Vax Vacuum Victim (VAX)

Member Name: goclimbing

Product:	VAX
Date:	08/08/01 (1048 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: still good as a 'wet' vacuum cleaner, can vacuum into corners

Disadvantages: flimsy design of nozzle attachment, ineffective at 'dry' hoovering of carpets, fiddly to unblock nozzle

Having seen the new op on this subject I thought I would dissappoint everyone who loves their Vax vacuum cleaner.

The Vax is a wet/dry cylinder vacuum cleaner which has been on the market for at least 10 years. My first Vax was bought 8 years ago and was great, until it started suffering from old age and being abused on a daily basis. It suffered a number of split hoses and finally the motor died. However I was pleased as it had served me well.

So I decided that I would buy another one (in March 2001). I went to Comet expecting the Vax to be the same or maybe even with a few improvements (not that I could think of any that they could make). I picked up the box, paid for it and took it home. On assembly I realised that it had been re-designed. The nozzle attachment was completely different it was larger and had two wheels as well as a large plastic cover (so that you can see what you are hoovering up I s'pose). There were no brushes on the attachment merely a plastic part to snap on if you were dry hoovering carpets. The same nozzle is used both for wet and dry.

I began hoovering .... hum. The Vax did not seem to pick up as much dirt and bits as my previous one probably due to lack of brushes. Then within 5 minutes of starting it went over a small piece of plastic wrapper (1" x1" in size), this stuck under the plastic cover and made further hoovering impossible. I fiddled and funmbled and tried to pull it out but alas to no avail. Eventually I managed to unscrew the cover and pull it out. Since then I have had to do this on a number of occasions for things such as a paperclip, a small piece of wood (1cm x 1cm x 2mm in size), plastic and paper tissue. This becomes increasingly frustrating as the screws holding the plastic on are tiny and it makes hoovering a far longer job than it should be.

I tried the wet option and am happy to report that this is identical to the previous model. However when usin
g the vax with water one needs to remove the plastic "snap-on" carpet attachment. I tried to replace this afterwards which was very difficult and then sometimes falls off when dry hoovering.

About 3 weeks after my purchase one of the plastic wheels fell off. I took it back to Comet and they swapped it right away. However the design of this is very flimsy and I have no doubt that it will happen again.

Over the 9 months I've had the Vax I have been dissappointed with the suction when hoovering carpets (dry), and have found that the wet attachment was failing to suck the water out of the tank and onto the carpet. So I boldly took it back to Comet who sent it away for inspection. After 18 days I phoned to enquire whether anything was wrong, I was told that it needed a new pump and motor! ... it is now over 3 weeks that I have been without and the carpets are seriously manky .... and its not even a year old!!!

I think the redesign of the Vax is impractical and of poor quality and anyone who is happy with their old vax not to replace it with a new one.

Summary: