What Did Any Of You Think Of The DC01 When It Was Released?

[vintagerepairer]

Regarding the G-force. Until 1992, I think it is fair of me to suggest that no one in the UK had really heard of James Dyson. I have a notion that he appeared on Tomorrows World once. I actually just wrote Top of The Pops which is stupid on two accounts, firstly because I would never have watched that program to know this and secondly because it is simply downright absurd to think Dyson may have been a guest. Then the more I think about it, the more I think maybe it was breakfast television and not Tomorrows World at all. Perhaps it was both? Well apart from these occasions, the UK was not really labouring in the knowledge of James Dyson and his cleaners.

Regarding the Junior, the rear wheels on all models are closely spaced together, so as to aid turning corners. This indeed has the potential for the cleaner to leave the floor, depending on the cleaning style of the user. It is more noticeable on the flat handled models as the round handled cleaners had more forgiveness as one's hand would slide around the handle ever so slightly when turning a corner. With the flat handle the grip in the hand is such that the whole cleaner moves when the hand is turned. This is one reason why the flat handle was not suitable for the larger Senior cleaners as a result so many handles snapped off on those models.

 

[jmurray01]

I do wonder what he would have sung if he had been on that horrid show...

Perhaps Roy Orbison's "Penny Arcade" with the emphasis on "spend your last dime"!

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well I doubt it would be Hooverville, by a group of gentlemen who's name escapes me.

 

[jmurray01]

That would be The Christians Benny. Conflicting indeed.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I was wondering about the DC01 cleaners myself. Of course we in the USA didn't get them (as Dyson didn't come until 2002).

How was the filtration with these cleaners? Was it HEPA comparable? The first bagless dual cyclonics that caught on here were the Fantoms around 1992-93, and interestingly, I read that the first ones had no filter and as could be guessed, the filtration was very poor. The HEPA filter was added later as almost what would seem a workaround to the filtation problem. The Dysons, however seem to have had filters from the beginning.

Are early Dysons still in wide use, or rare?

 

[alexhoovers94]

The DA001 was the first Dyson to really catch on in the UK and that had micro static S - level filteration. (yh, ok)
That carried on from 93 until 95 or 96 when the Absolute (or as I like to call it Abslut) and in 97 the De Stijl models came out and they had HEPA filtration, which I think actually works.

Alot of people still use the older Dysons now, they do not clean as well as the new ones, but they are way more durable. The motors in the DC01's are quite reliable also.
They are not rare at all, apart from maybe the Antarctica Solo and De Stijl models

 

[sebo_fan]

Jamie - what a load of old hoof that the Junior is unstable. Methinks you are trying to justify the Ranger or at least trying to defend it. I've never had a Junior tip over at all and I'm a lot older than you with quite a few more years under my belt. 


 


I find the Ranger is cumbersome, bulky and slow. As a design comparison, the Senior is slightly better as the original shape is easier to see than the expanses of unnecessary plastic design cladding that the Ranger hood covers up. I much prefer the Senior for large homes -also helped by a more powerful motor compared to the Junior. The Junior however is smaller and far more compact.


 


 

 

[suctionselector]

Jamie

Yeah, it could have been a Dust Manager...

 

[turbo500]

what a load of old hoof

Ryan, I wouldn't have quite put that as politely as you, but I agree. The whole point of the Junior was to have a cleaner that was equally as sturdy and high performing as a larger cleaner, but more compact and lightweight - ideal for british homes.

 

[vintagerepairer]

The 'Absolute' models were the first Dyson cleaners to have HEPA filtration, but they did not reach the UK retail outlets until the early part of 1997. The only alternative to the standard yellow & grey Dyson cleaners was the blue & grey upright and blue & white cylinder, both of which were identical in performance and filtration to their yellow & grey siblings and were sold to mark the crossing of the Antarctica by Ranulph Fiennes for a breast cancer charity. These cleaners went on sale in 1996 but stock did carry into 1997 and indeed Dyson continued to make the blue & grey upright cleaner for good while afterwards, but with no reference to the Antarctica theme, though if my failing memory is correct, that model still had links to breast cancer support.

