Royal All Metal Upright Dethroned by "Budget" Bagless Vacuum

[ornery]

My amazing, unbeatable FrankenRoyal has just been relegated to the museum, instead of being our daily driver. And worse, it's been replaced by a lowly Shark! An 800 series "Duo Clean Powered Lift-away Speed" to be exact. Only $129 on Amazon as a used/ refurbished machine, UV810. Third party seller is "Good As New Electronics". Their reputation is spotty, but I lucked out with this purchase. Worth every cent of $129!

The Royal is a stellar performer on rugs & carpet. Not the best for bare floors, which I have about 40% of. Of course tools are non-existent, so I use an Electrolux Ultra Quiet canister for that. Love it, specially its near silent operation, but I don't want my wife using the dainty thing due to fear of overheating. She does quite a bit of the vacuuming, so tools are an issue. Been lusting after the Hoover Commercial HushTone uprights, but not in a hurry to spend $300, and used ones are just as much with shipping. Also, they are not the best for bare floors either. That's why the "Duo Clean" got my attention. Having used it, I'm sold. Even a couple hundred is a fair price for it. $300... Nah.

Its small size is actually a huge plus. It gets in places the Royal can't, which are quite a few. Maneuverability is fantastic. Suction is more than enough, and agitation is great. Can't deep clean like the Royal, but the rest of the features make up for that. Quiet, easy to switch to tools, "Power Lift Away" is quick, easy and handy. Dumping the cup is effortless, with no digging for stuck fluff. LED lights are bright and welcome. Bare floor use is its strength. No need to adjust nozzle going from bare floor to rug and back. Wife loves it, I love it and our furry son has no qualms with its quiet operation. Hate to say it, but the Royal will not see much action in the future. Wife asked if I'd sell it? Hell no, I've got way too much time & effort in it!

 

[huskyvacs]

Why in the world is the kitchen carpeted? I am more shocked by that!

 

[ornery]

Frugality, Indecisiveness and Lack of Concern

Good question! Short answer, frugality. Long answer...

Graduated HS in '75, married in '78, purchased home in '82. This was after Jimmy Carter and interest rates were at 15% and higher! Buyer's market, but money was tight. House we purchased needed work. Kitchen had metal cabinets, painted red, with linoleum tops. Floor had indoor/ outdoor plaid carpet. Yikes! We painted cabinets brown and removed carpet. The machine shop I worked at moved to new facility and offices were carpeted with commercial grade carpet. They gave me a remnant which I used used to replace the indoor/ outdoor, rubber backed carpet I'd removed. This was all just temporary, so we could use it till we had enough money to remodel.

In 1986, we had our first boy. Wife quit work to raise him. I worked 54 hours per week as a machinist to support us. Hence, much frugality. Took till 1988 before we could afford to remodel. Papered and painted kitchen. Replaced drywall on ceiling and painted it. Carpet stayed during demo, because we planned on replacing it anyway. When new plywood was installed, drywall dust covered carpet was thrown out on patio. Cabinets were installed and it was time to put new flooring in!

Well, I wanted quarry tile, and my wife didn't. We couldn't decide what to put down. Ceramic tile, one piece vinyl, wood... Just couldn't decide, so we "temporarily" put the dusty, drywall compound stained carpet back in till we could figure out what to put down. It cleaned up well, so we were in no huge hurry. Meanwhile, years passed. Had our second boy in 1991. Wife went back to work five years later. We've certainly been able to afford to put a different floor in but... There it still is. And, it looks like new to this day!

We plan on moving when we retire. I'll probably slap something in there at that point. Everybody seems to like this new "engineered" flooring. Maybe that, or tile... Who knows? That carpet has more history than the vintage vacuum sitting on it!

 

[huskyvacs]

wow nice. i'd love to put VAT in my basement if i could. i have 70's linoleum and 1950s hardwood in my abode.

that vacuum has crazy power. would be fun to take it to a big community center or somewhere with a lot of carpeted floor space and let it run and see how fast it goes. lol

 

[ornery]

My poor Royal. Relegated to vacuum races. She is pretty though. Just polished her last week when I replaced a belt and tweaked the height adjuster. I specifically used a model 880 to build on, because of it's pretty color scheme. That powder blue and chrome is my favorite.

