Thread Number: 35739
/ Tag: Recent Vacuum Cleaners from past 20 years
What do you think about Oreck Vacuums? |
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Post# 383642   1/5/2018 at 23:48 (2,274 days old) by FantomTechGuy (US)   |   | |
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Greetings!
So, I've been repairing vacuum cleaners for a long time. I mostly deal with Fantoms, but I do like other brands of vacuums too. I have come across a lot of Oreck vacuums and I personally do not like them. Here's why: 1. Orecks are all the same; each model is the same, the only difference is the shell and color. 2. The motor; Each Oreck I've taken apart has the exact motor. Which means they all preform the same. 3. Over priced; Orecks sell for over $300. The Oreck Elevate is $300, and is the cheapest model they currently sell. They sell multiple versions of the same vacuum for different prices. If you have the $300 motor inside the $800 version, it will be the exact same. The only difference is the color of the bag and base. Well, that's my take on Orecks. What do you guys think about it? |
Post# 383655 , Reply# 1   1/6/2018 at 04:25 (2,273 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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They are old folks vacuums, that's what I think of them. lol All my grandparents used Orecks, and "the Oreck man" himself was a pensioner. I been to senior homes before, and there was an Oreck somewhere around there, guaranteed. Also, Orecks are not expensive when you thrift them. I never paid over $15 for an Oreck.
They do the job and perform as they are supposed to for their targeted market demographic. I always liked how they groomed the pile carpet at my grandma's house. |
Post# 383659 , Reply# 2   1/6/2018 at 06:52 (2,273 days old) by blackheart (North Dakota)   |   | |
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They do a respectable job. I once ran an oreck 4090 daily for a week then cut open it's bag. I have a fairly small living space, and it's just my cat and my myself.
While it's true that most of them are the same machine a few models, like the xl-21, gold, platinum, the elevate command (I think), and the elevate Conquer though use a 3.5 amp motor, instead of the standard 4. They have a more pleasant sound to them. Their fill tubes and fans are larger, the brushrolls are stiffer, and they have more airflow than the older style design XL 4090 (old style) 50.35 CFM XL-21 85.29 CFM |
Post# 383737 , Reply# 4   1/7/2018 at 09:59 (2,272 days old) by Hank (Cali)   |   | |
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I like orecks always have. The xl, people seem to always forget they were originally made for low pile carpet. The commercial industries loves them for this, they were never truly meant for home use though David sold them as such due to a ton of demand for them. They are also very reliable as long as they weren’t abused. The xl21 and it’s newer cousins rival the Tacony made supralite on cleaning performance And are better made.
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Post# 383745 , Reply# 5   1/7/2018 at 12:05 (2,272 days old) by FantomTechGuy (US)   |   | |
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Post# 383754 , Reply# 6   1/7/2018 at 14:17 (2,272 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)   |   | |
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When my girlfriend and I first got together, she had a green and white Oreck XL. It hardly picked up anything from the standard 'realtor beige' carpet in her apartment. A few months later, two Kirbys came into my hands almost simultaneously--a Gsix that I rescued from a dumpster at my apartment complex and a Heritage 1 that my dad had bought at Goodwill but mom didn't like using because of its weight. The Heritage stayed at my apartment for maybe a month or two before my girlfriend asked to borrow it to deep clean her apartment and it's basically been there ever since.
Shortly after she "borrowed" it, I was at her apartment and noticed the Oreck was missing. When I asked her about it, she said she'd pitched it into the dumpster, so at that point, I realized I wasn't getting the Kirby back anytime soon; however, I did take it to my house to service it once after she'd been "borrowing" it for a couple of years. The brush roll was completely encased in hair, which leads me to believe that could have been a contributing factor in the Oreck's (non) performance as well. I never had the opportunity to properly check it out before she tossed it. Right before Christmas, we were in a store and she started looking at the plasticrap vacuum cleaners on display and said she wanted to get one because it weighed less than the Kirby, which she now finds tiring to use. So maybe I'll eventually get the Heritage back. It's only been at her apartment since 2013. |
Post# 383785 , Reply# 9   1/7/2018 at 20:32 (2,272 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Are a great quick pick up vacuum, but they are NOT a heavy duty upright, a 3 or so inch fan can not move the same amount of air as a big Kirby fan or Eureka or Hoover fan, it just is not possible. |
Post# 383852 , Reply# 11   1/8/2018 at 13:41 (2,271 days old) by josh (Forest Park, IL & Spring Grove, IL)   |   | |
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I've rebuilt 3 Orecks recently. A commercial model, a curved headlight model, and an XL21. I liked that they were simple to work on, and I see the appeal of their light weight. I did find the regular models to be noisy and not clean the greatest, but thought the XL21 was good. A lot quieter and cleaned a lot better.
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Post# 383878 , Reply# 13   1/8/2018 at 17:16 (2,271 days old) by S2_82 (Ohio)   |   | |
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I dont have experience with any Orecks, but I do have a Simplicity Freedom S10S and I think it does a fine job all around. It's supposed to be 40% more powerful than an Oreck as it does have a larger fan and motor. |
Post# 383880 , Reply# 14   1/8/2018 at 17:54 (2,271 days old) by Vinvac (Dubuque IA)   |   | |
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I own a XL21 and love it. Some think they don't deep clean but I tend to disagree. I think they clean well and like most have stated here they are so easy to work on.
