Tested a Miele Swing full size upright

[suckolux]

my underbed with hardwood floors is more often than weekly, yes cat

 

[eurekaprince]

That's not what I meant: I only intended to explain why you don't need to clean under furniture and beds with an upright or a power nozzle. You can get rid of all the surface dirt with a suction only canister on a daily basis. I have a very small apartment and I take apart the bed twice a year or maybe three times a year to flip the mattress and vacuum all sides thoroughly. I even lean the box spring and mattress frame up against the wall! That's when my carpet gets a deep cleaning with my Hoover upright. But the deep cleaning is not needed on a daily basis.

 

[GM1982]

Sebo is one of the least repair prone brands! If you do not like the tools the next best thing is the Aerus and Simplicity vacuums. Other than a Kirby, you might as well just use a good old fashioned broom and shovel if nothing appeases you.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I vacuum under furniture, not just beds but other items of furniture weekly. If I can't get the vacuum under it, lie couches, the item is moved. We very much try to buy furniture that gives us enough room underneath to run a vacuum under it weekly. I use the hose mounted tools pretty much every time I use a vacuum to dust baseboards, dust the ceiling and light fixtures for cobwebs and use the crevice tool on a long wand get into joint where the carpets meet the baseboard. Even the Hayden can't get that edge. My Windsor is not as easy to use for that kind of work, the hose is too short (forget chasing cobwebs with it) and the tools don't do the job that well, at least not what I am accustomed to with a good canister. The upholstery brush is a particularly cheap piece. The triangular dusting brush I kinda like however.

For the life of me I cannot see how anyone could adequately clean their car with an upright. Not enough hose, you have to have the vacuum right next to the door you are working through. PITA.

What we have today is that while Meile, Sebo, Riccar and Simplicity are certainly better than the rest of what is available today, quality in the vacuum industry as a whole has fallen such that a department store vacuum from thirty years ago is still a better made product with nicer to use tools than the industries best efforts today. There were infinitely variable speed motors and hose mounted switches back then, and the stuff stayed together too.

 

[sebo_fan]

Most uprights that are used to clean out cars have an additional extension hose. It's what I use when I clean out my car using my Felix vacuum. The tools at the top of the handle AND the variable speed control on the handle also means cleaning with the SEBO is far quicker than bulkier uprights, especially when the hose comes out at the rear and you have to keep accessing the tools as well, from there.

Yes, it would be wonderful if vacuums were made the way they were - but they are not. All the German brands have upped the quality in their vacuums, but have made their cylinder/canister vacs as light as possible to lift and carry. That wasn't a requirement back in the 1950s and 1960s where "department store" vacuums, that were "better made" seem to have that design element. They were lighter than uprights, sure, but not as light as the ones around today, certainly not in the UK, in my mind.

Another aspect to why I embraced German vacs, isn't just because of the fact that they may be better than a lot of other European vacs - parts and spares are available widely. I was a big Hoover fan when I first started out collecting vacs, but parts and spares were eventually very difficult to get. You have to bear that in mind if you are a collector and more so if you are an owner hell bent in keeping an old vintage vacuum as your daily driver.

 

[suckolux]

I use an upright on the carpeted floor mats, but put them inside on the garage floor to do it. Love to see the sand start dancing

 

[DesertTortoise]

Of the lot the only one that I would buy is probably the Miele. They still use a good high quality motor and if it ever does fail there are several great motors from Ametek Lamb that are drop in replacements. I guess I wasn't entirely surprised to find out that Simplicity's and Riccar's best vacuums have their brushless motors manufactured for them by Tek in China. It's a disappointment. I haven't been able to find anyplace selling the canister models, only the uprights, so I haven't seen one yet in person but in photos their canisters look awful good. Now I discover they cut a big corner like Kenmore does, and one I can't along go with. Sigh. The amount of flag waving they do is always sort of suspicious. Their compacts are made in South Korea with Chinese powered brushes. And, while you can obtain high quality tools for their most expensive canister models, they are sold as an accessory. BS to that too.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well, for the cost price Miele S7 are high end - why would you expect the motor to fail?

