I Am Shocked: Kirby Gsix vs Shark Rotator Lift-Away Pro

[mike811]

So I finally made comparison between the Kirby Gsix and the Shark Rotator Lift-Away Pro.
I used a lot of fine sawdust grounded in to the low pile carpet.
This carpet is very "airy" and it seems to be extremely hard to clean.
So what happened is that Kirby cleaned it well, but Shark did very bad job. It only got surface clean.
Shark had clean filters and empty bin before the test.
Yes I know that Kirby deep cleans better, but this is just ridiculous result.
Pictures will tell more than thousand words.
Whole video in the link.

http://https//youtu.be/YdnzRyoMyy0

 

[mark40511]

I have the shark lift away pro

exactly like that. It's about 2.5 yrs old now. And I'm NOT surprised at all honestly! The vacuum works great as long as you constantly keep the filters clean. I mean, literally after vacuuming a house that isn't horribly dirty and the bin is less than half full, that foam filter, round filter below it are already very dirty! I used my bagged Lux in my laundry room to keep my bin/and filters clean and occasionally wash them. It works great for me for quick run through's - but I would never want it as my main vacuum. I'm not surprised at all that the Kirby kicked it's a!!

 

[KirbyCollector01]

I am not surprised at all
The Kirby won against the shark like usual.

 

[mike811]

Kirby vs others

I always knew that the Kirby is good, but after this test it is VERY clear how much better it is than those supermarket vacuums.
This will change some things. Now I will only use the Kirby on my carpets. Shark for quick pick-ups and Lux Royal D790 for bare floors.
Commercials often make Shark look better than it really is.
Most shocking is that most people believe it. Same goes to the Dyson.

 

[kirbysthebest]

Air-flow


Size of bag / filter


Nozzle size


 


All contributing factors.  Not surprised that the Kirby faired better.


 


Honestly with a bagless having a small foam filter, I would hypothesize an Oreck could out perform due to it's larger bag.


 

 

[senornathan]

I would be more shocked

if the Shark actually beat the Kirby. There's no way a Shark is going to do a better job than the Kirby (except maybe for reducing back pain).

Still, thanks for the comparison, and your Gsix looks beautiful!

 

[mike811]

Airflow

Thanks for all the comments!
What I was shocked about was that I didn't expect Shark to do so bad job. I like it (or I did). It has aggressive brushroll. When I turn it on it tries to move forward. I think that the biggest problems with the Shark is lack of airflow and it really don't create proper seal between the head and carpet.
Airflow is interesting subject. For example my very high wattage (2100w) Electrolux UltraFlex has insane suction, but it has clearly less airflow than my Lux Royal D790 (1150w). I have done some unscientific tests with airflow.
But now when I think what vacuums what I have has less airflow is the bagless ones.
This is getting quite interesting
Now I really wan't to test more of my vacuums against the Kirby on the same carpet.
By the way. I bought my Kirby from the Germany (eBay) It is totally reconditioned.

 

[jimjimmunster]

That abomination of a vacuum "shark"...

I'm not surprised at all that that junky new plastic pressed garbage lost. That is an abomination of a vacuum and I still don't understand why people buy them. There extremely long commercials are completely FAKED. My Hoover 63 would beat that shark if it did 1 pass over the dirt and the shark did 20.

 

[sptyks]

Airflow tester

Mike,


 


Are you familiar with the Baird Airflow meter?


I have one and it is clearly the fastest way to test the amount of airflow of any vacuum cleaner. They cost around $50 US.


 


The Kirby pegs the meter at 10 when it is connected to the front of the fan case and it registers about an 8 when connected to the end of the hose.


 


For comparison the typical Dyson registers less than 2 on the Baird.


 


http://www.goodvac.com/AirFlow_Indicator_p/k-acc-airfloindicator.htm

 


 


 


 

 

[mike811]

Baird Airflow meter

Oh yes I have dreaming about one for a long time. Baird Airflow meter would be just what I need.
Unfortunately it's hard to get to the Finland. I have tried to find one from the eBay without any results.
If I could just about find someone who is willing to ship it to Finland.
One hidden secrets is poor airflow of Dyson. It's because of the overcomplicated airpath.
I would love to show the true performance with it.

 

[human]

Well, duh...

That's like comparing the power of a V8 Cadillac to that of a VW Bug. There IS no comparison. Heavy Metal wins every time!

 

[mike811]

I managed to order the AirFlow Indicator! Total cost was 78$. not cheap, but worth it
I agree with you totally. I bet you have seen this video already, but this really shows why Dyson has so poor airflow:

 

[suckolux]

They surface clean ok

 

[kenkart]

If you REALLY

Want to be shocked, get a 80 year old Hoover 150 and put it up against the Shark...It will pull a TON of dirt behind the Shark.

 

[mark40511]

That green Riccar

vacuum is beautiful.

That last video is interesting how he explains why bagless vacuums don't have as much airflow because a lot of the airflow is taken away due to the cyclonic action trapping the dirt. And he even showed how the same bagless vacuum had great airflow with the cyclones taken out of the equation. But I know my Rainbow is bagless, but I do not think he's speaking of Rainbows as they are a different type of bagless vacuum.

 

[mike811]

Cyclones = Less Airflow

I think Rainbow is way different from the cyclonic systems.
I try to explain shortly why cyclonic vacuums always has less airflow. Actually it affects the suction too.
Now cyclone separation is strongly based spinning the air extremely fast against the cyclone walls. Air is lighter than dust particles so they get separated.
Now the most important thing. When air is spinning in the cyclone it must fight to get to the center of the cyclone where the mesh screen/filter is.
By stopping the spinning action there is less resistance.

Here is good visual explanation:

 

[tolivac]

I figured the Kirby would "Bite" the Shark and eat it for lunch!!Guess that is why Sharks are in abundance in Kirby van trade in piles!The dealer near me-The vac place buys whole Sharks and sells the parts!Makes more money that way as Shark owners are coming to him for parts-esp the sealed "powernozzle" on the Shark that has to be returned to them for belt or brushroll replacement.In one of those pictures looks like the Shark just beat the test dirt into the floor instead of picking it up as the Kirby did with most of its test dirt.Bet that Kirby could even eat the Shark even with a full,packed bag!

 

[tolivac]

I have like three Baird meter I bought from Kirby places that went out of business.Still in the sales kits with the proof books and dirtmeters,test discs.Same with TriSatar and Filter Queen.Have a dirtmeter-"revealer" as the Lux folks call it I bought with my Lux Platinum.

 

[human]

When I rescued my first Kirby Gsix from a dumpster (best dumpster save ever), I gave it a quick test run and it cleaned cat hair off a Persian rug in a single pass with a totally full bag (must have weighed five pounds) and a belt that was about to break. Now THAT's power!