This author is on Twitter: @Patrickavenell WE ARE NOT THE SUPPLIER OF THIS PRODUCT. WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT MEDIA TITLE. PLEASE FOLLOW THE STEPS OUTLINED BELOW TO CONTACT SHARK’S AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIER. Almost five weeks after Appliance Retailer first revealed that authorised distributor Brand Developers had discovered major faults in two Shark Navigator vacuum cleaners, the wholesaler has enacted an official product recall and, for the first time, revealed the inherent vice in these appliances. Appliance Retailer first reported on Brand Developers suspending sales of the Shark NV350 and NV356 on 12 February 2015, when a letter sent by Brand Developers to retailers was leaked to us. At the time, no indication was given as to the nature of the fault, nor were consumers advised that their appliance may be faulty. Then, on 13 March 2015, Appliance Retailer revealed that Brand Developers had upgraded this suspension of sale to an official recall. Again, this news only come to light after a letter from Brand Developers national key account manager Dale Wooldridge to retail partners was leaked to us.

In this letter, Wooldridge writes that, “The power cords of affected NV350NZ and NV356NZ Shark Navigator vacuum cleaners for the New Zealand and Australian market have been associated with a manufacturing process issue.” Today, we can reveal that the official cause of this recall is because of “a fault that can create excessive heat in the power cord has been reported in some of these models”, and that this can present a “risk of burn and electric shock”.sanyo 1700w vacuum cleaner price Appliance Retailer has written to Brand Developers asking why it has taken 32 days for the company to confirm the nature of the fault, the potential injuries caused by the fault and, considering the seriousness of these factors, why an official upgrade wasn’t enacted sooner.samsung robotic vacuum cleaner sr8950 review

The two Shark vacuum cleaners that have been recalled are: The recalled vacuum cleaners were sold nationally through the TV Shop and retailers including Harvey Norman, Big W, Target, The Good Guys, Masters, Bing Lee and Betta Home Living. Retailers seeking more information about this recall can ring the Shark Customer Service Team retailer number on 1800 303 031.kaily robot vacuum cleaner Affected consumers are advised to unplug their vacuum cleaner from the wall and not to use it again until the fault has been fixed. .au or by calling the Shark hotline on 1800 722 222. Brand Developers estimates that the collection, repair and return of the fixed vacuum will take five business days. The Shark brand is owned by Euro-Pro Operating, a family run company based in Massachusetts, in the United States. In addition to the Shark range of floorcare products, Brand Developers also markets Euro-Pro’s small appliance brand Ninja.

In recent years, Shark has developed something of a cult following, based largely off its TV infomercials and goading of rival brand Dyson. In August 2014, Shark was the surprise winner of Canstar Blue’s floorcare brand survey, eclipsing Dyson, Hoover, Miele, Electrolux and other more fancied names to be crowned Australia’s most satisfying vacuuming brand. “Shark vacuum cleaners is the new kid on the block; it’s a fantastic product range and now we’ve got the research to prove it,” said Brand Developers category marketing manager Penny Bicknell at that time. “[This is] an outstanding success for Shark and it makes us very proud to be associated with the product and [to know] so many people are happy with their purchases.”PLEASE FOLLOW THE STEPS OUTLINED ABOVE TO CONTACT SHARK’S AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIER.Much like Dyson brand vacuums, I had heard my fair share of iRobot hype before I began testing the Roomba 880. I even had visions of following in Tom Haverford's footsteps and building a "DJ Roomba" of my very own.

Sadly, my dreams of channeling "Parks and Recreation" were dashed when I unboxed it and began testing instead. Fortunately, though, what I discovered was a clever little robot vacuum that came in first or second place in every single performance category. The Roomba 880 is a new model for iRobot and the very first 800-series bot for the brand. At $699.99, it will replace the equally priced Roomba 790 that Katie Pilkington recently reviewed.At first glance, not a whole lot. But, flip the vacuum over and you'll see something entirely new: AeroForce technology. I'll go into that more later, but it's basically a design and feature upgrade that improves performance a lot. Yes, I would recommend the Roomba 880 to anyone in the market for a luxury-priced robot vac. It performed better than the $699.99 Roomba 790, and much better than the $799.99 LG Hom-Bot Square, as well as the $349.99 Infinuvo CleanMate QQ5. Overall, the 880 will be best for someone who appreciates gadgets and understands that a robot vacuum isn't designed to replace all other floor cleaning.

