Thread Number: 38781
/ Tag: Recent Vacuum Cleaners from past 20 years
Maytag M700 Lifetime Belt |
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Post# 412044   7/26/2019 at 14:08 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Very recently, a customer brought in a Maytag M 700. It is still under warranty. My new customer was very upset. She did not buy the machine from my store. The manufacturer of the machine is 8 miles from my store. There is a huge chunk out of the side of her lifetime belt on her vacuum. She called the manufacturer, only to be told that it must be her fault in someway. They are not prepared to replace the belt. According to my customer they refused to do so. So much for “customer service and family values“. My customer has really babied her machine and she really liked it. I helped her out by installing a new “lifetime“ belt. She is so angry at the manufacturer she was beside herself. By helping her out this problem, I actually made a customer for my lifetime. Of course, she will never buy any product made by the manufacturer of the Maytag again.
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Post# 412045 , Reply# 1   7/26/2019 at 14:10 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Huge chunk out of a Clearly defective belt. Interestingly the instruction book claims that if the belt is ever damaged or breaks it will be replaced for free. Except that’s not what happens.
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Post# 412046 , Reply# 2   7/26/2019 at 14:10 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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She takes great care of this machine, as she spent good money for it and took great pride in ownership. Look how clean and spotless this machines brush housing is.
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Post# 412047 , Reply# 3   7/26/2019 at 14:11 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Post# 412048 , Reply# 4   7/26/2019 at 14:13 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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I’m calling BS on both! It’s customer service that keeps you in business. Whether you are a single stand-alone store, or a major corporation.
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Post# 412050 , Reply# 5   7/26/2019 at 14:39 (1,735 days old) by vaclab (Pickerington, Ohio)   |   | |
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Post# 412051 , Reply# 6   7/26/2019 at 16:01 (1,735 days old) by Hank (Cali)   |   | |
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Post# 412052 , Reply# 7   7/26/2019 at 17:02 (1,735 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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The customer service department could have just mailed her a new belt. It’s not like you have to remove any screws at all to replace it. Have they done so, my new customer would have been overjoyed. Thank goodness I have the bags and filters to keep it running as long as she wants to on it. Her next vacuum, is going to be an Electrolux.
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Post# 412058 , Reply# 8   7/26/2019 at 19:15 (1,735 days old) by moderneezer (Gatineau, Quebec, Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 412069 , Reply# 12   7/26/2019 at 21:30 (1,735 days old) by Blackheart (North Dakota)   |   | |
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Tacony WAS a company that made some really effective vacuums, and before all the changes they were pretty easy for us to work with, sent us what we needed for warranty work and would even walk us through things when we were unsure what to do. Now I keep hearing that their quality control is lacking, machines show up and don't work right out of the box, issues with them fulfilling warranty. It's just sad! At this rate they're headed towards their demise.
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Post# 412071 , Reply# 13   7/26/2019 at 23:04 (1,735 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)   |   | |
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I notice on their website that the only canister vac available is the Wondra. And the uprights offerings have been severely culled. Maybe they are redesigning the site? |
Post# 412074 , Reply# 14   7/26/2019 at 23:28 (1,735 days old) by Blackheart (North Dakota)   |   | |
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Because you used the term wonder which was a simplicity machine I'm assuming that's the website you were looking at. Simplicity is being rebranded as like a lower line sold online and such. A lot of the machines have been discontinued under the Simplicity name. The S20EZ and bagless are models that were part of the fuller brush/carpet pro and other names.
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Post# 412076 , Reply# 15   7/27/2019 at 00:46 (1,735 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)   |   | |
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Both the Simplicity and RiccaR sites. I used the name Wondra, as the Wondra, And Prima are the same Chinese machine, and the only canister offering. |
Post# 412077 , Reply# 16   7/27/2019 at 01:55 (1,735 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA)   |   | |
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Post# 412080 , Reply# 17   7/27/2019 at 03:25 (1,735 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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Post# 412175 , Reply# 19   7/29/2019 at 01:48 (1,733 days old) by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)   |   | |
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It's a shame to me now that Tacony doesn't make higher end Simplicity vacuums like Riccar. It personally made sense for two close dealers to sell both Tacony vacuums with different brands on them. I can understand the move from a business point of view but at least dealers can now sell both brands so that it would give consumers more options to choose from. We'll see how well Simplicity does now at the department stores because I hope they would go back into making higher end vacuums but I doubt that would happen again anytime soon.
