Another person asking what vacuum to buy...

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stanl

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2023
Messages
41
Location
Florida
My Bernina 6100C (Pro) is broken with a motor issue and even two repair stores have recommended not replacing the motor because of it's age. I've been using a 1970s Royal in the mean time.

The first store wanted to sell me a used vac that seemed like a poor deal. The second is offering me good discounts on a Cirrus #CR79 and Riccar R25D.

The thing is, I live in a 1000 sq ft condo that's 1/3 hard floors and I vacuum about once a week. All of this seems overkill.

I'll spend what's needed for a good quality vacuum, but I don't want to go completely nuts and purchase a professional vacuum again for about a half hour use a week (no pets).

And, man, people really hate how the tilt pedal has been breaking on these model type vacuums for decades and they never do a thing about it. We had it a couple times and learned to be gentle, but you'd think they'd stop using plastic.
 
It depends on what kind of carpets you have. If you have anything thicker than really flat carpet, you will need a cleaner with a motorized revolving brush - either an upright or a canister with an electrically powered carpet nozzle.

Also, if you are used to cleaning furniture and drapes and mattresses with a vacuum cleaner, you need a cleaner with a set of good attachments and a nice long hose.

If you only use a vacuum for carpets, then you just need a good upright vacuum.

So it all depends what you are used to cleaning with your vacuum.
 
Maybe an Oreck?

I would recommend a oreck or simplicity freedom. As long as you don’t have super thick carpet this would work perfect. The only issue is they don’t have attachments.
 
I can't imagine having a vacuum without attachments. While I don't use them all the time, I do every few months.

The carpet isn't completely flat, but it's not extremely thin. I believe the maximum is 3/4" but I can't swear to that.
 
How about this?

It has some flaws to it, it's gonna be top heavier than what you're used to and the narrowing airpath can create a clog point if you're carelessly picking up larger objects since the hose in the head is wider than that of the attachment hose.

That said It's under 300, not including shipping, it's a dual motor machine so you could shut off the brush to do your hard floors, it's got onboard tools, the consumables (bags, brushroll) Should be cross compatible with the Electrolux uprights meaning lots of availability.

I will also say you've had a simple and solid machine for, I'm assuming years. The cirrus would be a similar styled machine if you prefer that.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/la...KRu25LpvlzrlLZ43MCMxCBT7lLVLpCAzZeKk65rMttrPI
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Id

Say buy a New Kirby Avalir Platinum. JK
Blackhearts suggestion is a solid one.
There's attached is pic of a sanitaire.

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Stan - For starters, since you say 1/3 of your condo is bare floor, do you use your vacuum to clean your floors? Or do you sweep? Or, let's put it this way - would you use a floor brush on a vacuum and vacuum bare floors?

If the answer to that is yes, then I would consider a Sebo Felix. Yes, it's outside your price range, but it's usually about $700 at most vac shops and online. So it's not too expensive for you. It comes with a floor brush attachment that you swap out the powerhead and attach. There is also a Kombi head available for it, it's a straight suction head that switches between cleaning area rugs and bare floors. For people with mixed flooring surfaces that prefer to vacuum them instead of sweeping, it's a great choice. If the price is a issue, you could always buy the Sebo Dart, which is a stripped down Felix, but you lose some features like the swivel PN neck and variable speed control.

Don't bother with the Sanitaire Eon upright Lesinutah showed in his post. Yes, they clean well and filters well, since it's a Chinese made copy of a Sebo G series upright that adds a HEPA Filter to the exhaust. It can even use the Sebo G/X vacuum bags. HOWEVER, it has plenty of issues and is nowhere near the quality of a Sebo, yet they are very close in price when bought at a vac shop! Even with the Sebo's S Class filtration system they use not being quite as good as a vacuum with HEPA Filtration, I would still take it over the Sanitaire Eon. For most people, the S Class filtration would be acceptable UNLESS you're a severe allergy sufferer. And you're buying a German made machine made by a manufacturer of commercial machines that is a QUALITY BUILT MACHINE MADE TO LAST AND TAKE ABUSE! For that reason alone, it's worth the money they ask for a Sebo. If you do prefer the full size traditional style upright, look at the Sebo G series or Sebo Mechanical 300 - those models use the height adjustment dial over the fancy automatic computer controlled height adjustment the X series models use, they clean carpets better than the X series models, and it's one less thing to break down.

The Electrolux style upright that Blackheart suggested above is also a good machine. They do clean carpets well, and because the design has been around so long, consumable costs are very reasonable for it. However, because the powerhead is so wide, and the suction is only "average" for this machine, it would do only a fair job of cleaning bare floors. You would want to add a stick or canister vacuum to do bare floor cleaning. Also, beware that Electrolux dropped this model with the onboard hose for a reason - the hose was prone to clogging prematurely in certain households and cleaning situations. And there is a safety switch inside the housing that is pressed by a tab on the wand - it eventually wears down and requires replacement after a few years. Plus the hose is definitely a bit on the short side - if you intend to do more than just using a wand and crevice tool for edging around baseboards, such as cleaning couches and dusting, you might get annoyed with it. Best to have a small canister vacuum to add to it for tools use.

