Fantom Lightning
$200-$300 on a Sears Kenmore puts a buyer in their low to mid range. The Orange model at original retail of $229 or the White at original retail of $300.
Orange model in a way is the better of the two because it has a reliable hose that Panasonic/ Kenmore canisters have been using for many years. This hose is a universal fit to fit attachment from many other vacs on market. Quick disconnect wands but these wands are prone to burning wires at power nozzle connection after a few years. Air turbine powered hand tool. The problems with the Orange machine are extremely flimsy plastic for attachment door and main suction unit. Bag compartment is small and bag needs to be folded in half to fit. A new bag style was not produced to fit this machine, instead you still use Kenmore C 50557 bags but fold in half. Kenmore HEPA Q could be used but you'd really be scrunging to get to fit inside.
White model is plagued by the Kenmore series new hose style. The handle is very comfortable. However this hose, also found on Blueberry and Red Progressives are not a universal fit and only fit the attachments which come standard with original purchase. The hose handle although comfortable for user is very bulky. Dusting brush and upholstery nozzle are the shape of the suction opening. They are oblong shaped and don't fit in areas well. The upholstery nozzle is a series of fins that looks like Miniblinds. Crevice tool attaches to hose handle and is difficult to remove and reattach.
The Kenmore TOL series would be the blue Intuition canister. It's very quiet, has dirt sensor, variable speed control, on/off for entire machine and power nozzle on hose handle. In general the suction unit is very nice with large bag capacity. This vacuums problem is the power nozzle. It's a hybrid head with removable bare floor brush that completes the power nozzles. This makes for a bulkier, harder to maneuver power head that in my experience is much more cumbersome to maneuver than a normal canister power head. Due to its bulky connection to power head, once wand lowers to about 9" off the floor, the front of the power nozzle starts lifting off the rug. For a canister power nozzle this is bad as it really defeats purpose of a canister vacuum. The bare floor brush is very skimpy on bristles and connection to power nozzle is very delicate and numerous consumers including my client who has purchased 3 of these units for her 11,000 sq. foot home and separate meeting space over the years has had 2 units break and power head will not reattach to wands. New parts to fix connection cost about $100 through Sears.
Kirbylux77 can tell you more about this than I can, but in recent years, sadly Panasonic has been continuously switching motors in their units and using very cheap ones. Panasonic makes all of the Kenmore canisters so both companies products have suction units that are experiencing motor death at about 4- 6 years old.
It is my opinion that the Royal is a much better quality machine and will clean better than these Kenmores. The power nozzle on the Hoover has longer bristles over the CenTec CT20DXQD series heads found on the Kenmores and grooms carpets better while grabbing pet hair and other dirt faster. The Royal power nozzle also utilizes Hoovers patented Windtunnel design. The hose handle on the Royal is extremely comfortable with long very flexible, durable material and power nozzle is very powerful.
For those have not yet taken a closer look at this in a vacuum shop, I would advise doing so. First look at a Hoover Windtunnel Anniversary, then look at this. I think you'll find its not nearly as bad as you think. Is it perfect--- NO!! Is it anywhere near the quality of the previous Royal Power Tank that we all miss--- NO! But it's a closer image to that of Miele, Sebo, Riccar, Lindhaus, Kenmore and all of those other machines that are also nearly all PLASTIC!! The suction unit on the Royal has a solid construction feel.
If you look at a Hoover Windtunnel bagged canister from around 2007 like the S3639 and those PowerMax series ones, you would be more impressed with the newer body style. It is a sealed system with HEPA filtration which its predecessor was nowhere near sealed and filtration was terrible!! As much as I love its predecessor the filtration was terrible and body construction was flimsy. Not so with the new series!!
