Powerful is a Plus but Quality is Questionable (Electrolux Powerplus Z4411)

Member Name: Nar2

Product:	Electrolux Powerplus Z4411
Date:	29/06/07 (538 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Powerful, relatively easy to use, good design points.

Disadvantages: Cheap plastic build quality, plastic tubes crack easily, too much plastic! short power cord.

£19-00 it does seem like an extraordinary bargain that you can buy a cheap cylinder vacuum cleaner just to suck up dirt and there are a few models exclusive to Argos and Tesco which offer bagged collection of dirt – but in almost all cases the bag capacity is small or the machine has to be emptied all the time after each use which for anyone like me, I can’t be bothered with. These days however Electrolux have waxed clever to the idea of the humble paper bag, which is why you will find most of their current bagged cylinders equipped with a few paper bags to start you off AND a permanent washable textile bag to use instead. Make no mistake if you have a cylinder vacuum cleaner as your back up source and you can't find bags for it, shopping around for bags can be tedious.


** Buying Reconditioned - What's the Catch? **


I paid £19-99 for a reconditioned model from a seller that I trust wholeheartedly on EBay. Being reconditioned you'd expect the odd scratch, the odd tool missing - something externally which is different from the model brand new. Well, whatever they have done with it, being reconditioned with a brand new motor and fittings, my model is shiny, gleaming and looks brand new. I got two paper bags enclosed aswell and the aforementioned textile dirt bag.


** Nar's Quick Skip Product Spec **

• Micro filtration dry felt pleated filters - Unwashable
• 1700 watts low noise motor but high suction power - fixed with no variable suction control dial.
• Hose handle has air inlet valve to reduce suction - small but works!
• Separate on power pedal - clearly marked.
• Auto cord rewind - Pedal activated and clearly marked.
• 4.5 metres of power cord – Far too short for an otherwise larger cylinder vacuum cleaner which has a 4 litre dust capacity.
• Plastic pipes - basic, push in and pull out friction type which don’t feel as if they will last.
• £5-99 extra for bags (pack of 5, Electrolux branded) - cheaper copy bags available thanks to other models in Electrolux company.
• Universal dual 2 way floor head with bonded park position.
• On board storage; crevice tool with snap on brush and flat upholstery tool. (Disappointing)
• Mechanical dust bag indicator (green to bright orange - easier to spot.)
• 5kg weight with tubing and hose included. (Quite lightweight)
• Argos Price: £39-99
• My Price (EBay) £11-99 and £8-00 P&P rates. (£19-99)


** Why Choose Electrolux? **


To my mind and in my experience as a vacuum cleaner collector, Electrolux machines are becoming better to source in terms of spares as well as having longer motors and offering more versatile performance than Hoover who are happy to rip of the customer by offering cheaper machines with less thought out features.

Out of all the cylinders I have had from Electrolux, both my Mondo Mk1 and Boss B4111 has been the easiest to maintain and to use. Both cylinders are not compact but both have great suction, easy to remove tubes and easy to source bags and filters with quiet enough motors to match. Both have better quality than previous Hoover cylinders including the Arrianne model and Telios cylinders. So the choice of the Electrolux was purely down to the fact that with experience, I thought I was getting a bargain.


** Price Brand New & Alternatives **


Is the Powerplus worth £39-99 brand new? Against cheaper alternatives such as Bush and Dirt Devil models currently on sale at Argos, the only difference I can see is better quality pipes and permanent washable bags with a deeper capacity. Tie in the high power 1700 watt motor and you may well have a cheap but versatile cylinder vacuum cleaner which ticks all the right boxes for being able to be stored neatly away without taking up too much room.


** Quality & Design **


It's as simple as it gets here but Electrolux have engineered good basic Swedish thinking; in terms of fitting a bag and filters though. The bags are easy to install into a thick plastic holder and access to the motor filter is easy thanks to the pick up and slide out cartridge holder where the filter can be pushed out. Oh if only Hoover applied the same thinking here! At the back of this squarish but curved machine, a recessed handle reveals the pop out exhaust filter which like the motor filter sits in its own grate.

