Some nifty vacuums seen at Vegas

[Mikey P]

the Sanitaire commercial big boy has seen some revisions under the Oreck name

larger dirt cup, built in magnet bar, better/sturdier handle release, inner workings modified for durability, new sturdier latches for cup access but same shitty belt design, although I hear belts are lasting longer now. For a while the rubber out of India was real problematic. Stretching and breaking almost right away no matter who you bought the belts from, OEM or ACE hardware..

The benefits of his 30 year old design which will look familiar to many of you were cool enough that I bought one to test...

still a dollar a bag, so it will see select use but for a bypass vac it just may meet my needs.

and I scored (and I mean scored!) one of these Back Pack units..

best powerheAd out there for a back pack (exactly the same on the upright I bought) (yes, BOUGHT) and a 6 quart bag that can be reused many times..

about 15 pounds of accessories came with it too..

 

[Mikey P]

http://youtu.be/toB8xjIpGd0

I bought one of those too.


amazing unit regardless of the low low price.

http://www.speedysweep.com/


Look for a Speedy Sweep store here soon. They have all the dope shit.

 

[idreadnought]

I was looking at those online. the big boy sanitaire one. I would like to get a better look up close. Are they really just sanitaires with the oreck name? Sanitairs do not come stock with the dirt cups on the 16" versions so this would be nice to have it already on there without having to buy a dirt cup kit and install it. Also what is the beater brush look like? The sanitairs work way good and I was wondering what the orecks look like.

 

[Mikey P]

It has the nicer Vibra Groomer bar with the removable brush or agitator strips


a bargain at their price.

 

[Vivers]

You know I have a commercial one also Mikey and I am fine with it other then the POS belts. I thought they were old or something but now I know there just crap.

 

[hogjowl]

No serious cleaner buys a vacuum that does not have an edging attachment.

Unless, you get a kick out of attempting to suck bugs out of corners with your glided wand.

 

[Mikey P]

When we used the Sanitaires we would dig out the bugs beforehand with a grout brush.


The Back Pack with it's dumpable but HEPA bags has me all tingly with excitement.

 

[idreadnought]

No serious cleaner buys a vacuum that does not have an edging attachment.

Unless, you get a kick out of attempting to suck bugs out of corners with your glided wand.

well after I vacuum then I use a tool called a truckmount to clean with. It has amazing vacuum flow on the hose that is brought into the house. If there is any bugs left in corners I will use the hose off of that to suck them up. I know, archaic but it works for us.

 

[hogjowl]

As you grow older and get a bit more mature, you will evolve away from tactics that require bending over and learn to utilize the proper tools that allow you to remain upright while performing your services.

Or, you can continue to knuckle drag your way through your cleaning career like 90% of the cleaners out there.

 

[Ron Werner]

but nothing really new

 

[hogjowl]

but nothing really new

It's really a shame, isn't it. A REAL professional vacuum would be nice, but then no carpet cleaner would buy it cuz it would cost so much.

 

[Mikey P]

Marty and Ron would you both mind giving us a bullet list discrIption of your dream vacuum...

 

[hogjowl]

It needs to vacuum like a Dyson, not loose suction when you use the edging attachment (again, like a Dyson) and be durable enough that a crew member can't destroy it.

Oh, and no belts or bags.

Or, it other words, it needs to be a Dyson, but made of metal.

 

[Mikey P]

Do you use your Dyson head on stairs or use the hose?

 

[hogjowl]

The hose.

 

[Mardie]

As you grow older and get a bit more mature, you will evolve away from tactics that require bending over and learn to utilize the proper tools that allow you to remain upright while performing your services.

Or, you can continue to knuckle drag your way through your cleaning career like 90% of the cleaners out there.

I use a back pack exclusively for crevice tool work.I crevice tool every job. The back pack i use has a 2 stage vacuum with a 50 Ft. cord. I could not imagine dragging around an upright vacuum to do crevice tool work. It would be slow awkward and is very weak suction no matter what kind of upright you use.

 

[hogjowl]

I use a back pack exclusively for crevice tool work.I crevice tool every job. The back pack i use has a 2 stage vacuum with a 50 Ft. cord. I could not imagine dragging around an upright vacuum to do crevice tool work. It would be slow awkward and is very weak suction no matter what kind of upright you use.

For one thing, I am not aware of any uprights that you have to drag around. They have wheels on them and they roll. Secondly, your second statement is false. While weak suction is the case with some upright or cannister vacuums when you use the edging tool, there are vacuums on the market today that do not suffer from this malady. The Shark and Dyson are two that come to mind. Thirdly, while back pack vacuums are wonderful tools on commercial, large area cleaning, they are very inefficient on residential cut pile carpeting. Vacuum cleaners EVOLVED away from vacuum slots to rotary power heads for this very reason.

 

[Mikey P]

Why and how are they ineffective on resi pile?

The one I picked up at Vegas has a great power head.

 

[hogjowl]

If they have a real power head, then they shouldn't be any less effective. Real is the key word here though. All the back pack "power" heads I have seen to date are air driven, like a central vac in a house. And, while a backpack has great suction, it's not great enough to make an air driven head very efficient.

