I must admit I was swayed by the tv adverts. Dyson - the wonder of modern design - that's the last time I watch the tele.............(who am I kidding?)
I have to admit I did go on the recommendation of a family friend (or should I say 'ex-friend') Dyson was supposed to be the bees knees when it came to vaccuuming the carpet. I beg to differ.
How many times in the last 2 years have I said 'I HATE DYSON' ? Every time I hoover! (Maybe I should have bought a Hoover.) The Dyson was designed by a man - need I say more?
The 'animal' (an upright) arrived care of Sainsburys who were the cheapest on the market at the time. I had traversed the shops looking for the best deal, and had been shown the delights of the Dyson by friendly staff in other shops, but in the end it was price that made me buy where I did. No problem with the retailer. The problems started once I started using the 'animal'.
My previous vaccuum cleaner was an Electrolux which I had been bought 20 years previously and had never gone wrong. My only reason for change now was that I had aquired a collie who shed long hair wherever he went, and the Electrolux just wasn't man enough for the job.
Don't get me wrong, within 5 minutes of using the Dyson I could see what I had been missing - it's suction was second to none (well I really only had the old electrolux to compare it to).
It sucked up: Dog hairs - until the brush part clogged up 10 year old carpet dust - until the cylinder was well clogged up Persian carpets - it had fun chewing up the fringing on the edges of these Oh yes, the suction was brilliant.....unfortunately too brilliant for it's own good.
The cylinder filled up so quickly that I was having to empty it 3 or 4 times in one session. And this is not as easy as the instructions would have you believe. The cylinder was so badly designed that the catch holding the base on would come undone when you looked at it. I have yet to empty it without leaving a pile of messy dust all over the floor. (In fact the only way to empty it cleanly was to take it down to the compost heap and empty it there where the dust mess wouldn't matter.) Oh how I longed for a cleaner with a bag again.
Within a few weeks the suction became less and less. I tried to clean the filters. The lifetime filter is supposed to be washed every 6 months. I was washing it every time I used the cleaner! And still I was not happy with the suction loss.
Then I discovered that the holes on the shroud, through which the dust had to travel to get to the cylinder, were themselves clogging up with dust. The instructions said to clean these with a cloth or dry brush, Fine, except it was not possible to get access to the parts that were clogged up the most. I ended up after every session having to hold the shroud over the sink (water helps to prevent the dust from rising into the air) and keep hitting it until as much dust as possible fell out. This could take 10 minutes a go - and then as soon as you put the cylinder in place there would be another shower of dust all over the floor so I would need a dustpan and brush to get that up again. (The cylinder was so designed that in order to fix it onto the shroud you had to have it open, thus allowing any excess dust out of the end before you had a chance to close it up.)
I did contact Dyson about the fact that the cylinder catch didn't seem to close properly, and they sent me a new cylinder by return. This one had a slightly better catch, although it was still unreliable.
For a while I wondered if the loss of suction was my imagination, but I did finally contact again Dyson when I started to detect a burning smell. The engineer came out 2 days later and totally dismantled the machine (amazing to watch him in action). He decided that the motor needed replacing - and the filter - and the shroud. In fact at this point I had almost a complete new cleaner. (I can't fault the Dyson guarantee on this)
The engineer came to the conclusion that all my problems were caused by the fact that the powerful suction had sucked up all the undercarpet dust from building work that had gone on 10 years previously. Building dust is finer than household dust and this had clogged up everything.
Once replaced, the cleaner did behave itself better. (I presume that by then all the building dust had been vaccuumed up.)
However the design faults were still there: The cylinder still needed to be emptied too frequently The emptying was still messy The catches were still inadequate
On top of this: The whole machine was noisy, clumsy to use and didn't hoover right to the edges The tools were useful, but because of the high suction I felt I was wrestling with them the whole time just to keep the hose under control. (I think 'animal' is a good word for this machine!) There was no easy way to carry the machine upstairs. The only handle was on the top and the catch holding this in place was so weak that if I tried to carry with just the handle the whole thing would fall apart and I ran the risk of it falling down the stairs.
Altogether when I think back on the Dyson I can see pain, struggle and depression - so I think 'HATE' is not too strong a word for my feelings!!!!
Since I made these feeling known to my friends I was surprised at the number of them who feel the same about their Dysons. I think the term 'never again' springs to most of their minds.
I have now bought a Numatic Henry Hound. (see my other reviews). Oh how I wish had bought him from the start. He is not perfect, but not far from it!!!!
My advice, if you are thinking about buying a Dyson, is to borrow one from a friend for a week or two - and then THINK AGAIN!!!!!
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I'm still using my DC01 that must be 10 years old now and I've never had a problem, it still cleans as well now as when it was new.
Nar 08.10.2006 03:56
Also to remove the fine dust out of the shrouds, use a tooth pick.
Nar 07.10.2006 21:44
Id have given this a VH if I didnt assume from ths review that it was a cylinder vac you are talking about and not an upright. Its no surprise that the fringes of your carpets got taken up by the Dyson - fringes are a general NO NO for any upright even if it has a beater bar stop function. In general though I do sympathise with you having gone through 3 Dyson cleaners before a relative sold us his Sebo upright. Sounds to me like you need a cylinder which is what you have now, but watch those fringes on Henry's red floor turbo brush head!
1200 watts. 3.5 litre dust capacity. Dustbin full indicator. 5-stage washable ... more
filtration. Cord storage. Includes on-board stair tool, crevice tool and brush tool. Also includes stubborn dirt brush and Dyzolv Spot Remover. Stretch hose for...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Excellent Suction, perfect for busy households, customer service nearly excellent! Disadvantages: Expected the machine to last longer than four years, given the high purchase price!
Oct 7th, 2006
(Oct 8th, 2006)
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