Out of the box, it is really easy to assemble the Powerplus too. It's all about pushing in with friction; the tubes fit together by pushing them in; the hose has a well designed lock which fits at the top of the machine and the floorhead pushes in at the bottom of the floor head channel. Electrolux have kept design to a minimum here - they do have great experience after all. Here the pipes are plastic thanks to the low price and although they have yet to crack, they do bend somewhat between the hose and the floor head.

Moving with the Powerplus is easy too although the machine itself is not as compact as its Mondo Z2305/6 cousin. Coloured in light pastel blue, it's easy to say that scratches would be viewable if this machine is used everyday. Aside from a bonded seal around the whole cleaner, there is no other bumper to withstand bumps and scrapes - but then again it is a cheaply priced bargain basement vacuum cleaner.


** Floor head, Other tools and Design **


A dual purpose floor head is supplied, and just like my Boss model, the floor head moves easily, gliding beautifully and is very lightweight and easy to use. Simple rule of thumb; brushes down for hard flooring, brushes up for general carpet piles and other fabric basic materials. Edge channels assure edge brushing and the floor head here is made of thick grey plastic as opposed to the universal designs you usually find with other company models such as Hoover! Additionally there is a hook on the back of the floor head which allows you to park the hose and head onto the rear of the Powerplus whilst in use. Nothing unusual here but its good to see Electrolux have permanently stuck a thick hook on the back of the floorhead which means less breakage in use...or so I thought.

Three additional cleaning tools are also supplied; a short and stubby crevice tool with a secondary snap on brush to add versatility and an upholstery tool. Both are rather cheap looking though and they don't mirror the same type found on my Boss cleaner. These sit in an easy to find "on board" storage cubby which sits before the hose entrance on the Powerplus. Again you get what you pay for in this respect but its good to see Electrolux putting a hiding flap to keep everything together.

The bag indicator window is small but you don't have to look at it closely; when the bag is full or there's a blockage, the green window goes to bright orange which is viewable from a distance.

Carrying the Powerplus up and down stairs is no problem at all thanks to the fact that the park positions and the elasticity of the lightweight plastic hose sits close to the body. The hose itself including the bonded handle is also lighter than hoses found on past Hoover models. Electrolux quote the figure of 5kg and it is comparative to my Sebo K1 which is 5.5 kg in weight with metal pipes.


** Is it aptly named? **


Yes!! Lots of power and thanks to no variable suction dial, the noise of the motor isn't too loud or whiney to cause offence. There is an air inlet hole on the handle of the cleaner but it doesn't open up very much but it is a much needed device. Opened, the suction is easier to maintain, particularly when moving the floorhead around. The floor head sticks to the carpet and it can be difficult to move unless you open the air inlet valve at the top of the hose handle; once you do this all of the 1700 watts on offer is easier to maintain and control.


** Changing the Bag/Access to Filters **


The bags are easy to fit and take out when full; just slide the bag into the holder, lock and fit the lid down and it snaps into place. If only it was easier on my Hoover Telios, where if misjudged the bag seals itself and you have to open and install another bag - yes it is another example of how Hoover rips off the customer.

The bags can take a maximum of 4 litres which seems to be a market standard for middling to large capacity of dirt in one go

Access to filters is also easy to pick out and replace. Additionally, you can wash both the black or white foam motor filter and exhaust filter located before the bag at the motor (but must be dried before installing again) and at the back of the machine where the exhaust filter is concerned.


** Filtration & Dust Bag Availability**


With the exception of the paper bag, Electrolux have fitted a micro filter to their exhaust and motor channel. Used in the kitchen the odours were kept to a minimum although it's easy to see at the end of the day what I would prefer with my Sebo cleaners and their S Class/ HEPA filters. The filters do a good job of minimising actual dirt odour but it depends very much on what you use your Powerplus for.

Pet owners for example would need to look elsewhere - this is a basic vacuum cleaner after all - so those with allergies or pets would have to consider a vacuum with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter. Pet hair (especially dogs and cats) are notoriously oily and easy to sniff out in homes. Although the filters do well at keeping back general emissions, they won't keep out the smell of pet hair.