I have no experience with the Tacony Supralite products, but realize the prize is equally as high as the Oreck. I believe they have a larger fan and perhaps a better brushroll. However consumer reports did not rate them as well as the Oreck. Remember Hoover, Eureka, Royal, Kirby and many others relied on a 3 amp motor for many years. If you disconnect the belt on an Oreck, remove the brush roll and place your hand over the air chamber you will find the air movement as strong as any Hoover and possibly Eureka. Perhaps not Kirby or Royal...but again, what makes a good vacuum is air flow and a good brush roll, Oreck has it all. The new Sainitaire line with the 7 amp is almost to strong, it seals to the carpet way to quickly. Kirby is still only using a 7 amp motor and will out clean most 12 amp machines on the market. |
Post# 383893 , Reply# 15   1/8/2018 at 20:18 (2,271 days old) by kirby519 (Wisconsin)   |   | |
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What happened to the Oreck model that had the ultra violent light to rid carpets of dust mites? I haven't seen or heard of them in quite a few years. Did anyone buy one and was it effective? |
Post# 383936 , Reply# 16   1/9/2018 at 11:53 (2,270 days old) by FantomTechGuy (US)   |   | |
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The vacuum you're referring to is the Oreck Halo. I thought it was a pretty good machine, but the Halo Vacuum was bought by Oreck. I have the early edition before they were sold to Oreck.
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Post# 383976 , Reply# 17   1/9/2018 at 21:21 (2,270 days old) by kirby519 (Wisconsin)   |   | |
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That is what I was thinking of. Thought it was originally an Oreck machine. I haven't seen any advertising for the Halo in a long time. Any Idea what happened? I don't know of anyone that has one. (That is that I personally know) |
Post# 383995 , Reply# 18   1/10/2018 at 07:07 (2,269 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)   |   | |
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If I remember correctly, the halo was frought with lawsuits; it didn't work as advertised. The contact time needed to kill dust mites etc. Was far !inter than most people would spend with the vacuum. |
Post# 384009 , Reply# 19   1/10/2018 at 11:56 (2,269 days old) by luxkid1980 (Richmond, Virginia)   |   | |
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Seemed like a silly lawsuit to me. People will try to sue over anything. If you want to kill germs on the floor in your house, wash your floors regularly or better yet, steam clean them. |
Post# 384030 , Reply# 20   1/10/2018 at 19:09 (2,269 days old) by kirby519 (Wisconsin)   |   | |
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Just as I thought. Mostly all hype to scare people into spending good money on something that was ineffective. |
Post# 385689 , Reply# 21   2/9/2018 at 19:09 (2,239 days old) by thegen5gal (Alabama)   |   | |
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I (briefly) owned a commercial XL model and that blasted thing was SO LOUD. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s a vacuum cleaner so it is going to make some noise, but the pitch of the motor was a bit to high for comfort.
Reminds me of Shark Vacs, they sound like drills from the dentist. They, in my opinion, aren’t worth the price you pay considering they aren’t deep cleaners. You will receive the same benefit if you buy the $50 Bissell at Walmart. |
Post# 385696 , Reply# 22   2/9/2018 at 21:42 (2,239 days old) by crazykirbydude (Lexington, KY)   |   | |
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Post# 385796 , Reply# 24   2/11/2018 at 02:02 (2,237 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)   |   | |
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I remember saying this in another thread but Orecks are alright in my opinion. Not all Orecks perform the same, the XL21 for example cleans about three times better than the regular XL models. I have a Neighbor that owns both a XL21 and a XL2, I will admit that everyone's opinions might change overtime but recently when I used their XL21 again, at first I thought it was alright. But now, wow I can't believe how good of a machine it is because it had just been fixed and serviced. The XL2 which also just got fixed and serviced as well, I still have the same opinion on that one which means that I still don't like using it. But does that still mean that I don't like Oreck? No. They're not really bad vacuums but I've used other vacuums that are better than Oreck and there are definitely some vacuums that I've used that are even worse than Oreck. I still like to collect them. And they actually have great support services that they provide.
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Post# 385969 , Reply# 28   2/13/2018 at 16:38 (2,235 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)   |   | |
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I have seen several of the Edge canisters on Ebay, but top dollar is what they are asking. I think the lowest I saw one was $149. |
Post# 385983 , Reply# 29   2/13/2018 at 19:24 (2,235 days old) by luxkid1980 (Richmond, Virginia)   |   | |
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Thank for posting pics of the Oreck Edge. Looks really cool! What's the build quality like on the hose? I've always liked the simple design of the Oreck machines. |
Post# 385994 , Reply# 30   2/13/2018 at 20:53 (2,235 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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Does anyone here have an "accepable price guide" when buying used Orecks? I know everyone has an opinion, but it's like every single time I see an Oreck here at ANY thrift store, it's $29.99 - $39.99. I got a deal on getting one for $7.00 but the motor is on its last legs and someone thought it was a bagless vacuum (it was run with no paper bag installed - inner bag is full of lint).
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Post# 386005 , Reply# 33   2/13/2018 at 21:52 (2,235 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)   |   | |
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There is a brand new ultimate canister on ebasy now $149.99 free shipping. The ultimate is the same as the edge canister. |
Post# 386024 , Reply# 35   2/14/2018 at 02:49 (2,234 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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