Venson

Hi Didier,

"Suction only" means making use of canister vacuum with a straight suction rug tool or an upright vacuum with its brush roll turned off. I have only heard of this recommendation for cleaning very old museum quality and/or expensive "oriental" carpets. If your new carpeting is standard broadloom installed wall-to-wall its care is best served by either an upright or canister vacuum with a revolving brush.

Check to see if your WindTunnel is in good working order and that it has a height adjustment and you should be just fine. Turn the cleaner on and start with the highest height setting and, setting by setting, lower the nozzle height until you hear a change in sound. The sound should be constant on both forward and backward passes. If not, lower the nozzle height just one degree lower.

However, if you feel that your investment in the new carpeting will be best protected by a vacuum with no revolving brush, the answer is to buy a canister vacuum without a power nozzle or one that at least offers a dual purpose straight suction tool for rugs and floors. I'd also say, in my opinion, the straight suction nozzle should have a brush strip as opposed to velcro-like lint picking strips.

Check out your local vac shop for a good rebuilt all-metal Royal or Electrolux tank-type that has a regular nozzle as opposed to a powered one.

IF you have no high traffic in your home or pets or children a straight suction vac should serve you well enough -- that is if you vacuum often. The particular advantage of upright or canister vacuums that employ revolving brushes is that besides being better at routing out embedded dirt and grit and getting up pet fur they also aid in keeping capeting looking as perky as the day it was first installed.

Hope that helps . . .

Venson

Hi,

Carmine and I were just discussing a battery-powered backpack vacuum by Nilfisk. I mentioned that I had the corded version also by Nilfisk. Well, surprise, surprise, it seems someone else has also gotten on the band wagon. HSN is selling a corded backpack that is alsmost the spitting image of my Nilfisk. This cleaner offers onboard tools (mine does not), a blower port (mine does not), adjustable speed (mine does not) and it sells for $149.00 (mine definitely did not).

For the curious I am attaching a link to HSN. Check out the video and customer reviews.

Best,

Venson

Carmine wrote: . . . For only $99 retail and 4 iterations, appears he knows his stuff.

Hi Carmine he also has a $149.00 version. You supply him with the handle for your cleaner and he attached a vertical bust bin that's fed by a hose attached to the blower. It's a bit more sensible than the horizontal add-on.

Venson

Thinking of our troubled times, I thought a little humor might be in line. Someone's been thinking . . . My God, they just never stop.

http://www.kirbybagsneveragain.com/

Venson

Hiya MOLE

What do you think is a fair price for the RY6900? Anyway . . .

If I had a limited amount to spend and wanted to get the best cleaning for my dollar I'd go for the rebuilt G series in a heartbeat. I have a G5 that I bought used and in good shape and despite its shotcomings -- weight, size, etc., can it clean a rug -- oh yeah. There'd be little doubt in my mind about its quality or longevity

Of course I'm from a different place in time. I grew up during the '50s when just about everybody's vacuum weighed in at at least fifty pounds but nobody complained much. They were too glad for the convenience. Amazingly, now that we're in an age where it seems everybody is running back and forth to the gym, despite weight training, treadmills and the like, all you hear is, "It's too heavy!"

Venson