SEBO CONSUMABLES & NEWS

[sebo_fan]

I'd have thought a topic would have been put on here before now, but for all those SEBO fans, SEBO have now replaced the paper dust bags with synthetic white dust bags. I bought a K1 Pet at Christmas there (totally love it, so much more practical than my dated K3 Premium) and was surprised (but delighted) to find that the K1 Pet 2012 model comes with two spare dust bags - both are white synthetic disposable dust bags. SEBO confirm that from now on, all K dust bags will be the synthetic material dust bags. Pity though that they haven't extended the same added flap as the Felix design though.

The Felix dust bags have also been replaced by white synthetic disposables. They seem to last longer than the paper dust bags and hold much better filtration qualities.

Also there's a new charcoal filter cartridge for the Felix which copes better with keeping back pet hair odour and the current 2012 model year in the Felix line up has a new improved quieter motor taken from the Sebo D series.

There's a new D series model, the D Professional for the commercial industry. It comes with a manual replaceable 15 metre cord as opposed to the 12 metre on my D2 Total.

D series tools have also been added on SEBO's website - I've now replaced the bulky upholstery brush on my Felix with the smaller triangular D model SEBO brush in lieu of the T shaped stiff upholstery brush that usually sits on top of the tool storer.

 

[sebo_fan]

Also forgot to add that the X4 Extra Blue and Yellow model has been replaced by a blue and silver model, now called X4 Excel. John Lewis sell the model exclusively and were initially cutting the prices of existing X4 models by £10.

 

[baglessball]

Is there any difference with the new x range of uprights? More suction? Are theyaking the synthetic bags for there upright cleaners too?

How do you find your d range cylinder? I thought about getting one a while back. But the one with the power head!

Thanks for your info!

 

[blakaeg]

Hi there,

Its been a while that Sebo have been producing these 'Ultra Bags' which they say are made of 'electrete' electrostatic material which is very much similar to the filter material found on the K series Motor Protection filter. It was around late 2010 or early 2011 these bags were extended to the Felix machines but the K series had these around 2010. I know someone that worked for Sebo so I have been lucky enough to test drive all the machines including the D series and have been up at the office a few times to buy parts as its local to us.

The D machine has great suction, its cable is long at 12 metres and the bag is 6 litres but I wouldn't need such a big machine in my tiny house, the K machine would suit nicely.

The new Felix motor provides more reliability and slightly more suction as it contains more fins in the blades to enable the machine to run cooler. I have the older Felix Classic which has the older type motor but I am more than happy with it, I have a Dyson DC24 as well but find the Sebo to be more through and quieter. The Felix Classic also have a shoulder strap available but I doubt many will bother to purchase when you can just hold it in your hand. The charcoal filter again is a good feature with the 'Pet' machines as opposed to the Duo-P that they used to put in the box.

The X series machines are exactly the same performance wise, its just a colour change for John Lewis only. The X series don't have the 'Ultra Bags' as yet which I'm surprised as the K, Felix and D series all have the Ultra Bags.

The Professional D is an excellent machine for commercial use. The lack of a cable reel will assist with reliability as one less thing to go wrong, the way its been designed which the machine incorporates a 'Stress Relief' design that doesn't pull on the cable plug which goes into the machine and a 1200 Watt motor instead of 2100watt.

Sorry I'm babbling on. I just don't ever see many Sebo fans on here, so when I see a Sebo post I get a little excited lol.

 

[turbo500]

I just don't ever see many Sebo fans on here

We are here!!

The X4 and X1.1 are the unrivalled upright in today's market, IMO. I currently have the red Euronics Exclusive x1.1, but have had an x4 and a Felix Vogue in the past

 

[sebo_fan]

baglessball:

No difference in motors - just a new colour.

I like the D series a lot but it is a big vacuum and I don't like power head models like the D4. Much prefer a cylinder vacuum either with a turbo brush or a suction only head.

blakaeg:

Sebo actually sent me a demo D series vacuum as I write a whole load of reviews online not just about SEBO models and you'll find my video of it here:

You are correct that the bags are made of the "electorate" electrostatic material, but I wouldn't agree with you that it's the same as the motor protection filter on the K series - that is like flattened cotton wool and is a much softer material. These bags mimic very much the same kind of material you'd find with Bosch dust bags, Miele dust bags but closer in feel to the Electrolux dust bags that Lux sell with their basic pet lover Z2255DZ upright vac.

