Favorite central/canister cleaning head?

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Hatsuwr

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Jul 2, 2025
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The modern one I have the most experience with is Wessel-Werk's EBK 360. I like it, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Pros:
  • Cleans well and reliably - single pass is almost always enough
  • Motor is more than powerful enough
  • Belt wears pretty slowly (lasts at least as long as the roller brush)
  • Wide cleaning path (~12")
  • No hair tangling issues
  • Standard IEC C7 power connector
Cons:
  • Lighting isn't terrible, but it easily could be much better
  • The mechanism that locks the neck upright is relatively weak
  • Replacing the roller brush includes replacing its bearings and pulley gear
    • The pulley gear is plastic and wears at a similar rate as the bristles. Would rather see a metal pulley and more targeted replacement options.
  • Motor bearings used to be high-quality sealed ones from... Schaeffler, but it seems they downgraded to shielded off-brand bearings.
  • The wand retention mechanism is a leaf spring button style (the button being on the wand). It doesn't fail quickly, but it does weaken over time.
Other:
  • I think it's about time to switch over to a brushless motor, and possibly even direct-drive.
  • Better control circuitry would be nice. Right now it's just a simple rocker switch. This is cheaper and a bit easier to replace, but I'd rather see the rocker switch control a relay for longer intervals between needing any replacements. Cost different would be minimal.
    • I know many people don't like soft starting, but it would take some wear off the drive components (and switch/relay).
  • It would be good to have a smaller gap between the cleaning path and the outer edge of the cleaning head on the non-driven side. It's not too bad how it currently is, but there's definitely room for improvement.
  • Old height adjustment pedal was a bit 'mushy' to use. It's been redesigned, but I haven't had a chance to use the new one yet.
 
Look at a Lindhaus PB14. Probably the best power nozzle made. I have three EBK360s that came with different vacuums and I'm not impressed. Second best is the Cen-Tec CT25QD. Sebo ET-1 or ET-2 is good too.

Direct drive brush rolls for Kenmores are hideously expensive because the motor is part of the brush roll. I suppose someone could design them with removable brush strips but that is not the case so far. Interesting tidbit, Panasonic first used a direct drive brush roll in a small Japanese power nozzle sold with the MC-P600 canister vacuum. This was a Japan market vacuum.
 
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Seconding Lindhaus power nozzles. I've had a couple HF6s with PB14s and a PB12e on an Aria Platinum, they're all fantastic. The standard PB12 comes with a single-chevron brush roll but the variant included with the Aria Platinum comes with a dual-chevron brush roller that improves the cleaning performance even further. The brush itself is available from Lindhaus and can be swapped into any PB12 that doesn't have it already.

The Sebo ET-1/2 is my second favorite after the Lindhaus nozzles. The WW EBK360/Miele SEB228 is alright but I prefer the aforementioned nozzles. The WW EBK340 and Miele SEB236 I really like though. The Riccar/Simplicity RPB/SPB doesn't quite have the build quality/refinement of the German/Italian nozzles I've mentioned but they clean very well and have some nice features. The one on the end of my Simplicity S38 works pretty good.
 
I personally favor the Centec powerheads. They are well designed, clean well, and a proven design by Panasonic that clean well and very reliable. The Sebo ET350 / ET-C powerheads were also great too, and I prefer these over the ET1 and ET2 design - they need a couple more height adjustment positions to handle lower pile carpet and groom effectively without being hard to push.

I am also a BIG fan of the Eureka Vibragroomer 3 / Sweep & Groom / Eureka Express powerheads, and the Chinese clone of it, the Dust Care PN11. They are very simple, reliable powerheads with a aggressive brushroll, and being a metal brushroll it's much more resistant to pet and human hair tangling, and brush replacement costs cheaper since you're only replacing the strips. The only disadvantage they had was using a flat belt, but you can use a Kirby 301291 knurled belt in them so they last a bit longer, and the PN11 has a cog belt.
 
kirbylux77 said:
I personally favor the Centec powerheads. They are well designed, clean well, and a proven design by Panasonic that clean well and very reliable. The Sebo ET350 / ET-C powerheads were also great too, and I prefer these over the ET1 and ET2 design - they need a couple more height adjustment positions to handle lower pile carpet and groom effectively without being hard to push.

