Bissell 7920 Upright Wet/Dry Vacuum

The machine works well when everything works! After pulling it out of the box and putting together, I was ready to clean but after cleaning the first 16 sq ft it stopped pumping. The pump uses a small belt that connects to a small motor which also runs the brushes. After reading the manual this was an easy fix. I opened the belt lid cover and found that the belt had slipped off the motor shaft. I put it back on and cleaned some more. After finishing the living room I decided to apply the Scotchgard. That worked for a moment but it again stopped pumping. The belt this time had broke. Luckily Bissell included a spare belt with the machine. Maybe they knew the belt was going to break. Reading the manual again on how to change the belt and 30 minutes later I was up and running. Changing the belt is not easy because the whole brush and belt assembly has to be removed before the new belt can be put replaced. I really didn't think that I would have to dismantle a new machine in the first hour of use. A real pain!! I was worried that the belt might break again and without a replacement belt, my cleaning would be done until I could find another belt. I decided to only clean the major areas first in case the belt breaks again. I was saying to myself that I should order a dozen belts ($3.00 each)so I can keep the machine running next time I clean my carpets. Very weak and flimsy design for the belt mechanism. If you smell burning rubber, then it's probably the belt slipping off the shaft or a broken belt.

The tank is a special design with an inner bladder for fresh water and the outer surrounding area used to hold the recovery dirty water. As the clean water is used up, the bladder shrinks and is displaced with dirty water on the outside of the bladder. Seems like a good idea until you have to dump the dirty water. Everything empties when you pour out the water. The reason for this is maybe is replace the clean water with fresh hot water each time you dump the tank. I tried to save the fresh water in the bladder but everything pours out at the same time. This is another poor design. I think that 2 separate tanks would be a better design feature.

There's a little spinning device on the left side of the machine that tells you if water is pumping. It spins really fast as water is dispensed on to the carpet. If that stops spinning, either you're out of water or the pump has stopped pumping. I must have removed the belt lid 20 times thinking that it was either a slipped belt or an empty water tank. You would think that there would be an easier way to determine if you're out of water. The bladder is impossible to see from the outside to see if there's water in there. The only way to check the water supply, is stop the machine, lower the handle of the machine and remove the tank. The tank holds maybe enough water to clean a small room 10X10 then you have to refill the tank. A visual display of the water level would be handy. Maybe a sensor in the tank would be useful. Make sure you keep an eye on the spinner as you clean. It's possible to clean a whole section of your carpet without any water being dispensed and you would have to clean everything over again.

The rinse/soap switch also is another problem. It is good to rinse after cleaning but the switch is in a bad place for switching from soap to clean water. The switch is located on the right side of the machine next to the tank. The switch enables you to go from rinse to half soap or lot's of soap. You're always bending over to switch the switch from soap to water every time you finish cleaning a section. Good exercise!? If you forget to switch it back to soap then you're actually cleaning with clean water and you basically have to do the whole thing over again. There are other cleaning machines that have an auto rinse on the handle that makes rinsing easier and easier on your back. The rinse occurs when you pull the machine back over the part you just cleaned. A great idea.

The machine does clean well. My carpets have never looked so clean. I used about 32 ounces of soap for 4 rooms and the stairs which isn't bad. The lights on the handle that tell you if you're moving too fast is a nice feature. If the lights move to the far right means you're moving the machine too quickly.

If it wasn't for some of the quirks of this machine, I think this carpet cleaner would be a great machine. A direct drive instead of belts would be a much better idea. Less breakage and a more positive pump flow. If you do keep this machine, be sure to carry some spare belts or your job could be finished at the half way point.

Thanks for reading.