It also isn't the best choice for someone only interested in vacuuming up pet hair. For that, the $449.99 Neato Robotics XV Signature Pro holds steady in the lead. The 8.4-pound Roomba is a cute and capable robot vacuum. It has a height of 3.6 inches and a width of 13.9 inches. It's finished in black (unlike the 790's blue finish), and has a carrying handle so you can easily transport it. Stylistically, the 880 doesn't stray too far from iRobot's existing design. It has the same rounded look, and that same large Clean/Power button in the middle. The company clearly wanted to maintain the Roomba's unassuming, minimalist design and sturdy construction. It comes with a removable dust bin with an easy-access release button, left and right side wheels, a removable caster wheel in the front, debris extractors, and a spinning side brush. Aside from the vacuum itself, you also get a Home Base, or dock, two Virtual Wall/Lighthouse sensors with four C batteries included, an extra HEPA filter, and a remote control with two AA batteries included.

The most interesting feature offered on the Roomba 880 is iRobot's newly designed AeroForce cleaning system. It includes two bristle-free extractors that rotate inward toward one another to speed airflow and increase suction. There's also a high-efficiency vacuum, and a new XLife battery that claims to last much longer. The display on the top of the vacuum includes the following buttons: Dock, Clock, Schedule, and Spot. Hit the Dock button and your Roomba will return to Home Base to charge. Select Clock and you can set the day, hour, and minute. Choose Schedule and you can program a specific cleaning routine for your Roomba to tackle every week. And the unique Spot option targets small cleaning areas -- it rotates outward 3 feet from its starting point and then returns back to where it began to deep clean a particular section of floor. The 880 also has various indicator lights to communicate with you as it cleans or charges. Docked, the battery light will flash amber as it charges and it will maintain a solid green color when it's fully charged.

Solid red means that the battery is empty. A Dirt Detect feature senses debris and targets those areas for cleaning. A troubleshooting light will appear if there's a problem, and an antitangle light will display when the Roomba is trying to untangle itself from something. A full bin light lets you know when the tray needs to be emptied. You can control those things directly on the Roomba, but you can also initiate regular cleaning and spot cleaning from the remote, dock the Roomba, or steer it around using the arrow buttons. And if you want to block off a particular room for cleaning, the Virtual Walls act like invisible fences; the 880 won't move past them. You also have the option of turning your Virtual Walls into Lighthouses. Position them throughout your home and your Roomba will be able to follow them around to clean room by room and get back to Home Base without getting lost. This vacuum is very simple to use. Set it on regular clean, spot clean, or create your own schedule in advance, and let it go.

You can also rely on different accessories like the Virtual Walls and the Lighthouses mentioned in the Features section above to keep it from leaving a room or to help guide it throughout your house and back to Home Base. The 880 requires very little effort and interaction from you (possibly even less than the Neato, since the Roomba has a remote for increased accessibility and the Neato doesn't). The 880 also senses how long it needs to clean a given space and it will return to the dock to charge when it thinks that job is done. It doesn't get much easier than that. However, you can't exactly estimate how long it might take the Roomba to clean a room -- especially when you first get it. So if you're in a hurry, a robot vacuum is not the most efficient cleaning method. Sure, it follows algorithms that cover as much ground as possible, but if you want to clean something fast, watching a Roomba run is a bit like waiting for water to boil. While ease of use is high, speed of use is a bit less predictable.

Also, while the dust bin is easy to remove, if it isn't positioned correctly it will dump everything it just cleaned all over the place. And because it's small, you will need to empty that bin and shake out the filter pretty much every time you use it. It's also recommended that you replace the filter about six times a year and clean both debris extractors every four months (even more if you have pets). The sensors need to be cleaned periodically, too. You don't have to do much (or anything) with this robot vacuum while it's in use. But when it isn't running the upkeep makes this low-maintenance Roomba seem a bit high maintenance. Since it's so small and easy to lift, though, cleaning isn't nearly as involved as it would be with a larger, more traditional upright or canister vacuum cleaner. So, how did it do? First, all of the built-in sensors performed flawlessly. The cliff sensors that keep the Roomba from taking a tumble down a flight of stairs knew every time it got near an edge, stopped, and changed direction.