 

[Mikey P]

I'll pick mine up mine from Martin Bressell's at the end of the month..

I sense a new vac due jour is about to be born

 

[hogjowl]

A few years ago, I read an aritcle in ICS of Cleanfax by that gadget dude about the virtues of using a back pack vac. His one valid point, at the time, was it set you apart from the homeowner simply in appearance over her vacuum. So, I thought about that and decided to start using a back pack for that very reason. I found that it vacuumed poorly, was clumbsy to use (knocking into lamps, pictures and such as you backed out of an area) and I got really tired of having to bend over, pick it up, and swing it over my shoulders. The addition of an electrically driven power head will be a tremendous improvment, but it won't overcome those other negatives ... for me, anyway.

 

[Mikey P]

My guys will let me know if those are real issues or just you being a nancyboy.

 

[Mardie]

For one thing, I am not aware of any uprights that you have to drag around. They have wheels on them and they roll. Secondly, your second statement is false. While weak suction is the case with some upright or cannister vacuums when you use the edging tool, there are vacuums on the market today that do not suffer from this malady. The Shark and Dyson are two that come to mind. Thirdly, while back pack vacuums are wonderful tools on commercial, large area cleaning, they are very inefficient on residential cut pile carpeting. Vacuum cleaners EVOLVED away from vacuum slots to rotary power heads for this very reason.

I do not use the back pack for vacuuming the open floor area.I use a vacuum with a brush roll that has a 2 stage vacuum for that.As i said i i use the back pack for crevice tool work ONLY which is along the baseboards doors and areas that are to small to get at to clean.
The suction on any and ALL upright vacuums dose not even come close to a good back pack. When you compare an upright to a back pack for doing crevice tool work the uprights are a joke.

 

[Shorty]

I'm with Marty here.

We have several Dysons and it is just so easy to release the extension & put the crevice tool on for the crevices.

In 15 years or so, I have not noticed any loss of suction when going from the upright to crevice tool.

By holding the lift handle in your left hand it's easy to roll the Dyson along with the crevice tool in your right hand cleaning the crevice.

We don't look at crevice cleaning as a race to be the fastest, we want everything out of there which we accomplish well with the Dyson.

After many years with contract cleaning (janitorial work), I also understand what the Admiral means about picking up and putting the back-pack on, plus blowing papers off of desks and knocking things behind you.

I had a new starter one night that put the back-pack on and sparks started shooting out the bottom when she turned the switch on.

She near crapped herself, and didn't stay.

It seemed the crew on the boat we cleaned every night had used our vac; out at the reef and sucked up some water.

Over several hours, this dripped into the vac; motor, and BINGO !!!!!!!

A motorised power head is good, BUT, that extra weight on the end of the tube is something to be aware of, especially if you are prone to carpel tunnel syndrome.

My original Dyson, a DC04, which was made in the U.K. still works as good as day one.

My other later model ones were made in Asia, and although have never failed me, they are flimsy compared to the older models.

Oops, tell a fib, my DC14 would not work on plush pile carpet, it used to dig in, so Dyson sent me a "Ball" free of charge, which has been brilliant for residential.

My son has the DC14 at home for his loop pile.

I also use a Windsor 18" (with bag), for commercial work.

Different strokes for different folks, plus we don't get access to all the good gear that you blokes have, but we make do.

 

[Ron Werner]

dream vacuum? I've got some interesting ideas on how I'd like to build one but the basics would be:
-Clear canister, without the clear canister you can't tell when you're getting soil, or not getting soil. You could be leaving a ton of soil in the carpet or wasting your time thinking that you are picking up lots.
-Good extension hose on board with crevice tool, plus an additional extension hose with tools for cleaning hard surface or stairs or uph
-excellent vacuum to maximize pickup
-designed to decrease filter plugging. Filters that are easily accessed, cleanable and reusable
-easy to disassemble for repair, parts are easy to replace, good durable plastic that doesn't get brittle.
-brush that is good on any fibre. (Dysons is way too stiff. Run it on concrete for a minute to soften it up)

 

[Mardie]

dream vacuum? I've got some interesting ideas on how I'd like to build one but the basics would be:
-Clear canister, without the clear canister you can't tell when you're getting soil, or not getting soil. You could be leaving a ton of soil in the carpet or wasting your time thinking that you are picking up lots.
-Good extension hose on board with crevice tool, plus an additional extension hose with tools for cleaning hard surface or stairs or uph
-excellent vacuum to maximize pickup
-designed to decrease filter plugging. Filters that are easily accessed, cleanable and reusable
-easy to disassemble for repair, parts are easy to replace, good durable plastic that doesn't get brittle.
-brush that is good on any fibre. (Dysons is way too stiff. Run it on concrete for a minute to soften it up)

You can call it (The Werner) got a nice ring to it.

 

[Mikey P]

Ill be picking up my new vacs next week while Im over in Sonora


pretty excited about the back pack actually..