3D face Henry's

[hi-loswitch98]

Qualtex have a vacuum...

That is very Henry-esque except it is single speed, with a 1000w twin turbine motor & 15l bag capacity, plus 10m cord.

As you can also see there is a bracket for tool storage.

I have tried one, they're good & quiet & give just the right amount of suction, not too high or low unlike Henry's these days.

Numatic did take Qualtex to court over this but Qualtex won & are producing these:

 

[vintagerepairer]

Slight correction

Great cleaner, but Qualtex actually lost. They had to change many aspects in order to manufacture this machine. This is the second attempt at the cleaner they hoped to make. The original was a faceless replica of a 1997 Henry design.

http://www.wragge.com/analysis_6067.asp#.Ua0alpxt3ZA

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/1237.html

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Except 1997 Henry's had an 850w motor, my 1999 Henry has a 850w motor, & they upgraded to 1000w in 2000. Oh we'll, they lost, but they still are good vacuums at somewhat a third less price. My school uses them

 

[vintagerepairer]

Price will always win with basic commercial equipment like this, as theft & abuse of it are two of the main reasons for replacements being needed. Once broken down, the cleaning contractor has to know how to get it repaired. Many contractors can afford to buy in bulk so as to get stock quite cheaply. It's simply not worth buying high-quality equipment for mass-commercial use; to that end, a Henry is actually now a very expensive cleaner for a larger cleaning company to be buying on a large-scale.

The beauty of the Qualtex cleaner is that not only is it cheaper, but the stocks of used Numatic hoses and parts which a good deal of commercial cleaning companies are likely to have hanging about can still be used with the Qualtex models. Buying into an entirely new fleet of cleaners for large cleaning companies is a major deal for them as historically it means different bags, different hoses, often different tools as some are 35mm. The Qualtex cleaner ticks a good deal of boxes.

 

[jmurray01]

I am very disappointed in Numatic for deviating from their classic design which has been a great seller for decades and (to my knowledge) showed no signs of deteriorating. As such, this update was (as Benny said) to save money and for that I am a little sad.

Numatics are a brand we could be proud of - they were made in the UK with good quality materials, they lasted for years and years without breaking down and were popular in households as well as in commercial settings.

This latest design change - I fear - heralds a new (and cheaper) era for Numatic.

I pray I'm wrong.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

To be honest if I wanted a Henry I'd go for an older version, any before 2003 are great as the foot switch they began putting on broke if used with a foot. The rocker switches were best & the 850w Motor / 1000w Motor on later models were the best for giving good airflow.

 

[dysondestijl]

Wow I didn't know about the Qualtex-Numatic court battle!

 

[hi-loswitch98]

DDS

Oh yes happened about 2 years ago. We started selling them when Qualtex rep came to my dads business, & have sold loads. Everyone prefers them to Henry.

 

[vintagerepairer]

On the decline

If a 3D face is a cost-cutting exercise, hats off to Numatic for making a cut which did not eat into the build quality.

The quality of the hose on the Qualtex is not that of the Numatic, but in every other way it is a perfectly good cheaper alternative.

 

[anthony]

henry

i work for leeds city council and we use hundreds of these little work horses some of them are quite old there are even a fiew of the early metal ones with the Numatic logo . These machines are used and abused every day and i mean abused i have seen some of them absolutely full to bursting with people still using them [i dread to think what there homes are like]when they go wrong they are usually thrown away i once had a new one brought to my place of work it was to replace a faulty old one after a fiew weeks it simply stopped working a replacement arived the next day when asking what to do with the three week old faulty one i was told to bin it i brought it home and after checking it over i found a break in the flex right near the plug i cut the moulded plug off fitted a new one and away it went as for the face i love to see it on upsidedown it looks great

 

[ultimatevacman]

I live in Leeds too!

It's a shame how they're abused, I wish I could rescue every single one of them.

Joe

 

[turbo500]

There's quite a few of us around West Yorkshire cropping up now - myself, Joe, Anthony, Andy F, Roger, Charlie P...we should arrange something!

 

[ultimatevacman]

Yes we should!

 

[rutger]

The NSPH. - The National Society for the Preservation of Henry's.
I quite like the sound of that !

Dave

 

[ultimatevacman]

Haha! We should start that, and get them all working again
By the way Dave, did you get your Numatic (Collin) working fine again?

Joe

 

[rutger]

Hello Joe
No I haven't sorted Colin yet, I was thinking about him earlier as I saw him in the garage looking sad (still smiling obviously but sad !). I think I might try & get a new Motor & fit it, there's one or two sellers on ebay who have what might be a good bet. (If anyone can recommend a particular seller that would be handy).
Cheers- Dave

 

[ultimatevacman]

Poor Colin, that might be a good idea, although I can't really recommend a seller, but I'm sure you'll find a good one that fits him.

Good luck!

Joe