Yeah, the rest of our house is tongue & groove oak. Can't believe everybody put carpet over that. We rescued ours and refinished it. Quite a few rugs collect the dust and dog fur.

Just broke out the much maligned Shark for the second time. I will be certain to post about even the slightest problem with it in the future, but (knock wood) it's looking better by the minute. I NEVER thought I'd EVER bother with one, let alone own one! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

 

[suckolux]

The best cleaning vac is the one which gets used . I still use a Royal for deep cleaning what rugs I have periodically. Have fun!

 

[madman]

Oh no! That Shark is garbage! You'd better throw it away!

- Literally everybody here

Seriously though, it looks about like my Shark, they're pretty good machines, and you can tell they put thought into engineering it.

 

[huskyvacs]

Sharks are great vacs, especially the older ones. But on all mine I noticed they all seem to have a mysterious issue where they get vacuum leaks somewhere in the system after about 3 months of use and they do not seem to pick up as good or stick to the carpet. Filters washed and inspected, connections checked and undone and redone, brushroll clean, and washed the seal gasket on the bin and still nothing. Also on the models with a comb like the Rocket stick vacs, the hair just all gathers on the fuzzy brushroll and the comb and never goes in the suction channel. Unless they sneakily hid another filter screen somewhere I can't see, I don;t know what else it could be.

 

[ornery]

Vacuum Engineering

The evolution of these recent plastic vacs has been pretty interesting. Not the least of which has been the Dysons. The first time I saw one, my first thoughts were, "Total gimmick." When I finally got my hands on one, I couldn't believe the "engineering" or, should I say over engineering? So many intricate levers and latches to break. And, talk about reinventing the wheel. Sheesh! But, I'm sure some of those designs have migrated to other manufacturer’s bagless vacuums. Hell, like the bagless technology itself! Gawd, you can hardly even find a bagged vacuum anymore. The consumers have spoken. Either they've all drunk the bagless hype Kool-Aid, or they really do hate bags!

Me? I just want the right tool for the job. No qualms about paying good money for quality. But, if I'm to pay several hundred for a tool to do a simple job like cleaning floors, it damn well better do a VERY good job, and quickly. It also better last quite a few years, and be easy to service with parts available years down the road. I consider these plastic vacuums to be disposable. But, with price tags in the $250 - $300 range, that’s kinda pricey for "disposable".

This "Duo Clean, Powered Lift-away" ticks quite a few boxes for getting the job done right, and quickly. Oh, and quietly. That's a biggie on my list as well. Knock wood, I've had pretty good luck getting cheap vacuums to last past their normal lifespan. Hope to do the same with this one. The day I got it, and used it for the first time, I immediately ordered one for my 86 year old dad. Kind of funny. He sold Kirby’s around 1960. After selling one to everyone in the family, he bailed. Said he just couldn't bring himself to sell such expensive units to people who couldn't really afford it. I recently gave him a Sanitronic 80, that has been converted to F&G bags. He gave it back a few months later. He had replaced it with a cheap, cordless stick vacuum. Just sent him off with the Shark last night. I know he'll love it. If not... No idea what will suit him!

 

[tseg]

Like huskyvacs alludes to, my experience with Sharks are while they really impress out of the box they don't age well. Bagless vacs in general don't age well. My Shark has 2 filters that I must clean monthly, then let them dry for hours before putting back in the machine. Of course after multiple cleanings they are just not like brand new. And all the clear plastic bits are all hazy from wear. And cleaning the dust bin regularly is pretty disgusting. Within months the machine looks used. It became such a PITA to maintain the filters I don't use anymore.

Meanwhile I also have multiple German-made bagged vacs and after years of use, every time I replace the bagged filter the vacuum looks and is as clean as brand new again... and they are much more quiet in the base case.

 

[ornery]

Sounds Like A Challenge

Thanks for that input! Now, I know what to start watching out for. Actually, I'm looking forward to tearing into it, to see what makes it tick. Replacement filters & rollers are cheap enough and available on Amazon and eBay. I worry about the plastic housings and latches more than anything.

