Thread Number: 31899  /  Tag: Recent Vacuum Cleaners from past 20 years
my review of the metro vac professional canister vacuum
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Post# 351705   5/6/2016 at 12:57 (2,883 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        

Hey everyone, here is my review of this vacuum, it has some good points, but also some bad ones. Since some of you may not be as familiar with this company and this vacuum, here is a link to the vacuum I'm reviewing.
www.metrovacworld.com/The...
There are four canister models, there's the compact version, with and without a power nozzle, and there's the full size version, with and without a power nozzle. Based on the specs, I think they use the same motor.
For those familiar with the old Electrolux models, I'm wondering if this looks similar. The vacuum has a long metal frame with four wheels on the bottom. It has a nice handle on top, the hose can connect to either end of the unit, on one end it functions as a vacuum, on the other end is a blower port, this is one of a few canister vacuums that has a blower feature. On the top of the vacuum is a power switch, pushing the switch down is low speed and pushing it up is high speed, setting it to the middle position turns it off. When on low speed, the motor vibrates quite a bit, not sure if this is caused by the speed regulator or something else. On high speed this does not happen. I have also seen this with some ceiling fans.
The hose is seven feet long. The electrical connection is not made by inserting the hose in to the vacuum itself. There is a short cord on the end of the hose that connects to a mini outlet on the top of the canister, again, I think some of the old electrolux models worked this way. Does any other current canister model work like this? Usually the electric connection and suction port are done all at once. This set up isn't necessarily a bad thing, but does involve an extra step if you want to use an electric nozzle. Actually I would suggest connecting the plug regardless, otherwise it will be dragging on the floor as the vacuum moves around which could possibly damage it. On the other end of the hose is a large gas pump style handle. There is a switch on the hose for turning the power nozzle on and off along with a suction relief control. The hose end and electric connector are standard, that is, 1.25 inch hose end and a standard mini female electric connector, so you could use other power nozzles than the one that is included such as the Sebo or Lindhaus if you wanted to. Using standard hose sizes and standard connectors is a good thing and offers the best compatibility with existing attachments. The hose end uses a button lock stub. You can still use friction fit attachments, but you will need to hold the button down in order to push the attachment over it.
I'm not sure if Metro makes their own power nozzle or gets it from another company such as Wessel Werk or Centec. The power nozzle has a pig tail cord, so you could actually use it with other vacuums if you wanted to. It has a button on the nozzle that turns off the brush but the headlight remains on as long as the nozzle has power. from what I can tell, there is no height adjustment which can be a disadvantage for some types of carpet. However, since the hose is standard, you could use other power nozzles if height adjustment is important to you. The vacuum includes two sets of wands that snap together. There is a holder for the cord, but the wands themselves are not electric.
The vacuum includes the other expected attachments, crevace tool, floor brush, etc. The floor brush looks ok, but I prefer to use other floor brushes such as the Wessel Werk rd285 brushless floor nozzle or the Wessel Werk turn and clean brush for hard floors. If I'm not cleaning under anything, the sidewinder is also a great floor brush.
As far as filtration, Metro is behind the times a bit. The bags it uses are paper rather than cloth based. Paper bags have several disadvantages, they can rip much more easily, they get clogged with fine dust quicker and they do not filter as well. The filtration on this vacuum is similar to how many backpacks work. When you remove the cap by releasing the two latches, you will find a paper bag inside of a cloth bag. Removing these reveals a round motor filter. From what I can tell, there is no exhaust filter on the other end. The vacuum includes three extra bags and two extra motor filters. Metro really needs to switch to cloth bags.
Ok, let's get in to the performance of this vacuum. The motor itself has a nice sound, it's not one of those high pitch squealing motors that are so common in vacuums today. It's a two stage motor. However, this vacuum is not quiet by any means. Most of the sound does not come from the motor itself, but from all of the air blowing out of the blower port. You can feel the air from several feet away, it's quite strong. It's above the floor so hopefully does not blow dust around, though as strong as the exhaust is, that's quite possible. It's not quite as loud as some wet dry vacs I've heard, but is probably the loudest canister I have in my collection.
Regarding suction power, it's enough to get the job done, but is not the strongest in this area by any means. Since the vacuum uses a two stage motor, I wonder if the fans are in parallel which would increase air flow, or in series which would increase suction. I'm inclined to think it's a parallel configuration because of all the air that comes out of the blower port. I tested the vacuum with my rug rat turbine tool, and it spins the slowest out of all of my canisters. While that in itself does not mean that the vacuum is not capable of cleaning, it does indiccate performance compared to other canisters.
There is no cord winder on this vacuum, you can rap the cord around it, the cord is 20 feet long.
So, in conclusion, would I recommend this vacuum? Only for certain users. I can't recommend it as a first choice, there are too many disadvantages. The fact that it uses paper bags, the fact that it's not very quiet because of the strong exhaust, and the fact that it's not the most powerful canister don't allow that. You can get quieter, more powerful models for this price. I would suggest it if you want a long metal canister, similar to the old Electrolux models, or if having a canister vacuum with a blower is important to you. Then again, you can get the Perfect Canister for a similar price, and it's more powerful and can use cloth bags.


