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It's surprising to see Miele in a larger store; in the States I mostly only see Miele in independent vacuum shops. They do have the S2 series at Bed Bath & Beyond, but that's about it. While I think of it, are Riccar and/or Simplicity sold in the UK?

AFAIK, it's the vacuum-shop version, which has a single speed motor, but it's a bit more powerful than the standard FQ motor. 10.5 amps, I think. Also, the Princess 3 has a longer hose. I don't recall how long exactly, I think either 3 meters or 10 feet.

On a similar note - the house I'm in now, the previous owners had been using a poorly-maintained Dirt Devil canister. The first few times I vacuumed here (with a Filter Queen) I nearly filled the bin with sand and pet fuzz of some kind. I have cats, but I know they didn't shed *that* much. Then...

My only complaint with the plastic ones is that they're friction-fit only...

I'll look into it. I have no idea if that's even available separately, but if that's what I think it is, I could use one of those too.

I'm somewhat divided between a Simplicity Moxie or a Royal 8300... Both would be awesome.

I would tend to agree on those choices. If the Miele has an electric connection for a power nozzle - even if it doesn't ship with one - then keeping it instead of the Numatic is a no-brainer. In fact, if it has one, you might see about getting a Miele SEB228 power nozzle (Wessel Werk EBK360) -...

If it's double-insulated I'm pretty sure it doesn't have to be grounded. I know I've seen some Craftsman wet-dry vacs marked "double insulated" with two-prong cords. (In the US, at least. This is all different in elsewhere; I don't know those rules.) I'd imagine Rainbows are similar.

Those aren't exactly easy to find, and usually are rated for rather low power. The transformers I've used were designed to do the opposite - step 240VAC down to 120 to allow US appliances to be used in Italy, and most were designed for 2000 watts or less. Most US vacuums use 1500W or less, but...

I've heard tell of folks using Filter Queens for small amounts of water, too, though I've never tried it myself (and wouldn't want to). Though, when I was a kid, every now and again some snow or slush would get sucked into my parents' FQ, and it never seemed to hurt anything. I imagine the dirt...

Mine's the 3-amp version, and if I'm reading the serial number right, it's from 1977. I wish I had the 5.4A motor, but without the attachments it probably doesn't matter so much.

The 801 is an old model, 1970s I think, so it's not surprising that it's not in the current rankings. Its current generation replacement, the Royal 8300, yells its head off. Does a heck of a job, but is really loud.

I've never heard a Royal 801, but the Royal 880 I just got off eBay is the only vacuum I have that my cats don't run from. They even run from the Filter Queen on low!

Those Panasonics are also pretty similar to the Simplicity Symmetry/Riccar Vibrance line. From experience I'll say that the Simplicity 6-series does a bang-up job on carpets and cat hair; if the Panasonic is similar, I think you'll be quite happy with it.

Those kind of brush stiffeners are present on Tacony vacuums, too, aren't they? My Simplicity 6970 has its bristles set into a stiff plastic strip that protrudes from the brush roll surface by a millimeter or two, and it shakes the heck out of the carpet, bouncing sand visibly into the air. If...

I'm a big fan of canisters, though of late all my significant finds have been uprights. All kinds of Kirbys and Royals around... Great as those are, couldn't I find an Air-Way, Electrolux or Silver King kicking around in the thrift shops?

Yeah, at that price it's a good deal. No way in heck would I pay full price for one, but then, that's true of a lot of otherwise-good vacuums. I wouldn't pay full price for a Filter Queen, either, and yet, that's my daily driver...

Does anyone know where I might find an adaptor to connect a Filter Queen or Royal hose to a standard button-lock wand? I have one of the commonly-encountered plastic ones, and that works albeit not well. What I'm looking for, ideally, is a short, curved wand with one end that fits inside an FQ...

Well, yeah, no cordless vac will ever match a full-size upright (or canister, for that matter). Still, for what it is, that Dyson's not half bad.

That, well, um, sucks. Or doesn't, and that's exactly the problem. At least they gave you a refund, though. Maybe you can patch it to the point of functionality with some two-part epoxy?