Hey everyone. Welcome to my review of the Pro-team super coach and Perfect pb1001 backpack vacuums. I will post each review in a different message in this thread. Along the way, I would love to know the answers to a few questions. Let's start with the Pro-team super coach.
I had heard a lot about backpack vacuums and figured it would be neat to have a couple of them, and I could also use them to clean my apartment.
When I started doing research to see which backpack vacs were the best, Pro-team seemed to stand out. They make several models, and this actually brings me to my first question. Does anyone know what the differences are between them? There's the super coach, the quarter vac, the running vac, the megavac, and one called the linevaser. I think some of these also have a blower port, but the motor specs seem to be similar on all of them, I'm actually not sure what motor is used in pro-team backpacks, but I think it's made by Domel rather than ametek. The super coach seemed to be one of the most popular models and one of pro-team's top of the line models. They actually have a super coach pro out now as well I think, but not sure what the differences are from the regular super coach. After doing some research, it seemed that the super coach and Perfect backpacks were the best ones available, though I would love to know about other models that everyone likes.
I bought my backpack vacs from evacuumstore.com. The super coach comes in a few different configurations, I think the main difference is what kind of wand it includes. Some packages include a telescopic wand, others include two wands that hook together which is what mine was. Other than that, I think the tools that are included are the same. Besides the wands, the supercoach includes a wide floor tool that works on carpet and tile floors, a long crevice tool, an apoulstry nozzle and a dusting brush. It also includes a four foot long hose.
Speaking of the hose, the hose and tool size is 1.5 inches, which is slightly larger than the 1.25 inch size used by most other vacuums. I was hoping to be able to use my favorite floor nozzle, the Wessel Werk rd285 with these vacuums, and it turns out I had an adapter that fits the hose perfectly. Ridgid makes an adapter set for wet dry vac hoses for using different size attachments, and one of the adapters works great, here is the link to it on the home depot web site.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-3-Piece-Adapter-Kit-VT1755/202077239
The hose has a 90 degrees elbow on one end and this goes in to the top of the vacuum. The hose swivels which does make moving it around much easier.
The vacuum itself is round, and it has the harness attached with the shoulder and waste straps. The power switch is attached to part of the waste belt.
As far as filtration, it has four filters which I think is a bit much. On pro-team's web site, the filter descriptions make it a bit difficult to tell what role each filter plays, so I will clarify them here. The intercept micro filter is the main bag, it's where most of what you vacuum up will go. This bag sits inside the cloth micro filter. The dome filter would be considered the motor filter, and there is also an exhaust filter on the bottom of the vacuum. To access the other filters, you twist the top lid to unlock it and it will remove easily. The dome filter sits on top of the motor, then the cloth micro filter is inserted, and the intercept filter bag goes inside of it. The vacuum came with paper bags. The perfect backpack, which I will review in the next message actually came with a couple of spare bags, and they are cloth instead of paper. Since both vacuums use the same size bags, I put one of the spare cloth bags in my super coach since they will usually work much better than paper bags. Once the filters are installed, you just need to put on the lid and turn it to lock it in place. Both of these backpacks use 10 quart bags, I think there may be a 6 quart version of the super coach as well but not sure.
Ok, let's talk about wearing the vacuum. This was my first time using a backpack, but I find it to be quite comfortable. The harness includes the shoulder straps, a strap that goes over your chest, and a strap that goes around your waste. The straps can be adjusted for different shoulder and waste sizes. Apparently, the back plate can also be adjusted for a taller or shorter person, but I could not figure out how to do this. Fortunately this was not needed, it was already in a position for someone of average heit. To wear the vacuum, first you put on the shoulder straps, just like wearing a back pack. Then you put the chest straps together and snap the clip in to place. Finally, you put the waste straps around you and snap that clip in to place, the clips are similar to a seatbelt. To release the clips, you press the two latches on each side of the clips, again, similar to removing a seatbelt.
The vacuum includes a short pigtail cord with a three prong plug, along with a 50 foot extension cord. There is a holder that the end of the cord loops through, I think this is to help reduce the stress on the cord.
Ok, moving on to the wand and tools. There are two wands, and each one actually has a curve at the end. The wands hook together using a button lock. Once it's together, the wand set is a few feet long, this is longer than typical wands. To attach a tool to the wand, you loosen the nut at the end of the wand, insert the tool and tighten the nut. I'm not sure what advantage, if any the nut provides. It does keep the tool from coming off, but friction fit connections will work fine as long as the sizes of the connectors are correct.
Before I bought the backpacks, I read some reviews on Amazon. One concern several users had was that the floor tool could scratch bare floors. After seeing the tool, I can understand this concern. The floor tool has a thin brush along the bottom, and on the other side, it does have some plastic points that could scratch certain types of floors. The tool does not have any wheels. I tried it briefly and it seemed to clean well, though again, I still think the wessel werk rd285 is by far the best nozzle for cleaning hard wood floors. I have not tried the other tools in the package yet, though I am sure they would work fine.