I am also a BIG fan of the Eureka Vibragroomer 3 / Sweep & Groom / Eureka Express powerheads, and the Chinese clone of it, the Dust Care PN11. They are very simple, reliable powerheads with a aggressive brushroll, and being a metal brushroll it's much more resistant to pet and human hair tangling, and brush replacement costs cheaper since you're only replacing the strips. The only disadvantage they had was using a flat belt, but you can use a Kirby 301291 knurled belt in them so they last a bit longer, and the PN11 has a cog belt.
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I like the ET-C / ET-350 also but it's a little too hairy chested for many users. They kind of beat the rug into submission. The greater range of height adjustment and the near infinite settings within that range is one of the reasons I like the Lindhaus nozzle so much. It also has a nice solid, all of a piece feel to it without being too heavy.

I think most of those Cen-Tec brand power nozzles trace their design back to the first Whirlpool designed geared belt Kenmore Powermate of 1981. Whirlpool built them for a decade before Panasonic picked up the design and expanded it. Now Suzhou Cleva Electric Appliance Co Ltd makes them but what is really cool is that the modern brush roll, motor and poly v-belt from the Titan T7 power nozzle drop right into the old original geared belt Powermate. That original design has lived on and is still a favorite of mine. Good designs just don't die. The CT25QD shares a lot of dimensions and basic layout with that old 1981 geared belt Powermate and many parts still interchange.
 
Hoover Quadraflex Powermatics were awesome power nozzles. They cleaned very well. It's a shame that brush strips were discontinued for them many years ago.

For today's day in age, I'm very impressed with the Lindhaus power head. It is pleasant sounding and grooms well. Also, the Panasonic designed and now CenTec used PlushPro nozzle is a really nice power head to use.
 
panasonicvac said:
The Cen-Tec CT14DX that was made by Panasonic under the VacuMaid brand.
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That is the old Whirlpool geared belt power nozzle first introduced by Sears in 1981. Panasonic picked up the rights to it when they took over Whirlpool's Kenmore vacuum business selling it to a bunch of different brands including Panasonic, Kenmore, Hayden, Nutone, Centec, Vacumaid, Royal, Airway and probably some I have missed. Now it lives on with slightly different styling as the Titan T7, sold for central vacuums and with the Titan T9200 canister vacuum.

The silent poly V-belt, motor and belt from the T7 drop right into that nozzle. I just did one.
 
Depends on the carpeting,. I find that wooden brush rolls get threads around them that grind in lines. The Vibragroomers all keep the dense pile carpeting looking good.
 
vacerator said:
Depends on the carpeting,. I find that wooden brush rolls get threads around them that grind in lines. The Vibragroomers all keep the dense pile carpeting looking good.
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I have Vibragroomers, Rugmasters, and other newer Eureka power nozzles. In our home on our rugs the Vibragroomers with a steel brush roll miss a lot of pet hair. Same for old style Kenmore beater bar brush rolls, the ones where the brush strips, which are too soft, and beater bar slide into grooves in the wooden roller. They leave a lot of hair stuck to the carpet fibers. On a Vibragroomer power nozzle I get a better result using a modern wooden brush roll from CWP sold for Eureka and Tristar power nozzles.

We have dogs and cats that shed like mad and on the modern Kenmore wooden rollers I don't have a problem with hair wrapping. I get a fuzz buildup at the bottom of the bristles but about the only thing I occasionally see wrapped around the roller is carpet thread. Likewise for the big wooden roller on our Hoover Hushtone.
 
We have loong hair dogs, Bernese Mtn. dogs and Newfie. We vacuum every day and we love the Sebo Et-1 and 2. Brush removal from the powerhead is a breeze which makes hair removal from the brush simple. Other units you have to try and peel off the hair while the brush is in the head, or you have to disassemble the entire head. Even without the dog hair, the Sebos outperform the other units we've had in the last 40 years with central vac. PB
 
My top 3 are the Lindhaus, Sebo and Wessel Werk, and in that order too. Wessel comes in last due to being a pin in the butt to service. I prefer how the customer (or me on a service call) can take the brushroll out of the other two without tools. The Sebo is second because the zig zag in the dirt path to the neck tended to catch things the dog chewed up (chunks of chew toy) and clog, whereas the Lindhaus doesn’t have that issue, and therefore it is my personal preference to use. Being an MD dealer, I sell the Stealth flavor of Lindhaus head for standard systems, and one of the two cordless Wessel Werk options for hide a hose customers.
 