I love the Felix because of its compact size - but I hate the canister idea and have only used it a couple of times without the power head and find the whole idea too bulky. I also have an X4 and an early X1.1 in dark blue with blue floor head and blue fascia/inserts.

Sebo are currently trialling the synthetic bags for the X series but they are quite expensive and Im not sure Sebo are happy to produce them on a mass scale. They sent me a sample and they're good!

 

[Sanifan]

Felix motor...

When did they upgrade to a new motor? Is there a way of finding out whether my Felix has the old vs. new motor?

I've been happy with my Felix, but when one hears it's been improved, the neurosis starts kicking in - if you know what I mean.

One thing about the new cloth bags - are they more expensive than the paper ones?

 

[sebo_fan]

HI Sanifan
The new bags replace the old paper bags and the cost price isn't really any different - I think! Trouble with my Felix is that a box of bags lasts a whole year, so the last time I purchased the paper bags was last year and the price was just below £10 / $15.71 and the newer soft material back cost me £8.80 / $ 13.82

I would say since the Rosso red model was launched, the newer motor is in them.

There is no differentiation of model numbers where you can tell whether new Felix models have the newer motor - all that has been released is that the new Felix range from 2012 has the upgraded motor.

 

[blakaeg]

Sanifan,

If U open up the bag compartment and remove the motor filter and shine a torch down the grille, you should be able to see which type. The older type motor has 'Ametek Italia' printed on the fan compartment which is visable when the filter is removed. The newer motor doesn't have this. Its got B/S/H printed on the side of the motor on the newer machines. The serial may begin with an "X" or "Y" if its the latest machine. Not sure for the US thou, hope this helps a little.

 

[blakaeg]

I meant to say Serial Number when I referred to X and Y.

 

[Sanifan]

Awesome!

I will check it out. I'm 100% sure I have the older motor in mine. C'est La Vie. I've been pretty happy with it.

Makes you wonder, though, why Sebo decided to change motors. Were there issues with the older motor, or did consumers complain about the performance? Was the new motor notably less expensive for Sebo to use? When something "new" comes out, we all know that it doesn't necessarily mean "new and improved." Often, it's more like "new and more cost effective for the manufacturer, sometimes at the expense of performance and longevity."

But sometimes you get surprisd and the change really is an improvement. Does anyone know anything about what prompted the change?

 

[pinkge]

Felix...

I have had my Sebo Felix since Andy Wetter demo one at the Omaha convention.I was sold.It is a smaller design,but it is a power house on cleaning.It has the s class filtering,thou,I do not have pets it never stinks,deeps cleans the carpets and converts to a parque-hard floor cleaner or a canister.I've used the canister to clean the car out.Each year I replace the motor filter,the hepa out filter and I place a new filter bag with the fresh air capsule and your set to clean.If Sebo has made improvements,then good.Quality is what they are about.My only gripe is it does not have a headlite.Perhaps one day. When you have a small home one needs a small cleaner.They provided that. Michael

 

[sebo_fan]

Sanifan. With regards to the new Felix, I think some owners had moaned about the noise or the air thrust problem. It's been a minor bone of contention when online reports and reviews slate the Felix. I too had issues about it but never moaned or found the Felix to be obtrusive when it overheats - set at the highest power level - but then I don't require my Felix to work at the highest level, but I'm glad they have fitted a new motor. SEBO's first port of call is reliability and efficiency - so even if they haven't received complaints, they would want to maintain their reputation.

Michael - with regards to a headlight or the preferred name I like, from Hoover - "Dirt Searcher" - headlights are a common U.S added feature. Sebo would probably not consider putting anything like that on, because it means more replacement parts and as a commercial company first and foremost, it would be "one more thing to go wrong."

I'm not keen on a headlight - I think they are wasted on upright vacuums. Most don't give an even spread of light or low enough so you can actually see what's in front. The exception to the rule are the dirt searcher lamps fitted to vintage Hoover uprights - they're much bigger and thus give a bright light - until they begin to wear out and the spread of light gets smaller.

