From straight-suction canister to canister with electric attachments

[moderneezer]

One of the things that worries me about designs in vacuum cleaners, it's that most straight-suction canisters can't be upgraded to accept motorized powerheads. Among those that do, there are:

-residential canisters from Zelmer;
-commercial/industrial canisters from JohnnyVac;
-vintage Electrolux models with garbage-bin styled canisters;
-canisters from Fairfax
-some Numatic canisters

It's a shame that even the canisters with non-electric hoses from Miele and Sebo can't be upgraded to accept power nozzles. At Sears and at the Chapman boutique in Gatineau, I noticed that on the straight-suction Miele's, the female plug for the cord on electric hoses is either absent or there's some kind of covering that I don't know if it can be removed with a butter knife. The hose ports on the Sebo K2 models (with non-electric hoses) is just different from the ones that the K3 variants (with electric hoses) have.

If a person who lives in a home without carpets were to move to a house with carpets, one solution is that the person could get a lightweight upright (like a Riccar Supralite or a model from Oreck) or the Volt cordless powerhead. N0oxy stated in another thread that there's an option to get a powerhead for central vacuums with a standard connector and a cord with a female connector for the nozzle on one end and with a male NEMA plug (that's only in USA and Canada) on the other end. But this would only work on hose handles that accept 1 1/4" accessories and one might have to drill a hole on that hose and put in a C-clip button. Mike81 has found another way to upgrade a straight-suction canister to make it compatible with power nozzles.

I made an artwork of a straight-suction canister with a kind of feature that all of them in the future should have. What do you think of the concept? Oh! and you're all free to copy and print these artworks for future references.

 

[sebo_fan]

If one person moves from a home that has hard floors to carpets, they'll probably invest in a carpet washer too. You've said it yourself though, people tend to buy uprights for carpets.

Good diagram though. My Electrolux Excelio has a power nozzle socket. It was obviously put there by the designers if a PN was available for it. But generally, European countries don't tend to use canisters with PN's.

The SEBO K3 Vulcano canister is such a model that comes with an electric hose as standard and non-electric tubes with a suction only floor head. Most owners know that the model specifically has the option to upgrade to electric suction tubes, pigtail connectors and option of PN/ET-1 if they want.

Conversely, canisters have always been known to be lighter, great for hard floors and for above floor cleaning. What annoys me the most is that not all brands make the connectors all that durable. If after all you're used to using a canister vac to pick up dust from the handle and an associated cleaning tool to returning to the tubes and PN, the connections all have to be durable to withstand that change over. [this post was last edited: 8/6/2016-19:09]

 

[sebo_fan]

Also I'm a bit confused with your diagram. Im not sure what the yellow tube is supposed to be though? Is that a central vac extension hose? If so there needs to be sufficient airflow for suction air to travel across.

 

[jimjimmunster]

I Think the Electricity Should be Sent Through Hose Coil.

I personally think that the electricity should be transmitted through the metal spring in the hose. I believe that slipping a cover over the hose would be slightly inconvenient.

 

[human]

Yeah, I think the hose sleeve concept would be a little bulky. A clip-on cord like Electrolux used to offer back in the early days of their power nozzles would be a little more workable. My latest Electrolux 1205 came with a non-electric hose the contacts were built into the machine so all I had to do to add a power nozzle was hook up a powered hose and wand and I was good to go.

All that said, I like your diagram. Somehow it reminds me of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, like maybe Anubis should be pushing the vacuum cleaner around. In the image below, it almost looks like he's carrying a wand with a floor nozzle on the end.

http://preview.turbosquid.com/Previ...a3339-8301-40ce-ad23-b9277dbdd88eOriginal.jpg

 

[moderneezer]

So Sebo Fan, I think I understand something about the Sebo canisters of the K series. It's that K3 models with female connectors for electric hoses but without power heads are on the market in Europe but not in Canada (the only canisters of the K series without electric brushes that are available in that country are of the K2 kinds with which the electric hoses are incompatible), but considering that canisters with power nozzles are unpopular in Europe, it's ironic and confusing.