 

[ralph123]

DT said: "I guess I wasn't entirely surprised to find out that Simplicity's and Riccar's best vacuums have their brushless motors manufactured for them by Tek in China. It's a disappointment. I haven't been able to find anyplace selling the canister models, only the uprights, so I haven't seen one yet in person but in photos their canisters look awful good. Now I discover they cut a big corner like Kenmore does, and one I can't along go with. Sigh. The amount of flag waving they do is always sort of suspicious. Their compacts are made in South Korea with Chinese powered brushes. And, while you can obtain high quality tools for their most expensive canister models, they are sold as an accessory. BS to that too."

Just curious about where you are getting your information about Riccar and Simplicity? Some of it sounds outdated to me. I would love to hear a clarification from Tom Gasko because my understanding is that production of canisters had been moved to the US in 2009.

http://www.madeintheusavacuum.com/timeline/

 

[DesertTortoise]

Here you go, made in China for Riccar's Premier series uprights.

http://www.vacsew.com/riccar-8900-motor-d113-4200.html

Click on the third thumbnail to read the data tag. Now read their ad hype for that model:

http://riccar.com/products/uprights/8900/

"American made construction". Guess the motor, the very heart of the vacuum, doesn't count.

This one is assembled in Mexico

http://www.vacsew.com/simplicity-freedom-motor-d113-1300.html

Here's one from Taiwan.

http://www.vacsew.com/simplicity-sport-motor-aa00031.html

This one is made by Daewoo, but doesn't say if it is made in South Korea or the Peoples Republic. Who's taking bets on the latter?

http://www.vacsew.com/simplicity-s24-motor-3962820530.html

So another hukster waves the flag and makes the "made in the USA" claim while peddling major foreign content, WTF, Harley Davidson has been doing the same thing for decades. All you big bad Dodge truck owners have been buying trucks made in Mexico for years. Same with a heckofa lot of Ford Mustangs. Nothing new here, just don't be fooled by all the flag waving.

 

[sebo_fan]

So WHAT????

In the U.S everyone is so het up about industry being robbed and fobbed off to China. Its the way of the times. Get over it! We in the UK had to face that years ago.

Not all Chinese produced vacuums are bad - and I bet half of the collectors on this forum aren't replacing motors in every vacuum cleaner they have. Buyers and owners won't even think about replacing a brush roll, never mind a motor.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Sebo_fan. I work for the US Navy. I'm an analyst in the weapons world. I don't give my hard earned to China. I will spare the group here the lecture, but if my Navy faces a likely conflict with another nation's navy, I am certainly not going to enrich that other nation with my business. Period.

 

[sebo_fan]

Oh I thought you had retired.

We had the US Navy in Scotland. And American cars, and American appliances. A few of my friends back then didn't moan about things made in China though.

Funny how things turn.

Here's a pic of the famous U.S.S Simon Lake in Dunoon, where it sat for many years in our Holy Loch.

 

[ralph123]

DesertTortoise:

I do applaud you for trying to buy American. However, you have to keep in mind that Riccar/Simplicity has been transitioning from making vacuums overseas to making them in the US. The motor picture that you posted has a date of 03-07-2008. I don't know if the current practice is to import motors or not. Hopefully Tom Gasko will chime in and comment about what the current practice is.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I did my active duty time as a pilot, and toasted my back in the process. Now I fly a desk and get to see and be part of all the stuff the Military and Discovery Channels can't show you. Not too many places you can work where you might have dust fall out of the ceiling tiles from the concussion of ordnance detonating nearby test ranges.

But China is bad news for us and our allies Japan and Taiwan, and the public lives with this misconception that the Chinese military is still backwards and poorly equipped.

Read this if you have time:

https://www.mandiant.com/blog/mandi...ber-espionage-units-releases-3000-indicators/

This is open source stuff that comes from the private sector. Some of the players described here are among the five PLA members recently indicted by the Justice Department. This is a unit of the Peoples Liberation Army systematically breaking into private firms, some with military contracts, stealing high tech from around the world, but primarily the US. And they apply these stolen technologies to their military hardware at an amazingly fast pace saving many billions of dollars in the process by avoiding the cost of doing original research. This is just the barest tip of the iceberg, data a private firm could develop.

