Door to Door canister comparison

[blackheart]

This one has been a while coming i've often wondered how some of these vacuums compared to each other in terms of carpet cleaning performance. So at long last i dragged some of my higher end canisters upstairs to test them.
There were a few others i wished to include but i ran out of test cleaning space.
I also wasn't able to perform the cleaning test with the Silver king due to space.
I paired the Patriot with a Wessel nozzle because that's their current offering.

So first off i wanted to be sure all cleaners were running at their optimal levels. I made sure to hold the hoses as straight as i could get them while getting a baird meter reading.

Edit: forgot to add that the MG2 has the EXL motor in it which should put it's flow about on par with the CS perhaps just a little stronger.

 

[blackheart]

Cleaning completed

After the vacuuming is completed. The poor silver king pushed to the side.

 

[blackheart]

And finally

Here's what the Kirby G6 dug up from each of them after 16 straight passes I put them in order from worst to best

 

[electromatik]

Thank you that was an awesome demonstration. I've always wanted to see how many high-end canisters performed on the Baird scale. Some of them did extremely well at moving air. The poor Rainbow struggled to get to 2. I had higher hopes for it. That Patriot zoomed up to 6. What's that one on the far left? It went all the way to 5. That older model Aerus did way better than I hoped by going to 4, beating the Filter Queen. The TriStar did very well. These are some very powerful vacuums. From the looks of what was dug out, the Filter Queen and the Lux did the best in this particular instance, closely followed by the MG2. Did you soil the carpet yourself or is it normal dirt? Again, a most interesting demonstration.

 

[blackheart]

Oh no

See those pads are what the kirby picked up after the machines I arranged them from worst to best the Filterqueen performed the worst the patriot performed the best the Rainbow and Mg2 seemed to perform similarly but i saw more sand on the rainbow pad so i gave the MG2 #2

The one pulling the 5 was my Silver King Blue max it didn't get to participate in the test due to running out of space.

As for the dirt it's just normal dirt i allow things to build up for a while in order to perform these tests it's a very high traffic piece i perform it on.

 

[jade_angel]

Hmm, if the Rainbow did almost as well as the Tristar, despite much worse airflow, that suggests that its power nozzle is pretty good - that, or the Tristar's is fairly bad. I'd be quite curious how the Silver King compares to the Patriot (both with EBK340 nozzles, it looks like), or how the various Filter Queen power nozzles compare to each other.

IIRC, the FQ 75th Anniversary model still has the two-stage Ametek motor, right?

 

[blackheart]

Yes

The new power nozzle is a drastic improvement for rainbow the bristles are fairly stiff, it has a larger opening to the brushroll cavity, and i think the smaller cavity results in more concentrated airflow.

As for the MG2's nozzle it uses the same brushroll as the Guardian does but it has one thing the lux does not, weight, the metal casing on the nozzle puts more weight on the brushroll allowing it to clean better than the guardian. Electrolux nozzles though have never known to be very good deep cleaners though.

As for Silver king vs patriot I'd say the patriot would take it due to it's higher flow.

If memory Serves FilterQueen switched to the single stage with the 75th anniversary model it's airflow is about 1/2 of what the triple crown is capable of pulling.

 

[dysonman1]

There's a more scientific way to perform those tests. It's how we do it at the Tacony factory. And, we test all vacuums, not only the ones we make but also the competitor vacuums.

We start by cutting a piece of medium pile plush carpet from a new roll. The carpet is weighed on a digital scale. 8 ounces of 'test dirt' (we buy it in five gallon buckets - it's the same 'test dirt' all manufacturers use - looks like half sand and half talc to me). The 8 ounces are pressed into the carpet with a very heavy roller. A mechanical arm pushes each vacuum at the exact same speed, 16 times (8 forward and 8 back) over the rug. The rug is then weighed after the 'cleaning'. The percentage of dirt removed is recorded. The most important thing is eliminating the human element (speed the machine is pushed) and being able to reproduce the test with the exact same results, time after time.

