BYERS VACUUM CLEANER & SEWING MACHINE SALES & SERVICE, is located on the SW corner of 1st & University in Champaign Il. The Champaign Police station is on the NW corner, the Cattle Bank museum is on the NE, and Dallas & Co costume shop is on the SE corner. 1st street is the first stop light east of the railroad viaduct. If you are coming from the east, as you drive down University, after all the lights by the Carle hospital there is a light at Lincoln (that's the intersection where the RR tracks run thru on an angle), then a light at Goodwin, then Wright street, that's when you've entered Champaign, then 4th street, and then 1st where you turn left and there we are. If you are coming from the West, it's the first stop light after you go under the RR viaduct. If you are on I-74 you can get off at Neil and go south thru the downtown and turn left on University, go under the viaduct and we're the 1st stoplight, BUT, it saves a bunch of time if, as you're going south on Neil, you turn left at Washington (1 block after the light at Columbia) and go under that RR viaduct and turn right on 1st street right after the viaduct. This avoids a lot of traffic downtown.

     There are metered spaces on 1st street plus we have FREE PARKING in the rear in a lot we share with Manzella's Italian Patio Restaurant, which is behind us on 1st & Chester. If you park in the lot, PLEASE use one of the marked spaces. Sometimes people just pull in and stop, blocking the driveway. This can cause several problems. First, someone entering off 1st sometimes has traffic right behind them and turn in rather quickly. I wouldn't want anyone or their car to be hit. Second, sometimes large delivery trucks, which are too big to turn around, are coming thru South to North and I wouldn't want them to hit anyone's car trying to get out.

     Byers Vacuum primarily serves Champaign County communities such as Champaign, Urbana,  Mahomet, St Joseph, Savoy, Rantoul, Tolono, Philo, Sidney, Thomasboro, Ogden, Homer, Dewey, Fisher, etc. However, since the vacuum stores in Danville, Decatur, Goergetown, & Mattoon have closed, we have a number of customers coming from Vermillion County, Piatt County, Macon County, etc. towns like Danville, Decatur, Oakwood, Catlin, Fithian, Tuscola, Monticello, White Heath, Villa Grove, Charleston, Mattoon, Paxton, Gibson City, Roberts, Farmer City, Mansfield, Deland, and others. return to homepage.

HEPA BAG PROMOTION

Get $2.00 off any package of DVC or Envirocare branded synthetic ANTI-ALLERGEN bags ONLY if you mention "Bag promo 2".

FREE CARPET CLEANING MACHINE RENTAL

Ask about a certificate good for a free HOST Carpet Cleaning machine rental FREE with any vacuum purchase. Must mention "HOST Promo 1"

     We warranty what we sell, New, Used, or Rebuilt. Our quality rebuilt vacuums let you afford the Kirby, Electrolux, or other premium vacuum you've always wanted but just wasn't in your budget. Our new Miele canisters have the best filtration available, a host of features, and German craftsmanship. Our other German line, SEBO, offers the longest warranty (10 years), offers the longest cord(40') on a canister with automatic cord rewind available, and has some uprights that electronically sense the resistance on the brush and automatically raise & lower the nozzle for the optimum height adjustment. Oreck & Supralite are the leaders in light weight yet durable uprights. Kirby, Perfect, Clean Obsessed, & Sanitaire  give you the highest airflow and adjustable nozzle height for superior cleaning on a wide range of carpets. Riccar & Cirrus have a nice selection of  uprights with On Board Tools,  The Riccar uprights have some of the longest hoses on an OBT upright (some are well over 6 feet long).  Lindhaus has some interesting products from Italy. Metropolitan builds a traditional metal tank type vacuum in the USA. Perfect imports a replica of the traditional long Electrolux tanks.  Whatever your needs, Byers Vacuum probably has a vacuum for you, and that's what we specialize in, finding out what your needs are, and finding the vacuum to best do the job for you. Even cleaning the new FRIEZE and SHAG carpets, or the super soft carpets like Caress & Silk, which are very hard to push many vacuums on.

     We offer FREE ESTIMATES on repairs, although our minimum on machines not bought from us is currently $30 labor if we fix it. So, if it isn't worth it to you to spend $30 in labor and say $1.84 -$2.48 for a belt, don't bring it in, because if it's just something minor like that, that's what we charge. If it's more serious, we will give you a FREE ESTIMATE and not charge you if you don't want it fixed. Sometimes, minor repairs can be done while you wait. If you have to leave it, it may be done in a few business days, but often we are backed up for a week or more. It varies. Machines bought from us go to the head of the line and will be repaired first, then ones purchased elsewhere.

