Thread Number: 19255
Cord and Hose Lengths on Canisters
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Post# 212863   1/6/2013 at 09:51 (4,099 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Two of the features that are really important to me in a canister vac are cord length and hose length. I'll never forget how difficult it was to use our old Sanyo 1970's canister vac due to its short 5 foot hose.

I have found it almost impossible to get the actual lengths of these parts from descriptions on internet websites. Miele uses the term "operating radius" which does not tell you if the spec includes the length of the canister itself and/or the wands. You never know if the hose length advertised includes the handle or not.

It is often challenging for vacmakers to offer a long cord on a canister because it would require a larger compartment for the cord reel. Yet, some high end Kenmore canisters indeed offer a generous 30 foot cord wound up in their cord reel. Miele canisters seem to unfortunately have the shortest cords and hoses, though they do offer a clumsy "hose extension" for $40. Over the years, the most deluxe Kenmore canister has always offered a nice long 8 foot hose, which to me is what all canisters shoul have - since most room heights in North America are 8 feet. You should be able to get up on a step stool and vacuum the dusty tops of a book-case with ease with any canister vac.

So....

from what you see in the stores today, which canister has the longest hose and which one offers the longest cord? To make the challenge easier, the canister does not have to have an electrified hose for a power nozzle...it can be a suction only canister vac. I am not interested in vacs that offer optional extension hoses to add onto the hose supplied, though it would be great to learn of a canister whose supplied hose can be replaced with an optional longer one. I am also not interested in stretch hoses that cause the canister to go sailing toward your ankles every time you pull on the hose like the retro Constellation of a few years ago.

In truth, one can always add an extension cord to any canister, though I wonder if this voids the warranty due to electrical dangers. I guess the more important factor then is hose length.

I know of only two suction only canister vacs that have generous hose lengths: the Eureka/Sanitaire Mighty Mite (8 feet), and the Swedish Electrolux Ergospace (9 feet). The longest cord I see on a canister on the market today is on the blue Kenmore Intuition (26 feet).

Oh...should just state...not really interested in the lengths provided on commercial canister vacs as I imagine these are much longer than the ones sold for domestic use.

Would love to hear your answers! :-)


Post# 212864 , Reply# 1   1/6/2013 at 10:12 (4,099 days old) by dysondestijl (east midlands, UK)        

Numatic Henry's have a 2.4meter hose and a ten meter cable, so they are ideal for cleaning large areas.

Post# 212865 , Reply# 2   1/6/2013 at 10:14 (4,099 days old) by dysondestijl (east midlands, UK)        

AKA a 7.9 foot hose and a 33 foot cord

Post# 212867 , Reply# 3   1/6/2013 at 10:27 (4,099 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Wow...that's a nice long cord/flex. Does the manual cord reel store the entire length with ease?

Regarding the hose, does that figure include the handle? Sometimes the handle takes up almost a foot of the figure provided....:-)


Post# 212868 , Reply# 4   1/6/2013 at 10:51 (4,099 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)        

jmurray01's profile picture
To answer your questions:

1) Yes the manual rewind rewinds the entire cord with ease
2) The handle is very small on the hose (only a few inches) so it wouldn't make much difference if it was taken into account or not.


Post# 212870 , Reply# 5   1/6/2013 at 10:55 (4,099 days old) by dysondestijl (east midlands, UK)        

Yeah but by 'handle' do you mean the first curved tube or the hose cuff jmurray01?

Post# 212871 , Reply# 6   1/6/2013 at 11:16 (4,099 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Oh that's right - the Numatic hoses only have a hose cuff. The handle is on the metal tube...gotcha!

Nice to know this about the Numatics...are these generous lengths provided even on the cheaper models?


Post# 212874 , Reply# 7   1/6/2013 at 11:53 (4,099 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

Cheaper Numatic cleaners, such as the James, have a 1.8m hose, which is still longer than a good deal of other brands, some which cost well over 100% more than a Numatic James. The Dyson cylinders have a stupid length of hose now. It can be hard to use it as a floor cleaner, and to do high-level dusting is quite an activity. But then as Dyson are the experts in matters such as home cleaning what would I know?

