Favorite upright with on board tools?

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vacuumfreeeke

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Hey guys, I just wanted to do kind of a poll and see what your favorite upright with on board tools is... I know some people are die hard fans of uprights that lack tools (Eureka F & G Style, Hoover Convertible, Kirby, Royal), but I really enjoy the versatility that my 3 uprights with tools provide and find myself reaching for one of them more than any of my other machines that lack them. The three I have that have on board tools are the Hoover S/P WindTunnel, Eureka Smart Vac, and Dyson DC 14. I'd like to say that my favorite overall is the Hoover just because it's beautiful and powerful, but because the attachments are awful (save the turbo tool), I would have to go with the Eureka Smart Vac. The hose doesn't fight me and the attachments are excellent quality (except the turbo tool), and it's still a powerful versatile machine. While I enjoy my Dyson much more than the typical "Dyson haters" it loses points for a hose that fights, and an awful (and too short) telescopic wand system. The attachments are well designed, however, and the hose is anchored at the bottom so it follows instead of falls much like the Eureka and not like the Hoover. Wouldn't it be great if a manufacturer could take all the great qualities from each of these machines and incorporate them in to one amazing cleaner? I think so!

So, what about you? What's your favorite upright with on board tools? Hoover Elite/Runabout or Windtunnel, Eureka Bravo or Excalibur (I've still never used one of those), Dyson, Sebo (I want an X4 so bad!), or something else? Panasonic (direct drives are nice, and the uprights with quick draw wands are great too), Riccar, Simplicity, Miele.... what do ya think?

Thanks :o)
 
Though I heard there were a lot of electrical/circuitry problems with it, I have to give my vote to the orange Electrolux Oxygen Three upright. It had such a cool look to it, along with a full set of tools hidden away behind a door.

The only other two "combo" uprights that might get my vote is the Eureka Excalibur and the Miele S7. Both offer a full set of proper "adult-size" tools, though the Excalibur had one up on the Miele in that it also stored a bare-floor brush and two wands on board! But both seem to have problems: the Excalibur also had electrical overload problems (burnt out switches, if I remember the reports correctly), and the new Miele seems to have a hose that collapses under the force of the suction - preventing the user from putting it back in place after use!

My other vote would go for the old fashioned Panasonic/Kenmore uprights of the 1990's - they had a hose port that allowed you to attach a much longer hose for real "canister-like" cleaning. Sadly, none of the new Panasonic/Kenmore tools on board uprights have that hose port any more. :-(
 
I haven't used much on-board vacuums, but I recently bought a $39 Bissell Powerforced bagged and I love it! The hose is easy to grab because there is a handle on the hose. I'm sure there are much better uprights but this ones working for me.
 
I am going to place another vote for the Miele S7. The tools are readily available, there are various suction levels and I have not yet experienced the problem with the collapsing hose. Also the vacuum remains very stable even with the hose stretched far from the unit. I do have to say the standard Miele dusting brush is not my favorite as it is much too small in diameter.

I recently acquired a Sebo Felix which I love overall. I plan to describe it in more detail in a separate thread, but as much as I like it, the hose is top mounted and the unit does want to tip over. It also does not come standard with a dusting brush or wand which much be purchased separately and I take issue with that for a vacuum in that price range.
 
Id have to go with the older 1990's Kenmore/Panasonic uprights with the "power port", my next is the Elite's.
I had used a Eureka Excalibur and I do have to say I did like the two wands and bare floor brush but it lasted just over a month before the switch shorted and then anoter two weeks till the circut board in the nozzle motor went. Not exceptable for a 260 dollar upright back then.
 
Hoover Elite

In my opinion the Hoover Elites had a good setup. I Like the models where the hose wraps around side as opposed to hanging over the vacuum handle, which looks cheap to me. Recently acquired a Hoover Elite U4617-930 and it is noisy. Would like to find a 5 amp Elite in the future, I would imagine those are probably quieter.
 
Walmart Bissell

Nathaniel,

The $39 Bissell is a great value for a cheap vacuum. Had one for about a year that my sister used, when she wanted to vacuum. Eventually the front wheels feel off. But for $39 I'm not complaining.

Hoover type A bags can be substituted for the style 7 bag. Although they are longer, it's a cheap alternative.
 
Another vote for the Miele S7...

The S7 has the best hose setup I have encountered on an upright. When I feel like using an upright, my Miele Marin (S7580) is what I normally reach for.
 
I vote for the

Hoover Windtunnel bagged. If I recall correctly, it was purple with the red and green lights. It was quiet but the carpet looked amazing after using it.
 
I do like that the Excalibur had an on board bare floor tool, that is great. I think the Fantoms were the only other upright to do that if I remember correctly, but the hose suction on them was terrible and they lacked an upholstery tool.... maybe not the Cyclone XT and subsequent models, but I know they Furys and Thunders didn't include one. I never liked the placement of the switch on the Excaliburs. They had a 2 speed motor didn't they? Or was it a bare floor, suction only option on the switch instead?
 