Also, don't make the mistake of buying a used Electrolux upright unless it says Aerus on it! Not Electrolux! The reason for this is that the earlier models in the 80s and 90s, like Human's Discovery II he picked up recently, have suction motors that don't produce very much suction and airflow by today's standards. And for a practical matter, the age alone means the motor is due for replacement soon after you get it. Best to leave those to a collector. The models made with the Aerus name, after the company was bought out by Aerus Holdings, they got a updated motor that is more powerful, and you will be much happier with the suction and airflow it produces. You can also look at buying a ProTeam Electrolux style upright if you would prefer to buy used, those would produce the same suction and airflow as a Aerus upright would. So this would be a good choice to buy used if you could find one cheap in your local Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc.

And whatever you do, DON'T get rid of your Bernina upright just yet. Definitely hold on to it for a while and try to source a replacement motor for it. They are pretty good models, and most definitely worth repairing. When you're looking for motors, also look at replacement motors for Panasonic uprights. Certain models did use a Ametek motor that is nearly identical in appearance and size to your Ametek motor in the Bernina. So put that in your search bar when looking online.

Finally, I want to leave you with this thought: Spend the money and buy a QUALITY VACUUM! You spent the money to buy a condo, right? You spent the money to furnish it nicely, right? Then why not spend the money and buy a quality vacuum that will clean your home, NOT put tons of dust back in the air, be easy to use, and last a long time? Remember, in this day and age, that saying "You get what you pay for!" is so very true! If you buy a cheap Bissell or Hoover at Walmart, don't expect it to last long and definitely expect it to have problems.
 
You should still get a motor for your Bernina, that'd be my first choice. Those other two stores have no idea what they're talking about because those machines are easily serviceable and can last for many more years than they realize. I have a Bernina 6500C that's seen better days but I can definitely refurbish it to like brand new at a reasonable price. If you do end up replacing it, I'd go for the CR79 one store is offering you. It's made by the same company who made your Bernina but with some upgrades. The R25D is nice but more than likely the CR79 would outlast it. Other options I'd recommend would be SEBO and Lindhaus, they have some nice options for the same price as the Cirrus and Riccar. ProTeam has I think good uprights as well, copies of Electrolux and SEBO. Hoover Hushtones if you care about American assembled made products.
 
Just get a Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly 31150 upright for $280 for the carpets and a rechargeable Swiffer stick vac for $50 for your bare floors. The Kenmore is very powerful and cleans carpets well, and it has some basic onboard tools for cleaning with a hose.

For 1/2 hour a week to run through your condo, the Kenmore should do the trick.

I think you can buy them now from Lowes and Home Depot in the USA.
 
Brian

Swiffer no longer sells cordless stick vacs. And that Kenmore you recommended I think is a terrible choice. Sure it works but underneath the hood, there's so much wiring and circuitry that can be and has been very problematic. Not to mention Sears went bankrupt again and the customer service from Kenmore or at least from Cleva I hear is difficult to work with. In the long run, the Kenmore wouldn't outlast this user's old Bernina and Royal. If I had to get a new Kenmore upright, the 31140 is a much wiser option.
 
Nope

They've been discontinued for a while now. Swiffer even confirmed it themselves, I remember that. In fact if you go to Swiffer's website, it's not even listed anymore. What you saw in stores are new old stock, doesn't mean they still make them. I had one before, pretty sure I bought it the last year they made them. It was a decent sweeper. Wasn't powerful and the batteries didn't last for very long, I wouldn't buy one again if they still made them today.
 
I've found a few places online that have a motor, and I THINK I could replace it myself. I was just afraid how bad it would be if I screwed it up.

There is one local repair company that will repair it, but they are charging 25% more for the motor and raised their repair cost by 50% in the last month. Basically, it'd cost 2/3 the price of a new vacuum.

I guess I have to try to replace the motor.
 
Awww…that’s too bad that the Swiffer Vac is no longer made. I really like mine…so convenient and effective enough for quick clean-ups. I really love the concept of a front suction channel combined with a mopping pad behind it. It looks like the only other manufacturer which offers this now is Shark - either on their cordless Vacmop or as an optional tool for their Shark Rocket corded stick vac.
 
Replacing the motor should be very easy like I'm confident you'd do it with no problem. Honestly if I was closer by to you, I would've offered to have the motor swapped out for you at no charge.

Personally, vacuums with mop heads are rather useless in my opinion. While they work, I find that vacuums without dust mops can do just as well without having to buy any refill pads. Basically the Swiffer pads picks up whatever the vacuum leaves behind because it wasn't powerful to get all the dust and dirt like my central vac. Not to mention I had trouble picking up the heavier chunks off the floor that even the pads can't get, it was rather annoying and one of the reasons why I quit using it. I also find washable pads unless as well, they're hard to clean off afterwards and that's why my aunt doesn't use the mop head for her central vac anymore. If I had to use a dust mop with a vacuum, the only condition would be is to get a regular dust mop with a VacPan or anything set up with the central vac to sweep the stuff in there. We had a dust mop we used to sweep up whatever we picked up through the VacPan from our last cabin and it was awesome. Sadly our house can't have a VacPan installed, instead we just vacuum the floors weekly with the central vac and do quick pick ups with either a broom with a dust pan or use the Hompany cordless stick vac we have which I find does a better job than the Swiffer vac we had before. I think the Swiffer vac was outdated anyways, it's basically a old rebadged Dirt Devil Sweeper Vac they've been selling for years with very little improvements but not enough to compete in today's market. At least it's better than nothing.
 

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