my review of two more water vacuums and my vote for the best one

[n0oxy]

I've been wanting to write this for a few weeks and finally had some time. I'm going to review the Ritello, the Roboclean and then give my vote on which separator water machine I would recommend to a general consumer who is not a collector, let's start with the Ritello.
I actually bought this machine used, but it was in very good shape. It's the Renaissance edition which is the newest model. I'm going to keep these reviews pretty short since there is a lot of redundancy between the water machines.
The Ritello is very similar to the Rainbow, I think Librex, the company that makes it was actually trying to clone the Rainbow, however, I think they have fallen short in a few areas. Like all of the other water filtration machines, the Ritello has the three parts, dolly, basin and motor unit. The dolly and basin are very similar to the Rainbow so I will focus on the motor unit. The one thing I will say about the basin is that it's not totally open like some of the other machines are which does make cleaning it more difficult.
The Ritello does have one very nice feature that the Rainbow does not, a cord winder. A cord winder makes storing the cord so much easier, this is definitely something that Rexair should add to their next model. One thing I definitely do not like about this machine is how the latches work. The Ritello uses two round clips that go in to the side of the motor unit. Once they are inserted, you turn them to lock the motor unit in place. I would suggest keeping the clips in your pocket when not attached to the machine, if you lose them, you will have no way to secure the machine together. I have no idea why they chose to do things that way, but I don't think it's as good as the system the other machines use. The hose inlet is in front and the exhaust cover is on the back. You can remove the exhaust cover to access the blower port. On the top of the motor unit is the control panel, there is a power button, a plus button and a minus button. The plus and minus buttons change the motor speed, the Ritello has four speeds. I am fairly sure the Ritello is using the same motor as the Sirena, the separator looks identical and the motor sounds exactly the same, the Ritello also spins a turbo brush at exactly the same speed as the Sirena when the Sirena uses the electric hose.
The hose looks very similar to the Rainbow hose, however there is no way to set the power nozzle to stay on, you must hold the triger for the power nozzle to work, the hose does not swivel.
The wands are very similar to the Rainbow's, they are not telescopic which means your reach will not be as good with the included attachments unless you use a wand other than what is included. The power nozzle the Ritello uses is the Wessel-werk ebk360 which is a very good one, it provides 5 height adjustments and is the best power nozzle that Wessel-werk makes. It also includes the other typical attachments, for hard floors it includes one of those combination attachments that let you switch between carpet and hard floors. I'm really not too fond of these and prefer a dedicated hard floor brush.
The Ritello's cleaning ability is similar to the other water filtration machines and like the Rainbow, you can store the motor unit on the dolly without the basin when not in use.
Perhaps it's just me but the quality of the Ritello does not feel as good as the other water machines, I have not had any problems with it, but it just feels like it's not made as well as the other ones. I'm glad I have one since I'm a collector, but because of the lack of quality feel and the way the latching system works, this would probably not be my first choice when it comes to a recommendation. Also, there are very few distributors that sell it, I'm in Saint Louis and the closest one to me is in Indiana..
Mike

 

[n0oxy]