Post# 351713 , Reply# 1   5/6/2016 at 15:57 (2,882 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        
motor

I actually wonder what motor is used in this vacuum, it sounds a bit more like an Ametek motor than a Dommel, or it could be something else.

Post# 369166 , Reply# 2   3/25/2017 at 13:57 (2,560 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        
something else I discovered

So, had this vacuum out today, had not used it for a while and discovered something interesting though I don't think it's very common. The vacuum has two speeds, when you switch to lower speed, the power through the hose is also reduced so the power nozzle you are using will also slow down. Most vacuums keep the power through the hose the same even if the motor speed changes. I guess it's just the way this vacuum is wired, I don't know of any other vacuum that works that way.
Mike


Post# 369168 , Reply# 3   3/25/2017 at 14:09 (2,560 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)        

fan-of-fans's profile picture
Interesting vacuum, don't hear much about Metrovacs.

As far as the power nozzle slowing down, I think I heard some Kenmore Progressive canisters with variable speed do similar, but the nozzle actually sped up when the vacuum was on lower speed.


Post# 369171 , Reply# 4   3/25/2017 at 14:55 (2,559 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        
metro vacuum popularity

I can't even remember how I first heard about it. It's an ok vacuum, but I don't find myself ever suggesting it to others for a few reasons. First, it's fairly loud, not so much from the motor, but the air flowing out of it, almost sounds like a tornado. Also, it uses paper bags, and as far as I know, no cloth bags are available for it, I think cloth bags should always be used when possible, much better filtration. I don't regret getting it since I'm a collector, and it's built really well, but again, there are a few things that it falls short on. It does have a blower port though, that's something very few vacuums have now, other than wet dry vacs.

Post# 369240 , Reply# 5   3/26/2017 at 07:26 (2,559 days old) by kenkart ()        
I have one

That is about 10 years old, its probably as powerful as any vacuum I ever used, the problem is that the paper bags cant stand that much power, I have never been able to use the genuine Metropolitan bags without them bursting.

Post# 369245 , Reply# 6   3/26/2017 at 08:57 (2,559 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        
alternative bag

Which bags do you use? Yes, the vacuum is powerful, though it actually has more airflow than suction, it has 130 CFM which is pretty powerful for a canister. The motor is an Ametek motor. I wish that cloth bags were available for it. It's a nice vacuum, but not one I use on a regular basis. The other thing I don't like is that the hose does not swivel on the end that the user holds, that's kind of annoying.
Mike


Post# 369361 , Reply# 7   3/27/2017 at 20:44 (2,557 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)        

panasonicvac's profile picture
Has anyone taken one of these apart before? I wonder if they use a suppressor filter wrapped around the motor.

Post# 369367 , Reply# 8   3/27/2017 at 21:49 (2,557 days old) by kenkart ()        
Mine has

A cloth bag that the paper bag goes into, Mine pulls over 90 inches of waterlift.

Post# 369418 , Reply# 9   3/28/2017 at 15:40 (2,556 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)        
wonder if it's the same design

Interestingly, this vacuum is not able to spin my rug rat turbo brush nearly as fast as my other canister vacuums. Granted, this doesn't mean that it doesn't clean as well, but it is somewhat of an indication of vacuum power.


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