What is the worst vacuum from the past 20-ish years?

[completenutt]

What type of medal are you offering?

It is a precious metal medal?


 


Yep, I've got a new in box Z700 that is just waiting for the right offer.  Someone someday, or maybe no one ever, will want to unbox this relic.  But at least there is still an opportunity out there for that person!


 


I agree that they are woefully overengineered and underperforming for the most part, and clearly the self-flogging filter turns out to be it's largest flaw.  I can testify that the filter becomes stinky after a few months of use and that musty smell permeates the room every time you use it going forward.. an untold horror by those of us who still occasionally try to get some use out of it.  The pre hepa filter screen is way too small and clogs almost immediately, therefore cutting down the already inadequate suction to almost nothing.  It's ridiculous.  A common house fly could probably escape it's air flow at that point.


 


It was supposed to compete with the newly introduced Dyson "never loses suction" branding, but ended up being the complete opposite in user friendliness and should have been subtitled "always loses suction"!


 


The parts I think were well done are the electronic height adjustment and two speed motor, the excellent quality brushroll, the extremely long hose, and it's self diagnosing capability to indicate the location of a clog by illuminating a light on a graphic of the machine on the control panel.  Those things were all wasted on this machine.  Such a missed opportunity to deliver a revolutionary product.  Idiots!


 


It's uniqueness endures and offers great subject matter for my photography, makes a great heavy doorstop, or can be used simply as a object to take space up in a room!


 


So, call me crazy, but I'll keep mine unless someone offers me a decent amount for it.. just to be the one who has the world's best "worst" vacuum!


 


I'm humbled and honored.


 


Would you mind bringing the medal here to me in Los Angeles?  You're only an hour away, and I make great coffee!


 


Bill

[this post was last edited: 1/11/2019-00:00]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...E61194B96E919DF666C4E61194B96E919DF&FORM=VIRE

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I have a HOOVER "Z"

That is in brand new factory condition. And, I got it out of the box to use it at one of my mini meets.

 

[rivstg1]

John,

obviously, its an oddity, good or bad, but do you find it cumbersome or awkward to use?

 

[abcvacplacentia]

A nice plastic medal for Bill

Hey Bill,

My internet blacksmith is forging your new medal as I type! However, it's gonna be plastic instead of precious metal. After all, we're talking Hoover here. If it was a Kirby, it would be made of cheap polished aluminum.

Someday, if I ever find enough room to store the machines that I know I'm not going to be able to stop myself from buying, then I will come looking for your Z700. Unless the Museum of Shitty Appliances gets there first! (does Tom still have his and is it at his museum?)

At least, now you know who to call when you can't justify subsidizing five square feet of storage space any longer and need to sucker this albatross off on someone else (I believe Larry David calls it "foisting"). Your Z700 needs to stay intact, unmolested and in perfect condition as a reminder to the industry of what can happen to a company when senior management becomes totally brain dead. Sorry Hooverfiles, but Hoover deserved to die (and live on as cheap, rebranded Chinese junk). The Z700 is a clunky, stumbling testament to that.

While the brutal traffic into L.A. makes it tough to justify a trek just for the Z700, I would like to see it someday the next time I'm in your neighborhood, so maybe we will have that medal ceremony after all.

 

[ajr2993]

The Rainbow SRX is probably one of the WORST water filtration vacuums ever made. The suction/airflow specs are ABYSMAL, it gets even worse when it’s on carpet, the performance drops to NOTHING. So much for $3,200. The build quality is HORRIBLE, the tools are USELESS, and it’s overly expensive for how TERRIBLE air really is. If you ever see a Rainbow salesman in your house, tell him to get the hell out of your house because their product is terrible. And run FAR AWAY from this machine unless you have allergies. The Rainbow E2 is way better than that overpriced abomination.

 

[wstonehockertv]

The DD Ultra Handvac because it was a loud machine. Went through two of those cursed machines. Makes me appreciate the 103/120 models even more.

 

[repairman]

The Oreck Magnesium with its remote controlled handle. Stupidest thing ever. They originally used a button battery and the modules would often fail. Later models have the switch hardwired where the upper cord hook sits but they're still garbage. If I have two of them on the bench next to each other, pressing the switch on one unit will turn on the other unit.

The Hoover Windtunnel 2. Need I say more?

