Good Will was good to me today!

[vacuumfreeeke]

I decided to go to the Good Will today just for fun since I hadn't been in months.... this is the same Good Will that I've gone to for years that I've gotten some good deals from and passed up a lot of terrible deals from.... It's about a 40 minute drive from my house. I couldn't believe all the vacuums they had, because they usually have a couple bagless Bissells and a couple Dirt Devil Featherlites with maybe a bagless Windtunnel sprinkled here or there on a good day...

Well, I bought THREE things out of this pile! Can you guess which ones, before I post the picture in the next reply to this thread? Which would you have chosen?

Let me go through the pile a little bit and tell you what was in there that I didn't buy. There was a Kirby G3 with attachments for 500 dollars.... since I only paid 60 for my Sentria, I thought I better pass that one up! I have the same exact Hoover Foor Mate, so didn't need one of those. I have a Dirt Devil Brum (never use it), so I didn't need the Broom Vac (I have the original Broom Vac anyway). I've never even heard of a Triton vac. I did glance at that blue Panaosinc with the big headlight, but it had the switch in the middle of the vacuum instead of on the handle where it belongs so I passed it up. There was also a teal green Dirt Devil Classic hand vac behind everything, but I already have a red one, so didn't need that either. The only other thing worth noting was that canister on the left.... it was a straight suction SINGER SYSTEM! I know these have got to be rare, but it was missing attachments and straight suction only, so I passed it up. If it had had a power nozzle, I would have bought it to go with my Singer System upright, but I don't like straight suction canisters. The hose was really thin plastic and there wasn't even a place to plug a power nozzle in, so it was a no go.

The Caddy Vac, Fold Away, Smart Vac, and Shark stick vac had absolutely zero appeal to me. I might have considered the caddy vac IF had been the original one with the rounded motor cover and the soft touch bag door, but it was the newer, cheaper style... the Victory style Smart Vac brought back some memories for me because I remember when they were advertised, but truth be told, if I were going to get one of those, I'd rather have the World Vac or Enviro Vac with the softer hoses... I remember when Smart Vac was a series of vacuums in that speckled silver/gray color before they changed it to what we now know as the Smart Vac....

(I went to the flea market in the same town, and most of the vendors were gone... it was like a ghost town, but there was a Dirt Devil MVP and a Featherlite.... I may have considered the MVP but, as usual, the handle release and attachment clips were broken and it was missing the Edge Wedge)

When I was buying my 3 items, I talked with the store manager, who's known me for years. She knows I'm the "vacuum guy". I told her the prices have been crazy lately and I haven't been back in months (last time I was there, I got the Fantom Wildcat, but the time before that they wanted some ridiculous price for a Hoover Flair) because of it.... she said she knew, she's had a lot of complaints about over pricing.... they had new people in the back and they got a little price happy. She told me that if I see something I want and feel it's over priced, to let her know in the future, and she would work with me. That was nice.

Here's a picture of what they had...

 

[vintagerepairer]

That Eureka wide-track...how well were they received in their native USA? Here in England they were very popular in the end, although not so much so when they first arrived in 1996. They were too expensive for what they were and it was only when bagless versions came out and prices dropped that sales soared.

But they were seen as a very poor quality cleaner and they used to get blocked up all the time. At a time when the reputation of Electrolux was already discoloured due to several other poor models before the Widetrack, and when Dyson was taking off, and when Electrolux was trying to launch it's own European built cyclone cleaner, it seemed a strange thing to do to bring the Widetrack over.

The cleaner next to it, the Triton, these used to be sold here as L.G. and could be bought for under £50. A stupid price for a cleaner which was so very good at doing it's job.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

so....

You can use your powers of dedictive reasoning to figure out what followed me home.

The HAAN floor steamer (always liked them and knew they were good, but didn't want to spend crazy money for one since my kitchen is about 12 square feet.... this had the tray, but was missing the pads...)

