More New Vax Vacs

[sebo_fan]

Just been on John Lewis and noticed a new Vax cylinder vacuum - the Air Mini. Lord knows who they are trying to rival with this one - possibly Dyson's City Vac?

Vax Air Mini C88-AM

 

[sebo_fan]

Specs from argos.

 

[madabouthoovers]

As bagless cleaners go, thats a nice looking cleaner - multicyclonic as well, so its easy to use without forever needing filters cleaned. Its like the equivalent canister version of the mach air uprights. If it only about 5kg in weight it'll be a big hit. The larger version of this model with the pre-seperator on the side of the main canister is a bulky affair, so I think this smaller version should do well with ladies that like a light cleaner for carrying about.
Better than the Power series of single cyclonic Vax canisters too. Pricey though.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I think this is the model they are trying to reduce in size:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The main difference I think is that the primary seperator was on the side of the canister on the old models, it is now inside the main canister by the looks of it in the smaller model

 

[sebo_fan]

Clearly they're doing yet another round up of Dyson copying. But to be honest as you say, I think the Air Mini will be a big hit. 

 

[guardsman69]

i cannot wait until it has the hoover branding when it gets to our country ....the current cyclonic canisters are way over due for a change in line up

 

[madabouthoovers]

This is the model that uses the single cyclonic action, the Vax Power range.
These are still sold here, but are the cheap bottom of the market models that require much more filter maintenance. They even have a blockage light to tell you that they need the filters cleaning and this is a frequent affair. The Vax Air mini is a much better cleaner in terms of performance, but is a lot cheaper.
This model sells for about £80 in the UK (about 130 bucks)

The Vax Power 7 canister cleaner:

 

[madabouthoovers]

sorry that sentence above should read:

The Vax Air mini is a much better cleaner in terms of performance, but is a lot more expensive.

 

[madabouthoovers]

You can see how the cleaner has evolved - the central cyclone in the above Power 7 model (the red plastic inner section) has effectively become the primary seperator in the Vax Air Mini at the top of the page. Where the pre motor filter is on the Power 7, above the main cyclone, the Air Mini has the multi cyclonic setup to filter out the finer dust before it gets to the pre motor filter. I feel that now is the time to ditch the single cyclonic models altogether, as it doesnt really cost that much more to include the multi cyclonic assembly in a cleaner. Now that the Dyson patents have expired, all the manufacturers are going multicyclonic. Why still sell the old fashioned easy blocked cleaners and have people frown upon the brand that still buy them and get peed off with the filters constantly blocking?

 

[sebo_fan]

Why still the old fashioned way...?

Because simply put, multi-cyclone tech has only just started with other brands and thus the brands won't want buyers to be detracted from the current older style filters. For Hoover UK, it was far longer - 2008 for their Slalom and Freedom uprights with the "Airvolution" take on multi-cyclones. Other brands have been slower to take on this design since their models still use the older design. Vax were one of the first in the UK outwith Dyson to offer multicyclones in their "Zero" range, but not many buyers know this, well before the Mach series was introduced.


 


Other budget brands are still relying on the paper pleated cones because they don't offer multi-cyclone tech yet - and the new design isn't as cheap as you'd think - otherwise they'd be mains power hand vacuums offering multi-cyclones by now, as well as the latest ranges of stick vacs or what have you, other than the Vax/Hoover Linx that has been out for years beforehand (but at an expensive cost price in the UK).


 


As much as I admire your scientific post, Steve - the multicyclones really haven't improved anything - end of the day you still have a filter to wash out once it gets clogged. It just means it doesn't shorten out as much or doesn't require as much cleaning as paper cones do.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well, I went to the big city yesterday and went to John Lewis to see all the "new" cleaners on their shop floor. Tried the Vax Air Mini - it may be small but I found it too heavy for my own liking even if it was quieter than I thought it would be. The hose is also one of those cheap ribbed grey plastic jobs - I'd have thought Vax would have offered a clear hose, similar to what they have on their Vax Mach Air models - and it has a three tool storer clip on thing just at the top of the tubes - handy for access and in my hands none of the tools came off which is always a good sign.