     Why would anyone repair a vacuum cleaner? Why not? It's the GREEN thing to do, not putting old vacuums in the landfill. It might also be more economical than buying a comparable vacuum. We give FREE ESTIMATES on repairs, so it's your decision. While the big box stores sell lots of Chinese vacuums for under $100, better vacuums cost a lot more. Some (Kirby, Aerus, Filter Queen, Rainbow, TriStar) sell new for well over $1000(most of what we sell new is a lot less, but more than $100. Our average new vacuum sale for 2022 was around $550.) Our average repair for 2022 was under $50. I'm not saying we can fix yours for $50, but we fixed a lot for that or less. Let us give you a FREE ESTIMATE.
      If you have a $59 vacuum that needs MAJOR repair, it probably isn't worth bringing in, unless it has sentimental value. To give you an idea what repairs cost, on machines not purchased from us(machines purchased from us get a big discount on labor and 10% off on parts), the minimum labor for a minor repair (like changing a belt, unclogging a hose, etc.) is $30, but there is NO charge if we don't repair it. replacing cords or switches runs around $45 labor and 5-$20 in parts on most machines. So if you have a vacuum that you know needs a cord and say also has a worn out brush($15-$30 on most) and say a $15 filter you know is shot and you don't think the machine is worth the $70-$90 that would be, then don't waste your gasoline bringing it in. A phone call (359-4VAC) explaining what model it is and what the problem is will get you a closer estimate, but I can't tell everything a machine needs without seeing it. But as I said, if you KNOW it needs these things, that gives you an idea. If you had a $250 vacuum that you knew needed those things, it would probably be worth doing. On a machine that doesn't run, I want to have approval to fix it if it's the cord or switch, with the understanding that if it's the motor or there are other things wrong we will call you and if you don't want it fixed, we'll give it back no charge. Many years ago I took a dozen or more screws out of a vacuum, found it was a bad switch, and called the customer with an estimate. She said "that old vacuum isn't worth $5". While $5 went a lot further 40 years ago than it does now, the principle is the same. If a dead machine isn't worth $45-$60(broken wire, or bad cord, or bad switch) we can't afford to take it apart for free just to satisfy your curiousity, but we will be glad to as long as you're willing to pay if, and only if, we can fix it. We like to give the estimates at the time it comes in, because we have so many repairs to do that if we took everything apart and called, and couldn't reach half the people, or they said "let me ask my spouse", we'd have machines apart all over and might get parts mixed up. So we don't want to open it up unless we can hopefully finish it and close it up again. Most dead machines are not the motor, but a cord, switch, or broken wire. return to homepage

     The vacuums in the list above we don't work on are mostly because we do not have parts available. Some, like Shark, the importer knows is an inexpensive product that is usually not economically repairable, so they offer almost no parts. If parts were available, we would attempt to repair them. The commercial brands, like Advance, Castex, etc. usually only sell parts to their dealers, which are usually janitor supply businesses who specialize in maintenance equipment and supplies for hotels and other large commercial users (customers who buy floor wax in 5-55 gallon quantities).

     Kenmore we try to work on. These machines were custom made for Sears, and Sears changed suppliers. The original supplier closed the American factory and most parts are now discontinued. We do what we can. We have lots of used machines we scrap for parts. Bags, belts, filters, and some brush rolls are available new from aftermarket suppliers.

     Dyson. We are now able to get genuine Dyson parts. They aren't cheap but they are available, so we should be able to work on your Dyson. For many years we could not get Dyson parts and did not work on them.

     We also do not work on any brand of carpet extractor, such as the Bissell ProHeat, Hoover Steamvac, etc. Years ago we had a man from Vermilion County pick them up and work on them. We just acted as a drop-off center as a customer convenience. Too many customers got mad at us because the products are cheaply constructed and fail easily, so we stopped accepting them. The man that picked them up no longer lives in Illinois.

     A few years ago I commented to a customer in the carpet cleaning business, "I bet you have over $20,000 in equipment in your van, not counting the price of the van." His response was "double that". What this means is that professional has $40,000 worth of equipment, compared to a $100-$300 home unit. Of course the home unit isn't as good. The plastic is quite thin and fragile, the seals are poor, the pumps are poor, the hoses crack quite easily. But, if you consider it costs $40 to rent a unit, and you pay under $250 for a unit, and it lasts more than 7 uses, you've come out ahead, especially if you don't live near a store that rents them.You don't look at it as an appliance, look at it like a disposable razor. I personally have trouble looking at things that way. I was brought up it's wasteful. AND we're running out of landfill space to fill with disposable appliances.  return to homepage

THE FIRE UPSTAIRS

The minor electrical fire in the apartment upstairs in the wee small hours of Dec 18, 2014 did not seriously affect the store. A small amount of water dripped down and damaged 2 cardboard boxes and 1 computer printer. I couldn't even smell any smoke.