Then find out what DF-21D missile, J20 fighter and the Type 052D destroyer are. I buy foreign made goods, just not Chinese goods. They don't get my hard earned.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I hope you are right about Simplicity and Riccar Ralph. I really do. It bugs me when a firm like Harley Davidson or perhaps Riccar waves the American flag while filling their goods with foreign content. I understand the economics of it, and a Japanese made Showa fork on Harley isn't going to disrupt the time/space continuum and send the entire planet hurling through a worm hole to emerge a scorched cinder in a parallel universe. It's all good. Showa makes a fine fork. Just don't wrap yourself in the flag and tout being "All American" when you aren't. And don't give your business to a nation that emphatically not our friend and wants to hurt our friends.

 

[tolivac]

US "built" items--When you buy such a thing--notice on the package or the item a label says"Assembled in the USA with globally sourced components"Both Vita Mix and Blendtec got in trouble when they said on their machines--"Made in USA"But parts in the machines came from other places than the US.Don't know if VitaMix is still doing it-they were using motors sourced from Sweden.Its a great machine-but not all of the parts come from the US-same with other things "built" here.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I pay attention to what you refer to Tolivac. But look at the way Harley Davidson advertises it's products. Levis too. Maybe Levis especially. They use all kinds of American flag iconography in their ad hype and appeal to their tradition as an iconic American product from the California gold rush era but the don't have a single plant in the US any more though they price like they did. I buy a less costly brand that doesn't oversell itself.

Just be honest about your content. I might be satisfied buying an assembled in the US vac with US made plastics and a motor from Mexico. That's better than a Mexican assembled Kenmore with a garbage Chinese motor, at least to me.

 

[tolivac]

I am not real happy with Mexico made motors-but they are a little better than Chinese ones.What parts of HD motorcycles aren't made here?Thought at one time the HD folks made all of their parts.Just about all clothes are made overseas now-very few clothes factories in the US anymore.Used to be a Fruit Of The Loom" underwear factory in Grimesland,Nc several years ago-it closed down the factory was vacant for several years-Grimesland used to hold an annual yard sale there for a few years-no the place is torn down and the lot empty.The only textile things we see here are thread spinning--thats about it-Sometimes you see cotton crops grown.But not this year.Old timers here remember when fabric and clothes were made here.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Like pretty much every motorcycle made, Harley buys suspension, forks and shocks, from Showa, or in the case of their new 500 and 750 Street models, Endurance of India. Starters are either Nipponseike or Hitachi. Cast wheels come from Australia, wire wheels from Japan. Brake calipers can be either Kelsey-Hayes (US), Tokiko, Nissan (both Japanese), Endurance of India for the Street Models or Brembo of Italy for the touring bikes and V-Rod line. Brake rotors usually come from Sunstar of Japan. Coils and some other electronic components that were once sourced from Delphi in the US now come from three or four Chinese suppliers ( and my brand new Chinese coils failed the primary and secondary resistance tests right out of the box!). Pistons come from Mahle of Germany (best pistons you can buy honestly so no complaints), and V-Rod and Big Twin transmission gears and shafts come from Getrag of Germany. Harley has never built the whole bike in house. The suppliers have changed over the years, forks once were from Ceriani and shocks from Gabriel, brakes were sourced from Lockheed, etc.. Perfectly normal automotive and motorcycle industry practice. My BMWs are likewise assembled from components from multiple vendors, including some vendors Harley also uses like Mahle, Getrag, Showa and Nipponseike. I am pretty sure the powder forged conrods in my V-Rod are from the same vendor BMW and Porsche use. They have "Germany" stamped into them in big bold letters.

The only motorcycle company I can think of that even came close to making every component in house was Moto Guzzi. Even still, their starters were the same as those used on BMW twins and some air cooled VWs.