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Post# 412251 , Reply# 20   7/31/2019 at 15:46 (1,730 days old) by DesiredName (Utah)   |   | |
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Post# 412253 , Reply# 21   7/31/2019 at 16:44 (1,730 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Post# 412267 , Reply# 24   8/1/2019 at 12:57 (1,729 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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And now I know much more about what happened.
She bought the machine from the Tacony Factory Outlet Store located at the factory (8 miles away). It has a 5 year warranty. The lifetime belt, according to the instruction manual, has a lifetime warranty. The belt touches a part called the "Hall Sensor", which sends the speed of the belt that's touching it, to the circuit board. When a stall condition occurs (throw rug in this case), the Hall Sensor is supposed to stop the motor. But stopping a 12 amp motor is not the same as stopping a 5 amp tandem or ultra lite model motor. Many times, the motor itself will chew through the lifetime belt right at the pulley before it stops. In any event, the belt is warrantied in such conditions. My customer went to the Factory Outlet Store with her broken vacuum, to have the belt replaced. The Outlet Store is chained closed. She called the factory phone number (it's a local number) and was given the 'corporate office' phone number. The 'customer service' person she reached told her it must be her fault, and refused to send a new belt. She went back to the factory, but could find no one who could help her (she was already perturbed). A factor worker who was outside smoking told her about the new vac shop that might be able to help. She brought in the machine, I ordered the belt, put it on, charged her for it and she picked up the machine. She's happy with our service, but still has a bitter taste in her mouth with regards to the run around she got from 'customer service' at the corporate level. I don't know who she talked to, and it makes no difference. I also sold her bags, and she's now my customer (hopefully, for life). If the belt ever breaks or gets chewed by the motor again, I'm selling her an Electrolux. |
Post# 412268 , Reply# 25   8/1/2019 at 13:33 (1,729 days old) by vacuumdevil (Vacuum Hell )   |   | |
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@Dysonman1 I called it two years ago when I had problems with "a no-go" catching fire. You're not the third dealer I've seen talk about them giving them a hard time about warranty. The inside group" vac talk with the pros "on Facebook is full of vacuum shop people complaining about Tacony lately.
I'm glad you kept your integrity and got out of there! |
Post# 412283 , Reply# 26   8/2/2019 at 09:29 (1,729 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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My best friend (and my best man at my wedding) worked at the factory for three years. He worked on the assembly line. One day, the line was having trouble with the hall sensors not stopping the direct air motor when they were testing them at the end of the line, before the box. They jam them with a towel to make sure the sensor stops the machine. The motors were not stopping, and some even smoked (the motor). One caught fire. He took cell phone pics and video because he was amazed that a $1000 vacuum would fail so miserably. Instead of stopping the shipment of the entire run - in order to locate and isolate the problem - he was told to pile them on a pallet and ship them. Only the ones that smoked were not shipped. I would hate to be a customer who bought a new vac, and the first time I caught a rug or sock, instead of stopping, it smoked and caught fire. That was 3 years ago so I don't know what happened to the machines that were shipped. He showed me the cell phone video that day at lunch. Thank God I hate tandem air cleaners. Never sold one.
He also took pictures of ALL the Chinese stuff they use to make the cleaner as well as the Chinese plastic pellets they mold the plastic housings from. After he quit in disgust and moved, he got rid of every single machine in his collection that was made there. He was also a prototype tester for the factory, and had many of the new ones that he thought would eventually be valuable with their extremely low serial numbers. I didn't have a store then, and I watched him throw away a perfectly good Prima that he called 'Chinese junk'. He gave the uprights to Goodwill. Only Miele and Sebo for him now. |
Post# 412378 , Reply# 27   8/4/2019 at 16:29 (1,726 days old) by DesiredName (Utah)   |   | |
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Tom, yesterday I was unboxing a brand new factory sealed Riccar Vibrance commercial model, with the lifetime belt. I tested it on my bench and the brush stopped as soon as it touched the carpet. It was followed by a burning belt smell. I took it apart and the belt looks slightly too long. That "lifetime " belt was dead right out of the package.