Electrolux launched their Powersystem cleaners in late 1996 and bagless versions went on sale in 1997. One of these models had a HEPA filter and all sorts of claims about it's filtration. So then, like I said just now, the Absolute and De Stijl went on sale in early 1997 too, with the D S upright having a floor tool to justify the £20 difference in price between that and the Absolute cleaner. The D S cylinder was identical in all but colour to the Absolute cylinder, yet it was still £20 more expensive.

As for the Junior, like I explained, the positioning of the rear wheels could indeed lead to some level of instability to some users. However, it is really not worth getting hot under the collar about, rather we could use the same energy to embrace our varying experiences.

 

[alexhoovers94]

With the D S upright having a floor tool to justify the £20


My mum had the De Stijl model DC01 and said it never came with the floor tool, and she had two, one she got first and it had head displacement, which customer service said was a common thing, she sent it back and they sent her another one which she said didn't come with a floor tool either.
She wanted the floor tool so had to buy it extra at the £20 price tag.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well I don't know why that should be on the new cleaner from store, as the De Stijl upright cleaners in both 01 and 04 ranges always had a floor tool as standard. This is why so many turn up on eBay as a good deal of users never actually bothered with the floor tool. Either it was too much effort or they forgot they had it. As for the one Dyson exchanged, they may have expected your mum to keep the floor tool they thought she had. I really don't know.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Incidently, the Dyson floor tool was not available in shops, only from Dyson. The price was £29.99. I remember that well, because some shops were making reference to the fact that the D S upright cost £20 more but had a tool worth £29.99.

 

[alexhoovers94]

Really? she said there was an order fourm inside the instruction manual that had the floor tool on for £19.99 and she ordered it off that, she didn't know it was supposed to come with the floor tool and she said it was not advertised on the box that it should have come with it nor did the place in which she bought it (freemans.)
it will always be a mystery why the first De Stijl she recieved did not come with the floor tool, maybe they forgot to put it in the box, and the replacement they sent her, maybe like you said, they just thought she kept it from the first one she recieved, so didn't bother sending her another one.

Or, maybe the very first De Stijl models did not come with the floor tool and the only thing that made the De Stijl different that it was a different colour, at the time.
Other than that, I really don't know.

 

[vintagerepairer]

The original DC01 order form had a black generic Wessel Work tools for £19.99. But the D S always had a wheeled floor tool in the same colour as the cleaner. Same as used on the D S DC02 cylinder. It sounds as though your mother may possibly have had the first D S avaliable, unless Dyson did not send the floor tool with the Freemans stock. That would be strange though, as the instruction books for these cleaners would have mentioned a floor tool.

 

[jmurray01]

That is interesting...

Having a floor tool with an upright is a good idea though, because I just can't stand using an upright on hard flooring as the hard flooring height setting is always too high to actually suck any dirt up and if you lower it you risk damaging the floor with the brush roll.

Can't win!

 

[vintagerepairer]

You couldn't win with this one either, Jamie. The original DC01 D S floor tool was such that it would suck lino and other lose fitting hard floors up into the cleaner head. The head was very useful for carpets as it had wheels and a brushing action, but not good for hard floors. On the DC01 it was more use for cleaning under furniture in carpeted rooms. Here is a picture of it. It can still be purchased in various colours as it was not made by Dyson but by a supplier of vacuum cleaner accesories. This one is blue & yellow but the Dyson version was purple, red, and yellow.

 

[vintagerepairer]

This is the floor tool which Dyson put with the very last DC01 D S cleaners and most of the last DC02 cylinders of all models. It was a tool designed by Dyson.

 

[jmurray01]

I have to say Benny, doesn't it defeat the purpose of having an upright to have a floor tool only useful for CARPETS ?

It could be used for under furniture yes but then for that you could simply spend a little extra time with the standard upholstery tool.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well I always thought it defeted the object, yes, but according to Dyson the tool was suitable for all hard floor types. It was only if one tried to use it on a loose floor that the truth came to light. I would have been fairly miffed were I a DC02 owner with lots of lino in my home.