Of course it is an age-old problem, hose length, because if it is too short cleaning is restricted, yet too long and the cleaner is impossible to pull round, which means it takes longer to clean as one has to keep gathering up the hose. The 2.4m hose on the Henry is what I consider to be just right. It is long enough to clean freely and easily, yet short enough to pull the cleaner along.


Post# 212879 , Reply# 8   1/6/2013 at 12:14 (4,099 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Thanks for these responses so far!

Indeed, I think an 8 or 9 foot hose is ideal because the canister can sit comfortably on the ground while you dust the tops of bookcases, the upper cabinets in a kitchen, and the top fringes of drapery in a standard height room.

In the case of the Numatics, I imagine that the 2.4 meter hose could be bought to attach to the cheaper canisters...am I correct?


Post# 212882 , Reply# 9   1/6/2013 at 12:41 (4,099 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

Yes, and this is another reason why Numatic are such a popular choice, because parts are readily available and are quite cheap too, well, the none-genuine parts certainly are. Numatic do genuine hoses of all lengths (1.8, 2.4, 5, and more) plus there is a stretch hose which can be used for cleaning stairs. Add also to this, please, that the hose ends on genuine Numatic hoses can be unscrewed, allowing the consumer to buy universal hose and cut it to any length they desire, then attach the hose ends to that cut length.

It is all very well Dyson making a cleaner which can be moved along easily, but the truth is that it's more about creating a cleaner which has some unique appeal to that huge section of society who crave gadgets and technology. Although the original Dyson cylinder was a lump of a vacuum cleaner, the DC05 which came next was much better and the simple lift & pull action did the job rather well. The DC23 and 32 was more like the DC02 in terms of bulk and the shorter hose on the DC32 didn't help matters.

In the meantime, other brands like Numatic put a decent length of hose onto a cleaner which was already reasonable portable.


Post# 212885 , Reply# 10   1/6/2013 at 12:56 (4,099 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

suckolux's profile picture
My cannister complaint is my Miele, that hose and cord are both a reall pisser.

Post# 213105 , Reply# 11   1/8/2013 at 09:28 (4,097 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

Older Electrolux vacs have very short hose & cord; my guess is the hose length is 6ft (inludes machine end coupling & handle) & cord only about 15ft (when it's fully extended from cord reel)

I still believe the newer Lux hose is still a bit too short; my model L non-electric (coiled vinyl) is 5ft.

Seems like all the Lux hoses I have are the same length.

Were the old (1205 & earlier) hoses longer (at least 10ft) than current ones? NOT counting CA & CB commercial units.




This post was last edited 01/08/2013 at 11:43
Post# 213527 , Reply# 12   1/10/2013 at 18:36 (4,095 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)        

fan-of-fans's profile picture
My red Progressive canister has an 8 foot hose. It's the first canister I've had with a hose that long. I find it makes using it convenient. I don't have to have the canister near my feet getting in my way when vacuuming the floor. I also don't have to move the canister as much with it. The blueberry model has a 7 foot hose. Some older Sears canisters from the 1970s had 9 or 10 foot hoses!

I also have an older 1983 Sanyo-made canister and agree the hose is too short. I can see why it is though - it's a vacuum designed for countries with small homes and rooms, so it just wouldn't need a long hose. On mine the hose and attachments also store in a bin that the vacuum sits on, so the shorter length is kind of necessary for it to fit in the bin.

As far as cord length, it's a big issue to me on vacuums. My Kenmore canisters have a nice length cord on each one. The Sanyo canister's cord it pretty short. Short cords to me are kind of annoying. In houses with several smaller closed off rooms I guess it's not a big deal. I live in a more open concept house and some vacuums I can barely even clean a room without having to re-plug. The Sanyo does great on the tile floors in my hall and kitchen, but I have to replug it at least three times to do the job. I also had a Bissell 3 in 1 stick vac that I liked for this as well, but again cord length made it annoying.