my review of the Roboclean splus

This is the most recent separator water vac that I have gotten, and I think I now have all of the ones that are currently made. While it has some similarities to the other machines, it also have some unique features that I will mention.
This machine actually has four parts rather than three. It has the dolly, the clean water basin that is used with the shampoo kit, the dirty water basin where water is collected when using the shampoo kit, this is also the basin that you fill when doing regular vacuuming, and the motor unit. One thing I'm not too fond of with this machine is that you have to always use the clean water basin as part of the machine, even if you're not using the shampoo kit. The two basins can be separated for filling or cleaning, but it's an extra step to put the machine back together. The dirty water basin is not totally open so cleaning it can be a bit more difficult at times, the best designs are the basins that are totally open with no roof on them. The way the latches work on the Roboclean is also somewhat unique. The latches close over a holder on the dolly rather than either of the two basins. This means that you can not use the machine without the dolly in place, although I can't think of any reason why you would do this.
Ok, on to the motor unit. As with the other machines, the hose inlet is in front and an exhaust cover is in back. Both the Roboclean and the Ritello use an exhaust HEPA filter that you will need to replace as recommended. Like the Ritello, the Roboclean uses a cord winder, having cord management on a machine is a great thing, it is so nice to have the cord out of the way when storing the machine. On the top of the motor unit is the control panel, it's a touch screen and there are several controls which will also lead us to one of the Roboclean's unique features. There is a power button to turn the machine on and off, and a slide bar for setting the motor speed. There are around nine motor speeds. There is also a button to activate and deactivate the power nozzle. When you activate the power nozzle, the machine automatically switches to the highest motor speed. From what I can tell, there is no way to run the machine at a lower speed while using the power nozzle, but again, there is really no reason to do this anyway. There is another button to toggle the ionizing feature. When activated, the Roboclean will add negative ions to the exhaust. Negative ions are useful for cleaning the air because they attach themselves to dust particles and cause them to fall out of the air on to surfaces where they can be vacuumed up. There is one more button that looks like a raindrop, I'm not sure what this does but I'm guessing it relates to the shampoo kit.
The electric hose is similar to the other machines but it has something none of the others do, it has a full 360 degree swivel, this is a minor but very nice feature. There is also a remote control that fits in to a compartment on the hose handle allowing you to control all functions without having to use the panel on the machine. The remote control can be removed from the hose if desired, I keep mine attached so I don't lose it.
The Roboclean includes one telescopic wand, and the power nozzle that it uses is the Wessel-werk ebk340. This is a good power nozzle with automatic height adjustment. It also includes the other typical attachments. There is no separate nonelectric hose, I'm not sure if the shampoo kit includes a separate hose or if the electric hose is used with it. Either way, I'm not comfortable using an electric hose when vacuuming water, even though Rainbow says you can do it with their hose.
The Roboclean cleans very well, based on the sound, I'm thinking it may use the same motor as the Quantum, the separator looks the same.
When it comes to maintanance of the Roboclean, there is one unique thing worth mentioning. There is really no special way to store it. You can't store the motor unit on the dolly directly and there is no way to prevent the motor unit from going all the way on to the basin. I store the motor unit and basins separately until they dry completely and then I store the unit fully assembled, just be sure it's totally dry, especially around the seals before putting it back together.
I do really like the Roboclean, it's one of my favorite water vacs and would definitely recommend it. I bought mine directly from the company, http://robocleanus.com because there were no distributors around here. I will include a link to a video user's guide so you can see what the machine looks like.
Mike

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c4fYfm3wT0

 

[n0oxy]

so, which machine is the best?

First, let me say that any of these machines will clean well, the performance on them is very similar. While some can spin a turbine brush faster than others, I don't think this matters much when it comes to removing dirt and dust from surfaces. Before I give you my vote of which machine I would recommend to an average consumer, let me point out some important features that some machines offer that others don't.
If having a brushless motor is important to you, the Rainbow is currently the only choice. It's the only water vac that uses this kind of motor. Having said that, the only time this will probably make any difference is if you plan on running the machine all of the time on low speed to use as an air purifier. If you don't plan on doing this, it's unlikely that the universal motors that are used in the other machines would need to be replaced for the life of the machine.
When it comes to maintanance, some machines are definitely easier to clean than others. The machines with totally open basins are the easiest to clean. These are the Sirena, Vivenso and the Hyla. The Hyla goes a step further by not requiring you to clean the separator. So far from what I have seen, I have not had anything on the Hyla separator although I still wipe it off each time I use it.
The machines that offer the most reach are the ones that include two telescopic wands, most do. The machines that do not are the Rainbow and Ritello which only include two straight wands, and the Roboclean which includes one telescopic wand. However, it is possible to use all of these machines with other wands if desired.
Some machines require you to change a filter while others don't. If this is something you would rather not have to worry about, you will want to consider the Quantum, Vivenso or Hyla, these use the water exclusively for their filter.
When it comes to power nozzles, Rainbow, Vivenso and Sirena have designed their own, the Hyla, Roboclean and Quantum use the Wessel-werk ebk340, and the Ritello uses the Wessel-werk EBK360. If you want to pair the machine with a different power nozzle, I have found that this is easiest with the Quantum and Vivenso, the plugs for most power nozzles do not fit as well in to the hose connector with the other machines. The Sirena's power nozzle is the only one that uses a flat belt which will require more frequent replacement. If you don't like the idea of having to hold the triger on the hose to use the power nozzle, you will want to avoid the Sirena and Ritello since these machines provide no way to keep the power nozzle turned on.
Ok, the time has come to answer the question, if an average consumer wanted to get a water vac and wanted to know which one to get, which one would I suggest? After considering all of the advantages and disadvantages of all of the machines, my answer is the Quantum. Yes, it is the cheapest out of all the machines, and considering the much higher price of some of the other water vacs, I was expecting something that would not be nearly as good, but that was not the case. The Quantum is well made and actually holds much more water which helps to keep debris off of the separator. While the other machines also clean well and I'm glad I have them since I'm a collector, they do not offer anything to justify their much higher cost, sometimes four times as much as the Quantum. So, there you have it, the Quantum is my top water filtration machine recommendation.
Mike