What makes the SRX so HORRIBLE?

VacuumLand – Vintage & Modern Vacuum Enthusiasts

Help Support VacuumLand:

ajr2993

Active member
Joined
Mar 18, 2022
Messages
25
Location
Bakersfield, CA
There are tons of things wrong with the Rainbow SRX that everyone has mentioned. Such as the EMBARASSING performance, the HORRENDOUS build quality, the ABSOLUTELY GODAWFUL power nozzle, SHITTY tools, and the OUTRAGEOUS price tag of $6,000!! What can you thing of another problem of the SRX?
 
Here's what I think:

instead of improving the part of the vacuum that actually cleans (like the motor, separator, PN) They stuck with cosmetics and features. They lowered the power, made a very crappy PN (which thank goodness they've improved, so I hear)

I hope that their next model is better...Not that I'm ever going to buy another rainbow because my gold 2006 2 speed I got brand new is still perfect and shines like new.

I can say this: If someone offered me a brand new unopened SRX fully loaded with everything for FREE if only I would give them my gold 2 speed.... I would say no.
 
They should be.....

Coming up with a new model soon. I mean the srx got announce almost 4 years ago and launched later that year.I know they like to come up with something new every 4-5 years, sometimes less. What I personally would like to see is a quieter motor, at the highest speed, but have good suction and airflow with it. I can personally say I dont use my srx on the lower speeds because its really not doing much on speed 1 and speed 2 is barely freshening the room. I do wanna see a bigger capacity on both the minjet and rainjet solution tanks, as well as on the aquamate. Speaking of both the minijet and rainjet I would also like to see them include some sort of motorized spinning brush.
 
SRX

Hi,

The SRX should have incorporated some common sense engineering. They could have added another quart to the water bowl by dropping it a bit inside the base of the dolly. Mine runs cool but it needs to be quieter than it is and while they say it is quieter it's not. Rainbow could have put a motor in the machine during the R&D process while they were going that way. When you have a Lux Platinum with 115 inches or water lift of Miele or FQ it leaves a bit to be desired at 60. Like the old cord wrap in E2 but hate all the play in the dolly and the hose connection and those things are better on my SRX as is the handle grip. I swear my E2B rolls better on carpet maybe it's just me. Total hit on the Rainbow Mate with the pivot joint really love that!

The power nozzle I find better and worse. Mine has the optional heavy duty brush strips and is very aggressive. Works super with the extra power of the E2 Black. I have two rooms of white carpets and they are significantly brighter vacuuming behind both the Marin with SEB 235 and Lux Platinum with Omniflo. Same goes for the E2B nozzle I dont like it on white carpets as well as the PN3. It picks up Kirby suds residue about 5 to 1 over the E2B with the original PN. While it takes two hands to hang on to this nozzle the design suffers from a poor base plate style and bad seals in the housing, center belt and formerly a lock mechanism that also sucked. The E2B nozzle is the best Rainbow ever made. Total shame they didn't junk the side brushes and update the Stainless roller my SRX has with the HD strips and make it side drive like Lux.

I am not sure what the separator update is for the SRX since I have not put in and tried it yet. In sore respects I think the build quality is better than the E2B and some not so good if that makes any sense.

Brian
 
my question is what was the reason behind updating the separator and is there any difference in terms of performance with this updated one? You know what rainbow should do for a future model, they should do a similar way of detaching the basin kind of like what delphin did with their new model, the delphin t8. You just click a button and the unit tilts sidways and you just remove the basin that way.
 
I didn't know they also updated the separator??? WTH is that about?

I think the separator on my gold 2 speed is great. I remember back when I had my shark that I would run through the house daily - about ever 4 days I would clean it, sucking the filters and bin clean with my rainbow...but I took note when cleaning the separator after that amount of dirt going into the rainbow that there was no dirt on the cleaning toothbrush...I think any rainbow owner should fill their basin about 1/2 inch MORE than recommended (above the line).. I think that little extra water makes a huge difference.

I still can't believe they made the SRX basin smaller...When designing this new rainbow I can't believe they totally screwed up the PN. I would love the SRX if they changed 3 things. At least the same power motor as the 2 speed E series, same size basin or larger, and a GREAT well designed PN.

