Vacuum cleaner for the boat

sgr143

sgr143

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It must be a sign that the "essential jobs and stuff list" is now down to the level where the jobs left on it either too difficult for now, or not that essential...

What's a good small non-mains-powered vacuum cleaner that I could keep on board? Either cordless (preferably with 12V charging rather than mains) or direct 12V would do.

I find it very hard to rely on amazon etc. reviews as it's clear that many of them are planted. I did buy one that was was supposed to be OK, but it's so feeble that one might as well use a drinking straw powered by an asthmatic gerbil. (Bizarrely, the boat came with a 240V cleaner, kept in one of the sail bins; but as we are hardly ever on shore power, that's not much use on the boat, though I've now finally got round to bringing it home, where it will do very nicely upstairs.)

Yours, boating domestically.... Steve
 
We had a Dyson V8 Animal, just about the right charge time to a 37ft yacht, and absolutely brilliant at catching mosquitoes, no splat mess on the couch roof. Not a fan of the man or his business model, but hey hoo.
 
Clancy Moped said:
We had a Dyson V8 Animal, just about the right charge time to a 37ft yacht, and absolutely brilliant at catching mosquitoes, no splat mess on the couch roof. Not a fan of the man or his business model, but hey hoo.
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Thanks! I should perhaps also have added "Not at a mad price" - and I'd also prefer a compact unit rather than a long stick-like thing; but if there are no cheaper alternatives that would do the job...
 
We looked at the battery cleaners and ended up with a small mains power one from Rober Dyas, very compact and runs easily on the boat inverter. Much cheaper and more suction than the cheaper battery modles.
 
I've got a Dyson V6 which charges via 240V. I do have a 2500W inverter, so it's not a problem but, if I didnt, I would use my 300W portable inverter that plugs into a 12V cigarette lighter socket, or which can be permanently connected to the 12V system.

The Dyson is currently charging and looks like it's drawing about 2 or 3 amps, so between 25 and 40 Watts.

If I were buying today, I'd get a Dyson with a longer run time. Whether I'd cough up £450 for the latest model, I'm not sure, but I spent money on a variety of vacuums before getting the Dyson several years ago so, it could be worth it in the long run.
 
Bought one of these about 6 months ago, it can easily do the whole house so should be more than adequate on a boat only downside for the boat is its mains charger only.
 
We got one of these from ALDI, it's great but sadly no longer available.

Keep an eye open for something similar coming up. Very sucky, 20min battery life.

Easy-Home-Mini-Vacuum-Cleaner-A.jpg
 
sgr143 said:
Thanks! I should perhaps also have added "Not at a mad price" - and I'd also prefer a compact unit rather than a long stick-like thing; but if there are no cheaper alternatives that would do the job...
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I have a DC59 handheld which works well and is easy to store, the modern version of which would seem to be the V7. IIRC mine was a refurbished one: There's an "outlet store":
https://www.dyson.co.uk/dyson-outlet.html

Per Clancy Moped's comment, Dyson would not be my go-to brand if I were looking for something today.
 
Whatever you do don’t get the Dyson animal or any other Dyson handheld. We got one and it was so good we got another for home. 13 months later and both have given up the ghost, just vacuuming for 5 seconds at a time.

We now have 2 Black and Deckers which are great so far so fingers crossed.
 
We bought a Dyson 12v one (charges from a cigarette lighter), and find it very good.
 
RupertW said:
Whatever you do don’t get the Dyson animal or any other Dyson handheld. We got one and it was so good we got another for home. 13 months later and both have given up the ghost, just vacuuming for 5 seconds at a time.
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After a lifetime as a confirmed Miele vacuum fanatic, I bought a Dyson V6 Animal handheld 5 years ago. It was so useful that a few months later I bought a second one for upstairs use. The older one has had a replacement battery recently (£35 from Amazon), but otherwise they've been faultless and are so incredibly easy to use. I take one of them to the boat every now and then. They are without doubt excellent products, unlike the early Dyson upright cleaners, which were unfriendly to use and broke with monotonous regularity.

As an afterthought, I wonder whether you've washed the filters in your handhelds? If they get clogged up the motor will only run for a few seconds. Similarly, if the slot at the back of the motorised brush gets clogged with fluff, the same symptom will occur.
 
ryanroberts said:
This isn't bad, and is not at Dyson Prices https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLACK-DECKER-Lithium-Ion-Compact-Vacuum/dp/B00IUK800O . Sucks stuff up, easy to empty and doesn't have the filter problems that ironically plague the older Dyson handheld (or at least it did mine, dealing with coal dust).
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I bought a Black and Decker that plugged into a 12V supply. it was sh1te, and is now in a bag in our garage.

I find that if I clean the filter often enough, there is no problem :)

You need a long stick as part of the thing, otherwise you are on your hands and knees, with the associated back and knee pain that this brings, (if you are of a certain age).
 
Ah yeah I have the 18V which has a lot more vroom. Come to think of it that was dumb given I am going to be no-invertor for a while.
 
When the Li-Ion battery in our Lidl hand-held vac failed, I wired it up with a length of flex and a cig lighter plug. The motor was 7.5 volts, but I included enough flex to give sufficient volts drop for this. The vac runs fine from 12v, taking about 5 amps. On start-up, though, it blows a 10 amp fuse!
 
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