 

[sebo_fan]

Whoops forgot to say, and also, the LED strip lights on the Miele S7 top of the line uprights - they're pretty good!

 

[sebo_fan]

Also SEBO updated a flex mount fitting in the power heads which was updated in early 2011. Earlier models may well suffer from intermittent cutting out. I know mine has done that on occasion.

 

[blakaeg]

So does that mean the powerhead in my 2006 Felix will start to play up at some point?

 

[sebo_fan]

It can do - but then again it depends on the kind of treatment you put the Sebo through - if you have fitted floor/carpets then you probably won't. My home has a mix of woollen carpets with thick surface top rugs over the them to catch heavy traffic dirt and the initial problem I had was turning the head left and right going off the thick rug back onto carpet when the first fault occurred. Sebo replaced the wiring and put in the improved part - that was 3 years ago, and now the problem has returned - but 3 years ago the floor head was also in a much better condition than it is now - not scuffed and and not looking like it has seen 5 years thorough use!

 

[sebo_fan]

I have a Dart 1 from 2006/7 and it has never suffered any fault - it really depends on the usage I guess.

 

[sebo_fan]

So I thought I'd show you how I customise my Sebo Felix. Especially in light of the fact that the new D series has brought smaller, better designed tools. One of the gripes I don't like about the Felix is that it only comes with two additional cleaning tools and like the X, you have to buy the separate dusting brush. Trouble is I seldom use the T shaped cleaning tool unless I'm doing the car seats with it or chairs in the home. So I went about thinking how I could custom build the Felix so that it doesn't use the clamp method - that limits the use of the 3 stage height option on the handle.

So at first I looked in my spares and found an old Sebo K1 slip on T shaped upholstery tool and found that it fits snuggly between the bottom hose partition and the wrap around waist-filter. Even in use, it hardly falls out if you stuff it in there!


But then I also located the T shaped tool onto the end of the crevice tool which always sits on the bottom nib of the slideable storer point but in use, the K1 T shaped tool always seems to fall off.

 

[sebo_fan]

So the next thing to do was to try out a different way - by finding somewhere on the Felix to store the K1 tool - and what better way than at the back of the handle, just below slipped onto the top cord tidy?

In use it will stay on and it doesn't disturb my hand. Only problem is, it needs to be jammed on - and I don't know anyone who has ever used the hanging loop hole on the back of that plastic slip tongue anyway - I always felt it was too heavy for the Felix to be mounted up on a hook with the ET-1 dangling!

You can already see the K1 tool is revealing the edge at the side expanding as it's on the top cord storer tongue (dont know what the right word is but you get the right idea!).

 

[sebo_fan]

Even when laid flat to the floor the K1 tool doesn't slip off and doesn't impede the machine when made to lie flat.

 

[sebo_fan]

Sebo D Tools

Lastly, the upholstery tool has been replaced from the traditional clamp and brush idea to the newer triangular long dusting brush that comes with the D cylinder vacuum.

The smaller size of the brush makes it more compact when using the 3 stage height option. I was never keen on the more traditional brush that was larger and was too close to my fingers when the handle was set at the lowest.

 

[blakaeg]

You did a great job there with the tools ;-) I think the Felix tools are better than the D machine tools, especially that upholstery nozzle.

Has your Felix motor been ok all these years?

 

[sebo_fan]

Well the upholstery tool as you may know is smaller on the D series - the longer one is perfect for giving the Felix that much needed extension pipe reach even if we do know that it doesn't come with a straight suction tube as an added extra. The longer crevice from both the K, C and X series is also one of very few that can get inside my Hotpoint tumble dryer filter shaft all the way to the bottom to clear it off fluff!

As for motor problems, when the problem initially started, it was like, 2 years after ownership and that's when the power head started to cut out. It got sent back to SEBO and this is when they improved the wire inside the neck so that when you turned left or right, the wire would not come out. This is a design improvement that has been added to the current 2011 and 2012 model year range.