PRAISE TO GOD & the FIRE DEPT

If not for the alertness of Champaign Fire Dept personnel, who happened to be driving past about 3 AM, and noticed smoke coming from an attic vent, the damage would have been much greater. They extinguished the fire before it did more than damage a few ceiling rafters on the top floor. Of course the ceiling upstairs and some furniture were damaged, but if the fire had burned any longer it would have damaged the roof, and the amount of water needed to contain it would have caused  a lot of damage downstairs. I want to thank the Fire Dept for their quick action and thank God (How often are Firemen passing by in the middle of the night at just the right time to detect a fire before it burns through something? It had to be the grace of God).    

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In December of 2016, Electrolux Home Care Products announced they were selling their Eureka brand to a Chinese appliance conglomerate, Midea. The Electrolux, Sanitaire, and Beam brand names will not be affected(2018 update; EHCP sold Beam & Sanitaire in the fall of 2018). The transfer was carried out in 2017. E.H.C.P. stopped shipping Eureka products from its warehouse in the summer of 2017. There was a shortage of some Eureka branded bags as the old stock ran out and new stock from Midea had not yet arrived. As of December of 2017 these backorders are beginning to be filled. I read that sales of  Eureka, once the #2 seller of vacuums in the US, were only $60 million in 2016.

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BEWARE OF "HAND LOOMED" RUGS

I just read an article  about "hand loomed" rugs, mostly from India. They are NOT hand knotted. Apparently a bunch of wool is stuffed in between some thin threads on a loom. When they are new they look nice. Since they are wool they sometimes sell for some fancy prices, but they do not hold up. The wool can pull out from between the thread, the carpet can even separate in heavy traffic ares, and the rug tends to warp. The article (in a carpet cleaning magazine) warned carpet cleaners to not attempt to clean them, as even their extractors could damage them. The author definately felt using anything with a powered brush could damage them. So, even a normal vacuum with a brush could be too harsh. I recommend staying away from any imported wool rugs that are not either woven normally, or hand knotted. Don't buy "hand loomed".

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     In May of 2013 Oreck filed bankruptcy. In July the Oreck Corporation was auctioned to Hong Kong (now part of China) based TTI (who also own Hoover, Royal, Dirt Devil, and other brands). We will continue to provide warranty service and tune-ups on any Oreck that we have sold, no matter what happens to the Oreck company. An article in the Tennessean quotes TTI as saying they will keep the factory open. (Update: It is now 2021 and the Tennessee factory is still open). We have discontinued being a warranty center for Oreck, but we will still work on them, no mattter where you bought it, but we will now only do warranty work & free tuneups on machines bought from us.  return to homepage

     On Friday September 21, 2012, I was blessed to be a guest on the WCIA TV channel 3 ciLiving.tv show, which runs from 4pm to 5pm. They interviewed me for just under 5 minutes about vacuum cleaners. I vacuumed up a shoe lace with a Riccar Brilliance, which startled everyone as it sucked the shoe up against the vacuum. On the Riccar tandem air models with the Hall sensor circuit it will shut off the brush motor instead of burning up the belt like most vacuums. We had some fun. The show is not scripted and I was amazed at how well the hosts handled everything on the fly (obviously I was not the only guest). I had a link to the video posted here but unfortunately it seems to no longer work. return to homepage

     We will take some household vacuum cleaners or sewing machines in trade. The exceptions would be the brands we don't work on at all, and many of the new inexpensive bagless vacuums that do not have parts available. We do not buy old vacuums but we will accept metal machines that we can recycle or plastic machines that would have parts we might need as donations. We recycle all the metal (and cardboard for that matter) that we can. My parents were adults through the depression and my mom told me how during WW2 you even had to turn in your old toothpaste tube(they were metal rather than plastic), so I was brought up to waste nothing. Unfortunately, many of the plastic vacuums made today in Asia are made to run a couple of years and go into the landfill, and I have not found a place that takes ABS(the plastic most vacuums are made of), so there is almost nothing to recycle on them other than the cord and the motor, and the labor to get the motor out far exceeds the value of the material in the motor in most cases. BUT, if we can use some of the plastic parts to repair another vacuum, it is worth taking apart. If you have a plastic vacuum you wish to donate please call us first to see if we are interested. Metal we'll gladly take,

     PLEASE do not abandon plastic vacuums in the parking lot or Manzella's dumpster. You wouldn't believe what it costs for dumpster dumping and it seems between us we fill the dumpster up every few days. If you have an old plastic vacuum that we don't want, please put it with your garbage or put it out by your curb and see if someone with lots of time will take it and try to fix it themselves. return to homepage