Goblin Omni 1000 - one for Benny

[ryry_87]

Dug this little rarity out of the garage today after Benny had mentioned them the other day. It's a Circa 1980 Goblin Omni 1000. To be quite honest, I don't know much about this odd looking cylinder. It's quite a big old beast though. but they seem to be non existent these days.

 

[ryry_87]

top view..

 

[ryry_87]

we even found the remains of the original box!

 

[vintagerepairer]

Why thank you Ryry. Any chance you can let me know if the tube is a 35mm or 38mm? Yours is a very fine example. Where did you get it? I don't know much about them except to say I think they were made in the days before the Shop-Vac acquisition of Goblin and that I don't think they were Goblin cleaners, I think they were branded for Goblin. The motor in a good deal of these was the Electrolux cylinder motor, but at least two styles of motor were used.

 

[ryry_87]

Again this is another of rics ones lol the tools are 32mm but I'm pretty sure it's got replacement ones unfortunately. It's cleaned up lovely but the cloth filter bag was damp and had disintegrated completely. I've saved the frame so might be able to do something with it. Not powered it up yet, but hoping to get a vid done soon

 

[vintagerepairer]

Ryry if it's 32mm then it is a replacement set. The hose looks original though. But as the Omni originally had shiny metal tubes and that exact same popular Wessel Werk floor tool, I thought it was the original kit.

 

[ryry_87]

all it had was the hose with it so I tried to find some tools that matched the box the best I could lol seems i was successful. Can't wait to get it going.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Ryry there is also an electronic version which I think is the green colour. There was an orange colour too, but I think that was a lower power version of what you have here.

 

[ryry_87]

amazing! i've only ever seen this one. love the sound of the orange one! how retro! haven't even seen any literature of the time with them in

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well I don't remember seeing them in shops, but they probably were sold that way. Where I remember these cleaners is in catalogues.

 

[ryry_87]

i'm hoping the motors ok in this, i've yet to try it. Looked a bit damp inside though

 

[vintagerepairer]

If it has the Electrolux motor you may find another to put into it fairly easily.

 

[ryry_87]

also got this to work on today, looks tidy but sounds god awful lol..

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well you don't see many of those! I've seen pictures but never worked on one. I think the retail price was too high for what it was. I don't think people who wanted a cheap, small cleaner wanted to pay that much.

 

[ryry_87]

Goblin Rio Grande 1000 ...

well apart from the cord rewind, it's not a lot different to a regular Rio which was quite a bit cheaper. The regular rio being around £39 and the Rio Grande about £20 more

 

[ryry_87]

Standard Rio …

 

[vintagerepairer]

That's right. So 50% more expensive than a standard Rio. That's a massive % and £20 was a lot back then. I think the Solo was about £60 too.

 

[jmurray01]

I do love seeing those catalogue pictures, any chance of a thread dedicated to them ?

 

[rutger]

I think a thread dedicated to catalogue pictures is an excellent idea.

That Goblin Omni 1000 is rather an odd looking thing (I like it though), it rather looks like it's made up from bits of other vacuums.

Dave

 

[andy-lux]

that omni is looking good pal. i, amazed how well these scrub up.

 

[singingrainbow]

I know I am in the US but I really want one of the basic goblin rio's. I always liked how the goblin cylinders looked.


The Omni looks really neat!


Scott

 

[ryry_87]

cheers guys, scott theres loads of the basic Rio's left over here, they were really popular

 

[singingrainbow]

Well if I ever go to europe, perhaps I will pick up a few

!


Also, did Which? ever test the basic rio?. And if so, was it rated well? And I noticed that it says that the rio does not require bags, so did it have a cloth bag?


Sorry to steal the thread, I am just curious.


Thanks


Scott

 

[vintagerepairer]

The Rio was amongst the Which? reports. I don't have such a document to hand but I do remember it didn't score that highly. I am not surprised as Which? seem to test and report all products by the same highest standards. Can that really be achieved on bottom of the range products? Of course not. These Rio cleaners did what they said and had a huge consumer base as so many different people wanted them. For instance, new home makers, elderly people, those on small budgets, those in small houses, those in big house (who needed more than one cleaner for different jobs), those who wanted a cleaner for the car. The list went on and on.

The was no cloth bag. The dirt was collected in the main body (dust box) and a cloth filter stuck to a plastic frame was wedged into the rear end of the dust box. They used to clog very quickly so suction was soon lost. It was about the only downside of an otherwise fairly good cleaner.

 

[singingrainbow]

Thanks for the information, I kinda figured it would not have scored very well.
From what I have seen of Which? reports, Goblin cleaners never scored very well.
Funny thing is that I now am finding myself making a mental list of U.K cleaners I want!
Scott

 

[vintagerepairer]

Goblin cleaners were cheap and of the poorest quality. But almost always without exception, the retail price reflected that as Goblin was a good deal cheaper than so very many other brands. Which? don't like anything which is cheap and mediocre in terms of performance, even if there is a market for it. Goblin knew it's market and price limitations.

 

[kirbymodel2c]

Nice..

The small Goblin cylinders like the rios were nice small vacuum cleaners.
My very 1st real vacuum cleaner was a mostly red and black bottomed Goblin cylinder like the small Goblin Rios in the posts above.I found it in a bin storage area when I was staying at my dads maisonette for the weekend when me and my brother was young.
Around 1989/90ish

I wish I could find another...

James)

 

[vintagerepairer]

James, the red & black Rio was a strange one. Exactly the same as the cream & red & black and on sale at the same time too. But as you say, it was mostly red. The first Rio was peach & red & black and had a much small hose coupling. You don't see many of those.

 

[uksausage]

love the omni

hi ryan how you doing
i remember my mums neighbour having the omni it struck me as huge then and still does now but it was actually quite a good vacuum it coped well with the hair from a long haired german shepherd i thought id never see another one of them again especially one that looks so good
hope all is well
dave
x