New color Royal bag...

[stricklybojack]

At 7 minutes 30 seconds you see this new color on a Royal. The video talks about direct air vs clean air & a metal Royal vs a Dyson ball machine. But that dark brown bag rocks imo.
I saw this same model brown Royal in person last year but neglected to snap a picture.
Now i see one here in this video so i can share it here...

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

That is actually a dark blue MRY8300 or MRY8400.

~Ben

 

[ornery]

2011 Model 8300 Everlast

Shoot, that video was uploaded in 2011, and the model shown may be a year or more older than that. In the video, he says it's a model 8300. Looks like Cordovan to me, which would be nice, but I still prefer burgundy.

Quick question for you Royal lovers. Hope I can get an honest answer. Between the Everlast and a Sanitaire 886, does one clean significantly better than the other? IMO, they seem about equal. Equal suction, agitation, and noise. I do think the Royal would be more durable over time, but it's three times the price when purchased new.

I'll take the Royal in used condition, but I can't blame a vacuum store for selling Royals over Sanitaire with that much higher profit margin.

 

[jade_angel]

The only major distinction I'd make is that the Royal has attachments available and uses a top-fill bag. Beyond that, they're pretty comparable, yeah.

 

[stricklybojack]

As i said...

I saw one last year in the vac shop & it was a very dark brown. This one on the video may be different but i don't think so. Definitely not blue.

 

[Kelpie]

Are any Royals still made in the USA?

 

[ornery]

Brown Bag

Now that I'm on a desktop PC, it does look brown. I still prefer Burgundy, but that brown would be nice on your gold plated unit!

If Sanitaire could find a way to put a foot height adjuster on the SC889A, I might trade the Royal 4008 for it. As it is, that feature keeps the Royal out in front for me.

 

[jade_angel]

AFAIK, all Royals are made in China now. Fortunately, their QC doesn't seem to have gotten markedly worse.

 

[tolivac]

The service "history" of the Chinese made metal Royals still has to be determined-time will tell.So far there has been breakage of the Chinese built handle forks on some machines-beleive this has been fixed.Still think the machine should have continued to be made in the US-the US is the major market for this type of machine--makes the most sense to build 'em where they are primarily used?

 

[ornery]

This Ain't Rocket Science

There's nothing particularly close tolerance in these units. The design is basically the same as it was fifty years ago. As long as the nuts & bolts stay SAE, and parts are readily available, it really doesn't matter where it's made to me. I believe they still have a 7-year factory warranty, so how bad can they be?

 

[tolivac]

To some dealers where the machine was built does matter-The idea of the machines built in China turns some customers and dealers off.I know of two dealers that won't stock Royal machines becuase of being built in China.

 

[vackid]

Royal Metal Uprights

We've sold quite a few of the 18' wide commercial units and our customers love them. They hold up beautifully and really clean like nothing else out there. The only problem we've seen is an occasional problem with the zippers on the bag, as some of the ones that come in, brand new out of the box, have missing "teeth" and we have to order a replacement. It's only happened with a few though and Royal stands behind all of their products and they quickly sent us a new one.

Talking to other vacuum store owners, very few vacuum stores are still pushing the household metal models. It's not that they are not a good vacuum, but to show a customer, used to on-board tools, instant bare-floor cleaning and a somewhat quiet machine, these units look extremely outdated and the sales of them have dropped dramatically. You can get similar performance, with on-board tools and instant bare-floor cleaning with a Riccar/Simplicity Tandem-Air which has become the go to line for vacuum stores. I've thought about ordering one of the current household metal uprights to keep for my collection because it is likely to be the end of an era.

 

[ornery]

Money In The USA!

That's funny. The lion's share of the money spent on those "China" vacs ends up in USA pockets anyway. Probably mostly to certain dealers. The same model 8300 sells from $400 to $750 or more. Matter of fact, how many dollars worth of parts differences are there from the $300.00 commercial models to the $750.00 ones? Maybe $40.00. That's a LOT of dollar difference, and I doubt China sees much of it.

 

[tolivac]

OK-to many customers the Royal appears to be an outdated machine-YOU-the dealer need to convince the customer WHY the direct air Royal or Sanitaire machine despit no hose or tools will clean your carpet better as shown by the demo video at the beginning of this thread.I have several made in China Royals-so far they are OK I have one that I bought used-it has a broken handle fork-its the Grey model.It works OK though.Yes,Agree on the outer bags-the zipper problems need fixing--thats sort of an issue with me-their quality control has gone down-remember you did not see these faults in the US Royals.I have two 18" Royals-the ONLY widesweep vac of that size that WORKS-the Sanitaire version I have doesn't work as well as the Royal.

 

[ornery]

Made In USA?

At what point is an item not "Made In USA"? If every single component is made abroad, yet assembled here, is it "Made In USA? Is it OK if the nuts & bolts are made in China, but the castings made here? What if the castings are made in Mexico, but machined & polished here? What if the vaunted roller bearings are made elsewhere?

The zipper on my 4008, manufactured in 2000, seems a little flaky. It may have been made in China, even though the machine was built here. I lubed it, and it's functioning OK, but I'll have it replaced by a talented, Filipina seamstress when it gives out. And, it will be higher quality than the original, for less than the cost of a replacement roller. I couldn't care less if this tool ends up being multi-ethnic!

Once upon a time, Japan was known for making junk. A few decades later their products set the standard. I blame Royal for letting quality slip over there. China is more than capable of building a quality vacuum. It's just not that complicated.

I wonder how many customers would be willing to pay several hundred more for the same vacuum, just because it's made here? And, there's no way I'd cough up more than $400 (hell, not even $350) for a new one, no matter where it's made!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/27/classic-american-things-not-from-us_n_4440784.html

 

[tolivac]

China can make great stuff or junk-the company having the Chinese make the product has to make sure they are well supervised and the quality control is maintianed-then the results are good.Yes for many products its just that--what is the "content" of the item?Some states now have laws on the "made in US"For the item to have that label-ALL of it has to be made in the US-otherwise the label on the item and its packaging must state the percent content of the item supplied and made in the US This happened to both Blendtec and Vita-Mix.VitaMix for motors made in Sweden-and Blendtec for circuit board components made in other countries.

 

[jfalberti]

I think my

VitaMix states on it that it is 70% made in the USA.  I always wondered why it said that.

 

[tolivac]

No matter what the content-I do like BOTH my VitaMix and Blendtec machines--Lets see--WILL IT BLEND?I DON'T make the cell phone "smoothies" as they do on the Blendtec site.Does show how tough the machine is!

 

[chan55]

Royal

How well do the tools work on those metal Royals? They must be a pain to put on?