 

[turbo500]

doesn't it defeat the purpose of having an upright to ha

especially as the DC04 De Stilj had brush controls, so the brush could be turned off.

 

[alexhoovers94]

Asking mum again, she said the instruction manual did mention the floor tool but only as an optional extra. I was wrong by the way, from checking with her, she bought it a little time after it was put on sale. I was under the impression the box was white with a picture of the DC01 De Stijl and a picture of the floor tool in the corner, but she confirmed the box was just brown cardboard with black writing.
They used to use brown cardboard boxes a litlle while ago. before changing to the black boxes they use now.
Maybe it did have something to do with the freemans stock, although when she bought her Sebo X4 extra in 2007 it did not come with the extra stairhose it said it was to come with.
Maybe my mum just had bad look with her extra tools, lol.

Needless to say - my mum bought the stairhose, duop, turbo brush and sebo air freshners separately, along with the Sebo itself it caame to a whopping
£298

 

[jmurray01]

Oh my goodness, Dyson really didn't think things through did they!?

 

[vintagerepairer]

Having the brush control for hard floors would defeat the object of a floor tool at all for hard surfaces, technically. However I have never been keen on the idea of pushing an upright cleaner over a hard floor, brushes spinning or not. I like a brush on the hose.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Alex, the brown box was the one which Dyson sent her. That was how all Dyson-sent stock arrived. The original DC01 D S box for retail stock was white, which a picture of the cleaner and details & pictures about the De Stijl movement.

 

[jmurray01]

So do I Benny, when I use an upright I like to feel some resistance but on hard flooring it just rolls over the floor and doesn't feel like it is doing anything. In fact, it ISN'T doing anything in most cases.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well it could be pushing grit into the surface. Which is why I don't likethe idea.

 

[jmurray01]

That's true, if the sole plate is touching the floor even in the slightest it could be scratching the floor.

I much prefer a floor tool with protruding brushes.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Hoover Triple Vortex

The Hoover Triple Vortex went on sale at around Easter 1999. The Which? magazine tested it and thought that it was a worthy competitor to the Dyson. I think they tested the "S-Class filter" model, in red and black, V2001(?), as opposed to the basic V2000 with foam filters.

The Dyson DC01 was a poorly designed specimen. The plastics were too flimsy, the suction was thoroughly dreadful, and the machine was far too bulky to get under furniture. I had experience of a friend's daughter's DC01 (no suction - filter was clogged). I had two DC01 Absolutes; one was a replacement for the other. The plastic lower motor cover shattered on both near the wheel axle. A De Stijl model followed, but the HEPA filter split after a couple of months.

The only saving grace was it's ability to remove fluff and dog hair from carpet tiles. It's a pity that the suction from the soleplate was so dire, and that the "dirt tube inspection flaps" let grit fall out when the machine was switched off. Hideously dreadful emptying palaver too.

The Triple Vortex was a complete joy to use, in comparison.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Rolls_rapide; I would quite like to disagree with all of what you have said there. But I can't. How could I when it is so damn true?

I often wonder if James Dyson knows how very lucky he was to have been as successful as he has been. I have no doubt for a second that his life was hard, frustrating, and all the rest of it, but to have launched an unknown brand of expensive, flimsy cleaner into a market saturated by brand loyalty and quality standards far, far greater than that of the product he was offering, was just absurd. I am genuinely pleased for him that it was a success, but this has to be largely due to the fickle nature of the UK consumers who first liked his new fangled gadget, followed by those hollow UK consumers who had to have what "her nextdoor" had brought home, with a few UK consumers who thought the cleaner was actually rather genuinely a bit better than most, and not because his product was the most amazing thing since vacuum cleaners were invented.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the latter which James Dyson does believe to be the case. He was very, very lucky to be able to sell such a poor quality product and win the consumers over at the same time. I also think that if there hadn't been so much poor quality bagless competition in the 2000's, Dyson would not have done so well. The very fact that all the other brands jumped straight onto the bagless bandwagon with their cheap, nasty cleaners, did little else but make the Dysons looked like the cream of the crap.