Dysons dc23 and dc22

brandon_w_t · Jun 6, 2011

My mom wants to buy a dyson. I suggested the dc23 turbine head but she thinks the motor head is a better choice. I agree.

I see dyson has 2 motor head models. The dc 22 and dc 23. Wha are the differences in these two?

She of course wants the pink one which is 800$ at the local super center Nebraska furniture mart. I told her that that's probably not the best idea. Lol. We can live with the standard yellow model.

Whee typing on the iPad is a lot of getting used to.

eurekaprince · Jun 6, 2011

Brandon,

Though I'm sure the Dyson Motorhead is a reliable machine, the telescopic wand can not be disconnected from the hose. This makes the hose very bulky to use for anything but floor and carpet cleaning. So I would recommend the turbine-head over the Motorhead model. Since the turbine head does not require any wiring in the wand or hose, I think you can remove the wand so that you are left with a small hose handle for cleaning in small/tight spaces like most other canister vacs. You should explain this difference to your mom, because if she wants to use the vac to clean bookshelves or car interiors, the Motorhead is very inconvenient to use for those purposes.

Just something to think about...

Eurekaprince Brian

brandon_w_t · Jun 6, 2011

That is an interesting point. I did notice the significant difference in size of wands. Although I do notice that the dc23 motor head has metal wands opposed to the plastic of the turbine head. Though it is durable stuff

I do like that the Motörhead has a much longer hose though.

Will have to test them all out. My mom found a dc22 that she really wants for under $600 The only difference i see is that the handle has power controls it seems.

eurekaprince · Jun 6, 2011

Brandon - that's a great idea to test them out first.

I think the reason that the Motorhead appears to have a longer hose is that a large part of it has to disappear into the wand when you extend it for carpet and floor cleaning. As you stretch out the telescopic wand, the hose stays connected to the lower part and the wand kind of stretches "over" the next few feet of hose. You'll get what I mean when you try it out. If you stretch out the telescopic wand on both the Turbinehead and the Motorhead, you'll probably see that the length of hose remaining between the handle and the canister are the same length.

Let us know what you decide!!

piano_god · Jun 6, 2011

DC22 Motorhead vs. DC23 Motorhead...

The DC22 is the smaller of the two and uses the DDM, where as the DC23 is larger and uses a conventional motor. As you mentioned, the DC22 Motorhead has its controls on the handle. Its Motorhead is also much smaller and less agressive than the one provided on the DC23 Motorhead.

Keep in mind that the hose retracts into the wands when they are in their extended position on the Motorhead models, so the length of hose when the wand is fully extended is reduced. The aluminum used on the wand of DC23 Motorhead scratches very easily. Infact, mine is all scratched just from using its telescopic feature. As mentioned, the Motorhead wand setup can make certain tasks quite difficult, like dusting, as it feels like you're using a baseball bat to complete the task.

Definitely give both models a thorough "test drive" in the store...

vacman117 · Jun 6, 2011

I had a DC23 Animal for a while and it was one heck of a vacuum! The suction was tremendous and the turbine tool was most definitely agressive enough. The only reason I took it back was because it was way to impractical for my size of house. Otherwise I would have kept it.

If you do go with a turbine head, go with the Animal. It comes with Dyson's AMAZING mini turbo nozzle and the articulating floor tool which is probably the best bare floor I've ever used.
Chase

brandon_w_t · Jun 6, 2011

Thank you Scott and Brian. I did not know that the hose retracted into the wands on the motor head.

Scott. What do you like on the dc23. Is it a good machine for its price? Anything that you don't Ike about it?

Do you have any experience of side by side observations with the turbine head? I am most curious on it's deep cleaning ability against the more powerful power nozzle.

I can get a good idea in the store but the real outcome happens when in real use at home.

Thanks again

williamr1248 · Jun 7, 2011

Dyson dc23 and dc22

Brandon,
I have not seen or used the dc22 but I have had both the motorized and turbine dc23. I much preferred the turbine model. They are both good machines with the many strong points but they both had a couple of drawbacks.

