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.