And, talking to other participants, it's fascinating that I make an artwork of an item, but then other people see potential problems in the design. Would the hose really be too bulky? And would there be other problems with the electric sleeve?

 

[sebo_fan]

It is not confusing when you realise that not all countries get the same models, moderneezer and in turn when a brand identifies a niche that money can be made when few brands are offering the same.

Even if a country like the UK might be slow on the uptake of PN canisters, it didn't stop Vax/TTI from launching their REVOLVE canister vac with PN in the UK before the U.S saw it under a Hoover label.

The UK market gets half of what SEBO Germany put out in terms of different D and K canister vacs, for example.

What Canada have done is simplify things. SEBO's K3 Vulcano with 2100 watts in Germany was replaced by the suction floor head fitted K3 Lava with a lower watt motor to comply with EU law. Granted that has little to do with Canada or the U.S

SEBO Canada have used the K3 Vulcano/Lava colour which is the unique dark magenta and orange bumper model that the rest of Europe gets under the "Vulcano/Lava" model name and makes the PN standard instead of a cost option in other European countries. I note that SEBO Canada also states that the K3 Lava comes with an electric tube set.

We had the equivalent in the form of a white colour "K3 Premium" that comes with the PN and naturally electric hose and tubes. The K3 Premium is being phased out with the new E3 Premium.

But whereas the UK only gets one choice of colour for the K3 Premium,

SEBO Canada have three different colours as the magenta/orange Lava, Onyx or Red.

SEBO Canada also offer the same LAVA colour scheme with the K2 Premium series and calls it “Volcano,” and comes with two main floor heads as opposed just one with the base K2 “Navy,” model.

SEBO Canada & U.S will get the new E series in the fall, apparently.

 

[sebo_fan]

If an electric wire has to run through the yellow hose to supply powder to the electric handle and associated "rest of," wouldn't the wire need to be of an expanding type to travel alongside the central vac hose? Also would the wire not require to rewind or revert to its original length when not in use? Extra strength and housing might be required to the end cord as it attaches to the front of the canister vac, too. Housing would have to be substantial enough to allow movement as the hose moves with the vacuum.

 

[n0oxy]

adding power nozzle to straight suction canister

I'm not sure if the Volt will be available in Europe, but that's probably the easiest way to add a power nozzle to a straight suction canister, or a backpack, shop vac or a central vacuum without an electric hose. The volt is not only a power nozzle, but also a dirty air fan, so you end up with the carpet cleaning ability of a dirty air upright like a Kirby and the powerful suction of a canister at the same time, really the best of both worlds. There are only a couple disadvantages to the Volt, it's rechargeable, I think the run time is around 90 minutes, if that's not long enough you will have to stop and recharge, it does not have manual height adjustment, and it uses a rubber belt so you will have to change it more frequently. When I was at the Tacony vacuum convention a few months ago, I tried a preproduction model and it was really nice. If you run it with no vacuum attached, you can feel the air come out of the end, as well as any dirt the nozzle happens to clean. I personally think it would be easier to just include the circuitry for a power nozzle on all canisters, that way you could upgrade without needing a whole new model. With the introduction of the Volt, it's definitely possible to add great carpet cleaning to these straight suction models. I think at one time, some of the Miele's could be upgraded, and I believe some of the C3 models, such as the Allise and Cona can be upgraded. I have the C1 Olympus and it definitely cannot be upgraded, the Sebo airbelt D1 cannot be upgraded either.

 

[mchmike]

Old rainbow clips and Electrolux clips are far more practical than a sock.

 

[sebo_fan]

I think the Volt is a great idea. However I dont like the idea of it being a dirty fan vac by design when it is cordless. It would make much more sense if it was clean air, thus prolonging battery power when something obstructive might get into the fan.

