repairs or installs. Our shop is pretty centrally located so I can almost always go back to the shop between jobs to reset the truck: dump, fill, and clean out the vacuum. A chore that takes about 3 minutes if its reallly dirty and half of the that is rolling the compressor over the door. Or if I can't get back to the shop.. not a problem, I keep a extra filter on board and like I already said if the filter gets very soiled, it still maintains very decent suction.

And your full of shit if you think you can "hear" all of the soil coming into a bag. We have plenty of bagged vacuums as well. All you can hear is the small sand and large particulate soil that makes noise. The clothes lint, skin particles, powdered deoderizer, powdered cleaning agents, pet hair, and any smaller soil WILL not make a single noise. IF only the world's soils was made of kitty littter.

You want pros of a bagless vacuum:

Pros: POSITIVE verification of soil removal
Value added in the eyes of the customer when they see what you have removed JUST with vacuuming
Prevention and identification of potential problems like powdered deoderzier, capture, or other powdered debris.
Ability to maintain full air flow by quickly emptying container before excesessive build up restricts suction.
No cost of bags.

Cons: You have to empty the dust cup into a trash can.
If you are lazy on cleaning out filters, you may have replace them every so often.

Bags deserve their own paragraph: There is this belief that all of the soil in a bagged gets compressed and thus their is more capacity in a bag. Yet ALL of the vacuum companies recommend that you replace your bag when your half full. Perhaps they are trying to make more money... maybe. Or they understand that the small particulate.. you know that stuff you can't here that makes up most of the actual soil in the carpet. is small enough to clog the pores in the bag which restricts air flow and thus when you have reached the halfway capacity of the bags.. even the one with the ultra cool interior liners, the vacuums efficiency trasticly drops off. This is true for any bagged vacuum. Now, with as much as I pulled out in a general house, I'd fill a bagged vacuum about once a day and that is if I'm filling the bagged vacuum all the way up. Now the Kirby bags would drive cost way high but lets look at our basic sanitaire 888. at 4 dollarws for a 3 pack I'd be spending roughly $8 dollars a week and if I book say 40 weeks. I've just payed for several bissel bagless vacuums or even my Santaire bagless and saved an extra $100.00 or so. And that doesn't even take into account the houses like the one I took out a five gallon bucket of DRY soil or the house I removed 8 lbs of kitty litter and soil from 1000 sqft.

Now why the Sanitaire over the bissels: I've had bissels. I like them. They do a fantastic job and for the price.. nothing can touch them. However, the Sanitiare is more than just about having a professional looking vacuum. Quite frankly I was embarrassing my customers when I had to tell them I just outcleaned their $500 dollar Mieles or dysons with a $46.oo walmart vacuum. I was also dumping a lot more often with the bissels with the smaller dust cup and when I went to clean them out I had to clean out 6 parts to blow out. Now with the Santiare I get a longer cord, larger dust cup, and only three parts that need to be blown out. Not to mention its wider.

There is also somewhat of a respect for Eurkea/Sanitaire products in Bloomington, IL as the original founder of Eurka vacuums and home of Eureka and Electrolux until recently has been Bloomington, IL. Our family even did work for Eureka Williams when he was still alive.

Now you want to got with the supposedly "cleaner appearance" bagged vacuums, go for it, but the professional that wants to know for sure they are doing their job use bagless.

I'm gettin off my soap box now. !dork!

 

[Nate The Great]

One thing to take into consideration in your case Mikey. I'm 5'6" and your... well much taller than I am. My brother (6'5") thought it was a comfortable for him...(I got screwed the height gene in the family apparently!)

Your gravity challenged.

 

[Ron Werner]

Couldn't have said it better David.
The submicron pores of the bag fill up and cut the air flow, there's no getting around it.

Why I like the Cleartrak is its cheap for filters, easy to clean out and has a large canister, and parts can be interchanged or exchanged easily. Oh, the belts last the life of the brush, which I get about 6mths.

 

[Mark Imbesi]

Re: Hey Sweeney, how is the Sanitaire dirt cup vac working o

....

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Hey David I have used several vacuums and they all perform well if they are MAINTAINED. The Bissell is what I started with. On a dirty job the vacuum would lose suction half way through the job. For the money though it is a great work horse.

I fell in love with this vacuum. The dirt sensor works awesome. Some carpets the light stays on and that lets me know I need to slow down. Other jobs the light comes on only in certain areas. Again I need to slow down. I vacuumed my carpet the other day and the light did not come on once. I have clean carpet. :wink:

The pros of this vacuum:

-No filters to clean EVER. Just vacuum until the bag is full and change it out. I don’t have to stop several times on a job to empty or service the filters.
- The hose has no bends for things to get lodged.
- Great suction
-The belt and brush roll are serviced through the top. No screws to deal with. Just flip a switch and the top cover pops right off.
-The vacuum is quiet enough.
- The brush roll can be turned off to vacuum hard floors.
- A dirt sensor to let me know how much soil is being pulled up.
- Did I mention I bought this vacuum second hand for 5 dollars at a thrift shop? I also picked up a dirt devil but it was a pos so I tossed it. Way too loud.