The Electrolux Ergorapido (I know they clog fast and aren't powerful, but they are cute, so for the price, I just couldn't say no... it even came with the attachments and looks almost new, except where some brainless jerk taped the cord to the handle and the plug prongs scratched the paint.... I hope this wasn't the model that was recalled for blowing up a ladies hand in Canada.... I thought it was the Pronto.... I wonder if Electrolux would honor the recall and send me a replacement handheld unit if so....)

The Bissell Dynaclean multi vac (I thought this was a Eureka at first because the brand label was covered by the price tag and it came with about 6 genuine Eureka S bags and lots of attachments. I only bought it because it was so complete, and I don't have an real stick vacs or old stuff like this)...

Opinions....

I haven't tried the Ergorapido out yet, because I'm charging it. The blue lights on the charging dock are pretty and I love that it has a dock that I can just drop it in instead of having to fool with plugging a little wire in the bottom.

The Bissell thing is interesting. It's light and very easy to push. Suction seems good. The floor tool (it's made for carpet because it has wheels and a row of floating plastic nubs instead of bristles.... I am sure a standard bare floor tool will fit on it though). It even came with some of the original paperwork! It pushes really easily on carpet.... the metal switch is finicky though, and the motor smells like something burning when in operation. I'm sure the bags are NLA, but I might be able to make these eureka things work or sew something on my sewing machine...

I wanted to play with the Haan, so I just put a microfiber cloth down and filled it with water and turned it on and placed it on the cloth. The cloth stayed put and the machine worked great. Lots of hot steam and it didn't leak, spit, or sputter one time.... a lot more that I can say for the awful Shark Pocket mop that I bought brand new and returned. I just have to find out what kind of pads to buy and where to get them (I'm sure Amazon has them, but I'd rather buy from a local store if possible).... I didn't want to buy pads if the thing didn't work, but it works great!

These were each 14.99, and I feel worth it.... I spent 48 bucks with tax, but I just had to get some vacuums... I was feeling the itch again!

If any of you know anything about these things or have any opinions, I'd appreciate feedback. Now to go sanitize everything and get the glue off from the tape!

 

[vintagerepairer]

Oh well, no worry.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Vintagerepairer,

I wasn't worried, but what was I supposed to have been worried about?

I think that model was seen as a mid range cleaner here... they had the Bravo/Powerline machines for the bottom and the Excalibur for the top. I don't know of anyone who actually had one of those and I really don't see them very often... the regular Victories that were not "smart vacs" were much more popular.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Hi Nothing really. I just thought you'd forgotten me!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Nah, I was just typing the other repsonse when you responded, then I went to Lowes to look for a Haan pad, but they didn't have any.... they had Shark ones, but the Shark left streaks on my floor and it was likely because of the pad...

 

[sanitairered]

Go back and buy the Triton! They sold these at Meijers a few years ago. I bought one, and it was one of the best clean air uprights I have ever used! It deep cleaned like no other, but they never really were popular. I gave mine away to a friend and I absolutely regret it! If I ever got the chance to buy one again I deffinately would.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

wow

Is the Triton really that good? Is it just powerful? Who makes it? It just looked like a cheap plastic rebadge to me!

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Triton was

sold to Vacuum shops in the begining. I sold them in my store and never had any returned and they never came in for repairs. I still have a brand new one I love it . Great priced quality vacuum . I forget who made them I will have to find the paper work I had on them .

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

I would love to know who made the Triton since I've nevers seen one before... I coudn't find anything out online. It just looked like a cheap plastic rebadge to me... no headlight or height adjust, no bare floor feature.... switch halfway down the vacuum body (on the "passenger side" instead of the "driver side", weird)...

I'm really liking the Ergorapido... I had some potato chip crumbs in the recliner yesterday and it got them all up and when I went to vacuum the carpet, I couldn't believe how much dirt was in the cup... I vacuum every day and I know the thing isn't very powerful... I was shocked! It's cute too!

I just wonder what the differences between the Pronto and the Ergorapido are...