Poor filtration on Shark vacuums

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niclonnic

niclonnic

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
May 19, 2014
Messages
577
Location
Bonney Lake, WA
I was volunteering at a family support center this afternoon. I used their Shark Rocket Professional vacuum. When I initially turned it on, I heard a significant change in the tone of the motor, like it was clogged. So I turned it off, removed the dust cup, and sure enough, the foam and felt filters were absolutely FILTHY! They were completely caked with dust.

I smacked both filters against the inside of a trash can, and there was dust flying all over the place! I had to step away from the giant dust cloud several times. So after that, I put the filters back in, and began vacuuming. I was back in business! The vacuum's suction had improved.

Another problem I observed with this vacuum was that the dust screen at the top of the dust cup was missing! So I think that's what's causing the filters to clog more easily.

For the most part, I enjoy Shark vacuums, but I'm starting to think that they aren't worth my time. How can it clearly state "never loses suction" on the vacuum itself, when a design flaw WILL cause it to lose suction? I just don't understand! To me, it's lying and false advertising.

This, along with the recent recall of Powered Lift-Away vacuums, makes me think that the Euro-Pro company is turning into a bunch of sharks! (Pun intended.)

Below is a pic of the filters after I banged them out. And this was after using it today. