The mysterious Kenwood/Goblin/Philips/Delonghi upright

[turbo500]

Hi all,

I've been meaning to do a thread about this rather interesting cleaner for a while now. A lot of British members will have fond memories of these cleaners as they were quite popular at one time. Sadly, now, they're becoming rather elusive.

So here are my 2. The Philips U700 and U800.

 

[turbo500]

rear shot

 

[turbo500]

A bit of history....

As far as I can tell, the first appearance of this style cleaner was the Kenwood U1000 in the early 1980's. This would've been a basic bagged upright, just like the U700 above. These are incredibly rare, and I do not have a picture of this cleaner. Then, in around 84/85, it was rebadged as Goblin Aquavac and a dry foam carpet shampoo system was added.

 

[turbo500]

The 1986 version of the same cleaner, in brown

 

[jmurray01]

I also have a U800 and am very interested in learning more about them!

I used mine today actually, hence why my arm is aching now, ha ha!

I don't know whether it is due to too much suction or too low a height setting (the height settings are so vague it is literally lifted in tools setting or dropped straight to the floor on any other setting), but the damn thing is hard to push and pull! No wonder the handles got weak!

 

[turbo500]

The Philips U700 arrived in 1987 and was joined by it's big sister, the U800 (complete with on board tools) in 1988. Both were relatively mid-range cleaners, priced at £79.95 and £89.95 respectively. These ran well into the early 90's. The last appearance being around 1993

 

[jmurray01]

Oh well, I've got one of the last then, being made in 1993.

Apart from being hard to push/pull they are very good.

The hose suction is AMAZING for 800 watts.

All I need is an upholstery tool so I can use the hose for stairs etcetera, rather than just using the hose for crevices with the crevice tool I do have.

 

[turbo500]

Around 1996, these were again rebranded as the Delonghi Vamp 700 and Combi 800. I believe the Combi 800 was only sold through Grattan.

Note: these pics are not mine. I am only posting these for reference purposes. First, the Vamp 700

 

[turbo500]

and the Delonghi Combi 800

 

[jmurray01]

Another thing is the edge cleaning (on the side with the black "cap") is brilliant, I've never seen anything like it.

The U700/U800 do have a lot of good qualities, which did warrant the high (for the era) price.

Of course the brush roll is brilliant too and leaves great marks in the carpet, but I'll stop going on now, as I could talk forever...

 

[gsheen]

U 800

It was also sold as a WAP , can't remember the model name 

 

[turbo500]

And now for the inbetweens. I have no idea where these fit in to the line up lol. This one seems to be branded "Royds" and has variable power

 

[turbo500]

The Delonghi version with the dry foam system

 

[turbo500]

and a rather strange looking commercial version

 

[jmurray01]

Wow that commercial version is rather strange!

I believe I've seen something like it before though... On eBay I recall. Perhaps it was one of those.

 

[turbo500]

Jamie - yes, yours would've been one of the last. The earlier version had a black hose. Also, with reference to the tools, I noticed you have 2 32mm fit extension tubes. this should just have 1 35mm fit tube and 2 35mm fit tools. These are fairly easy and cheap to source as the original tools were very generic and plain black.

I agree completely about performance - it's a top notch vacuum. The height adjustment is a pain in the ass though. I actually prefer using the U700 as it's far less bulky and easier to manoeuvre than the U800.

 

[jmurray01]

I don't think the tube(s) (I removed one) are 32mm, they are 35mm I believe, should they not be ?

The original crevice tool fits fine, even if the tube isn't original.

 

[turbo500]

Try them on your Henry. If the larger end of the hose fits directly onto the end of the Henry tube, then you know it's a 32mm fit. If it's too big, it's 35mm.

 

[gsheen]

They came with a 36 mm tubes and attachments, just like was and delongi wet& dry vacuums.