If it doesn't work, it doesn't clean
Written: Jul 03 '03
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Pros: Cleans well when it works
Cons: Doesn't work for long
The Bottom Line: The unit cleans well when it works, but it won't work for long. AVOID BISSELL!
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| andykay's Full Review: Bissell 1698-1 PowerSteamer ProHeat Plus Upright... |
Most of the reviews here are made by people who have recently purchased and everything works just fine. My cleaner performed well initially and I was relatively happy. Unfortunately for me and from my research on other review sites, many other Bissell owners, the happy times were not meant to last. Here are my observations
1- The onboard tools are/become useless because the cleaning solution feed fails, apparently a common problem. I also READ that if the water feed doesn't fail, it is common for the hose tends to crack after repeated use.
2- The detergent reservoir leaks. The units tend to go through detergent very rapidly because the feed is active unless the unit is switched to clear water (where it is slightly less active). As mentioned in the manual, you must switch the unit to clear water in order to stop the detergent leaking but I found that there will still be leakage unless you remove and/or empty the reservoir. If while cleaning your carpet you happen to pause working for a while, the detergent will continue to leak out on your carpet.
3- The power and heater switches are inconveniently placed. Why is there a separate heater switch if the heat option is so necessary?
4- The highly touted heater is nothing but highly touted hype in my opinion. I've used the unit with it on and off and noticed no difference in cleaning (I always use hot water). In less than scientific experiments, I placed my hand under the nozzle and pressed the spray button, I noticed little difference is water temperature with the heater off or on. Possibly, the heater is another thing that failed on my unit? The light is very pretty though!
5- The small vacuum filter in the reservoir is easily clogged by very little debris, fail to clean it regularly and you'll end up with very wet carpet.
6- The 1 gal reservoir is not as large as advertised. Because of the clean water bladder within the dirty water compact design, the actual capacity appears much less than 1 gal. My guess is the outer dirty water reservoir has a 1 gal capacity but the bladder is closer to 3/4 gal when full. My new Hoover goes much farther on a full reservoir than the Bissell ever did..
7- The biggie, After 2 years of use, the main unit is now having trouble pumping the water/cleaning solution. Usually the little red paddle wheel turns initially then stops, sometimes it doesn't work at all. It's very rare that I can use up an entire reservoir. This is highly frustrating, I end up jostling the unit and the reservoir repeatedly to get the !@#$ to apply fluid.
I tried contacting Bissell through their customer support e-mail address about my problems, I received no response. I wish I had done some research before I bought the Bissell and found the preponderance of "poor quality/durability" reviews. I could have avoided buying my second cleaner in 2 years. I decided I had it with this frustrating machine, a shampooer that doesn't shampoo is of little use. Because I now have a recently diagnosed diabetic cat who's not a litter box disciplined as he once was along with 2 other cats and a 1 year old baby, it's necessary to have a steam cleaner available at all times, I went out an bought a Hoover Model F740900. I'll post my review of my new cleaner later, after I've used the unit for a while (I would have posted a great review of the Bissell initially!) but initial observations are that this unit is much better made that the Bissell and has much greater suction. My ultimate recommendation, AVOID BISSELL. Their unit may be attractive and feature a low price, but there's some very questionable quality control and design flaws lurking under that sleek exterior
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 200
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Epinions.com ID:
andykay
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Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 5 members
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