I'm in the minority on this but I like having 2 hoses instead of one with the main reason being the handle..when doing above floor cleaning and using the crevice, dusting brush, floor brush, upholstery brush...when those attachments are used on a curved wand instead of the electric hose it feels so much easier using them vs having them attached to the electric hose with that big honking handle.
 
@mark40511

depends. I like my SRX and it serves me well. It cleans my hard surface floors and furniture very well. I don't have any carpet in my small villa so it wouldn't be neccessary for me to use the PN. The only time that I did use it was to deep cleaned a mattress and my sofa. The only real issue that I have with this machine isn't the machine itself, but the optional accessories that go with it. The rainbowmate boggs down and strops spinning sometimes on certain furniture pieces. The rainjet is somewhat back breaking and a sweat job when using it. The minijet lacks other brush heads and lacks a spinning rotating brush, which I think will add value to the accessory. If they do update the accessories with the next machine, then I'll just update the accessories. Hopefully they'll be backwards compatable. Also the solution tank for both the rainjet and minijet should be bigger, that way less fill ups.
 
My rainbowmate does the same thing so I rarely ever use it...Also I agree with the rainjet... A mop and bucket would be easier...since you don't need to use the PN much at all... I don't blame you..I just use my rainbow for vacuuming and dusting
 
SRX Motor

Hey Guys,

Has anyone heard anything that Rainbow has changed the SRX motor recently as well? I have heard this in the last day or so and since the separator and power nozzle have changed recently figured it could be credible. I will call my dealer and see whats up tomorrow.

Brian
 
Well this is also news to me too. Sounds like the SRX has a lot of issues and or changes during its production starting with the recall issue from a few years ago, which my side of my machine still gets warm, even though I've had my recall issue addressed. One thing I hope rexair keeps for future models is the way they box the machines. I like how now they have the machine in its own smaller box and then you have the hose, wants and attachments in there own separate box. Thats something I hope they keep. Its the little details such as the packaging that makes a difference to me. Also speaking of this new nozzle, any word on performance and such compare to the original one?
 
Most any new model will have bugs

Just to be fair, the SRX was uncharted territory for Rainbow and a departure from anything they've ever done before. I look at new vacuum models with the same hesitancy as new car models: don't buy it in its first year of production. Let them get the bugs out. Remember when the 1 speed E series first came out? Those were plagued with issues, but Rainbow didn't ditch whole model platform. They fixed/removed the issues along the way and the last e Series model in black reflected every improvement.
 
With all these updates to the SRX, they mines well release a new model at this point and use those as strong key factors for why its better than the SRX.
 
speaking of new motor. Can current srx owners get this new updated motor instead of having to get a whole new unit?

The same can be said for the "new" separator
 
Yep it would be interesting if that were true...new motor, new PN..Perhaps they are correcting things people have been complaining about?...Plz come back here and post if you get an answer :)

I didn't realize the first E series was plagued with problems... I did learn that my gold 2 speed had control board issues and they made a much better board for them.. but I went years without knowing that there were even any known issues until my board died in 2018 I think...when it got replaced the rainbow tech said I should never have any problems because the control board was made so much better than the original...He said he was surprised my board lasted that many years before it went out...

somehow I highly doubt any new changes they make that aren't recalls won't be just given to customers who purchased past SRX's
 
@juju

The new power nozzle is almost identical to the black one with its side spinning brushes albeit a new top cover. So expect it to perform identical to the last iteration of the black editions nozzle. I wish I heard of the new motor and separator when I was in my rainbow dealers store front a couple weeks back.

My two cents, at least rainbow tries to stay current and change things unlike Kirby, lux and the other DTD vacs. I get it that if it’s not broke don’t fix it, but come on.

As far as price goes if a dealer is shady enough to sell for $6,000 good for him I hope he can sleep at night , but further more if someone wants to buy it for that price good for them. I will say this, when consumer reports tests them they list the price and for the SRX it was $1,250 or 1,350., so a smart consumer would use that as leverage.

The attachments have not changed in years so that is not a fault of the SRX. When they did launch it they said it was significantly more powerful and quieter, after using it in person it is a blatant lie, don’t know how they came up with their figures back when it was launched.
 
I know what you mean this will be the fifth year that the Avalir 2 will be Kirby’s current model they really need a change I don’t know much about rainbow but it’s cool that they are listening to customers I like companies that do that
 

Latest posts

Back
Top