i keep hearing about the Dyson vac's... i have a Commercial Sanitare, but wonder what is so good about the Dyson?

i also have a Sharp vac, which i use because it has a bypass from the motor (if you suck up anything bad penny's / thumb tacks etc), and it won't hurt the motor.. but the Sanitare doesn't, so i have to be really careful.

i also do OP carpet cleaning, i really like the results, but like all methods, everything has it's draw back.. the draw back for me is that once i'm done cleaning, i sometimes will get lose fiber staples that need to be vac'd up, but the carpet is still damp, and the roller bar on the vac gets clogged up after while... is there something i can do to prevent the vac from clogging up (other than making sure the carpet is totally dry lol )?

thanks for any help

forrest

Hey Forrest,
I made it a point to look at the Dysons this past weekend. In retail stores. They have two different models, and I just wasnt impressed.
I got the Hoover Conquest and to me IMHO, it was built much more durable. The Dyson seemed to be all plastic. Cheap to me. But maybe that is just me. It was and still is, a no brainer.
I want something that is built tough. I didnt think that the Dyson was. Maybe there were better models. This particular one was yellow. And ugly I might add.
It had some attatchments, but that isnt why I use or purchase a vacuum. I have a TM for vacuuming, my bac pac vac, and of course, the aforementioned Hoover.
It is simple a tank. Sucks the s--- out of the fibers, seperates heavy sucked up stuff and puts it in its' own little hole.
Very durable and nice looking. and yes, looks play into my decision making process. Another thing about the dyson, it looks like the cheaper stuff that you can buy at Wal Mart. In a work environment, I want my vacuum to look like something that they can't buy or havent seen. I want it to look like a commercial model and not a residential model. And i classify the Dysons to look like a homeowner model, whether they are or not.
This is just me rambling though. To contradict what I said, the Dysons must suck good, because alot of people rave on them. So go figure.
and to answer your other point, not for sure what the Hoover Conquest would do even on wet carpet, As i havent had that problem as you mentioned with OP>
I do run it over damp carpets, but not for very long, just to pick up some stray fibers and stuff that I see as I am encapping.
If I am using my TM, i simple use the vac hose to get it.
But when i use the Hoover over wet carpets, I havent had a problem, like I said, it is usually a brief stint of vacuuming though. Hope this helps buddy.

STeve

I bought a yellow Dyson about a month ago. So far I really like it. love the long hose for edgeing. Seems to have pretty good suction, even when getting full. easy to empty. I have 10 vacuums here for my crew to choose from, about every different breed. The Dyson is the first to go every day, if I dont have it with my for encapping. When we did alot of retail, we hauled around Hoover big cup wirlwind bagless ones. Seemed to take the beating that hauling in and out of the trucks do to them. Sanitair 16" are probably the best, but no hose and it seems we are forever putting belts on. My next one will be another Dyson.

Brian

Forrest,

I OP cleaned for the past 5 years. I recently said goodbye to that process. When I used to clean that way, I noticed some carpets (especially cheaper cut piles) shed like crazy! Like you, I also found that vacuuming up this damp mess was a losing proposition with an upright vacuum cleaner. I tried everything: different types of uprights, adjusting the brush height, etc., etc. Always, the end result was a vacuum cleaner that was totally clogged up and a beater bar that would start leaving black streaks on the freshly cleaned carpet. Not good!

Now, I use a 300-RPM rotary, a nylon rotary brush, and 100% cotton bonnets and I find that I don't pull up nearly as much staple yard as with OP. But, still, some carpets shed like crazy. So, I finally found and upright that can handle this mess with no problem. It is a beater bar-less upright made by ShopVac. I bought it from Hesco $130.00. It's fairly quiet and it sucks up the carpet fuzz with no problem and even leaves the carpet with a groomed look.



I set the height adjustment to the second position for most carpets.

The moisture from those wet fuzzies won't harm the vacuum motor ? I'm not brave enough to try it, lol

As far as the dyson, since we have had it (little over 3 months) we have had about 8-10 customers purchase them, so not everyone thinks they are ugly.

And about them being plastic...so are most car body parts these days. I don't plan on dropping my vacuum from the ceiling, so it is as durable as it needs to be. Bottom line, imho, if you aren't edging every single job with a crevice tool....then you aren't vacuuming very thoroughly. So if your vac has no tools....'nuff said.

These of course are just my opinions, and we all know what opin ions are like...

KC

I know that some cleaners are having success with the Dyson. However I'm under the impression that the Dyson is really more of a residential vacuum. The Dyson line is geared more toward residential vacuuming as opposed to commercial cleaning. I've spoken with vacuum cleaner dealers (even those who sell the Dysons) and that is what they've told me. And while the Dyson is a decent residential vacuum, I'd prefer a good commercial vacuum for our commercial carpet cleaning business. I'm partial to vacuums such as the Conquest, Sebo/Windsor, Lindhaus, Bernina, Sanitaire, Royal, and Koblenz. These are some strong vacuums to consider IMHO. Perhaps Dyson will come out with a commercial model too - now that would be cool.







Rick Gelinas

yes that would be cool!

nice vac ya got there Mark

take care fellas --- Derek.

