Pros: cleans well, removes pet hair, bagless, long hose, long electrical cord, many attachments
Cons: wand maneuverability, beater bar noise on this particular machine, expensive
The Bottom Line: I'm not fond of cleaning the guinea pig's mess, but the Dyson Animal makes it easier to clean after the guinea pig throws shavings all over the room.
dlstewart's Full Review: Dyson DC14 Animal Bagless Upright Cyclonic Vacuum
Our family has a long and dissatisfying history with Hoover vacuum cleaners. They just don’t last. Between our families, we have invested in four Hoovers that died horrible, inconvenient deaths. So when it came time for my brother to invest in a new vacuum cleaner, he decided on the Dyson DC14 Animal.
I had an opportunity to test this vacuum cleaner during our after-holiday clean-up spree. It’s amazing how much mess a family of four with three guests, three cats and a guinea pig can make!
Description
The manufacturer advertises this vacuum as: "The mot powerful upright for pet hair".
The DC14 is a purple and gray upright vacuum, measuring 45" high x 14" wide x 13 3/8" deep. The actual beater bar measures 13 3/8” wide. The vacuum weighs 18 1/2 pounds. The electrical cord is just short of 35 1/2 feet long and wraps around the vacuum cleaner (it does not self-retract into the machine).
This is a bagless vacuum. It has a see-through bin where the vacuumed dirt collects. This bin can hold just under 3/4 a gallon of debris and has the word MAX written on the plastic. MAX indicates when the bin is full and needs to be emptied. To empty the bin, press the button at the top to release the unit from the machine. The bin has a handle. Hold the unit over a trash can and press the red button at the top of the handle. The 7" circular bottom pops open, releasing the debris.
A HEPA filter is also built into the vacuum. This filter cleans the air vented from the vacuum cleaner.
Accessories that Came with the Vacuum
Crevice Tool – A narrow wand that cleans in tight areas. An onboard tool that snaps into place on the vacuum.
Stair Tool – For cleaning steps. An onboard tool that snaps into place on the vacuum.
Brush Tool – A small cleaning head with brush. An onboard tool that snaps into place on the vacuum.
Low Reach Floor Tool – Cleans under low furniture such as beds and beneath sofa edges. It is adjustable for bare floors and carpets. The tool attaches to the wand.
Mini Turbine Head – Removes pet hair and dirt from narrow spaces. Good to use on upholstery and stairs. Attaches to hose or wand.
Stiff Bristle Brush – The stiff bristles in this brush help remove ground-in dirt. It attaches to the hose or wand. Do not use this tool on delicate flooring, rugs or carpets.
Dyson Carpet Cleaning Kit – Contains Zorb powder to absorb ordors, Zorb groomer (an attachment that sucks the powder out of the carpet), Dyzolv Spot Cleaner that removes stubborn spots (this cleaner is for wool and stain-resistant carpets).
Assembly
This vacuum was very easy to assemble. It took my brother just a few minutes to snap the pieces together. All that needs to be done is to slide the hose into the guides until it clicks into position. Then click the wand handle into place. No tools are needed for assembly.
Basic Operation
This vacuum is very easy to wheel around the house. There are two handles: 1) The handle on the wand and 2) A purple handle in the middle of the machine above the canister. Always pick this machine up by the purple handle in the middle of the machine. The wand handle is not sturdy enough to support the weight of the machine.
To use the vacuum, just press the on/off button on the front of the machine beneath the handle. Place a foot on the cleaner head and pull the handle back.
It’s easy to adjust the cleaning head to control whether it is cleaning a carpet or a hard floor. There is a two-position purple knob that changes the setting. The knob is located at the bottom right of the vacuum. The only drawback is that the knob needs to be manually turned to change the setting. I wish there was a simple pedal to push so that one didn’t have to bend to the floor to adjust the cleaning head position. A good feature is that when the knob is turned to carpet cleaning, the cleaning head is self-adjusting to carpet height. Note that there are no manual controls for carpet height settings.
It is best to turn off the vacuum to change between the carpet and bare floor settings. When switching from bare floor cleaning to carpet cleaning, the "lock" is released so that the beater bar spins. If the vacuum handle is not totally upright and the beater bar is engaged, the gears might already be spinning and could cause a problem. It’s a good precaution to turn off the machine so that the beater bar isn’t suddenly released. We are into problem-prevention and take the time to turn off the vacuum when changing the cleaner head settings.
The wand was awkward for me to use. The handle of the machine pulls out to reveal the wand (push back the wand cap to fully extend the wand). The wand is attached by a stretchy hose to the vacuum. This stretchy ribbed hose causes a drag that makes it awkward to hold the wand. I easily attached the crevice tool to the wand and found that I had more balance using the wand when I kept my hand at the back of the wand handle. Still, that stretchy hose makes it difficult to maneuver the wand. My brother said that was the one feature that made him almost not buy the vacuum.