The Oreck XL-21 (last Oreck we tested) removed 18% of the test dirt. The Dyson DC41 got 38% of the dirt. The Kirby Sentria 1 removed 78%. The Rainbow 75th Anniversary Edition got 72%. The Simplicity Synergy got 89%. The Miele Salsa got 76%. Those are just the ones I remember looking at the results recently. All tested cleaners are stored in Tacony's "vaults" (similar to Hoover's vaults) at the engineering department. There are rows and rows of vacuums of every conceivable style and type made within the last ten years, sitting there collecting dust. After ten years, they give the vacuums to me for the Museum.

As far as airflow, the Baird meter wasn't designed to give an accurate reading. It was designed to be mounted against the Kirby fan chamber to give an unfair advantage to the Kirby. Real airflow meters are digital wind speed meters, far more accurate, but cost about $300. We have one on every single assembly line, and all vacuums we make must meet minimum water lift AS WELL AS air speed readings.
A real air speed meter will indicate the air flow in either nautical 'knots' or MPH, whichever you want.

 

[blackheart]

Weird

I did some upright testing a while back and found that both my Kirby and Sanitaire outdid my Riccar Radiance The simplicity 7 did nearly as well as the radiance and the Filtropur took dead last. How is this carpet held down when performing the factory tests? Is it glued or tacked?

 

[GM1982]

Dysonman1

Do you know what percentage of dirt the Aerus Guardian Upright (recent model) picks up? I own this model, and is this a good machine? Also, how come the Tacony Uprights are so loud compared to the Miele brand uprights.

 

[dysonman1]

Tandem Air uprights from Tacony have two SUCTION motors (not just one suction and one brush motor). That's what makes them kind of loud. The 7850 has a two fan, double ball bearing motor (like in an older Compact or Filter Queen) - so it's slightly louder than the single fan motor Symmetry models.

The test carpeting used on the testing tread mill is two feet wide by a yard long. There's a foam rubber pad already on the wooden flooring board, the new carpet sample is nailed down on all four corners. It must be easily removable for weighing after the machine has run over it. They do stretch them when putting them down, it's important to simulate an actual medium plush carpet that you would find 'in the home'.

The next Vacuum Collectors Group meeting we hold (every year in June) at the Museum, I'll take the group to our 'vaults' and let them take pics of all the machines as well as the test results (which are hanging from the handles).

 

[vintagerepairer]

Dysonman, I read your message with much interest. Thank you. So, from what you have said, I can conclude that the company you work for performs these tests and measures how much 'test dirt' is removed from carpeting, under strict test conditions. How do these results then translate into every day life?

 

[dysonman1]

In actual fact, they don't. Because we remove the variable (the speed with which a human pushes the vacuum), they cannot translate into everyday life. For example, pushed slowly and deliberately, with a slower backstroke, and a clean bag, the Oreck would remove the same or more dirt than the far better performing Dyson if the Dyson is pushed quickly (as shown in the TV ads). It's the human variable that all manufacturers are trying to design around. But engineering departments have budgets too. They "could" engineer the most durable vacuum with the very best features, and make it last more than 20 years. But no manufacturer would authorize tooling up to make a 'lifetime' vacuum. Manufacturers are in business to make money. True, Hoover (for their first 20 years) tried to make "lifetime" vacuums. The model 700, for example, would run 50 years with no problems. But a company cannot survive financially making a vacuum that lasts 50 years. So there has to be a balance. The average consumer of modern low priced vacuums, only expects the two to three years they get. When asked most answer "I want a new one by that time anyway - so I just throw the old one away and buy a brand new clean one". Remember, we are living in a time when "Home Ec" is not taught in schools, no one knows how to 'cook' any more and people certainly don't read instruction manuals nor do they even do simple things like cleaning the filter. They believe if it's on the floor, the vacuum should suck it up. They come unglued when a clog in the hose occurs. All you can do is design a vacuum that a dummy could use. Only to a VERY few people, does true cleaning efficiency matter. Mostly it matters to vacuum collectors, and the very, very rare person who will actually use and maintain her vacuum properly to get the maximum results. In the real world, they just want to see the dirt disappear the quickest. So an Oreck could definitely make that happen faster than a Kirby (for example) but of course WE all know the dirt was just pushed deeper by the Oreck and the surface cleaned of dust and debris. The grit is still there. It makes no difference. The customer wants "instant" results. And that's exactly what today's engineers are trying to give us. Take the Hoover Air Pro for example, that can clean a rug so fast it would make your head spin. Durable?} Slightly above average. Efficient?} Yes, but not the best. Speed of Cleaning?} Instantaneous! Swivels?} Yes. And that's exactly what American consumers say they want in a $200 vacuum. And they're willing to put one in their cart at Wal-Mart. Like it or not, that's the way it is.

