No more smart vac at Wal-mart!?

[vacuumfreeeke]

I know that most of us don't buy vacuums from Wal-mart, but I was just there getting some cat litter and I thought I'd stroll over to the vacuum aisle and see what they had different, if anything. I was a little shocked. They are selling the Oreck Steam Mop.... and the new Bissell lift off steam vac.... but there was no Eureka Smart Vac on display.... no bagged Hoover Tempo either. The only bagged uprights were this new Eureka thing and the BOL Bissell...

I don't like this new Eureka.... I just don't like the looks, or the fact that they just took a bagless vacuum and bin and stuck a bag in it! The switch is a pedal that is REALLY high up on the machine and and looks like it would break off if you look at it cross eyed. There is no head light and no way to turn the brush off for bare floors. the brushroll is much skinnier than the one on the smart vac, but the bristles seem stiff. I can't imagine this thing being any good.... I used to think, well at least Wal-mart offers one halfway decent machine, but now they can't even claim that with this new "replacement. The bag looks similar to an AA bag, but the hole is in the middle instead of off to the side and the collar is shaped to fit the "dirt bin". What is that knob over the bag door for ?

The only thing I'd possibly give them props for is if they'd have a machine that came with both bins so the user had a choice like Hoover did back in the day....

Now of course I've not used this thing... have any of you? What do you think? I'm just sad to see the Smart Vac go, but it has been around for a long time now. I wonder if they are going to stop making it!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

the bag

the bag...

 

[gsheen]

Euraka


 


That is actually a very good and extremely powerful machine

 

[blackheart]

Wow

I had no idea the new Airspeed was bagged i noticed something looked different on the box but i thought it looked like they just gave it a new shroud like the bissell momentum had, i'm glad to see it's bagged though!

 

[gsheen]

They are both bag less and bagged versions 

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

I just looked up the manual to see if I could figure out what that knob is under where the turbo tool does, and it's not in there. On the machine, it turns, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

No upholstery tool and the dusting brush is a joke.... I'd really miss the Smart Vac if I had to replace it with this!

Also, the bagless one has a paper pleated filter in the dirt chamber.... I thought it was cyclonic! Does Eureka even make a cyclonic?

 

[blackheart]

Eureka Cyclonic

Looks like they do now.

http://www.eureka.com/index.php?opt...getproducts&productid=149&product_model=5400A

 

[gsheen]

That is not a paper pleated filter as it wouldn't be able to be washed , its a polimer material, I find the best way to wash them is with a hose pipe , been doing it for years 


That knob is what you turn to lock the handle in place when you assemble the machine, no screws 


 


 


The filter is located in a shroud not in the bin so it doesn;t get dirty fast at all, 


 


But I do miss the smart vac , according to the eureka website you still get it , the air extreme , 

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

When I say paper, I mean a material that looks like paper that clogs fast.... it's a general term! )

Thanks for telling me about the knob though!

 

[gsheen]

That same filter in shroud is used in the Electrolux powerglide/ Eureka  pet pal to you guys machine on the left in your pic at top.


 


when that machine was been launched here in SA we did testing for 3 month on it , one unit was placed into our cleaning fleet in our cleaning business, I was amazed at how that machine ran so well even with the filter clogged to maximum , we cleaned 7 houses a day and two businesses at night , only cleaned the filter when we could no longer see it, it took over 5 weeks for the filter to become properly clogged and another 3 for the machine to totally loose suction. a quick spray with a hose pipe and 2-3 hours in the sun and we were back in business. 3 years on we are still using it , same filter we just clean it like you are suposed too 


 


I am very impressed with that filtration system, the only time we ever see those machines in our shop is when customers have washed the filter and put in straight back. they are the best selling upright in SA

 

[blackheart]

It's strange

A lot of the machines we have problems seem to really catch on in SA I know one of my Exs worked for a pet store and they had the Eureka Maxima which had this style of filter on it, but didn't have the shroud it had virtually no airflow and barely picked up, but the bagged version i tried out seemed to maintain it's airflow better and the bags must not leak much as the pre motor filter was still pretty clean. I dunno just odd to me i guess

 

[gsheen]

The maxima is a completely different machine, we had it here as the Electrolux pet lover , what a disaster If you tiook really good care of it they were just about ok but not really . The power glide replaced the petlover in SA , the pet lover Ie 4705 is now sold as a gazelle in the UK and still sold as the Eureka maxima and powerplus , just look at the first two numbers of the model the maxima,powerpluss start with 47 the powerglide and whirlwind( wider base ) start with 32 

 

[gsheen]

eureka maxima

 

[joshdonnell]

no more smart vac

the smart vacuum is sold a lowes

 

[blackheart]

I knew it was different but it looks like the only real difference is the shroud which is a low efficiency cyclone and would extend the time you have before you need to clean the filter.

