|
Thread Number: 20416
ZEPTER water vacuum cleaning system |
[Down to Last] |  |
| Post# 228536 4/15/2013 at 18:41 (4,025 days old) by stricklybojack (Southern California) | ||
New one on me. Anyone have any experience with this brand or model? link is to NYC craigslist ad.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO stricklybojack's LINK on New York Craigslist 
| ||
| Post# 228576 , Reply# 1 4/16/2013 at 00:12 (4,025 days old) by spiraclean (UK) | ||
These were sold in the UK around the late 90s onwards. Ours were marketed by Polti (an Italian company famous for their steam appliances) and were coloured turquoise, but other than that they were almost identical. We had them in our store priced at £159, and with a Polti demonstrator on site two days a week allowing customers to try the cleaner out, they sold like crazy.
It's nowhere near as advanced as a Rainbow. There's no separator, just a tube that dips below the water line to create a bubbling effect in the water. Next filtration stage was a coarse plastic mesh, like a dryer lint screen, and a foam sleeve. Following on from this is a pre-motor HEPA filter, and finally a small post-motor filter comprising of a microfilter bonded to a carbon pad. The cleaner worked well, and the novelty of seeing the water turning murky proved to be a very convincing selling point. That said, it's not an easy machine to maintain. The bubbling action of the water causes wet dust to be churned up inside the container, where it then lands upon the mesh and foam filters, so these need to be rinsed off and allowed to dry after each use. A lot of fine dust escapes the water filter too, and ends up directly on the pre-motor HEPA, which soiled a little too quickly for my liking. It's a fun cleaner to play with, but I wouldn't want one as my daily driver. Although they were a big seller for us, I do wonder how many of our customers persevered with them after the novelty had worn off, and dread to think how pet owners got on with them. CLICK HERE TO GO TO spiraclean's LINK | ||
| Post# 228633 , Reply# 2 4/16/2013 at 13:10 (4,024 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
Zepter
Was sold also in the U.S. as the Euroflex model A50. It's quite large. But holds only about three cups of water. No power nozzle, turbo brush only. Interestingly, this version has a 'cyclone' attached to the top wand to catch dirt before it goes into the water, meaning only the fine dust is filter by the water. This means there's no wet cat hair to dig out of the machine.
| ||
| Post# 228634 , Reply# 3 4/16/2013 at 13:11 (4,024 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
|
MUCH bigger | ||
| Post# 228635 , Reply# 4 4/16/2013 at 13:12 (4,024 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 228640 , Reply# 5 4/16/2013 at 13:51 (4,024 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
Yes we got it here as badged as Hoover. Personally I found it to be awefull. Toms right they were a horrible mess to clean. The motors fitted to the ones we got never lasted. I had a couple that we disposed of a while ago. My biggest problem with water filtration is that in SA most people have cleaning staff who never quite follow instructions so they always pack up because they either over or under fill them with water.
| ||
| Post# 228641 , Reply# 6 4/16/2013 at 13:54 (4,024 days old) by vintagerepairer (England) | ||
|
Oh how the other half live. The UK can't get cleaning staff at any price. Do these cleaners with water not smell musty after a short while? | ||
| Post# 228642 , Reply# 7 4/16/2013 at 13:58 (4,024 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 228645 , Reply# 8 4/16/2013 at 14:19 (4,024 days old) by vintagerepairer (England) | ||
|
I thought as much. I only ever touched one. It was a Polti and it stank. Water filters never caught on over here. I'm sure Vax did one once. | ||
| Post# 228689 , Reply# 9 4/16/2013 at 18:53 (4,024 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
|
Interesting to note...