Kenny (Loveland), what in the world happened to that poor Eureka's handle in the background of your Avatar pic?
 
I liked the Kenmore/Panasonic uprights from the late 90's with on-board tools. They had good suction through the hose and we also good at cleaning carpet. My grandmother had a Kenmore upright which was well built and so much quieter compared to the Hoover Elite upright it replaced. I would love to try the Miele S7 since I love their canisters, so hopefully Ill get to take one for a spin soon.

As I think back about all the machines I've had and those that I own now, my favorite uprights are those which dont have on-board tools. Kirby is my number one choice for an upright and I rarely use the tools with them. For a more simple and easier to use vac, I love the Electrolux Discovery II - Lux 3000 uprights. While they may not be the best at deep cleaning, they groom the carpet well, have a straight forward idiot proof design, and have an electrified hose for the sidekick. If I wanted to use something with tools or do above floor cleaning, I use a canister. If its deep carpet cleaning that needs to be done, than a Kirby it is.
 
Eureka Excaliber Upright

Hi Bobby,

Like the other combo uprights I like, the Eureka Excaliber had two motors - one for suction, the other to drive the brush roll. The three-position switch allowed you to choose between carpet cleaning (both motors running) or bare floor cleaning (suction motor only) or both motors off. The other neat thing about the Excaliber was that the brush roll motor automatically turned off as soon as you removed the hose from its stored position (there was some kind of switch in the hose holster). When you returned the hose to the stored position, it allowed the power to the brush roll to resume.

If I remember correctly, the Excaliber also had a short air path when used for carpet cleaning - the dirt did not have to meander all the way through the hose when you used the vac for carpet or bare floor cleaning. There must have been some valve somewhere that redirected the suction into the hose when you removed the hose handle from its stored position. A really great design - too bad Electrolux could not get the electrical system to handle the two motor system!!!!
 
I wonder what the brushroll looked like? I know it was the top of the line... I have the JC Pennys add from 1996 that has it in there.... I'd love to scan and post it some time if I can figure out how to use my all in one's scanner function.... I don't even know where the manual is.... I'm sure they have it at Cannon.com, it's less than a year old.... I had some Sears ones from the 80s as well that I stole from a class in high school (we were cutting magazines for project), but I can't find them to save my life.... had some beautiful machines (a black Concept one with chrome handle, so cool!).

It was rare for an upright back then to have a bare floor setting, so that is a truly unique feature for machines of that time period. The only person I know who had one is the minister of the gay church here in Orlando and he adored it and said he hoped it lasted forever.... he was really proud of it when we about vacuums and I asked him what kind he had.

The Kenmore/Panasonic direct drives also had the feature that would turn off the brushroll when the hose was removed, but I thought it was overkill because the brushroll was off when the handle was in the upright position anyway.... as it should be... all three of my uprights with on board tools have that feature and I wouldn't want one without it.
 
Broken Eureka handle

Bobby,

The picture was taken in another member's house. The handle was brittle and cracked. Yes, I did it and felt so guilty over it. Hope this answers your question.

Kenny
[this post was last edited: 2/8/2011-14:01]
 
the first dirt devils in red, were very good vacs excellent suction, great carpet cleaners, and good tools, even the later ones with cloth front bag were good
dyson wands are too bulky to use, i find on board tools of most uprights are fine for a quick use for a dust bunny in the corner, but for real cleaning in the real world get out a canister vac
 
I have two favorites ...

One is my Windsor Sensor SR12 (made by Sebo), and the other is my Electrolux Z612E.

The Windsor came into my collection from a thrift store that was going out of business: they were having a 50% off sale on the day that I wandered in, and this vacuum was marked $12! Needless to say, I snatched that one up in a hurry ...

As for the Electrolux, I found it on eBay UK. The seller originally wasn't going to post it (he just wanted to sell it as "pick up only" -- but an e-mail from me "pleading my case" convinced him to post it to my forwarding address in Dover, and the rest is history!

tazcatsdad++2-11-2011-20-55-27.jpg
 
I have both tht Excalibur and the excalibur style Kent Dura vac, the excalibur is 12 amp and the kent is 10. the thing about the air path is that once the hose is removed a metal slide closes off the air path to the floor, the down side about the excalibur design was that they were weak at the hose, the upside was they were pretty strong at the floor. if the bag chamber was designed Differently then I am sure that there would be better performance at the hose. the Excalibur had a wooden brushroll while the commercial style had metal. these machines are pretty good groomers as I love the path they leave behind. easy to use but HEAVY!!!!

here are some pics, I will post some pics of the bag chamber tomorrow.

enjoy :)

electroluxxxx++2-12-2011-00-15-20.jpg
 

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