Good features:
(1) very strong suction and airflow
(2) nice design of Dyson tools
(3) machine was easy to pull and did not turn over
(4) nice on board tool storage on cleaner
(5) both machines did not lose suction as bin fills
Not so Good:
(1) hose was too short
(2) power cord was too short
(3) electric power head damaged 2 different types of rugs
(4) I do not remember but there was something cumbersone with the wand on the electric power head machine
(5) messy to empty
I did buy the separate floor brush and the "gentle" dusting brush and they were very well designed tools (no cheap generic tools with a Dyson!)

eurekaprince · Jun 7, 2011

For carpet cleaning, it's better to get an upright.....

You're welcome Brandon!

You know, it really comes down to whether you will use this vac for carpet cleaning or not. If it is primarily for carpet cleaning, and you want a Dyson, why not get an upright since the hose and tools on the Dyson uprights are easier to use than on their power nozzle canisters? If you will use it mostly for carpets, get the Dyson DC28 Animal upright: Consumer Reports has given it a "recommended" tag - it's "very good" for carpet cleaning, "excellent" for bare floor cleaning and the airflow through the hose for tool use was rated "very good". When you remove the handle and hose for above-the-floor cleaning, the Dyson upright almost turns into a canister vac anyhow.

If you need this vac to clean non-carpeted surfaces mostly, then get one of the Dyson canisters that does not have a power nozzle - the hose/wand set-up on those is easier to use.

Let us know what happens!!!!

piano_god · Jun 7, 2011

This is my opinion of the DC23 Motorhead only. I have not used the DC23 Turbinehead version.

Good points:

- Strong suction.
- Root cylcone + Core seperator works really well. The washable filter remains very clean.

Bad points:

- Upper gasket between the machine and the bin squeals when you pick it up during vacuuming.
- Hose is side mounted, which makes it awkward to pull the canister behind you.
- A bit loud.
- Runs quite hot.
- Motorhead has a very high-pitched, shrill sound due to its motor and gear system.
- Hose kinks easily as it's made thinner due to the electrical cord being run through the centre of the hose.
- Aluminum wand scratches due to the action of extending and compressing.
- Wand cannot be removed from the hose.
- Messy to empty.

IMHO, there are better canisters available for the money. The DC23 Motorhead is one of the very few new machines that I do regret purchasing. It spends most of its time in its box.

As Brian mentioned, I too would recommend a Dyson upright over their Motorhead canister.

brandon_w_t · Jun 7, 2011

My mom really wants a canister. We looked at miele but we can't afford any of them.

Will look into the turbine head.

kirbyloverdan · Jun 7, 2011

Why not try

eBay for a Miele or a Simplicity/Riccar canister . All three brands make excellent canisters.

eurekaprince · Jun 7, 2011

If you want a canister , go with a tried and true Panasonic.

Best deal on the market now for a power nozzle canister (if you don't mind bagged), is the good old fashioned Panasonic power nozzle canister Model MC-CG902 - it does everything well and has all the tools you need. In Canada, they are selling for CAD450, and at J&R in New York, you can get it for $200!!! See the link below.....this canister will give you much less grief and higher performance than the Dyson canisters. This is the Panasonic version of the well-known Sears Kenmore Progressive that is no longer available at Sears.

Here's the link to J&R

http://www.jr.com/panasonic/pe/PAN_MCCG902/

vacman117 · Jun 7, 2011

Canister vacuum

Run the Hoover Windtunnel Cyclonic Canister in green, or the Platinum, across your mom. I have the green version and they are truly amazing vacuums. They also have one of the best deep cleaning power nozzles I have ever used. The power nozzle uses TRUE Windtunnel Technology, the tools are conveniently located on the handle and it is almost impossible to have them fall off. All of the wheels are also soft touch, which gives a pleasant sound to the ears when it rolls across hard floors.
Just a thought.
Chase

ocscott3085 · Jun 7, 2011

For what it is worth, I bought a Dyson DC23 Motorhead the summer of 2009 and it broke after about 3 months. The power in the nozzle would cut on and off. It spent 2 months in the repair shop which I found a bit ridiculous for a $600 vacuum cleaner. As I mentioned in another post, my parents were nice enough to give me their old Miele canister and it is STILL going strong! The only thing I did was buy the new wood floor brush that swivels in every direction. That thing is AMAZING! So much easier to clean above the floor with Miele's hose than Dyson's LONG, bulky wand on the DC 23. I also bought a Hoover Platinum lightweight bagged upright which actually cleans really well for a TTI Hoover minus the dusty smell.

hoovercelebrity · Jun 7, 2011

Here's the review on the DC-23 I wrote for one of the VCCC's newsletters:



While I’m primarily a Hoover guy, I do have to admit that all of the talk on VacuumLand about Dysons -- especially the DC-23 canister -- had gotten me somewhat curious. Then, club member Rob Mitchell from Indianapolis started a thread on the website about the DC-23 he had just purchased. 
 