I think Walmart needs to carry a few more bagged machines bringing back the Tempo would be a start i know Best buy and i think sears still carries it.

 

[gsheen]

The maxima is a completely different machine manufactured by a different company In china , the powerglide / petpal have a better designed motor better quality plastics and over all a much better machine , it feels solid like the smart vac 

 

[blackheart]

heh

My mistake, sorry

 

[thissucks]

these are about the only good boxed machines. even when the dust cup filter is clogged tight it still has alot of suction, bagged version i think would be even better.

 

[gsheen]

They are not the best vacuum out there, but for what you pay you get a hell of a lot of really good machine.


I had a customer buy a powerglide 3 months ago to replace his aging G5 kirby that his wife found to heavy to push around after a car crash left her with a damaged back, he was skeptical at first.


 


He phoned me that afternoon to say it was the best money he had ever spent on a vacuum and asked for another for his office , over the next two weeks he sold another 20 to various freinds and now still sends a least 3 customers a week to come and get one , he is my best rep ever!! and I dont even pay him.


 


I think thats what is so nice about them, when you buy a dyson or a kirby you expect the best when you buy a budget vacuum and then find out it works this well you are really pleased 

 

[Sanifan]

The pleated filter...

Thanks for sharing your experience with the pleated filter, Gareth. I'm so glad the filter needs a lot less maintenance than I thought.

Actually, I have the Sanitaire SC5845 bagless commercial vac as shown in the link. It has a washable polymer pleated filter, which I assume is similar or the same as the one you had described. I'm especially relieved as I manage several properties including an apartment building, and I've been vacuuming out the filter after every use for fear of reduced suction and performance.

Do you find the filter gets clogged with that fine grey powder, though? Mine does and I worry about reduced performance.

Thanks!

http://www.sanitairevac.com/commercial/products/quiet_clean/qc_sc5845.jsp

 

[gsheen]

Hi Khoi 


 


yes the filter does get clogged with fine dust, but I.ve never lost suction like you do with the other bagless types .


 


 


If the filter is really clogged 


I vacuum it out  first then I soak them in a bucket ofwarm water with some soap suds, This will help with the smell, then blast them out with a hosepipe


 


You need only do this if the filter is really bad , otherwise I just spray it off with the hose pipe, with a jet nozzle on it 


 


Gareth 

 

[kenmore81]

A woman I worked with had the bagless pet version and I went over to shampoo her carpets, she had packed the filter and it still had ok suction. She said she didn't know it had a filter. I cleaned it out and re vacuumed, she was shocked at how much was still left in her carpet.
As far as the Airspeed I seen it at Target the other day and I thought it was bagless, I didn't investigate it further because of that.I know Eureka has both versions but the one I seen must have been bagged because the bin was not clear.

Bob, did you notice if the bags are expensive? They usually are when they make a new design.

 

[Sanifan]

The shroud...

I was re-reading the thread and realized the vac you were discussing has a plastic shroud, Gareth. This must be a fairly new innovation as the one I'm using doesn't have a shroud. The filter just hangs naked at the top of the bin doing its filtering thing.

I assume the shroud acts as a pre-filtering stage, keeping hair, paper and leaf bits, and other larger pieces of debris from clogging the pleated filter prematurely.

Since I do not have the shroud, I surmise that my filter will clog more quickly that what you had experienced with your test vac. Still, your description makes me think I can go quite a bit longer than one use before I have to wash off the filter.

Thanks!

 

[gsheen]

the shroud is about 2 years old, It was introduced with the 3200series Eureka/Electrolux machines. It is a very big improvement over the filter in the can design 


 


It is also on the 4200 comfort clean /@ease models and the new airspeed models 

 

[gsheen]

here is the shroud from the 3200 series It works really well at keeping most of the dirt off the filter