Review of the Bissell Powertrak Vacuum Cleaner

After running over a hard plastic toy with our vacuum cleaner and killing it, my wife and I needed a new one, and fast. With two German Shepards at home, we needed a vacuum that was tough on dog hair!

I chose the Bissell Powertrak Revolution. It appeared to be very sturdy, and liked that it had three filters designed into it. The Bissell also has a clear tank just below the separator so that you can visually see when it needs to be dumped out or not. There is a hose attached to it also, so that you can use the turbo brush for upholstery cleaning. There are also two hose extensions, and a wedge attachment for getting in the hard to reach corners of your carpet. It definitely not a weak system either. The first time I used it, I was amazed at how deep it cleaned the carpet, and that it easily picked up the dog hair in the carpet. Our dogs like to sleep on the couches. That's were it's nice to have to turbo brush. Just plug it into the hose, and the air rushing through the brush hits the rotors in the unit and get it spinning and scrubbing hard. It's real convenient for cleaning of the couch pillows too. The only drawback is that it you want the brush to continue to work well, is that on occasion you'll need to take it apart and scrub it out with warm soapy water.

Another cool feature, is that the vacuum has a "clean filter indicator". When the filters are clean, you'll see a round, green tab on the front of the vacuum. When it's plugged and requires cleaning, it will turn red. Cleaning isn't too bad, especially when you want to keep the system working 100%. Simply remove the dirt canister, and rinse it out after you dump it out of course. The next thing, is that you have to reach up from where the canister is, and twist off the green plastic separator. This also needs to be rinsed, and doesn't hurt to use an old tooth brush to get into all the vents. The flat square filter that is located under the canister, can be gently hand washed in warm soapy water and thoroughly dried before you use it again. On the left side of the vacuum, is a rectangular paper HEPA filter. When that's sufficiently dirty, simply replace with a new one.

It's a good vacuum, but the only thing that I don't like is that my wife needed to replace the rubber belt that turns the floor brush. The new belt doesn't fit tight enough, though she got the one specified. The new belt keeps pulling off of the pin that's supposed to hold it in place. For now, we're reduced to use it only with the turbo brush for the couches, and an old vacuum for the floor. There is no lack of suction with this one, but wish that the floor brush would work again.

I bought the unit for about $120. When the floor brush works, it's well worth the money.