Post# 213528 , Reply# 13   1/10/2013 at 18:45 (4,095 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
That's one thing for which you have to give Sears/Panasonic credit: generous hose and cord lengths on their high end canisters. My mom's hunter green Kenmore Progressive (Elegance in Canada) has a wonderful 7 foot hose and 30 foot cord. It does make using the vacuum a pleasure!!!

Post# 213542 , Reply# 14   1/10/2013 at 20:28 (4,095 days old) by kirbyloverdan (Egg Harbor Twp . NJ aka HOOVERLOVERDAN ❤️)        
My New Aerus

kirbyloverdan's profile picture
Guardian Platnium has a 7` 8" hose . Way longer than any Miele I have ever owned and the cord is 28 feet long again longer than any Miele .

Post# 213596 , Reply# 15   1/11/2013 at 06:19 (4,094 days old) by sensotronic (Englandshire)        

The Sebo D4 range has a 40 foot cord and a 7 foot hose.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO sensotronic's LINK


Post# 213600 , Reply# 16   1/11/2013 at 06:34 (4,094 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Do these lengths include the handle? In other words, are they "gross" or "net"?

To me, the important hose dimension is the flexible part.

Would be great to see a side by side comparison of the current canister hoses on the market in a picture!


Post# 214092 , Reply# 17   1/14/2013 at 14:41 (4,091 days old) by electrikbroomgu (Rome, NY)        
Electrolux

electrikbroomgu's profile picture
My 1205/L/E/F hoses seem to be close to 6' when measured up to the handle. I have measured everything from the old model 30 heavy black rubber cords to the chrome auto cord winders to the more current E/F/G etc and those have close to 20' of cord. The regular E and S and thrift versions came with 18' cords. Also note that many of the newer cord winder lux's have a full 20' cord but 6-8" of that is still on the reel after it locks in place. I haven't yet measured the new plastic model Perfect canisters that we are currently selling but the hose looks to be the same 6' as before and the cord may be longer than 20' due to the new design cord reel. We also sell the green steel Air Tek BK 2000 canister that has a choice of std 6' or optional 9' hose and the cord is 30' on the manual end winder.

Here is the link to there site:
www.air-tec.com/Products-bk2000.s...


Post# 214108 , Reply# 18   1/14/2013 at 16:52 (4,091 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Thanks for that Joel...never heard of Air-tec....their products look like Air-way vacs...are they still made here in North America? Love that optional 9 foot hose!

Post# 214110 , Reply# 19   1/14/2013 at 17:23 (4,091 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)        
Cords.

caligula's profile picture
Here is a question. How do you wrap the cord on an upright? straight, or figure 8?

Post# 214115 , Reply# 20   1/14/2013 at 17:37 (4,091 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

On my upright vacs, I generally hang the cord only on the upper hook.

 

As for canisters, I just pull & release the cord (only with auto CWs)

 

btw, the Genuine Electrolux electrified hose is TWO feet longer than the non-electric vinyl hose (This time I measured from machine end coupling to metal tube of hose handle)

So this hose is about 7ft long, which means I won't have the Lux hit my heels anymore!



This post was last edited 01/15/2013 at 00:12
Post# 214117 , Reply# 21   1/14/2013 at 17:50 (4,091 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

eurekaprince's profile picture
Robert! No figure 8's for me! My uprights need to look exactly like the promotional material!

Though I have heard that figure 8's give less stress to the cord for some reason....

Nice to know the old Elux electrified hoses were a generous 8 feet! Wonder if the Canadian versions were that long too....


Post# 214118 , Reply# 22   1/14/2013 at 17:54 (4,091 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)        
Figure 8

caligula's profile picture
is bad for the cord! puts stress on it!

Post# 214168 , Reply# 23   1/15/2013 at 04:07 (4,090 days old) by thermokid (Casper, Wyoming)        
I always heard

that winding up a cord in a figure 8 would cause undo stress on the cord, and it wasn't a good idea ..


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