Trash find ...Dyson DC 07 and an attachment question

[jo]

So I came across a lavender Dyson DC07 animal next to a bulk trash pile indicating it may be ok so I picked it up.

The stretch accessory hose has a small hole but otherwise it’s in good shape. Had to clean out the brush roll and tried it on carpet. It’s easy to glide but doesn’t seem to do a very good job fluffing the carpet. Bristles are spaced far apart making the brush roll kinda week in my opinion. I assume this vacuum is around 10 years old or more and maybe due to its use over the years it’s also worn down the brush roll.

I found using the wand (no tools came with it) is annoying as it has to be pulled all the way up and out and cannot be made into a small short handle for tight flexible spaces.

Cleaning out the bin was a mess and fine powdery dirt was stuck in the little holes and there was a lot of fine powdery dirt stuck in the cyclone that would come out by banging and slapping on it. I’m not a fan of bagless vacuums period and the Dyson system is no exception or any easier.

I’ve looked for a new hose and can get one for $14 but not sure I’ll buy that unless I know of a friend who wants this vacuum. The brush roll seems to be about $40. I don’t want the vacuum. It’s heavy and I don’t like uprights either and have enough vacuums.

I might just pass it on to a habitat for humanity or Goodwill.

Overall, my assessment of the Dyson is that it might be a little better than other plastivacs, but not all that much and I feel they are overpriced for what they are and Dyson is able to get these prices because of a marketing and advertising plan that worked by shaming other vacuums by saying they are different. Yes they have a good cyclone system, perhaps the best for dirt separation, but they still have filters that clog unless you clean them. Which is not what Mr. Dyson was saying in his ads, his ads said that Dyson was different from vacuums that had bags and filters that would clog losing suction. Perhaps the Dyson doesn’t clog as fast as others did at that time those ads ran, but in today’s market, about 20 years later, many bagless brands are very similar or close to maintaining suction for a long time before the filter needs washing.

For the moment I’m care taking a vacant rental property for the owner so I’ll leave the Dyson there for any cleanups and then figure out what to do with it once a tenant moves in. I may just put it up in the attic there

Does anyone know if standard 1 1/4” friction fit tools will fit on the wand? If so I may add those and see if my partner’s niece wants it, she has a Bissell lift off and a Hoover upright with a cord winder and can’t afford much so she may want the Dyson.

Jon

 

[human]

I would have left it right where it was sitting, but that's just me. I absolutely loathe bagless plasticrap vacs and won't give them a second look when I see them out by the curb. An Electrolux or Kirby would be an entirely different matter. Yeah, I've turned into a bit of a vacuum snob in my old age and I realize other people have differing tastes, to which they are entitled. At least you saved a big hunk of plastic from taking up space in a landfill for the next few million years. That would be great if your partner's niece could use it or just leave it in the rental unit for the incoming tenant.

 

[huskyvacs]

The Dyson DC07 was one of Dyson's best uprights and still is. It's a well respected vacuum.

The Dyson DC07 was released in 2001 and was the first of Dyson's vacuums to implement the patented Root Cyclone technology into an upright. The purple color signifies that it is the Animal model. The power in a Dyson comes not in the brushroll but from its intense suction power.

A DC07 brushroll and hose is about $18-$19 each on eBay.

Vacuum collectors on eBay pay $100-$150 for a good condition working DC07 on eBay. The rare Breast Cancer Awareness model that is pink sells for $170-$200.

 

[jo]

Can you tell me about attachments

@human: I had never experienced a Dyson of my own, just a similar one at a customers house for a quick use about 10 years ago so I wanted to see what it was all about if it worked so that was the primary reason I grabbed it. I too, pretty much continue to realize that I’ve never been wrong to love my Aerus Electrolux products and while I’ve experienced a few Kirby’s...they are not for me because I like to switch to attachments constantly and also have a bad back so a heavy vacuum to push won’t work well for me...but every Kirby I’ve come across screams durability and so I too have become a “quality” vacuum snob. Also, I don’t enjoy bagless and about the only one I will tolerate is the Shark rocket stick vac because it empties easy and I can carefully pull the filters out over my kitchen sink and wash it them immediately without making a huge mess in a trash can or outside in the slightest breeze.

