The Cadence That Nearly Hits All The Right Chords! (VAX Appliances V-044)

Member Name: Nar2

Product:	VAX Appliances V-044
Date:	24/07/09 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap price, huge dust capacity, HEPA filter, Good cleaning, reasonable maintenance & costs

Disadvantages: Squeegee, unless removed, means heavy steering; noisy, heavy, short power cord, Plasticky

My little Vax Quicklite V-046 is one of those vacuums I genuinely ignore when it comes to sealing the dust in since it is a bagless cyclonic upright vacuum and emptying is always messy without a bag. Small, lightweight and extremely capable it has been a dependable mini-upright vacuum for usage in our large office/study and has continued to be reliable without much need to replace anything other than the belt or filter. It always lacked a hose however, something that Vax acknowledged even though they didn't import the U.S Dirt Devil version with a hose on the back. My Quicklite was fantastic at revealing dirt in hidden places such as bed mattresses or picking up shredded papers and staples without fuss. Sadly after five years it has decided to call it a day and since Vax stopped selling it in the UK as far back as 2006 it is even more difficult to obtain online. * This is a long review *


Certainly from the point of sale for my Bissell Easy Vac which didn't turn out to be that easy, I found it a struggle to remove and replace the filter cartridge never mind putting the bin back in after emptying without a couple of tries! Changing the drive belt was a nightmare too. Whilst the Easy Vac is currently priced between £45 and £50 I decided to look elsewhere at bagless cyclonic alternatives. Unsurprisingly due to cost I plucked the purse strings and picked out another Vax. Ironically for a musician it seems it could well be love at first sight with the "Cadence," even though it's not the most perfect of harmonies and chords!


Purchased at a cost of £37-99 (EBay seller, postage free) I've been so far delighted with the Vax Cadence V-044. Current prices tell a different story however, possibly due to recession or sellers on a greed drive to make more money. Commanding prices on EBay from £45 to £60 it does pay to shop around and the Cadence is no stranger to being tarted up, having been made in 2003 and then sold at Argos, Tesco, Comet and Asda (to name but a few) under different colours, guises and with additional tools such as pet hair roller brushes, hence Tesco's Vax "Performance" upright vacuum currently priced at a rather steep £60 even though it's the same model as the Cadence. Argos has also slashed prices and are selling the Cadence upright with a pet hair turbo brush. Priced at £44-99 it should give private sellers hell bent on overpricing on EBay, food for thought! Littlewoods also sell the model under a different name, JMB 1500 and it costs £49-00.


Out of the box the Cadence only needs the handle screwed in and although I immediately miss the compactness of my Quicklite, let alone its unique push down handle that used to compact down into the body, the handle on the Cadence immediately feels better, is made of thicker plastic and like most Vax uprights has a handy cord hook where excess cord can be hooked up to avoid it being run over. Screwing a handle to the back of the Cadence is all you'll need to do when it comes out of the box. The Cadence has a total height of 110cm, which doesn't present that many storing problems and remains space efficient thanks to its rather thin width. Everything else is already installed on the vacuum such as the crevice tool, upholstery brush and a snap on grid that gives the flat upholstery tool two uses; one without the brushes and one with the brushes on. There's even a long extension pipe for extra reach.


Despite its old design decked out in red and black, the Cadence is sensibly built and still reasonably modern looking with three cleaning tools and uses a similar paper pleated washable filter cone to my Quicklite. It is however fairly plasticky and some of the plastic does feel cheap; you have been warned. The filter cone covets the HEPA/High Efficiency Particulate Air category even though ironically enough whilst it protects dust from coming back into the room, you'll become airborne to it the moment it comes the time to empty the bin. It weighs 6 kg which I don't find this to be too heavy to lift and I find it just as capable as my Quicklite in terms of accessing design points; one aspect which is the fact that the hose on the back is very easy to take on or off if dust gets clogged and the hose has some stretch feel to it without being too compacted within its ridges. However the hose only stretches out to less than half a metre (approximately 45cm), so those looking for a long hose will be disappointed here. In its defence though, the hose doesn't kink and cut suction at awkward angles like the Electrolux Powerlite upright although if you pull the hose roughly the Cadence can fall back. It has a similar on pedal to the Bissell Easy Vac and it is located in the same position too at the back, which is easy to step on.