Dyson do a model with an one year warranty for comm. use,can be seen at www.constantmax .com.
The res.model was given a very poor reliability rating in the WHICH? report.(UK based consumer org.)Citing; bits falling off and general poor built quality.
The Sebo is a big seller to British carpetcleaners,although I am using Lindhaus uprights,they last for years.

Aside,the way James Dyson took on the large manufactures and built a big business out of nothing,amassing a personal fortune of £500 million in barely fifteen years,is quite an incredible story on its own.

David

DAAAAAAANG now ya tell me :*(

prolly the same as me yellow DC07, just different color and maybe a heavier guage cord.?.

any other feature differences??

thanx --- Derek.

Unfortunately the Constantmax is not available in the US at this point in time.




Rick Gelinas

Ken,

So far, so good. I've been using the ShopVac for 3 months and it handles damp carpet fuzz like nobody's business. The motor is fine....

I don't know about the fancy #'s but I know this yellow Dyson will pick up alot more and faster than any of my new Sanitairs ever did. And the stray paper clip goes in the cup instead of under the belt like the sanitairs. I've vaced with this Dyson after encapping on damp carpet, doesn't seem to affect performance, but stuff sticks in the cup when you clean it out. cord is 40' compaired to Sanitairs 50'. Worst ones I've bought was I got 2 new Riccars. at $400 a pop they are pieces of crap.

Brian

Brian

What model # were the riccars, and what exactly did you not like about them? I have the 8925 commercial and love it, however not as much as my Hoover Conquest 28 inch which I bought for the commercial side of my biz anyhow.

BTW- 1st post after lurking among here, ICS, and cleanfax for the past 2.5 years, hopefully many more posts to follow as my business progresses.

Dan

welcome Dan, glad your posting now! this forum is very low stress / low harassment. very conducive to lurkers or others who dont wanna deal with all the negative "characters" on the various forum.

thanx --- Derek.

BTW, i have never tried me Dyson over freshly Encap'ed carpet...will carefully give it a go....though i dont have much need to unless i was using a counter-rotating brush type machine.

ones a 4950, its sitting here so I looked, the other one looks just like it but it has a hose & wand with it. Both Commercials. Short cords, bag covers keep falling off, we have large rubber bands around both of them. put a couple switches in each one already. Gotta have a screw driver to change the belt. Latches broke so heads fall down when pushing them.
Just a bunch of little crap. they work pretty good when they run though. We put alot of hours on vacs in our janitorial accounts, so somtimes hard to tell how long it really is betwen repairs.

Brian

Ken Cox made some good points above.
Rick said one thing thought that I have heard from the local vacuum store here that every one turns to to purchase.
They say that the Dysons are residential models..not for commercial.
But also, they dont like the Hoover conquest. Seems all they want to sell is Royals... HMMM. that is a good vacuum.. but maybe part of their thinking is possibly they are making more money on that brand. All of their marketing and signage' is geared toward Royal. That is what I push for people to buy, since i have one at home, it is solid, and they can get great local service at this store. I just didnt think it was a good on commercial. And this post and my post on this topic above, all relate to encapping and commercial... low level, real tight looped carpets. not residentials.
Then alot of things come into play and alot more vac's are suitable.
And as far as edging, i use my bac pac on all jobs for edging and vac with the Hoover,, which has no attatchments. Just thought that I would throw that in.

Good encapping to all

Merry Xmas.

Steve

Steve Dobson
ProFloor
Custom Cleaning Services

"Merry Xmas ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

nooooooooooooo i dont wanna hear that, i am still recovering from hearing it everyday last winter. IT'S SUMMER!

thanx --- Derek.

Having used and worked on numerous models over the last 27 years I have formed some definate opinions. Part is based on watching the enormous Oklahoma City School district experiment over the years. We worked on their equipment 1980 - 2002.

They tried Royals, Castex, Kirby, Sanitaires, Advance/Lindhaus, Hoover Conquest, Windsor, Nobles (basically the same as the Castex}, SC Johnson/Fantoms.

Mind you, a low paid employee working in "Dust Bowl" conditions is not going to have the experience of an individual who cares for his equipment. But we always viewed OKC Schools as an extreme test. If you held up to them, you would surely hold up to residential or individual contractor use.

Based on user satisfaction, amounts of repairs, time in service, this is how they rate.

Hoover Conquest
Windsor
Sanitaire
Kirby
Castex
Nobles
Royal
Advance/Lindhaus
SC Johnson/Fantoms

When they totally went to contract cleaning they still had numerous Hoover and Windsor that had been in service for many years. The SC Johnson and Advance vacuums were totally out of service in 3 - 6 months.

From my own experience- I use the Windsor Versamatic, Koblenz 510 dust cup and Hoover Conquest. But in all honesty, everything works good when it is new. The only ones, in our experience, that have proven their worth over the long haul are the ones listed above and the Sanitaire. Always a safe choice, and cheap to keep running.

And Dysons? Too new. The SC Johnson/Fantoms were going to revolutionize vacuum cleaning. Within a year we had returned all of them to the distributor. If only the Fantom came in all those fun colors.................................................................