Needs a stop-gap vacuum cleaner

[Reverend Conehead]

Aye needs a stop-gap vacuum..............
I'm sure I'm not the only person here who has bought an expensive item only to have it konk out on you in a short period of time. About a year ago I was fighting off a flea infestation in my apartment, and I did all the research on how to kill them off. You can't just bug bomb it and be done. They're resilient little monsters. Part of the process is frequent vacuuming, and my vacuum at the time was a piece of crap.

So I googled what was the best vacuum you can get, and Dyson's name kept coming up, specifically their V15, so that's what I got. I successfully eliminated the fleas, and was happy to have such a good quality vacuum ... I thought. For over 600 bucks, you would think they would make that thing bulletproof, but they didn't. Now somehow it gets no power, even though I had the battery plugged in overnight. I did notice when it was supposedly charging, its blue light wasn't showing that you normally see.

So now I'm going to have to check if it's under warranty or if it can be repaired. In the meantime, I can't be without a vacuum. I have a cat, and so this place needs vacuumed at least twice a week. My local WalMart has a Dirt Devil for 70 bucks. Anyone know if those pick up dirt well? If it lasts me a couple months, that will give me time to solve this problem. I still have my old vacuum as a backup, but it's so bad it's not much better than not vacuuming at all. It picks up dirt and just puts it in a different place. I watched videos about how to clear it out, and did that, and that gave me all of 20 minutes worth of good suction before it was dropping dirt again. If the Dirt Devil can do better, it's worth the 70 bucks, and it could become my new backup.

The more bucks you pay for something, the more upset you are when it konks out. I was so angry, I said: "Gosh darnit, heck, aw shucks." Okay ... maybe I was a little more emphatic than that.

 

[Juggernaut]

I bought a Shark vacuum a few years ago during a Black Friday sale on Amazon and have no complaints.

Checked my order history, I bought this specific Shark model: https://www.amazon.com/Shark-Navigator-ZU503AMZ-Lift-Away-Self-Cleaning/dp/B08TT4YHG1

It's currently on sale for the Amazon Prime Big Spring Sale which ends March 31st at 11:59 pm PT.

 

[Creeper]

Are you looking for a hand held? Or a cannister? For cannister vacs Miele is really good. They're quiet, powerful, and they last a long time, at least ours did. We used it for years, then gave it to my daughter years ago when we moved into a house with central vacuum system. She still uses it. It has to be 20 years old by now.

 

[Runwildboys]

Okay, I have to ask: Is the outlet you were charging it with controlled by a light switch?

 

[rags747]

Should have bought the gas version!

 

[Runwildboys]

Should have bought the gas version!

Pull start, or battery?

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Okay, I have to ask: Is the outlet you were charging it with controlled by a light switch?

No, it was just a regular electric outlet in my kitchen. You can't shut the outlet off (other than with the circuit breaker).

 

[nobody]

I second Shark vacuums. They are solid and reliable.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

An update. It's the battery that's gone kaput. I took it to the vacuum repair place. He put their battery in and it worked perfectly. I'll probably buy a new one online and then try to have Dyson replace this one. When I first bought this, I considered getting a backup battery.

I might buy one of those Shark vacuums as a backup. I keep hearing good things about them, and they're affordable. It really sucks when all of a sudden you can't get rid of the dirt and cat hair in your carpets. My existing backup vacuum is such poor quality it's a little bit like the withdrawal birth control method. It might be better than nothing at all, but it's not at all very good. If I were giving out letter grades, I would give it about a D-. The Dyson is great when it works. I'm just disappointed in its lack of durability for the price.

So I get so to see if Dyson's tech warranty department is any good. This thing's supposed to have a 2-year warranty. So I may end up with two batteries. The big question is if they'll replace the floor attachment. Neither this battery nor that attachment should have gone bad so quickly.

 

[speedkilz88]

Borax (a detergent booster) is stuff insects like fleas will eat and they die. It's also used to spray on lumber to protect against termites. Sprinkle on your carpet like you would carpet fresh. People will also mix it with sugar and water to kill ants. You have to keep it in a bottle or something to keep animals out of it.

 

[Tabascocat]

Borax (a detergent booster) is stuff insects like fleas will eat and they die. It's also used to spray on lumber to protect against termites. Sprinkle on your carpet like you would carpet fresh. People will also mix it with sugar and water to kill ants. You have to keep it in a bottle or something to keep animals out of it.

That stuff isn’t pet friendly I think. Especially for those pets who like to lick everything they can on the floor.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

That stuff isn’t pet friendly I think. Especially for those pets who like to lick everything they can on the floor.

Yeah, I had to be careful what I used for that reason. I have a cat who likes to lick and bite stuff. What ended up working was a combination of stuff. Bug bombing wasn't enough. Then bug bombing, plus Ortho insecticide wasn't enough. Then those to things together with food-grade diatomaceous earth still wasn't enough. What finally ended up working was all those things together with Precor anti-larvae insecticide, and changing my cat's anti-flea meds to being prescription strength. The problem is that fleas have a metamorphosis life cycle. Therefore, no matter how good something is at killing adult fleas, they'll always come back. The fleas go from being eggs to larva to in a cocoon to being adults. Nothing on the market can kill them when they're in their cocoons, so you have to get them in all their other cycles. You have to kill off all the adults; then as long as you kill the eggs and larva, they can't get into the cocoon stage. If they make it to the cocoon stage, they're going to come back because they hatch into adults. That's why the anti-larva insecticides are so important, plus all the vacuuming. If there are any eggs or larva hanging around, you've got to get them killed or vacuumed away. My vacuum has a canister instead of vacuum bags, and that's actually a disadvantage, but I got around that by emptying the canister outside directly into the dumpster as much as I could and then keeping a flea collar inside it when not in use. I also put flea collars inside all of my guitar cases so those places wouldn't be refuge for those little monsters. It took me something like six treatments over a period of 4 months to finally get rid of them all. They're resilient little devils. In the meantime, while I was still killing them off, I used insect repellent every night to keep them from biting me. After a spraying, the fleas would be gone for a while and then come back. That was because all the adults were dead, but others were still alive in egg, larva, or cocoon form. I watched a bunch of Youtube videos on how to kill them all off. All of them warned that you can't kill them off in one treatment, and they were right. I learned so much about those little monsters that I could probably work for a pest control company now if I wanted to.

 

[nobody]

That stuff isn’t pet friendly I think. Especially for those pets who like to lick everything they can on the floor.

I use it along the perimeter of the interior of my garage where the dogs never go. Works like a charm. I'd never use it where my dogs could accidentally access it.
That's also why I don't use diatomaceous earth in back. It's a fantastic natural anti-bug, but I don't want my dogs inhaling it. It's supposed to be safe for dogs, but if it scratches bugs exoskeletons, what would it do to dog lungs?