In short, Rob gave it an enthusiastic “thumbs up,” which I don’t take lightly. As I’m sure is valid with any of us: giving a modern machine a thumbs up doesn’t come terribly easily. We all tend to be extremely critical about most of the ...not so wonderful... cleaners that are currently being sold, compared to what was sold 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago and beyond. 
 
Given that there was lots of buzz about this on our club website, I naturally tormented myself and played with the cleaner every time I entered a store that sold them (mainly Target and Best Buy). The main thing that was keeping me from getting one was the price tag... I have other expenses, and the somewhat hefty price tag of $399 was less than affordable. Fast-forward to Christmas, and Robert got one for me! I was thrilled! 
 
Now that I’ve been able to use it for a few months, I feel it’s a good time for me to write a review about it! 
 
Out of the box, it’s super easy to assemble. Un-wrap all of the pieces, snap the hose it, attach the wand and “air-driven brush bar,” and you’re pretty much ready to go. Un-wind the retractable cord, and turn it on... I was surprised at how noisy it was. It’s not an unbearable loud; it’s just louder than my daily-driver Miele Platinum and most of my vintage machines. 
 
The amount of suction is as expected -- nice and strong. In my hand, it’s a comfortable cleaner to hold and operate. The hose and handle setup is brilliantly designed. The hose rotates in the handle 360 degrees, as it should, so the hose doesn’t get tangled and snarled up when one is using the cleaner. The hose and handle also articulate like no other cleaner I’ve ever used. I’ll try to illustrate it with a picture, but it’s really something that you have to experience yourself to understand. 
 
The wand is telescopic, so it’s pretty easy to find a height that’s comfortable to clean with. The air-driven power nozzle is quiet, and seems to work well. It’s not quite as aggressive as I had thought it was going to be, so I’m not sure that it’s going to be great on anything thicker than a medium-plush. Which was a bit disappointing. But, I had to remind myself that it is an air-driven nozzle. At least there’s a lot of airflow and suction behind it. On my average length plush carpeting, the nozzle seems to push through very well and effectively clean the carpet. 
 
The power nozzle pivots and turns nicely, and really looks like Dyson designers took design cues from the rug nozzle off of a model 84 or 85 Hoover Constellation. Again, one of those things you just have to see and try to fully understand.
 
Somewhat inconveniently, the powerhead can be shut off to go onto a bare floor. The user must pull a large button on the side of the unit -- it’s essentially a large air-bleed on the side of the nozzle, and stops the brush bar from turning. It takes some force to pull, then turning it back on is pretty easy, pushing the button back in. I was admittedly disappointed that the cleaner didn’t come packaged with a dedicated bare floor brush.
 
While inconvenient, going through the effort and turning the brush bar off and using the powerhead on a bare floor is pretty effective. It’s just a bit on the bulky-side. It’s not slim and low profile, so it makes getting under and around things a bit more of a challenge. But for a quick once-over it’s just fine.
 
Taking the powerhead apart to clean out the brush bar is extremely easy. No tools are required. Just turn two little knobs and remove the bottom plate! The brushroll is actually made of two separate brush bars that split in the center. Pull firmly outward to unlock and pop out. 
 
Using the attachments is also very easy. Included with the DC-23 are a crevice tool, dusting brush, and upholstery nozzle. They are high-quality tools, and the dusting brush has nice soft bristles. Most dusting brushes on vacuum cleaners nowadays are worthless. I really enjoy the dusting brush that Dyson has designed, and I also purchased the optional “library” dusting brush which is fantastic for dusting off books or large, flat surfaces. Attachments all lock into either the wand or the hose, with a positive latch. None of this “friction-fit” nonsense, where the tools fall off if you don’t put them on tight enough, or are difficult to remove if you put them on too tightly. 
 