@huskyvacs: Thanks for the info...the suction doesn’t seem all that impressive to me, maybe the filter is really, really dirty, it’s definitely not clean on the first look at it but at that time I didn’t want to get into cleaning it. I wasn’t impressed with how the vacuum was as far as lifting the nap and fluffing it compared to even my Shark rocket stick vac. Again, maybe the brush roll needs to be replaced but I thought the big spaces between the bristles is weird, kind of like missing every other tooth in your mouth, that wouldn’t do such a good job trying to chew food!

Not a fan of how tall the base is, forget getting it under furniture.

Since your know Dysons....do you know if standard 1 1/4” attachment will fit that hose wand...where that slide away screen thing is? This one came with no attachments but I have various 1 1/4” ones. I guess I can try some next time I’m over at that rental property where I left the machine at the moment.

Jon

 

[huskyvacs]

Where the suction slider is at the top of the handle, that is where you clip the hose into that goes to the vacuum. You pull the wand completely out of the vacuum and the tools fit the end of the wand. For using the tools in hard to reach areas and to do furniture in handheld mode, you just connect them into the end of the hose without the wand attached.

My DC07 has no tools either, but I measured tools from my DC28 AirMuscle and it looks like the attachment diameter is 1 and 11/16ths of an inch for the male end of the attachment. My Dysons are in a storage room in my basement and are kind of boxed in so I can't measure them at the moment with the hose out.

 

[jo]

From these pics it looks like the long wand comes off and so does the handle part so I can use it with or without each of these? Is that correct? I’ll have to take a look in a few days when I go over to check on the rental.

I’ll bring some 1 1/4” tools to see if they happen to fit. Of course there was no hard floor tool with this machine and I’ve seen pictures of it but have no clue as to how one would go about taking off the roller brush head off and putting the hard floor tool on...or does it go on the wand? I’m so confused....if anyone has one, post a pic of the hard floor tool installed.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[madman]

Clean the filter and take it from there.

 

[blackheart]

Tools and other business

Yeah 1.25 tools will fit on it.
If memory serves you can typically insert genuine tools into the end of the hose if you didn't want to use the wand.
When you brought up it's grooming it made me think that you may have belt tensions issues. The DC-07/14/33 use dual stretch belts around a clutch. The clutch assembly is kinda spendy if i recall but there are some video tutorials on replacing the belts on them. Though maybe you don't and maybe it is just the worn brushroll. It's been....like 8 years since I've had a DC-07 and I cannot remember if they groomed decently.

 

[jo]

The brush roll is definitely spinning in the carpet I can hear it and feel it versus when I flip the switch to bare floor position and it turns off.

I do see now looking at the diagrams again that it appears I’d have to detach the handle and wand from the hose, flip it over, then attach the hose at the other end of the wand/handle. Seems like this is getting complicated to use and switch to tools. I asked my niece yesterday if she would want this Dyson I got, she said she would take it....I was there at my house she lives in for a repair and Borge her Bissel lift off and Hoover were now full and had lots of crap on the brush rolls. I cleaned the brush rolls but she can clean the bins and filters. I’ve already told her quite thoroughly about cleaning the filters will make the vacuums run like new again so she should keep that up. I noticed the Hoover has a similar bagless design to the Dyson with that upper section with all the little holes for just the fine dust to clog!

Jon

 

[jo]

Fully cleaned the Dyson today

So I cleaned the filters including the H.E.P.A. lifetime one and was surprised to find dog hair around both of them that was getting past the gaskets.

Also cleaned a lot of exterior dirt that has come out from where the removable “macaroni pipe” and particularly the upper piece which come off to clear any clogs around all 4 of those gaskets and noticed that neither of these two removable pieces seem to fit on firmly when locked, they are a bit loose and can blow dust out when wiggled. I noticed a lot of dust had accumulated around the dirt bins bottom gasket causing a poor seal there too.

