Electrolux Ultra Active ZUA3860P Review from a user perspective.
The basic features of the ZUA3860 are quite impressive on paper.
2100W motor
Remote control on handle
Aero Pro power nozzle
Aero Pro hard floor nozzle
Bagless Cyclonic system
9 Meter Cord
Soft ride wheels
Hepa H12 filter
But how does this convert to everyday (or weekly if your like our family) vacuuming?
I think it is fair to say that not all claims made in advertising are necessarily 100% open and honest reflection of whatever they are advertising. I am thinking of the "look 10 years younger in just seven days" that some make up or moisturisers claim. The "healthy" diet friendly claims of many fast food chains etc etc.
I have spent quite a bit of time both working on (repairs) and testing this machine in normal use. My impressions of this machine are generally good although I do have some issues with certain aspects of its design.
One of the features that i love are the long cord, it is 9m which gives you an effective cleaning reach of 12m. I personally really hate using a vacuum with a short cord, having to stop frequently to unplg the cord and switch powerpoints is just annoying. We have a middle sized home and we can do nearly the entire house without unplugging. In fact it is only half a room that we miss down the back of the house so every 2nd vacuum I just ignore that bit of carpet. I am pretty sure when its my daughters turn that it gets ignored all the time, but at least she is vacuuming right?.
The soft ride wheels are also really good, half our floors are "floating floors" and seem to scratch far to easily for my liking. These wheels really are genuinely soft so if you have to take that sort of stuff into consideration then its something else you can give a confident tick of approval 
. The actual maneuverabilty is also pretty good though the machine is not the lightest I have used.
In actual operation the suction feels very strong particulary on carpets with the powerhead, to the point where it almost feels too strong the head does suck down quite hard on the carpet. Now I personally like this feature as I have the sense that I am doing a good job although it is pretty common to speak with customers who feel like they are needing to go to the gym to buff up before using it. I have pointed out that the powernozzle is doing most of the work and by reducing the suction a level or two you will make it lighter and lose very little of the performance. I think this is counter intuitive to most folks because you are vacuum to clean as quickly and effectively as possible. I think here it is a matter of taste but if you want the best clean you probably just need to get used to the feeling.
 |
|
The problem I have with the head is that the roller brush is quite small in its circumference which means for me that hair gets wound around the brush pretty easily. I will point out that Electrolux have done an excellent job of making cleaning the brush very easy. In about 10 seconds flat it can be removed so you can get a pair of scissors in and cut the hair off.
Some other brands such as Hoover have a very poor system for removing the roller so you want to avoid cleaning it properly because it will be a five minute job.
The hard floor brush is brilliant, the suction is very strong and the head just glides across the floor. If you have pets and hard floors you will likely see hair and fluff being sucked up before the head has even go to the debris. Having suction controls on the handle is also excellent, if the phone rings it is no trouble to turn it off or lower suction to answer it. Having said that the machine is very quiet and if the call is not for you then just keep on vacuuming.
Emptying the machine is easy and quick. As with all bagless machines there is a bit of dust flying up when you are tipping the dust out but that lasts for just a moment and you can close the bin lid.
A couple of points that I think need a bit more work is the ergo shock bumper and the filtration system. The bumber is essentially and occy strap (big flexible rubber band with a sort of cloth coating) which when vacuuming sit around the machine to act as a bumper which works just fine. It also doubles as strap to hold the rose in a neat bundle on the body of the vacuum to be honest this looks pretty cheesy to me. Every so often a customer brings one in for repair and they have used but most just ignore the feature altogether and I would too, it is just not much of a space saver and is kind of awkward to use. The filter system on paper is excellent with a washable foam pre filter, a disaster filter and rear HEPA filter. However in normal usage the washable filter just needs too much attention and blocks too easily. To get the best out of the vacuum you will need to rinse the foam one every 5-10 uses. If you ignore the filters you will lose suction and reduce the motor life. If you are not interested in washing the filters then you can easily buy a filter set which contains all filters for $45.90 the part number is usk4
. 
My personal opinion is that all things considered is that this is an excellent vacuum. The suction is strong, the results are excellent and the long cord is brilliant. You will definately have to look after your filters but this is a 5 minute job every month or so. I will point out that no vacuum is perfect and most of my complaints are because I get to use just about every vacuum on the market and if there are areas to improve I am pretty harsh on it.
If you have any comments or questions please don't hesitate to hit us up on the blog.
Vacuum Guru
