Early vax machines

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rickenbacker

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The first Vax cleaners were the canister 3-in-1 machines, model number: 121. They were popular in the UK in the mid-Eighties. Handy for sucking up spills and occasionally shampooing carpets, but for day-to-day vacuuming: - just forget it - which is precisely what people did, and stuck them in the cupboard/garage/shed.

Hoover UK brought out their version, called the "Aquamaster". In my opinion, the Hoover was the better machine. There was some talk of Vax suing Hoover due to patent infringement.

1001 carpet shampoo had press adverts that stated that the user of a Vax should forget the instructions - where the instructions mentioned Vax shampoo - and instead use 1001 detergent, as it cleaned better. Vax had a squabble over that one too.

The upright Vax appeared in the 1990s, but was unreliable (I think there was even a product recall at one point).

There was even a small rechargable dustbuster handheld machine that was quite useless, as I had the misfortune to use one in 1990.
 
Handheld Vax,

Was the 'Vaxet' IIRC.

Wall mountable in its charging dock.

My parents had a 1987 Vax 121 and as Callum mentioned that spent the first 6 months of its life being used as the household cleaner replacing the Moulinex Major my parents had when they first married in '82.

By 1988 it was banished to the garage for cleaning out the car and washing carpets when the need arose having been replaced by the Hoover Turbomaster U5096.

The Vax survives today and resides at my Grandads home ironically in his garage the last time I checked.

The first Vax upright IIRC was the blue and orange version of the Racing Green one above and appeared around 1992 with 1100/1200w.

They increased the wattage around 1996/7 with the 1300w Racing Green models although I seem to recall a yellow version too. God knows what differences there was.

I bought a boxed Hoover Aquamaster last week complete in used once condition. The lady had used it once to clean her carpets in 1990 then put it away and forgotten about it. Never had a dust bag in it and had half the original bottle of 1001/Hoover shampoo in it.

The Hoover is superior to the vax in every way being made of a nicer plastic than the brittle stuff used on a Vax, Integral water delivery tube part of the hose assembly, - no silly clips to add to the hose either. The water valve is integrated into the handle too and seems unbreakable like it was on the Vax.

Also the washing head is connected to the handle at a much higher angle and allows for less stoopage at any height..

It also uses paper bags which Is always a real bonus when it comes to dirt disposal over bagless and cloth bagged.

The water tank arrangement is also nicer as its easier to attach being higher on top of the machine and being a covered ring shape you can see where your placing it without thinking you have located it into the bucket only for it to click into place suddenly with a splash like one gets with the vax.

The Hoover instruction book mentions about the ring lock fittings on the Hoovers metal tubes saying that they are secure but easily taken apart.

The Vax is a right pain in the arse for getting the tubes and washing head to piecec after wet use. The washing head gets rammed on and is prone to splitting when you try to force it off.

If you dont get it off the metal hose rusts and furthermore creates problems.

Just a few advantage that the Aquamaster was, Im sure Il think of some more later in the day.
 

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