Eureka 426A Upright Vacuum

Pros: Awesome suction, moves about with ease, solid build
Cons: Exhaust creates wind storms, short cord, not that cheap

The time had come for my beautiful fiance to move in with me. Alas, companionship, love and friendship would be mine all the time. That and a hand with the chores. Trouble is, my poor fiance couldn't lift my 24lb Eureka 5892AVZ -- aka -- Big Yellow ...

Pros: Strong suction, power brush option, great performance!
Cons: The power cord is a bit short

I just bought my new Eureka today, and I can't even explain how happy I am with my new purchase! I decided we needed a stick vac, since our new home is 50% hard floors. I was sick of dragging around our big upright vac with the hose attachment to ...

Pros: Inexpensive, compact, lightweight, good cleaning power
Cons: Filter clogs too easily and is hard to clean

The Eureka Model 426A is similar to the 421A reviewed elsewhere on Epinions, but with the additional feature of a motorized brush roller. I purchased this vacuum in April 2005 and we have used it for 2 months at this writing. In general, the 426A ...

Pros: Powerful Suction
Cons: Dirt cup will not stay attached

My wife did her research and found this vacuum as highly rated on several sites. She bought 2 - one for home, one for my office.

The vacuum is powerful, lightweight and easy to maneuver. The filter clogs, but as long as you clean it every third or fourth usage, everything is fine again. To me, a minor annoyance, as it demonstrates how powerful the suction is.

Now the big problem. On both machines, the dirt cup will not stay attached to the vacuum body. The latch will not seat properly.

We went back to Wal Mart and the exchanges went smoothly after we demonstrated the problem to the Customer Service Manager. We brought the new machines home, same problem on both - the latch would not catch on the dirt cups, so we have to tape the cup in place.

Phone calls to Eureka produced no results. They insisted we were not latching it properly.

We still have both machines because they do an excellent job, but we have to use tape to keep the dirt cups in place. If it were not for this major problem, I would give this vacuum 5 stars.

Pros: Super Price for the suction
Cons: must manually clean out filter with water or you loose suction bigtime.

I take out my filter almost every time I empty it and place it into the sink. Take the sink sprayer and spray it full blast to clean out all the filter dirt. Let it dry close to the heater vent...or a fan...for just a few hours, and this baby vacs like none other for 50 bucks!

Pros: powerful, lightweight, inexpensive
Cons: filter clogs easily, cannot find replacement filters

This vacuum works well, but the filter does clog pretty quickly and it seems impossible to find a replacement filter. The only replacement parts on eureka.com are the Owners guide and a Customer Order Form (with no link).

update: we found a store in CO that sells the filter/lid assembly for $6.99. I'll update this again if/when it arrives.

update2: got inexpensive replacement filters from griggs vacuums (quick shipment!), but recently the vacuum's handle broke off. Time for a new vacuum...

Pros: Awesome suction power, light weight, compact size
Cons: Filter clogs quickly, cord is too short.

This vacuum has great suction and the size (telescoping handle) and light weight really make it easy to get out and do quick vacuuming when needed. The downside is that the extra suction means that the filter requires frequent cleanings. I use a plastic fork (I think I learned that from another review).

The other downside is the short cord. It really needs an extra 5 ft at least. For some people those may be big downsides but for me the ease of clean and quality of clean make up for it. I turn off the brush roll and use it on our tile in the kitchen and it does a really good job of picking up dirt and food messes that our yorkie does daily.