Help me buy a vacuum- rainbow

[mark40511]

As much as I like and trust Rexiar

AS FAR AS QUALITY goes (not necessarily sales tactics), I have to AGREE with you dysonman1.

I wonder if the quality INSIDE is equal to Rainbow?

 

[dysonman1]

Tomorrow, I'll take the machine apart to show the motor. It's made by Rotofil in Italy. The carbon brushes are VERY long, and should run for at least 1500 hours.

 

[vacyume]

Another question!

How often does rainbow change their model design?

 

[williamr1248]

Help me buy a vacuum-Rainbow

vacyume,

As far as the different models, that would be a good question for Tom.
Over many years I have bought or traded in one Rainbow on a new model to upgrade and get the new features.
I bought a new Rainbow in the following years and each was a improved design:

1972 ( I was almost a child-just kidding)
1985
1992
2011

I will tell you I just sold my Rainbow SE last year and was surprised that I had multiple offers and sold it for about $400.00. It was over 17 years old so they do hold their value as far as a household appliance goes.
The machine from 1972 was bought for my store and received untold amount of abuse and kept right on going. Never emptied, water not changed in a timely manner,
left on the water pan etc.

Best of luck on your search. People have been wonderful to share a LOT of information about water based systems.
If you do go with Ken, you will not have any problems and he is wonderful to stand behind ANYTHING he sells as several others on the forum have related.
Not always easy to find honest people in business today that are interested in having lifetime customers.

 

[GM1982]

The Sirena v Rainbow

Yes new rainbows seem very overpriced, do not own one, but $2,000+ for a vacuum is a bit silly. This is the first time I am hearing about the Sirena. It looks neat, but I question the length of the hose and I do not like that exposed power cord on the wand. It probably would be annoying to connect and disconnect it, and worry that it would get caught on something and tear off. Seems like they cut corners/costs by not having a direct connect. Just my observations.

 

[dysonman1]

When Sirena was being designed, they were looking at the E2 Rainbow as their inspiration. The cord from the power nozzle to the hose handle clipped into a channel on the back of the single piece wand. Sirena uses a telescopic wand. The cord doesn't get caught on anything really. I like that the power nozzle can be completely removed and any attachment placed onto the wand at any point during your cleaning. The power nozzle will fit the hose handle, eliminating the wand, making it ideal for mattress cleaning or stair cleaning.

 

[canuck]

Water, generally speaking

I think if you speak to anyone using a vacuum which employs water as a filter you will hear similar stories, they are amazing! The Rainbow (as manufactured by Rexair) has been the leader in this field. There is no doubt that after 75 years the reputation of Rainbow is almost untarnished. The primary downfalls with Rainbow (IMO) are the direct sales (which inflate the prices) and the after sales service. Thankfully many traditional vacuum stores are able to source parts and repair the machines when required (which in all fairness is not often when properly maintained).
That said, as with all things, times they are a-changing. Rexair now has many competitors, although the majority fall into 2 categories:
1) direct sales with inflated prices
2) cheap knock-offs
Without mentioning names, many of these "imposters" are still well over $1000.
The Sirena could prove a formidable opponent to Rainbow. The machine is well put together, the price reasonable, and so far it has received some good reviews. One must keep in mind there is no such thing as a product being great just because it's manufactured in a "certain" country. there was a time when made in America products we're considered of the highest quality, and Chinese products were cheap imitations, but that is no more. Many companies can now build high quality products in Asia, the labor costs offset the product cost.
When it's all said and done it usually boils down to personal preference backed up by a lot of homework

 

[vacyume]

Hmmm, williamr1248 comments on the rough treatment of his 1972 machine makes me wonder if it's possible to replace my hubby's shite shopvac with an older rainbow model. Is sawdust considered wettable dirt?

The readily available parts are a big plus for rainbow. When I searched for parts for other brands, I found the return a bit underwhelming. Does rainbow still make parts for all their older models?

About the Sirena. If I had found their website a few months ago, when I started this water filtration journey, I probably would have slapped my cc on it, and probably would have been happy with my purchase. But now that I've invested so much time and energy researching, and sacrificed guilty pleasures to save cash, I dunno if I'd be happy owning anything other than rainbow.

So I visited the vacuum repair shop today! The gentleman I spoke to owns the stores, his son operates the other location. He was very candid, it was refreshing. (On a side note, something I want to clear up, I misunderstood him, he has been in business for 26 years, not 36.) Anyways, he was very polite but didn't hold back when he told me he didn't like all the newfangled technology. In the end none of his machines made it home with me. He understood my reasoning and didn't begrudge my choice. The good news is, he can procure parts for rainbows and works on them. Oh! And he told me there used to be a rainbow dealer in town. He guesstimated that he was open for 3 years and had just recently closed the doors. Said he was a good man, retired Air Force, just couldn't make it work. :/ Median household income around here, last I checked, 30k a year... I bet he had problems. He also said he's seen many rainbow dealers in this region come and go over the years.

 

[vacyume]

I'm back!

Just wanted to thank you all for chatting with me before I made my purchase.

Ended up buying my rainbow off e-bay. It was listed as Brand New, but when I received it the separator had some residue on it, and the small brush head attachments was aftermarket. The rest of it looked nice and clean though. And the price was nice.

I vacuum once a week with my rainbow, occasionally more often. The thing is a haus, I run it for several hours at a time- after vacuuming I make a fresh bowl and run it in front of the central air register.

The best part, no more bags, a huge boon to a girl living out in the country. No more ripping open full bags, emptying them, and duct taping them back when I run out of bags and don't want to drive an hour to get more.

I looked at the hepa filter the other day, it's bright white, looks brand spanking new.

 

[vacyume]

I should add, I've owned this rainbow for about 2 years now.
Was just thinking about y'all and how much I love my machine, thought it'd be nice to give an update.

 

[floor-a-matic]

I love my Rainbow! I use a D4SE & a chrome dome every other day; NOT ONE speck of dirt in my house

I cant wait to buy a Sirena

 

[ctvacman]

Don't store the basin on the machine it's not good for the motor. You can always run the unit without a hepa, you initially said you didn't like the idea of a hepa filter.

 

[vacyume]

@ctvacman
At first I thought the hepa filter would have to be replaced often, like a bag, but the nice people here informed me that was not true, so I'm good with that.

And, it's okay to store the machine with an empty and clean basin, right?
I always dump, clean, and dry before storing.



@floor-a-matic
Looks like the Sirena has has done well since I started this thread a couple years ago. I see Bed Bath and Beyond is selling them- online anyways. Very Cool.

 

[ctvacman]

It's really not ok to store it, it says it on the basin itself. There are little cracks that still hold water inside the basin, unless you left it off for a day or over night then I would say it might be ok. It can lead to bad smells and bearing damage to the motor possibly.

Don't know if anyone mentioned but you should change the water often while cleaning unless you have a really clean house. It helps cut down on the fine dust that can clog the hepa and coat the fan blades.

Colby

 

[vacyume]

Thanks for the info.
I do let the basin and separator dry overnight in the bathroom, but now I'll just prop the basin on top instead of storing reassembled. Less work, woo!

 

[ctvacman]

One more thing if you have a carpet cleaner never store the dirty water tank on the machine until dry for the same reasons. If you already do it well I guess you can use it for future reference on your next machine. Glad I was able to help, I love my e2b rainbow as well.