I bought a Stentria II!

[eemac]

$80 on eBay bought me a used Sentria II with hose and some attachments, condition described as "working". After some cleanup . . .

1. The Kirby is balanced and rolls smoothly.
2. This thing cleans carpets really, really well.
3. It's incredibly easy to find replacement parts.
4. Height adjustment is clearly marked and easy-to-use.
5. Kirby bags are huge! Which is good, because it's getting lots of dog hair out of the carpet.
6. TechDrive is *amazing*. A self-propelled vacuum is like power windows or air conditioning. You can live without it for years! But the first time you have it, you wonder how you ever survived without it.

I understand now why people are so passionate about Kirby vacuums.

 

[human]

Nice score!

And not a bad price from eBay, where vacuum cleaner prices are usually well beyond insane. That one must have really flown under the radar. Surely that didn't include shipping. For all intents and purposes, they are the same as the Avalir machines being offered today, just a different color scheme. I've got two Sentrias, the gray and orange ones, and really like them. People like to bust on the G-series and newer Kirbys as being too bulky, but the Tech Drive does make all the difference. Of course, my favorite part about any Kirby is the fact that they're actually designed to be repaired and maintained, not just run to death and tossed out like most of today's plasticrap bagless machines.

 

[blackheart]

Huh...

Surprised no one's said it yet but what you have isn't a Sentria II but a Sentria. They're the same machine with a different look though so not like you're missing any performance.

 

[eemac]

The bag fill tube makes sense now

> Surprised no one's said it yet but what you have isn't a Sentria II but a Sentria.

That explains why the bag fill tube is a twist-style instead of type F! I was wondering why they would replace the tube with an older style.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm still happy with the vacuum. :- )

 

[repairman]

It's also an earlier Sentria I because it has the older style emptor and twist-on bags. I'm also willing to bet the bag has the half moon style zipper instead of the straight one like the later units have. Later Sentria I's have the F style bags and the current emptor in gray with a straight zipper.