Emptying the bin is easy. Press the button at the top to release the bin from the machine. Hold the bin over a trash can and press the red button at the top of the handle. The bottom pops open, releasing the dirt. It is best to hold the container down in the trash can or bag so that the debris falls straight into the bottom of the trash can/bag. If the container is held above the trash can, then some dust will fly out, but even that is minimal.
While all vacuums are noisy, this Dyson is not as noisy as some. The cats do not scatter when it is turned on but will run when the vacuum is used near them. The guinea pig could care less about the noise or how close the vacuum is to the cage.
How Well the Dyson Animal Cleans
This vacuum does an excellent job of cleaning cat hair (long and short) from carpets, furniture, and hard flooring. When I cleaned the room where the guinea pig is housed ... I could not believe the mess. That critter kicks his hay and bedding through the wire cage sides so that it lands in a mess on the floor. The vacuum easily slurped up the shavings and shredded paper. It had a bit more difficulty with the longer straight pieces of hay, but my perseverence won the clean-up battle.
The vacuum also picks up small debris such as gravel that is tracked in from outside. Since the suction is strong, I have to be careful when vacuuming around rug fringe, hanging bedspreads, and long curtains.
People hair can (and will) wrap around the beater bar, which requires manual untangling of the hair. I’ve never owned a vacuum where I haven’t had to use a pair of scissors to snip away long tangles of hair from the vacuum head.
This vacuum head with the beater bar does a good job of cleaning close to walls and furniture edges. It also has a plastic edging that can grab items (such as those pesky guinea pig shavings) caught at the edge of furniture to pull the item out a bit. Another pass of the vacuum will then slurp up the dirt. This doesn’t always work, though. I found that my brother and I used the crevice tool the most out of all the attachments since it fits nicely into tight corners and cleans well around wall and furniture edges.
A nice feature of this crevice tool is that it is angled, not straight. So one doesn’t have to use the wand parallel to the floor for cleaning. The only draw back to this is that the working section of the crevice tool is only 6” long before it angles. Because of the angle, you won’t be able to go deep beneath something with the crevice tool. The crevice tool also has an oval opening in the side near the end so that the tool won’t get sucked down to the ground.
This vacuum cleans stairs well, too. My brother’s house has two short flights of steps with a landing between the two flights. It is easy to set this vacuum cleaner on the landing and to use the stretchy hose to clean both sets of stairs.
One Problem and Customer Service
This machine has a slip clutch in connection with the beater bar. This is to prevent belt burnout if the beater bar gets jammed or stuck beneath a piece of furniture so that the beater bar cannot turn. This particular machine occasionally experiences a ratchet-like noise connected with the slip clutch.
The noise occurs when the cleaning head is bumped against furniture or a wall. When I use the vacuum, I’m careful not to hit furniture with the cleaning head, though I have gently bumped the vacuum against furniture to clean close to it. The vacuum has never made a disturbing noise when I’ve used it. My brother seems to be the one who hears the noise the most when using the vacuum.
When customer service was phoned, the representative said that the vacuum my brother purchased may have a more sensitive slip clutch than other machines of this same model. They suggested that if the slip clutch kept slipping to cause the ratchet-like noise, that my brother had two choices. 1) He could return the machine to the store (exchanging it for another one), or 2) He could send the machine to Dyson for servicing. The service representative was very helpful with some troubleshooting techniques. She instructed how to open the bottom of the vacuum to make sure the beater bar was properly positioned. A coin is needed to turn two "screws" that hold the beater bar in place. A quarter turn with a coin opens the screws.
Purchasing
This vacuum cleaner is available in a lot of the local stores in our area. It’s not cheap, though, selling for $549.99. I’ve found that this price remains constant unless a store happens to be running a sale.
Summary
My brother and his family are smitten with the Dyson DC14 Animal. They love the vacuum cleaner’s ability to slurp up dirt and debris and the ease of no bags. Just hold the bin over the trash to empty it. They would definitely purchase this vacuum cleaner again. Would I buy one? I’m not so sure. I hated the way the wand dragged against me as I used the vacuum. It felt as though I fought the machine to maneuver the wand where I wanted it to clean. The cleaning head and attachments are wonderful ... but that wand is a definite consideration when buying this machine. You may want to test drive this Dyson Animal before plopping down the $550 purchase price.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Additional Information
2 Year Limited Warranty
Lifetime HEPA Filter
Maximum Power Input: 12 Amps
Suction Power: 250 Air Watts
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