The good news is that in use the Cadence has a very strong suction factor and I've been delighted so far from its 1500-watt motor. This is one of the reasons to why I chose the red/black model because later models have 1600 or more watts of power and I like to keep my machines low in power for energy reasons or if they do have high power, the option to select lower power. Suction is therefore fixed on this upright but it doesn't do the Cadence injustice. What it does do badly however is put out a lot of hot air at the front and can ruffle loose papers on nearby tables all too easily.


The bad news is that the motor is noisy but not as loud as some Vax uprights I've had in the past but you'll struggle to hear the phone ring with this model. It has a four-height selector dial on the front of the hood, which is reasonably easy to move if you put the handle into the upright position but like the Quicklite, it suffers from a very heavy ploughing feel through the handle on carpet surfaces. But there are ways around this without compromising carpet pick up:


Like the Quicklite (and the Bissell Easy Vac) the Cadence has a rubber squeegee fitted just below the main roller brush. If you prise this out with a blunt knife the gliding aspect on the Cadence suddenly becomes a lot lighter. When it is removed the Cadence feels beautifully lightweight to glide and thanks to its slight T shaped frontage, it doesn't suffer from having a larger floor head that gets stuck between chairs or tables. Whilst it can go under tables effectively, due to its age and design the circular nature of its main bin gets in the way making cleaning flat to the floor difficult, particularly under beds where dust is one of the worst places to prevail. The removal of the squeegee rubber strip also improves pick up which I was also delighted to find on both sides of the floor head with edge cleaning. Although the wheels are large at the back they are not coated in rubber but cheap plastic and both have a tendency to slide on hard flooring. If the belt breaks however the good news is that it only takes four screws on the base to remove and the top of the hood comes off immediately; past Vax models suffered from more screws to undo and the height adjuster dial pulled off which could often break. So it is somewhat worthwhile on maintenance alone to consider this vacuum, as it is easier to work around when things start to go wrong. Drive belt replacements usually cost in the region of £4-99 and upwards and I find it better to look for a pack of 2 as you never know!


Emptying the Cadence is also similar to my Quicklite; it is easy if you take your time! As such the top twists off revealing the cone filter, which then has to be held (using rubber gloves is ideal for this) and turned anti-clockwise before the cone can be removed. Then tip the bin upwards and dispose of the dirt. Of course you can empty the bin with the cone still attached but you may find that the cone needs to be tapped so that dirt comes off. I also use a paintbrush or the dusting brush installed to gently clean the dirt off the cone. Or you can wash the cone filter under lukewarm hot water and a bit of washing up liquid. Sadly with these types of pleated paper cones, they can tear if you attack them with hard stiff cleaning brushes and they don't ever retain their white colour after usage. The cone filter however can be dried in a low temperature program in a tumble dryer (put it in a pillow case with a clean tea towel to minimize it rattling off the drum) and takes around 45 minutes to become bone dry. Do it the old fashioned way according to Vax and you'll need to dry it to room temperature for at least 24 hours! Although Vax don't state this in their well-written user manual, I've done this many times since purchase as well as on my own Quicklite and the filter lasts longer than the yearly / 6 month replacement, of which you can buy for a cost of £12 to £21 depending on where you go. EBay is best for cheap filter replacement kits as are B&Q and unusually, Littlewoods catalogue who are one of the major sellers for Vax.


If however there is one selling point that I adore about the Cadence, it is its dirt capacity. The clear and easy to see bin has a 3 litre capacity which means I can go a few months before the bin is packed with dust - in theory. This is ideal for someone who is fed up with smaller dust canisters and continuous emptying of bins. Realistically if the filter cone clogs up before the bin is full you'll find you may need to empty sooner than the total capacity would suggest. Other downsides consist of a short power cord but at 6 metres I haven't had much to complain about; it travels around our two rooms as and when required and could be an ideal model to consider for a small carpeted flat or house.



Despite its age, the Vax V-044 Cadence may be noisy but at its current price it has a lot going for it. It will need a keen eye to keep it well maintained but treat it with respect and it shouldn't let you down. Over the Bissell Easy Vac, the old Vax Cadence still knows how to reach the right chords even if it is old, particularly in light of the fact that spares are easy to obtain due to its age. Thanks for reading. ©Nar2 2009

www.vax.co.uk

Summary: Its an old design but it works if you treat it with respect. Just.

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