There is no way to add a power nozzle to this vacuum, so you have the cleaning ability of a straight suction canister. This will work great for hard floors as well as dusting and cleaning furniture, but cleaning carpets will be a problem. Even though the floor tool that is included can be used on carpet, and other carpet tools could be used, you are limited to straight suction. While this will remove whatever is on the surface, in order to completely clean carpets, you need a spinning brush. One option would be to use a turbine nozzle such as the turbocat zoom or one of the other carpet turbine nozzles, this vacuum definitely has enough power to spin those at a good speed, but these nozzles are much louder and will not clean as well as an electric power nozzle. They also tend to get clogged very frequently since everything goes through the turbine. I do think the ability to support an electric power nozzle is something pro-team should consider adding.
So, what about power and noise level? The vacuum is fairly quiet. I'm not sure if it's a one or two stage motor, but it doesn't have that high pitch sound that some vacuums such as the Dysons have. It's not quite as quiet as the Riccar Prima or Electrolux Ultra one canisters, but you could still hold a conversation without yelling. Also, I don't really notice the exhaust, it blows out the bottom, also the vacuum never felt hot or even warm while I was wearing it. As far as power, I'm not sure what the motor specs are, but one way to test a vacuum's power is to see how fast it can spin a turbine brush. This doesn't necessarily indicate how well a vacuum will clean, power is only one of several factors, the cleaning tool also makes a big difference. However, comparing how fast a turbine spins between vacuums does provide a good comparison. I also have perfect pitch, so I always find this test interesting. I use the rug rat tool for this test. The results are very good. The super coach is able to spin the brush a bit faster than several of the canister vacuums I have, such as the Aerus classic, Miele C1 Olympus, and the Sebo airbelt D1. It's not quite as fast as the Perfect Power Team canister or the Electrolux Ultra one though. This vacuum is not lacking at all when it comes to suction power.
So, would I recommend this vacuum if you are looking for a good backpack vacuum? In most cases, yes. I know these vacuums are mainly used in commercial settings, but they work quite well for cleaning your living environment as well. The vacuum is comfortable to wear, I did not have any issues with discomfort, or the vacuum knocking in to things. Granted, I don't have a lot of clutter in my apartment and that could make a difference. This vacuum will work best if you are cleaning hard floors or furniture. While you could use it on carpets, you will probably not get very good results since this vacuum cannot support an electric power nozzle. I suppose you could purchase a 35 foot power nozzle cord and connect that to an electric power nozzle, and then attach that to the end of the wand, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth. If you are willing to deal with poor cleaning performance on carpets, or don't have carpets you need to vacuum, this backpack vacuum is a great choice.
I had heard a lot about backpack vacuums and figured it would be neat to have a couple of them, and I could also use them to clean my apartment.
When I started doing research to see which backpack vacs were the best, Pro-team seemed to stand out. They make several models, and this actually brings me to my first question. Does anyone know what the differences are between them? There's the super coach, the quarter vac, the running vac, the megavac, and one called the linevaser. I think some of these also have a blower port, but the motor specs seem to be similar on all of them, I'm actually not sure what motor is used in pro-team backpacks, but I think it's made by Domel rather than ametek. The super coach seemed to be one of the most popular models and one of pro-team's top of the line models. They actually have a super coach pro out now as well I think, but not sure what the differences are from the regular super coach. After doing some research, it seemed that the super coach and Perfect backpacks were the best ones available, though I would love to know about other models that everyone likes.
I bought my backpack vacs from evacuumstore.com. The super coach comes in a few different configurations, I think the main difference is what kind of wand it includes. Some packages include a telescopic wand, others include two wands that hook together which is what mine was. Other than that, I think the tools that are included are the same. Besides the wands, the supercoach includes a wide floor tool that works on carpet and tile floors, a long crevice tool, an apoulstry nozzle and a dusting brush. It also includes a four foot long hose.
Speaking of the hose, the hose and tool size is 1.5 inches, which is slightly larger than the 1.25 inch size used by most other vacuums. I was hoping to be able to use my favorite floor nozzle, the Wessel Werk rd285 with these vacuums, and it turns out I had an adapter that fits the hose perfectly. Ridgid makes an adapter set for wet dry vac hoses for using different size attachments, and one of the adapters works great, here is the link to it on the home depot web site.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-3-Piece-Adapter-Kit-VT1755/202077239
The hose has a 90 degrees elbow on one end and this goes in to the top of the vacuum. The hose swivels which does make moving it around much easier.
The vacuum itself is round, and it has the harness attached with the shoulder and waste straps. The power switch is attached to part of the waste belt.
As far as filtration, it has four filters which I think is a bit much. On pro-team's web site, the filter descriptions make it a bit difficult to tell what role each filter plays, so I will clarify them here. The intercept micro filter is the main bag, it's where most of what you vacuum up will go. This bag sits inside the cloth micro filter. The dome filter would be considered the motor filter, and there is also an exhaust filter on the bottom of the vacuum. To access the other filters, you twist the top lid to unlock it and it will remove easily. The dome filter sits on top of the motor, then the cloth micro filter is inserted, and the intercept filter bag goes inside of it. The vacuum came with paper bags. The perfect backpack, which I will review in the next message actually came with a couple of spare bags, and they are cloth instead of paper. Since both vacuums use the same size bags, I put one of the spare cloth bags in my super coach since they will usually work much better than paper bags. Once the filters are installed, you just need to put on the lid and turn it to lock it in place. Both of these backpacks use 10 quart bags, I think there may be a 6 quart version of the super coach as well but not sure.
Ok, let's talk about wearing the vacuum. This was my first time using a backpack, but I find it to be quite comfortable. The harness includes the shoulder straps, a strap that goes over your chest, and a strap that goes around your waste. The straps can be adjusted for different shoulder and waste sizes. Apparently, the back plate can also be adjusted for a taller or shorter person, but I could not figure out how to do this. Fortunately this was not needed, it was already in a position for someone of average heit. To wear the vacuum, first you put on the shoulder straps, just like wearing a back pack. Then you put the chest straps together and snap the clip in to place. Finally, you put the waste straps around you and snap that clip in to place, the clips are similar to a seatbelt. To release the clips, you press the two latches on each side of the clips, again, similar to removing a seatbelt.
The vacuum includes a short pigtail cord with a three prong plug, along with a 50 foot extension cord. There is a holder that the end of the cord loops through, I think this is to help reduce the stress on the cord.
Ok, moving on to the wand and tools. There are two wands, and each one actually has a curve at the end. The wands hook together using a button lock. Once it's together, the wand set is a few feet long, this is longer than typical wands. To attach a tool to the wand, you loosen the nut at the end of the wand, insert the tool and tighten the nut. I'm not sure what advantage, if any the nut provides. It does keep the tool from coming off, but friction fit connections will work fine as long as the sizes of the connectors are correct.
Before I bought the backpacks, I read some reviews on Amazon. One concern several users had was that the floor tool could scratch bare floors. After seeing the tool, I can understand this concern. The floor tool has a thin brush along the bottom, and on the other side, it does have some plastic points that could scratch certain types of floors. The tool does not have any wheels. I tried it briefly and it seemed to clean well, though again, I still think the wessel werk rd285 is by far the best nozzle for cleaning hard wood floors. I have not tried the other tools in the package yet, though I am sure they would work fine.
There is no way to add a power nozzle to this vacuum, so you have the cleaning ability of a straight suction canister. This will work great for hard floors as well as dusting and cleaning furniture, but cleaning carpets will be a problem. Even though the floor tool that is included can be used on carpet, and other carpet tools could be used, you are limited to straight suction. While this will remove whatever is on the surface, in order to completely clean carpets, you need a spinning brush. One option would be to use a turbine nozzle such as the turbocat zoom or one of the other carpet turbine nozzles, this vacuum definitely has enough power to spin those at a good speed, but these nozzles are much louder and will not clean as well as an electric power nozzle. They also tend to get clogged very frequently since everything goes through the turbine. I do think the ability to support an electric power nozzle is something pro-team should consider adding.
So, what about power and noise level? The vacuum is fairly quiet. I'm not sure if it's a one or two stage motor, but it doesn't have that high pitch sound that some vacuums such as the Dysons have. It's not quite as quiet as the Riccar Prima or Electrolux Ultra one canisters, but you could still hold a conversation without yelling. Also, I don't really notice the exhaust, it blows out the bottom, also the vacuum never felt hot or even warm while I was wearing it. As far as power, I'm not sure what the motor specs are, but one way to test a vacuum's power is to see how fast it can spin a turbine brush. This doesn't necessarily indicate how well a vacuum will clean, power is only one of several factors, the cleaning tool also makes a big difference. However, comparing how fast a turbine spins between vacuums does provide a good comparison. I also have perfect pitch, so I always find this test interesting. I use the rug rat tool for this test. The results are very good. The super coach is able to spin the brush a bit faster than several of the canister vacuums I have, such as the Aerus classic, Miele C1 Olympus, and the Sebo airbelt D1. It's not quite as fast as the Perfect Power Team canister or the Electrolux Ultra one though. This vacuum is not lacking at all when it comes to suction power.
So, would I recommend this vacuum if you are looking for a good backpack vacuum? In most cases, yes. I know these vacuums are mainly used in commercial settings, but they work quite well for cleaning your living environment as well. The vacuum is comfortable to wear, I did not have any issues with discomfort, or the vacuum knocking in to things. Granted, I don't have a lot of clutter in my apartment and that could make a difference. This vacuum will work best if you are cleaning hard floors or furniture. While you could use it on carpets, you will probably not get very good results since this vacuum cannot support an electric power nozzle. I suppose you could purchase a 35 foot power nozzle cord and connect that to an electric power nozzle, and then attach that to the end of the wand, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth. If you are willing to deal with poor cleaning performance on carpets, or don't have carpets you need to vacuum, this backpack vacuum is a great choice.