 

[eurekafansquid]

shark poopoo






am i coool now

 

[ornery]

Remember the '60s Honda Civics? Remember the 1986 Hyundai Excel? Are you familiar with the Hyundai Genesis series? I don't see anybody laughing at Honda and Hyundai now. To me, it looks like Shark is on the same path...

 

[suckolux]

With that statement it's like you read my mind!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

ornery

John,

The first-generation Honda Civic came out in 1973. Many of these do not exist now, especially in the so-called "salt belt" states, due to them suffering from what is known as "typical Honda rust."

~Ben

 

[eurekafansquid]

tbh everybody on this thread is scary to me




not because they dont understand that bagless needs to be maintained
they litteraly expect vacuum cleaners to work with dirty filters


why
why
why


dsfjsdfjsdk


you even force ur opinions on people

you litterally want everybody to like bagged


why


h

 

[huskyvacs]

At the start of the millennium when Euro-Pro bought Fantom Tech and rebadged themselves as Shark and started selling 3AM late night ads for battery powered carpet sweepers and really clunky uprights with a giant cord spool on the back that looked like a clothesline tacked on, yeah people thought it was funny. It's took about 18 years but they are slowly making their way up the rungs. They keep getting better but they are still designed like iPhones where it is "illegal" to service them and they do everything they can to erase the secondhand market.

I feel like they peaked with their Navigator line and now they are just trying to perfect perfection and it's just becoming a mess. The mission is lost. A lot of them now look like a janitorial cart with half a dozen tools all riding on the unit.

If Shark would add agitation or beaters to their rollers, increase the brushes on the roller, have a hair cutter on the brushroll, and a powered height adjustment, there would be no question in the matter.

But no they are not bad vacuums at all. I would prefer getting them secondhand because they are not worth the retail markup that is $200-$350. If you can get one for under $80 then yes it is definitely worth the price. Maybe I should get my Halloween fog machine out and do a test on them and see if there is any leaks. lol

 

[ornery]

Hey Ben, I was looking forward to your input. Fear not, my 880 will be used by my great grandchildren, if for no other reason, simple nostalgia. I bet it will still outperform anything else on the market... Unless you want to measure HEPA filtration.

Isn't it ironic, Japan crushed Detroit's quality land yachts and muscle cars with tiny front wheel drive econoboxes in the late sixties? It was downhill from there as American cars got ever smaller, and Asian cars got larger. Now, Detroit makes front wheel drive almost exclusively, while the best Asian cars are rear wheel drive, on par with BMW. Ironic? Hell, it's sickening!

All metal, indestructible Royal only started making money when they switched to the all plastic, disposable Dirt Devil. Meanwhile, Kirby engineered their venerable flagship into a bloated barge. And, the only other direct air, bagged vacuum left making money, Sanitaire, will make your ears bleed.

I blame consumers for all the aforementioned disasters. Manufacturers build what sells, and marketing seems to drive that. Who's going to bother building a quality vacuum when marketing can sell your gimmicky, shiny, plastic vac instead?

That said, as a tool fanatic, with quality power and hand tools coming out my ears, I've still purchased Harbor Freight tools on occasion. Usually used as the disposable junk they are. You generally get what you pay for. The real crime is when you pay the price of quality, and the tool turns out to be junk, or gets outperformed by cheaper competition. Is that the fault of the consumer for not executing due diligence? YES!

 

[lesinutah]

Sharks

I bought a shark from the thrift store . It cost me $7. It took me hour or so to clean it up. I let the filters dry for a day. I dare say it runs as good as a new or refurbished one.
Their was a Riccar and a Hoover at the thrift store. They were heavier models. They were bagged units and require more upkeep. I say upkeep for the general public.
It's for my wife's work. She works with handicapped people.
You empty the dump bin and that's about it. They have had a simplicity and a sanitaire. They spent $600 on simplicity. They spent $350 on the solitaire. They trashed both pretty quick.
I have a 7 year old shark
K the second navigator that came out. I keep up on maitenance on it. It still works great.
I love sharks. I love it because a penny won't ruin the vacuum. You just dump the bin.