So efficiency of cleaning will only really, truly matter to us and an infinitesimally small percent of consumers.

 

[williamr1248]

Door to Door Canister Comparison

Tom,
I could not agree more with what you have just stated. I really feel like most people just want 3 things:
(1) carpet surface fluffed
(2) surface litter gone
(3) light weight, easy to use
We as collectors see a very different picture.
When selling Electrolux we went into lots of homes that had "clean looking carpet" and owned very good Kirby's, Hoovers and Eureka uprights BUT they had full bags, clogged filters and blocked hoses and tubes.
As long as their machines turned on and made the surface look clean they were happy and could put the machine away for another week.
The Automatic Electrolux forced the user to change the bag and the Rexair forced the owner to dump the water and start with a clean machine every time.
Customers expectations for the life of a cleaner today seems to be about 2-3 years.

 

[electromatik]

Oh NOW I see it! I overlooked the sentence before the picture. (Sometimes I wonder about my reading skills...) These things have a lot of variables such as age of machine, condition of belts/brushrolls, hoses, in addition to many human operator variables. I've seen videos on Youtube before that showed other vacuums picking up dirt/sand after a Kirby. I'm glad you allowed for normal soiling. There's a clear age difference is your machines. Your Rainbow is the very newest one it looks like. It does appear the newer models performed better than the older ones. At least we can take some comfort that upgrades really are upgrades sometimes.

 

[electromatik]

I really don't buy the commonly repeated lingo that Lux machines can't clean effectively. Over the years millions of Electrolux vacuums with power nozzles have been sold and used as the sole carpet vacuuming device. If they couldn't clean a carpet, people would see the carpet wearing away and growing dingier by the week. Based on my own eyes with my family that owned them, I cannot buy the argument they "don't deep clean." If they couldn't, the evidence would be before us. Of course, people are determined to believe what they will.

 

[durango159]

Current FilterQueen is gauged to have better airflow than previous models. Hose airflow for current model is significantly stronger than older models in our office.

How is the premotor filter and cone on that Majestic?

 

[jade_angel]

I've heard that about the newer FQs, and I've also heard the opposite. I'd kinda like to get a look at one. I'd also be interested in seeing results if you use the old straight-connector hose on a Majestic 360, or the new-style gas pump hose on a Majestic 95X - I bet the hose has a lot to do with it.

I actually wonder why nobody's decided to go with a larger-diameter hose just for the higher airflow.

 

[blackheart]

Filterqueens

I had to look into it the the cone was new before the test the, pre filter was a bit dusty.
I took both of the Filterqueens i had checked their pre-motor filter cleaned the tanks out completely put in new cones, and used the same hose.

When changing the pre-filter i noticed that the triple crown actually uses less of the cone because there is no gap between the perforated plastic cone and the motor where on the 75th it has room for the motor to utilize the full cone. I tried to get a picture of this but it's very hard to see even with the white plastic cone.