Other than that the power head has only just started to cut out - but only randomly - and I don't think it's the wire to blame here - I may take it apart and inspect inside. I don't want to buy another Felix at this time anyway (not after I just bought a K1 Pet at Christmas, there)- but rather, will just use my Dart 1 power head or the ET-H that came with my K3 Premium - a machine I dont rate very highly, sadly.

The only problem with the ET-H is that it won't allow the Felix to lock to the upright position - unless you store the machine front facing with the handle set against a wall. It also has an auto sensor height adjustment as opposed to the 4 stage manual dial.

 

[blakaeg]

I love the upholstery nozzle on the Sebo upright machines. I feel its one of the best designed ones as it provides a much more through 'scrub' of the carpet then others do with their Velour strips which eventually come off anyway. Again the crevice tools are excellent as well as you rightly mention, they are very long.

When I asked about the motor, I mean the main motor. Good thing that the new motor seems to have sorted out the problem they had. The motor as you already know is no longer Ametek, but the powerhead still has Ametek being used so it seems the powerhead motor has always been reliable. The user really won't notice any difference with the new motor, just slightly cooler and thats an ever so slightly cooler breeze from the exhaust of the Felix which is down to the fact that the different type motor has more air going through it due to the fins.

You are right, the ETH head on the K Premium machine has auto adjustment. The dial on the head just controls the brushing action, from soft to hard.

When you check the head of your Felix, check that the PCB is ok and the power on the top isn't 'jammed' as it could be anything causing the cutting in and out but generally, the heads on these machines are excellent and very robust and reliable. When I say jammed, I mean to see, when its taken apart and put back together, see if it rectifies the fault as it might just dislodge something. The ETH head is very easy to take apart and put back together.

 

[sebo_fan]

Thanks for that tip Blakaeg. As for the main motor - no problems at all. Still as powerful and quiet as the day I got it. I had info from a good source that the new motors are quieter though : ( SEBO need to improve that right across the range IMHO - if Bosch can attain it, so can SEBO.

 

[Sanifan]

I never thought my Felix was terribly loud. I'll fire it up again to see, but I always thought the sound level was very reasonable. If the new motor is even quieter, that would be super nice. Cooler running and more reliable are fantastic, too. But if there's no real performance advantage, them I'm pretty satisfied with my Ametek motor.

Did anyone get thrown by that little rubber bumper at the end of the Felix handle? It seems way too small to fit into the recess at the tip of the handle. Doesn't fill it up or protrude out far to offer any real protection. I got my Felix used, so I thought the bumper may have been damaged or worn down. But the one in sebo_fan's pic looks exactly like mine - too small. Was it a case where Sebo ordered a huge batch of the wrong sized bumpers but decided they had to use them because it would be too expensive to dump the load and order a replacement batch? I'm very curious as to why the handle bumper is so tiny and so deeply set in the molded recess.

 

[blakaeg]

I have had the Felix with new motor running and can honestly say, I could not really hear any difference in the sound at all. Its really down to the use of the sound insulation and general design of the body. If you ever remove the exhaust filter on a D machine when its running, listen to how loud it is when the bottom filter is taken out and then when its put back in, the difference is amazing. I love how quiet the Felix is compared to my Dyson which is so noisy and uses a lower wattage motor. Sebo machines are generally medium for noise level but I agree, could do with making a little quieter. I find that the motors whine when turned down on low power on K and Felix.


It looks like the Rubber Bumper on the handle is broken as its not supposed to look like that. As you probably know, the purpose is to stop the machine from falling back when you rest the machine up against a wall when you have either a Komi Head on or the Parquet Brush as the machine cannot stand up without the power head on. They sell the Felix in America and Germany without the Powerhead and with it too. The Dart also available as Dart Kombi so the ones that come without a powerhead need some sort of support I suppose. I find the bumper quite practical

 

[Sanifan]

Bumper...

Okay, so it is worn or broken. Any idea if Sebo will sell a replacement bumper over the phone or web? I tried looking for an authorized dealer my area and can't seem to find one.

So the Felix doesn't self stand with the parquet head on? Makes sense. I may actually hang my Felix by that little hole in the handle once the parquet head becomes the main one I use.

I sure would love to get that bumper replaced, though.