My new Kirby 508

[gsheen]

I am not trying to upset all you guys who love the sentria or force my opinion on any one. what i am saying is what I experiance every day. I find it interesting that you guys have not had many problems with yours and find that it cleans well , sure its more powerfull than a legend . power isn't every thing though . I like to vacuum my home properly every time I vacuum and one of the things  hate about most modern direct air vacuums is that you must dissasemble half the machine just to put the pipes on to clean around the edges. I have 2 boys aged 7 and 9 and plenty of animals so around the edge cleaning is every day for me.


Yes machines do take much more abuse here than in the rest of he world , back in the day both Hoover , West point and Kelvinator had huge testing facility's here to test here new prototypes , i it lasted in SA it would last any were


Gareth 

 

[kenmore81]

So shiny, it looks to be in very good condition for its age.

 

[gsheen]

I think it was well looked after by its owner , I am really please with it , I had one before that was to be restored but it was stolen in a move , I think it was a 518 though

 

[brandon_w_t]

You know I hate to agree but I have seen more sentries in vacuum shops for repairs than other models. I know the 2009 model had a fault with the ?brushes? My friend had two that had to be repaired because of it.

 

[gsheen]

thats all I am saying , we are not talking about a $30.00 dirtdevel her we are talking about the so called rolls royce of vacuums that they only give a 1 year guarantee , if it is so good why not give it a 10 year guarantee like Electrolux does on the guardian models, Hell even dyson gives a 5 year guarantee and they are 5 times cheaper ( here they are)


 


If you bought a Rolls-Royce Phantom and it broke down in a year and they told you sorry its not covered any more you would be miffed in a big way, what did you pay all that money for superior craftsmanship and then it breaks.

 

[vac_whisperer]

Oooh that is a nice 508! Congrats on your find. It appears to have a couple of 505 parts, though. But thats okay.


 


But why would you say a dustbuster works better than a Sentria?

 

[gsheen]

I am just so sick of fixing them I suppose , obviusly a sentria is a good vacuum I just think they have let the Kirby name down by cheapening it and still charging a fortune for it. Ie the bellows tube is now made from the same cheap hose ( but bigger diameter ) as that found on entry level bagless upright vacuums, and guess what it breaks.


 


As for my 508 , I am interested to know what parts are 505 ? It had one owner its whole life and although its been serviced was never rebuilt so I would be interested to know  which parts are not original  

 

[kirbyvacuum]

505 parts

Hi I think the BELT LIFTER IS AS IT LOOKS Black. Also what is left of the Handel grip also looks black i no they had trouble with them Doug

 

[gsheen]

Thats tape on the handle , I need to get a new one, the bumper is also black , just looks grey in the photo as I adjusted the light a bit , the polisher belt lifter is red though. the handle did have black residue on it. I would like to get it as origonal as possible so any help would be great. 


 


I just got a heritage 11 1988 model and a legend 11 1989 model today aswell  both runners but in need of a polish. I love those models particularly the legend as its red ish I will post pics soon