When we talk about water filtration vacuum cleaners, they fall into two categories. Those that DO have a centrifugal separator, and those that do not. It seems to me that the amount of dust in a non-separator type vacuum's filters is far greater than in a separator machine (like the Rainbow). I've used the Big Power, which was a total joke to clean. I've used the Thermax. It's like pulling a coffee table behind you. The Euroflex, like its' cousin The H2O vac from "as seen on TV", suffer from an inadequate amount of water to dirt picked up. In any event, the filters clog horribly in every one I've tried. In addition, there's the sloshing problem when pulling them around. As the water sloshes inside the container, some is inhaled into the motor. No question that the pre-motor filters of all non-separator water vacs are wet after operation.
| ||
| Post# 229236 , Reply# 11 4/20/2013 at 10:17 (4,020 days old) by myles_v (Fredericksburg, VA) | ||
 I used to have a Thermax that was given to me by my grandmother who never used it. She traded her Rainbow in for it a long time ago, I'm pretty sure she regreted doing that. It was pretty large and somewhat difficult to pull around, but it was my first water filtration vacuum and I liked it. I think it cleaned okay, the neck of the power nozzle broke and the extension wands couldn't click in anymore. I lost the carpet cleaning nozzle though, it never worked that well at shampooing anyways. I'm pretty sure that it only had one flimsy filter under the tank. | ||
| Post# 229743 , Reply# 12 4/23/2013 at 19:50 (4,017 days old) by stricklybojack (Southern California) | ||
|
Thanks for the info | ||
| Post# 229788 , Reply# 13 4/24/2013 at 10:47 (4,016 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK) | ||
Benny, you're right, I remember that Vax cleaner. It had a completely clean bin and a bright orange top. I can't remember what the heck it was called now!
My Dad had a water filter vacuum, branded "Neptune". These never took off, but crop up on eBay every so often. It was a great vac, but again very messy to maintain and at £300+ new, they weren't exactly cost efficient either. 
| ||
| Post# 229806 , Reply# 14 4/24/2013 at 12:47 (4,016 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada) | ||
The PIGG 
Chris....Very interesting your Dad had that Neptune vacuum! In America, that vacuum is sold as The PIGG, by a company called PIGG Industries in Conroe, Texas. The PIGG was intended to be sold door-to-door, same as Rainbow. The funny thing is they never made a version with an electric hose, wand & powerhead....strange considering powerhead canisters sell much better in North America than straight suction canisters. I don't know if we ever got it in Canada, though, as I have never seen one yet & haven't heard of any dealers.
If your Dad still has the Neptune, could you do a separate post please & take some detailed pics? I have always wanted to see one & see how it works. Rob | ||
| Post# 229808 , Reply# 15 4/24/2013 at 12:58 (4,016 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 229831 , Reply# 16 4/24/2013 at 14:29 (4,016 days old) by dysondestijl (east midlands, UK) | ||
|
As for one vax did- was it the vax Luna? | ||
| Post# 229917 , Reply# 17 4/25/2013 at 01:38 (4,016 days old) by spiraclean (UK) | ||
|
Vax's water filter vac was called the WaterJet, and I think the model number was V-100 or something similar. It was fitted with a clear drum, and the motor unit looked very much like that of the old Philips 3-in-1 cleaners. It worked by bubbling the dirty water through a perforated screen in the bottom of the drum, so you can imagine how nice that would be to deal with on a daily basis. Didn't sell well, and went as quickly as it came.
The Vax Luna was a standard 3-in-1 type cleaner, functionally similar to what came before it but tarted up a bit to look more modern. By the time this came out Vax were really losing their grip on the market, and they were desperately trying to claw back sales. The problem wasn't that their existing machine was dated, however. It survived the Luna by a long shot, and still sells today albeit with a few minor updates over the years. The real issue was that 3-in-1 machines were no longer in fashion. The market for them was getting a little saturated by now, and those who did have them rarely used them as their daily cleaner. More often than not they were just kept in the garage and only pulled out once or twice a year for shampooing jobs. As a result of this they rarely wore out, which kind of put the kibosh on repeat sales too. The big drop in demand did not go unnoticed, and before long we had relegated 3-in-1 cleaners to special order status, so as to make room for something else on the showroom floor. The Luna was of a similar time frame to the Sahara bare floor cleaner, Wizard bagless dry canister, and the last of the Vax 3-in-1 uprights. All products that were supposed to reverse the company's fortunes, but didn't. Vax seemed to have a real problem at the time with actually making stuff people wanted, and were too slow to diversify, insisting on putting all their eggs into the one basket whose time had already come and gone. Had it not been for TTI coming along and taking over, I really don't think they would still be here now. | ||
| Post# 229930 , Reply# 18 4/25/2013 at 03:43 (4,016 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK) | ||
|
Vax Luna... | ||
| Forum Index: | 
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
