Picked up a Riccar R20UP from an estate auction. Won it for $25 Came with the original manual and a box of EnviroCare bags. Whole machine was filthy but the motor sounded good. After a strip down/bath and a new set of filters it works beautifully! Has tons of suction thanks to the big dual stage motor (working and sealed waterlift pictured). Its an oddball but neat machine, grooms/agitates very well as expected from a Riccar. I'm very pleased to have this in my collection.
Riccar R20 Ultra Premium acquisition
- Thread starter Ant_Tenna
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panasonicvac
Well-known member
These were great machines, such a shame they discontinued them especially the 8955 that it replaced. In my opinion they were the best metal upright bypass designs ever based on the Hoover Dial-A-Matic. My relatives own the R20P.2 which has been a great machine for them overall, but I wish they had the red one. Actually I wish they could've bought the VIBPBP.2 instead because those are easier putting in the bags especially since they share the same bag fitting as their old Panasonic they were still using, it's been twice now that their Vibrance had so much dirt filled up in the bag chamber by not putting in the correct bag or not fully inserting in the bag. I'm surprised the motor is still going but that's one of the reasons why I wish they had the red one, those twin fan motors are more durable. Other than that, my only real criticism is the brushroll is so aggressive that they can cause a burn mark which happened on one of the rugs.
It's a very nice machine, pretty solid and I get a kick out of this much power coming from a Vibrance. The Simplicity 7850 has been the upright at the top of my list that I've been after lately. Also been looking for a Tandem Air of some sort; been on a bit of a Tacony kick lately. I have a Simplicity S38 canister as well that I adore even while being Sebo/Lindhaus/Miele collector.
Riccar/Simplicity used to have some pretty solid products and its such a shame they've declined. I really like the R25 on paper but I've read a lot about it from owners and techs all saying they don't have the cleaning ability that they should and the reliability is pretty shaky.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
When you say "bypass designs" I get confused. A bypass motor means the suction air bypasses the electrical components and is either expelled around the upper perimeter of the fan housing ( peripheral bypass ) or out a big spout on the side ( tangential bypass ). Both kinds of motors have to have a separate cooling fan normally located on the top of the brush holder. Motors like this are popular on machines that handle wet clean up since there is no chance of moisture entering the electrical components. These machines fro Riccar, like the old Dial-A-Matic have through flow motors. The suction air is blown through the electrical components to cool them.
panasonicvac
Well-known member
They'd also be referred to as clean air.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
But you can have a "clean air" vacuum that is used for wet pick up like a Rug Doctor or similar that has, usually, a peripheral bypass motor in it. Clean air just means the dirt is trapped in a bag, cyclone or some other receptacle and never touches the suction fan(s).