The cons:
- There aren’t a lot of on board tools.
- That’s about it.
I would love to buy a bag-less, but cleaning filters or keeping extra ones on hand is not really practical for a professional cleaner. That is why I haven’t bought another Bissell.
I have used several Dysons. They are good vacuums, but not perfect. I am positive when I get another vacuum, it will be something similar to what I have now. I really can’t find anything wrong with it.

4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQGlZCZ_n0I4]

 

[Ron Werner]

Just curious Daniel, next time you go over your carpets, have a fresh bag in. I'd be interested to know if there was anything in the bag even if the light didn't come on.
Another good test is to take a Bissell or such over the same area and see what comes up, if anything.

The reason I ask this is because I've gone into many places where they have "just" vacuumed and I still put a significant amount of soil in my canister.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Ron I was skeptical at first, but the sensor is pretty accurate. I am not trying to get every last bit of dirt out. It does let me know if the carpet is filthy or just a little dirt. I have another Kenmore vacuum without the sensor and to be honest I have no clue how much dirt I am vacuuming up. For the most part I can hear dirt being pulled up, but a cannister or one like I use is is a better choice than just a regular bagged vacuum.

Most homeowners have no clue how to vacuum their carpet or maintain a vacuum. The reason my vacuum doesn't light up is because I vacuumed the hell out of it one day. I only have about 300 sq ft of carpet. Everything else is hardwood. I vacuumed slow every square inch for like 45 minutes. Now I just hit it real quick once or twice a week. I need to steam clean it.

If a homeowner vacuums occasionally and does a quick job, there will no doubt be lots of dry soil in the carpet. If they have not had their carpet professionally cleaned in 5 years it will be loaded with soil even if they vacuum before you come out. You are right Ron. The carpets that don't look like they need vacuuming are usually the ones with the most fine particulate soil. If a homeowner routinely vacuums with a decent vacuum, I can tell the difference right away.

A better approach for you and the homeowner would be to do a basic vacuum. Don't worry about getting every speck of dirt out. Just get the bulk of it out, steam clean the carpet, and then instruct the homeowner to vacuum the high traffic areas daily or every other day and the rest once per week. They will do the job for you.

Most people take notice when I vacuum. I don't have to spend an hour vacuuming. Just a quick pass is all it takes to make you stand out from the next guy. I had a local cleaner ask me the other day what is that I mean what do you use that for. I replied it is a vacuum. I use it to vacuum. You vacuum?

 

[Ron Werner]

A better approach for you and the homeowner would be to do a basic vacuum. Don't worry about getting every speck of dirt out. Just get the bulk of it out, steam clean the carpet, and then instruct the homeowner to vacuum the high traffic areas daily or every other day and the rest once per week. They will do the job for you.

Most people take notice when I vacuum. I don't have to spend an hour vacuuming. Just a quick pass is all it takes to make you stand out from the next guy. I had a local cleaner ask me the other day what is that I mean what do you use that for. I replied it is a vacuum. I use it to vacuum. You vacuum?

Most people don't take the time even after I tell them how to vacuum more effectively. Besides, if I remove the soil the first time, its less I have to worry about when I hit it with water. And there is always the "unknown soil" that a quick vac would miss. I move the vacuum as fast as I can without sacrificing effectiveness. When I see it coming out, I slow down. If I don't, I just move at a steady pace.

 

[Nate The Great]

A better approach for you and the homeowner would be to do a basic vacuum. Don't worry about getting every speck of dirt out. Just get the bulk of it out, steam clean the carpet, and then instruct the homeowner to vacuum the high traffic areas daily or every other day and the rest once per week. They will do the job for you.

Most people take notice when I vacuum. I don't have to spend an hour vacuuming. Just a quick pass is all it takes to make you stand out from the next guy. I had a local cleaner ask me the other day what is that I mean what do you use that for. I replied it is a vacuum. I use it to vacuum. You vacuum?

Most people don't take the time even after I tell them how to vacuum more effectively. Besides, if I remove the soil the first time, its less I have to worry about when I hit it with water. And there is always the "unknown soil" that a quick vac would miss. I move the vacuum as fast as I can without sacrificing effectiveness. When I see it coming out, I slow down. If I don't, I just move at a snail pace.

 

[Ron Werner]

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