I would say Sebo or Lindhaus. Sebo is probably easier to get parts for. I do not like the Wessel Werk power nozzles. I had one break after two years of use brand new, and the 236 (Miele) has an awful design for the handle release. I would choose the 236 over the 228 if I had to have a Wesell Werk. My summary of Wessel Werk power nozzle is that they use too much cheap plastic. The plastic on Lindhaus and Sebo are much better.
 
SeboU1 said:
I would say Sebo or Lindhaus. Sebo is probably easier to get parts for. I do not like the Wessel Werk power nozzles. I had one break after two years of use brand new, and the 236 (Miele) has an awful design for the handle release. I would choose the 236 over the 228 if I had to have a Wesell Werk. My summary of Wessel Werk power nozzle is that they use too much cheap plastic. The plastic on Lindhaus and Sebo are much better.
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I have an EBK 360 ( Miele SEB228 ) that came with a Miele vacuum and it is useless. It cannot remove the pet hair from a couple of our area rugs. Kenmore, Lindhaus, Sebo, Aerus Lux power nozzles, even the old Lux Ze3 from Sweden, all have no problem cleaning those rugs but the EBK360 can't do it. A Miele SEB236 will eventually get all the pet hair but you need 5-7 passes up and down to clean the rug. The others clean the rug in one or maybe two passes max. Not impressed with Wessel-Werk or Miele.. Oh, and those plastic brush rolls melt when they get hot. Kludge.
 
I've had good experiences on my end with WW. I know they're not as high quality as SEBO or Lindhaus but I haven't found another nozzle that's just as powerful if not better than WW. I still favor the other two but I'm glad I recommended my aunt to get this EBK360 for her central vac. Agitates so much dirt out, picks up cat hair in one swipe, love the grooming lines, the LED light is super handy for vacuuming underneath the beds, no hair gets tangled up in the brushroll, height adjuster is super easy to control using my foot, and I really like the swivel neck. However I will say that I wish this had a bumper on. I also don't care about the telescoping wand cause it'd have trouble locking in when adjusting and I also have a harder time releasing the wand from the nozzle but thankfully I don't use those other two. Overall, I'd definitely buy another 360 for this place. Actually I'm looking into getting a second one for the basement so I'm not always having to carry the nozzle up and down the stairs.
 

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cheesewonton said:
I have an EBK 360 ( Miele SEB228 ) that came with a Miele vacuum and it is useless. It cannot remove the pet hair from a couple of our area rugs. Kenmore, Lindhaus, Sebo, Aerus Lux power nozzles, even the old Lux Ze3 from Sweden, all have no problem cleaning those rugs but the EBK360 can't do it. A Miele SEB236 will eventually get all the pet hair but you need 5-7 passes up and down to clean the rug. The others clean the rug in one or maybe two passes max. Not impressed with Wessel-Werk or Miele.. Oh, and those plastic brush rolls melt when they get hot. Kludge.
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Interesting how different our experiences with the EBK 360 have been. Most of my use is on medium pile carpet and I've been happy with it's performance.
 
Hatsuwr said:
Interesting how different our experiences with the EBK 360 have been. Most of my use is on medium pile carpet and I've been happy with it's performance.
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The rugs in question are low pile but have an extremely dense, coarse weave that the pet hair clings to. The Miele and W-W brush rolls can't dig it out. Most of my uprights including a big low hour Kirby Avalir also struggle on these two rugs. But no problems using power nozzles form Lindhaus, Sebo, Kenmore, Riccar, Edgelift, Aerus-Electrolux or the Swedish Electrolux Ze3. That last one I had very low expectations for since the brush roll looks wimpy but the nozzle shape is exceptional ( the motor is right behind the headlight above the the air path, so it has a nice unobstructed V-shaped air path from the brush roll to the neck) and it cleans better than it has any right to looking at the brush roll. No wheels on the bottom either, just flat chromed steel sole plate to slide on.
 
I like the 'L' shape of the Electrolux power nozzles and the performance of the Eureka Roto-Matic 1230 Series with Vibra-Groomers and Vibra-Groomer IIs (have yet to try the successor series with V-G III).
 

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