Electrolux Aptitude

[vacman117]

I stopped in Goodwill yesterday, expecting to find nothing, but happened to run across this. Valpo's Goodwill never has any vacuums, and if they do, its new and/or overpriced. But this Electrolux Aptitude was there for $18, so I decided to get it. It's a really neat vacuum, but I'm not sure it's really my cup of tea. There is no on/off brushroll, which really confuses me. And when the handle is reclined, the back raises up very far, so I'm sure this terrible on bare floors. I have a feeling I'll also have issues finding bags for it, and it needs a new one very bag. I don't think I've ever used a vacuum that smells this bad. But it is neat, and I really like the switches and bag light on the handle.

 

[vintagerepairer]

We had these in the UK. They went on sale in 1997 although ours didn't have the height adjuster as ours had the floating head feature, with a row of barrell-type wheels in the body of the cleaner. Does yours have the same? Ours were called Powersystem. They were the first cleaner in the UK to try and rival a Dyson. This was so because two of the four models had a cyclone tank which could be clipped to the machine in place of the dustbag and bag cover. The idea was that the cyclones could be used for most jobs, with paper bag for fine powdery cleaning. The instructions were vauge and none specific. I suppose what they were trying not to say was that the cyclones weren't to be used all the time and that they weren't really like the Dyson at all.

In paper bag mode, they were good, sturdy cleaners, but I did see a few with burnt-out motors. Sadly, at this time this was not unusual for the Eurepean Electrolux cleaners as the motors were poor and the filtration strong. We did not have these for many years, maybe about two years, because Electrolux replaced them with the USA widetrack and powerline cleaners. The widetrack was already on sale but was expensive for what it was. Launched as the powerline, they were cheaper to buy and bagless versions were very popular. The widetrack versions also sold well over here, due to price.

 

[eurekaprince]

I think our North American Aptitude was actually produced in the UK! It was the first Electrolux-branded upright after the Swedish head company bought back the rights to use their name in North America.......around 2007, I think.

 

[vintagerepairer]

You must have had yours long after us then. Like I say, ours went out on sale in the early part of 1997. And they weren't here for long. But then our vacuum cleaner market went up the wall once Dyson cleaners really took off, which was around 1996. Once Dyson took the lead, our vacuum cleaners declined in quality dramatically. This one you call the Aptitude was the last decent Electrolux upright we had for many years that would follow. I hope you don't mind me saying that the USA cleaners which Electrolux sold here weren't a bit as good as what we'd been used to, because I don't mean it to be nasty, I am just saying. I am trying hard to remember where they were built. I thought possibly UK and the message above would confirm this.

 

[eurekaprince]

Benny - not sure what North American vacs were sold in the UK, but I distinctly remember that the British-built Aptitude did not do very well in Consumer Reports testing in competition with a range of other North American upright vacuums. There was always some Hoover WindTunnel or Kenmore Progressive that deep cleaned carpets better than the Aptitude.

On the other hand, the next Swedish Electrolux upright was an excellent performer! It was called the Oxygen Three and it was top-rated by Consumer Reports. It had everything - two motors, brush roll on-off, LED headlights, great filtration, sleek design for storing on-board tools, etc. It was discontinued because there were a lot of problems with the electronics and computer chips that controlled the power levels and powerhead height levels.

Here's a video:

 

[eurekaprince]

Actually Benny - I just remembered: The UK made Electrolux upright was marketed as the Eureka Oxygen Upright here in North America as soon as we started getting Eureka Oxygen canisters. This may have been in the early 2000's - way before the vac was relabelled as the Electrolux Aptitude. The model number was 6230 and here is a pic (nice colours, by the way....)

http://www.epinions.com/specs/pr-Vacuum_Cleaners-Eureka_Oxygen_Upright_6230?sb=1

 

[szymonrules]

I'm so...

Jealous! I've wanted one for so long!

 

[Davinator1977]

I really like how you guys use my video's glad that people actually watch them

 

[vintagerepairer]

Hi there. The name oxygen3 rang no bells for me, so I did google it and can safely say I have seen nothing like that on sale here. Not saying we haven't had it, but if we have then it's passed me by. We did have this one, which was truely awful:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/pro...uum-cleaner-reviews/best-vacuums-1007#slide-1

Like I said, from the late 1990's, all UK Electrolux uprights were a variation of the widetrack and powerline. These went on until about 2002 or so, some of which had been branded SmartVac. Alongside & later replacing that were these:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/vacuum-cleaner/electrolux-z2274/

They were appalliong cleaners and were very uncomfortable to use. They didn't sell for long.

From there, a completley new and more traditional style of cleaner was being sold. They came in choice of bagged, or with a dust box, or a variety of cyclone affairs. The retail price was always quite low. They were made in China. Actually, the bagged models weren't at all bad. Very, very basic, they did what was expected of a bagged cleaner. This is one of the most recent examples, but they were all appromimatly the same:

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/e...over-upright-vacuum-cleaner-for-sale/92824555

I have no idea what it is like for the rest of the world, but in the UK it is almost impossible to buy a half-decent bagged upright vacuum cleaner.

 

[eurekastar]

I wonder if bags for a Eureka SmartVac will work in it.

 

[sebo_fan]

Actually vintage, you'll find my review about the Z2255DZ pet lover here:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/vacuum-cleaner/electrolux-z2255dz/1257084/

and previously before the DZ pet lover model came out:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/vacuum-cleaner/electrolux-z2250a/1058534/

and the short lived Eco model:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/vacuum-cleaner/electrolux-z2252a-eco-vac/1072375/

The older Widetrack model you mention wasn't so bad really - to repair them it was a nightmare, that I'll grant you, but it was a good model before they were eventually replaced and the U.S had them under the "Boss" tag. I used to use a white one (see below) but there was also a blue one and a silver one.

Compared to a lot of rivals at the time, Electrolux instilled top hood removal for changing the belt rather than the underside of the soleplate - a good design element that was kept over for the Z2250 series. Pity Electrolux didn't keep the existing upholstery brush as the one supplied with the Z2250 series mimics Panasonic UK upholstery tools that are pretty useless.

It is true that there aren't that many good bagged uprights on the UK market BAR the SEBO X series which in my opinion is truly the best. Last year I bought the Argos Value bagged upright and though annoyed at having to screw driver assembly the handle then assemble the dust bin to the main part of the vacuum, in use it's not a bad vacuum - it is based on TTI Vax/Dirt Devil as is the bagless version where Vax have their own Essentials VEU model sold alongside it.

 

[vacman117]

I thought that the Smart Vac bags would work,but those use a top-fill bag while this uses a back fill one.

 

[eurekaprince]

These are the bags you need for the Aptitude: they are called Eureka Style DX......

http://www.vacuums24x7.com/eurekadxbgas.html