I vacuumed the dust off the filter with my Electrolux to see if suction was better, it was improved and strong but nothing that I would consider exceptional, just very good. I decided to do the nozzle test to see how the suction is at the carpet nozzle and honestly I found it quite poor. Yes, the handle was reclined down so the suction was diverted to the nozzle and not the wand when I did this. This was not nearly as strong on the suction that I had from my Eureka Commercial upright (Sanitaire twin). That vac would pick up the wall to wall carpet if you tilted the handle back to the second stop and tried to go beyond it. And when I would cover the bottom of the nozzle with my hands you could feel the suction power on that Eureka, not so with this Dyson. So I’m not sold on these Dysons...yes they may do a good job of keeping the dirt separated from the filter than most other bagless vacuums which keeps the suction going full power longer because the filter doesn’t clog as quickly....I’ll give them that. But James Dyson’s claim that “the Dyson is different” because it’s doesn’t experience loss of suction from filters that clog with dirt is untrue...it just does so at a lower rate.

Now, I’m an attachment guru and I am constantly stopping to suck up something in a tight space, vacuum along a baseboard, or whatever is in the vicinity of my trip around the room with the vacuum. So I constantly switch back and forth between using attachments and floor vacuuming. This Dyson is the second worst vacuum I’ve ever used as far as difficulty in switching between floor mode and attachments. Kirby being the most difficult. I do not like having to go around a room twice, once with the vac in floor mode and again in attachment mode. I’d rather stop, suck up whatever needs picking up with the attachments or hose end, and continue on. Can’t do this so easily with this Dyson, must pull out the handle and wand out of the very long hose(which is a plus when needed but irritating when needing the wand or hose with an attachment) pull it down to the end of the wand, unlock it, pull it off, and either put the attachments on the hose end which has nothing decent to grab onto or flip the entire handle and wand assembly and install the hose on that end which wasn’t all that easy as it seems to bind against the handle undress you have the hose collar turned just so the flat indented part clears the handle. Putting it back when done, is the reverse of this which is again, cumbersome.

I tried using the Dyson in the kitchen Ipoh the ceramic tile with the brush off, it did ok, but I couldn’t get the bugs and crumbs that were under the toe kicks. The head is too tall and too short and the nozzleks suction opening is too far back consistently leaving an area uncacuumed of about an inch and a half all the way around the walls, including the sides. Found this same problem with the rooms with wall to wall carpet. Very annoying. Going under any furniture is a non option with this vacuum, it’s head is simply very tall.

Found the bristles on the rotating brush to be skimpy and spaced far apart. This resulted in lackluster brushing of any carpet and an inability to lift any matted pile well and I found I had to vacuum very slowly for better results. The bristles don’t extend far enough out of the bottom to really brush more than the surface of carpet.

After quite a while of vacuuming carpet, my back began to hurt and I began to get tired out from pushing this rather weighty vacuum back and forth.

My overall assessment of the Dyson is that it’s a fancier, little better quality “plastivac” and nothing more. Having used and currently owning much more versatile, lighter weight, easier to use and better performing vacuums, I don’t think I will be keeping this. I’ll likely order the hose and install it, and give it away to my niece who rents from us...she seemed interested when I mentioned I had gotten a Dyson and wasn’t interested in keeping it. She has a Bissell pet lift off, and a Hoover upright bagless with a cord winder, both seem to be good but since she only ever had these or cheaper Bissells, the Dyson will be a slight upgrade for her, as she doesn’t want a vacuum she has to buy bags for.

I once knew someone who had a Dyson canister and the rotating brush was annoying to get it to work right, apparently some sort of hole had to be covered in the handle to get it to work and then it would only work part of the time, the people who had it got very tired of it and had taped up the handle for some reason, maybe something else had broken. They gave it away to their housekeeper when they moved back to Australia where they were from.

Aside from this DC07 trash find, and that canister, and another friend who has a cordless stick vac version, I haven’t experienced many Dysons but as I do, I seem to be let down and disappointed and my assessment is it only seems to be a little better than other basic plastic uprights.

Jon

 

[jo]

Oh also..an issue..

It’s very difficult to recline this DC07. It works better if I put my foot on the middle of the front nozzle, but the whole thing bends if I put my fooot on one of the indicated side positions and try to recline it until it finally snaps quite loudly...I feel like something is going to break, I see where the latch system is...perhaps the little track needs to be lubricated? Anyone else have this issue and any suggestions for fixing this?

Jon