Secondly, it is completely possible to upgrade any SEBO cylinder/canister vacuum provided you have some electrical knowledge. Parts such as the actual connection ring plus the wires can be purchased and these will be required to be soldered to the motor but you'd also need the control dial limiter so that it no longer adjusts the suction.

I bought a second hand K3 Vulcano once from a seller on EBay. They were selling it cheap primarily because the connection ring had been removed and was sold with a suction only hose. It became a fixed suction vac with no chance of variable suction. I sold it to a friend who has since become a SEBO convert.

He has tried a normal 2100 watt K1 suction only vac with the same motor and says that the fixed K3 is better. I should add that the bypass has also been removed on it, so its constantly high suction power all of the time.

 

[n0oxy]

dirty air design

You bring up something I have often wondered about too, the dirty air design in general. According to the specs on the volt, the brush spins at around 3500 RPMs, and the dirty air fan spins at around 10000 RPMs. With the dirty air design, whether in the Volt or a dirty air upright, everything picked up goes through the fan. I would have some concern that this would damage the fan, or at least the dust would collect on the blades. I guess time will tell if this happens with the Volt nozzle.

 

[sptyks]

The Dirty Air design is actually a much more efficient design for cleaning carpets due to the fact that there is so much more airflow. This is because, in the case of the Kirby, the fan is only 3 inches from the carpet spinning at 13,800 RPM. The brushroll is spinning at 3,900 RPM. (G Series Kirby's).


 


Fan damage is no longer an issue because at least in the case of the Kirby, fans are now made of an almost indestructible material known as Amodel which is similar to Kevlar but 300% tougher. I believe Tacony also uses fans made of advanced polymers similar to Amodel.

 

[sebo_fan]

It would still be good to know what fan impeller substance is fitted to the Volt PN though.

 

[n0oxy]

fan in the volt

I would like to know this too, perhaps Tom Gasco can chime in on this one. If you think about it though, combining that design with the powerful suction of a canister, that is really something, Tacony also makes several tandom air uprights, a dirty air fan and a clean air motor for powerful suction. Personally, I would stick with a canister type cleaner, either a canister, central vacuum or backpack. I'm just not a fan of uprights, the canister variety is far more flexible. At the Tacony convention a few months ago, it was really interesting to use the volt with canisters from the 1950's such as the eureka canned ham, a KenKart, or the Sunbeam dual deluxe, which was the most powerful canister available, it used a 900 watt motor which nothing else came close to at the time. With the volt, these canisters became carpet cleaning beasts.

 

[ralph123]

An alternative problem, that is very common as people rip out carpet and convert to hard floors, is there a good way to adapt an upright vacuum to clean bare floors more effectively?

 

[sebo_fan]

Since the EU law has come in with silly tests that require uprights to clean up dirt on a hard floor from an impossibly tiny "crevice" on a floor, a few brands such as Vax (TTI) have brought out cheap clip on brush head covers with a thin channel so that suction air is concentrated.

I can't say that I am impressed with that, or Hoover's idea of a hard floor brush with a roller squeegee wheel that doesn't move with air suction like a turbo brush. Vax's solution is an all plastic attachment that could in theory scratch hard floors.

What could be more effective is the same concentrator nozzle but with a strip of bristles underneath.

 

[n0oxy]

uprights and hard floors

One upright that should do very well on hard floors is the Sebo Felix. The power head can be removed and a hard floor brush attached. In most cases, uprights are not as good with hard floors which is why I prefer canisters, they are much more flexible. With a power nozzle, they will clean carpets as good as an upright, and you can attach a hard floor brush when needed, the best of both worlds.

 

[sebo_fan]

The EU tests have not been kind to any upright that has to have something changed on it though.
Whilst I know the Felix is good at hard floor cleaning, I don't tend to use detachable heads all of the time. Whilst the Deluxe Parquet is a good design for my floors in general, I much prefer just switching the brush roll off from the ET1 and just lowering the height for a really messy hard floor.