BTW, in a conversation with John Gregory, I learned the Z400 and Z700 were conceived by Maytag and Tacony before or after the Whirlpool acquisition. Parts were immediately discontinued and people were mad the $400 vacuum they bought for $50 had no parts available.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

well, just be careful

because not everything one hears might be the actual truth.


  


 


I'm just saying....................  that's all.


 

 

[gottahaveahoove]

And, I have a Windtunnel 2

It's not a daily driver.  But, it's strong, works perfectly.  Too strong?  perhaps........................

 

[gottahaveahoove]

And that Hoover Z

I have one, brand new. It's good it's nice, but it wouldn't be the first thing I would save in a fire. It was supposed to be Hoover's man's vacuum. It never really took off. It is big cumbersome and unique. It works well, but clearly, not Hoover's finest hour.

 

[huskyvacs]

The Garry Vac fits the bill because it was just a cheap generic plastic vacuum made as an Oreck-parts-bin-special veiled in a ponzi scheme. They broke down like no tomorrow and then the lifetime bag scam that nobody actually got sealed their fate.

 

[panasonicvac]

Shark Rotator Lift-Away XL NV755

I use this vacuum at work, I've had more complaints about it than any other machine I've ever used in my lifetime by far. It's bagless, that's a start. It filters terrible, the separator gets clogged alot and lots of dust would go into the pre filters including the motor no matter how many times I'd clean it out everytime I'd use it. Oh and lets not forget the post filter, it doesn't seal the machine despite it claims that it does. The motor smells horrible like there's a fault in there, probably from all the dust that made it past through the pre filters. Also the motor would have a wave running low and high by itself which is not a good thing to have since the vacuum isn't supposed to do that. It is bulky and awkward to use, especially as a canister. It is very loud, my co-workers would shut their doors because of it. And it is very cheaply made, I almost sadly broke the vacuum by accident when I was carrying it from up the stairs once time because I was hopping it'd shatter where I could get the office a new and better vacuum. But it survived and I have to keep using it until it dies, I'm actually surprised it still works as of today.

 

[huskyvacs]

Wow you know what, I only seen the handle of it but now that I see the whole vacuum, I seen one of those in the dumpster of a window-glass making factory. It was one of those 9 foot tall construction dumpsters so I couldn't get to it, but found it interesting an industrial facility would have a Shark in there.

 

[eureka1998]

Huskyvacs

Apparently a lot of businesses strangely use these. Theyre ALL over the place. I take my brother to a gaming store and even they got a Shark. Theyre ok for house use but NOT commercial grade by any means.

 

[jo]

Dirt devil breeze and a few others

I used a dirt devil breeze and a smaller mini dirt devil upright. Both were horrible and nearly impossible to push on certain types of carpet. Really crappy filter design quickly clogs making the vacuum very ineffective as suction is quickly lost. Hoses were not the stretchy kind just real crap and a minimum of attachments usually poor quality. Also tried a small mini Bissell upright about 10 years ago. It was horrible… blew dust out everywhere as the dust bin compartment would come loose and blow out dust as the handle plastic the bin was mounted to would flex as you’d use the vacuum. I returned it inmediately. I hate that any company is putting out such crap. These cheap vacs are basically toys and disposable and just a total waste of money but people keep buying them over and over and throwing them away over and over. Mostly it’s the people who can’t manage to save their money and live paycheck to paycheck buying these machines because they don’t have the funds to buy quality when they need a vac. And even if they do make good money annd could manage to save they end up spending it on drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, pot etc. And when it breaks they just go spend another $39 at Wal-Mart because that’s about all they have to spend on a vacuum as the “other items” I’ve mentioned above are far more important to them to spend money on. I’ve seen people throw away these cheap vacs when the brush roll gets covered in hair then just buy another. So irresponsible to our earth more than anything. Interestingly enough, Usually the motors on these cheap vac still work when they are thrown away which is the most costly part, but something else has broken.

Jon

Jon

 

[eureka1998]

Jo

Theres only one bagless that got very so so reviews that I'd actually want to try (might be the only one I havent). NOT the Hoover Twin Chamber (the dirty fan one was a nightmare) but there was kind of a second gen. Not the Windtunnel twin chambers but one based off the Widepaths/Tempos.

 

[panasonicvac]

Correction

The Shark is a model NV795 not the NV755.

Eureka1998, those bagless Hoovers would've been the honorable mentions in this thread because they were much worse than the bagged Tempos. They clog so fast, the filter cage doesn't have a good seal, and the filters are even a pain to clean out.