The exhaust filter would have to be changed after 5 or 10 bags according to the small worded black and white booklet that comes with the Powerplus, but the filters used here are white cloth, black foam and whilst the white filters are washable, in time it would need to be replaced after constant washing and wringing out. Buy a box of bags for this cleaner from Electrolux (still £5-99!) and you would get a free set of cut to size filters free with the bags. The motor filter does not need to be replaced though; it can be washed and dried.


** Costs **


The dust bags have self seal flaps on them which means after you take out the bag, flip the flap over and it sits directly in front of the bag channel and hung under the rubber rim which seals the bag in use. This is not the most ideal seal though in terms of sealing the bag completely but at least they have some kind of sealing protection from dust which becomes airborne.

Generally the cost of the bags are £5-99 for 5 bags which are Electrolux genuine branded bags, but Homespares also do a fantastic copy of the bags, 5 for £1-99 depending on where you shop. Generally Comet, Currys and other high street shops won't carry Homespares bags but you can find them in privately owned, independent shops such as hardware stores and sometimes even thrifty D.I.Y pound style shops.


** Downsides **


However good I have reported this Electrolux to be, it has proved to be disappointing despite the price I paid and with the 6 month guarantee I never thought I would have to actually use the guarantee. After four months and a bit, I was cleaning out a friend’s house one day and discovered there was no suction coming from the machine. Nothing was clogged due to the lack of a rising motor pitch but there was no suction at all. I looked around and suddenly realised the hose lock on the bin had stayed permanently at its position but the rubber hose above it had tried to turn around, and through my use, the hose had turned and split which obviously pushed the vacuum suction into the room rather than through the hose. I couldn’t believe this at the time, but closer inspection reveals that whilst the lock is extremely strong it doesn’t quite move in the 360° access Electrolux would have you believe.

Once onto the phone to the seller, they had commented that this was beginning to be a common problem on the same model and luckily because I still had two months left on a guarantee they sent out a free replacement hose which would originally have cost £15.

Secondly whilst the pipes are plastic, easy to remove especially for shortening and getting into tight spaces, I just don’t like plastic pipes at all on the account that one day they will crack either at the ends or snap in two with use. They measure 32mm so getting replacement metal tubes are not hard to find, or expensive if you consider EBay. In this respect a cylinder vacuum of this size (because it’s not that small compared to their smaller micro “Powerlite” model) should really come with metal tubes as standard.

Thirdly on all websites showing this model, it states 4.5 metres of cord and it is a pity that in reality this statistic appears to be true. I find 4.5 metres of cord far too short from the industry standard of 7 metres and indeed it is a bit of a nonsense having to change plugs every so often because of the lack of distance from the machine to the plug and the lack of power cord which limits overall distance. Electrolux don’t fit a longer hose here either, which would somewhat compensate the short power cord.

Lastly despite the new hose, after a year the floor head decided to snap off its complete housing. This was the last straw before I had to pay for a new floor head, an unbranded 2 way floor head which cost £10 and has since yet to break. But that hasn't stopped the plastic on the Electrolux rendering the tool door from snapping at the hinge which means the door is now fixed on with sello tape.


** Conclusion **


The Powerplus uses the same paper bag as the older "Tango," "Bolero" and "Samba," range, as well as their recently updated model the Mega 2000 cylinder and two other cylinder ranges which are still selling in the shops. All models use the same type of filters which carry "scissor cut" signs to cut the filter to shape; so consumables such as bags and filters are always available. Or you can just use the permanent washable textile bag instead to save on the cost of paper bags. I must admit that I'm all in favour of models which can use the same bags - it says a lot for an electrical company who are trying their level best to be good for the environment.

For all that the Powerplus Z4411 has great suction and generally a basic no frills performance with some good points added to its design for maintenance, the quality of the plastic, especially the hose and the tubes themselves have lowered my expectations from Electrolux. Yes, it may well be cheap but there’s no excuse that this model should have lesser quality or cheap thought out small cleaning tools when it replaces the Boss Endurotronic B4111 which is slightly larger than this Z4411 but no less capable and has a better quality all around for long term use. So, sadly in my experience the Z4411 has been disappointing, but then again Electrolux are about to replace it with a new model, the Z4413. Thanks for reading. ©Nar2 2007.

www.electrolux.co.uk

Summary: Electrolux can do better than this!

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