Pulling the cleaner along from room to room is easy; the vacuum is designed with large wheels that make it easy to pull along behind you. The front wheel is a swivel caster. A lot of times when I use a canister vacuum, I like to carry it with me in one hand while I’m directing the powerhead with the other. The DC-23 isn’t too heavy to prevent me from doing that, and it actually has a pretty comfortable handle. There’s also a safety feature built in to prevent the dirt cup from being detached from the body of the cleaner while you’re carrying it. Basically, the button that releases the dirt container isn’t pushable when you’re carrying the vacuum off the ground. The DC-23 also sits on a stair--which makes cleaning stairs extremely easy. No worrying about whether or not your vacuum is going to fall over and tumble down the stairs.
 
The hose is a skimpy 6-feet long, which is actually disappointing to me. Because the hose goes into the machine right about at ground level, it feels like it’s too short for the vacuum. If Dyson had included a 7 or 8-foot hose with this vacuum, I would find myself reaching for the cleaner more often. Playing devil’s advocate, though, I would assume Dyson engineers kept the hose at a certain length for a reason. I seem to recall being told that the longer a hose, the lower airflow a cleaner has -- which would negatively affect the powerhead (it would turn slower).
 
Emptying the dirt cup and maintaining the filters is a snap. The dirt cup just un-latches, you take it to a garbage can and pull the trigger. The dirt falls out. It’s pretty straightforward. On occasion, if one feels it necessary, you can take the clear “cup” of the dirt bin off, to wipe out. When that is removed, the cyclone-pack can be knocked against the side of a garbage can or whatever, and any dirt stuck up inside will be loosened and fall out (or for those of us collectors who are too picky about things like that, you can vacuum everything off with another vacuum). To get to the pre-motor filter, you twist a latch on the side of the machine, and one of the large wheels hinges outward, revealing the filter. It is recommended that this filter be washed every 3 months. There is no post-motor filter, at least not one that’s accessible by the user. I would think that by adding one, it could muffle the noise just a bit. 
 
I do have a “flat-out” floor tool and air-turbine hand-held power nozzle that came with my other Christmas present (a DC-28 upright!). I wouldn’t say that either are totally necessary to complete the machine, but if I were recommending the cleaner to someone who had a lot of bare floor surfaces or a pet, I would definitely recommend they purchase both (sending the cleaner well into the $500 price range by the time both are purchased). 
 
When you’re done using the machine, unplug and rewind the cord. If the powerhead/wand/hose are kept assembled, the powerhead locks into the back of the cleaner so you can then carry the vacuum with one hand. 
 
In the end, I really like the Dyson DC-23. I am quite glad I have one, and really enjoy using it. I would definitely recommend it to someone who has low to medium pile carpeting and a mix of carpet and bare floors. Canisters aren’t for everyone, but I think they’re more versatile if one is looking to really deep clean on a somewhat regular basis. Bagless cleaners aren’t for everyone either… but in a world of bagless cleaners, I think Dyson cleaners are the lesser of all evils.
 
Everything about this machine is well thought out, and even when I took my new vacuum to Greg Nunn’s house over the New Year’s weekend, other appliance and vacuum enthusiasts who were also in attendance couldn’t stop playing with this cleaner! Overwhelmingly, we agreed that it’s easy to use and a very effective cleaner. It’s almost like they reverse engineered this cleaner... they must have taken attributes of other cleaners that are poorly designed and improved on everything from there. On a scale of 1-10, I would give the DC-23 an overall score of 7.5. I give it two and a half points short of 10, based on my opinions of noise, hose length, the cleaner not coming with a bare floor tool, and price (but hey, it’s a Dyson…!).

hoovercelebrity · Jun 7, 2011

Here was my big Dyson Christmas thread...

It was a very merry Christmas that year! LoL

Here was my main reasoning for not getting the DC23 Motorhead:

<a name="start_7870.87226">While I love having an electric powerhead and would love the longer hose, there's something just so un-appealing about trying to use the upholstery tool on the end of the Motorhead's wand while it's collapsed. Such an awkward setup when comparing it to how the tools attach to the Turbinehead. </a>

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?7870

mark40511 · Jun 8, 2011

Here's how this guy cleans the cyclones on his Dyson vacuum

brandon_w_t · Jun 8, 2011

My mom is now looking at some electrolux oxygen canisters as an option. I recommended them as I know they are pretty good. And quiet

My grandma just replaced her eureka smart vac with an awesome little dyson dc25 upright. My mom has fallen in love with the ball design. Maybe we can check out the full sized ball machine. But i would rather have the canister or the dc 28.

Dysons dc23 and dc22

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