****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The tip broke off the electric wand (S500 canister) after ten years of service. The original was dark gray plastic, like the tools. The replacement has a stainless steel finish. Fit and finish are fine, and both nonelectric and electric attachments work great. The steel finish will "show" fingerprints similar to steel kitchen appliances. On the plus side, the extension control on the original wand always stuck and required extra force to extend the wand. This replacement wand extends smoothly and easily. Most importantly, it made an existing S5 canister "good as new", allowing use of all of the attachments and the electric powerhead. Better than $800-900 for a new canister. Should deduct half a star for the steel finish/fingerprints issues, but overall it merits five stars.Note: I saved the old/broken electric wand. While it no longer can accommodate attachments, it still extends (with difficulty) and can be used as a primitive crevice tool for dirty jobs (cobwebs, spilled powders, etc.) when you don't want to use your new wand or get it dirty. It takes up virtually no space to store, so why not?Update February 2013: I had several issues with debris clogging the wand, requiring me to clear obstructions out of the wand. Upon closer inspection, I learned why: there is an electric cord inside the wand that bunches up and forms a curl when the wand is retracted to a short length. Debris gets caught here and clogs the entire wand interior. When the wand is extended to full length, the extra wire is taut and lies flat against the inner wall of the wand. I saved my old wand, despite the broken-off tip, and do not see the interior wire curled up when the wand is shortened, so the wiring design of the new wand is inferior to that of the original, in that you are likely to get clogs if you operate the wand at its shortest length. Using the wand extended to full length, it's fine, no clogs, but someone who is short--or who is using it to clean drapes or overhead objects (top of furniture cabinets, ceiling fans, etc) might not find it easy to use in the fully extended position. After experiencing four clogs on one day of use, I now use the wand only fully extended, to force the interior wire taut/flat. I am 5'11", so the fully extended length is fine for me, but probably wouldn't be so nice for someone 5'2". What concerns me here is that new canisters are being delivered with this redesigned wand, and I'm guessing all of the new buyers may have the same clogging issues I am having. and note, the tip of the wand is still plastic, so it can still break off. This is what happened to my old wand: the tip broke off, but the rest of the wand is still in perfect shape ten years after purchase. For those canister owners who bought S5-S6 models in the past decade, if your tip breaks, you'll have no choice but to buy one of these, unless you can find a used wand on eBay.