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Post# 412478 , Reply# 28   8/7/2019 at 08:25 (1,724 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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I saw the quality control falling for the last year I was at the factory. After they fired Clovis, the quality control manager, as well as Mike the engineer, you could see it right before your eyes. Things were failing right out of the box. I know, because I never sold anybody the box. I always assembled them. For the most part, it was the little stuff. I do remember one day I sold a vacuum in the morning, and she brought it back that afternoon because there was smoke coming out of the handle. I took it apart, and discovered the wires have been pinched between the 2 halves of the handle. The wiring to the switch had melted, in less than 15 minutes use. That was the only time this particular problem happened. But if it happened once to me, how many more dealers was it happening to? The problem for me, there was no one in quality control anymore to show the problem to. So I just put a new handle assembly on the machine, re-sold it, and I didn’t hear from it again. The original customer wanted her money back, which I didn’t blame her for. If my brand new $500 vacuum was smoking within 15 minutes and smelling like it was on fire, I would want my money back too. So glad that I don’t have to sell that brand anymore, nor deal with anybody at corporate.
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Post# 412485 , Reply# 29   8/7/2019 at 09:49 (1,724 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)   |   | |
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Post# 412487 , Reply# 30   8/7/2019 at 11:51 (1,723 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA)   |   | |
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"The belt touches a part called the "Hall Sensor", which sends the speed of the belt that's touching it, to the circuit board."
The technical term is 'hall effect sensor.' It's basically a speed sensor, yes, but the whole point of it is that it doesn't touch anything. Sort of solid state, so it won't wear out. It requires metal to pass by it (and the absence of metal), so likely there are metal bars inside the brush roll for this purpose. I'd be very surprised if the belt itself had metal in it. |
Post# 412499 , Reply# 31   8/7/2019 at 16:16 (1,723 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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This part is called a “hall sensor“. When you order it from Tacony that is what it is called. The belt touches the black wheel which spins with the belt. There is a magnet in the black wheel. The magnet is spinning with the belt, communicating the speed of the brush roll to the circuitboard. When the revolutions have slowed by half the hall sensor stops the machine.
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Post# 412500 , Reply# 32   8/7/2019 at 16:21 (1,723 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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I wouldn't say to stay away from Tacony vacuums. The R20SC is still one of my favorite vacuums. NO Circuit Board. No switch in the handle. Steel brush bar. Excellent suction and cleaning ability. It's the workhorse of the line, and I've never regretted selling a single one. The 8 pound machine from Tacony is awesome. I've sold at least a thousand, and they hold up very well. Just not the models with circuit boards, hall sensors, or other electronics destined to fail. The more simple the machine, the better.
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Post# 412513 , Reply# 34   8/8/2019 at 14:01 (1,722 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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I traded in just now this Maytag M600. It was one of the Proto types, so it has an hour clock under the hood. This machine has run for 88 1/2 hours and it will never run again. Bad charger, bad battery, motor screams like hell. The machine has not been abused. There are tons of Tacony vacuums. My goal is to trade them all in. This customer for example now has an Electrolux. I’m going to keep all of the trade in Tacony vacuums, and we will have a huge bonfire at the next vacuum cleaner collectors convention this coming May.
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Post# 412532 , Reply# 35   8/9/2019 at 00:36 (1,722 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA)   |   | |
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Dysonman, I'll repeat, the TECHNICAL term for the device is 'Hall effect sensor.' It's called that because it operates on the principle of the Hall effect. Just because one company has a shortened internal name for it does not change what it actually is. Of course, I was just getting technical about it, 'hall sensor' is a perfectly legitimate short version. I was trying to explain the technical side of how it worked because from your description it seemed like you didn't quite understand.
Of course, what I didn't understand was that, on this machine, the Hall effect sensor was reading from an idler or tensioner pulley. So I misunderstood your description. CLICK HERE TO GO TO MadMan's LINK |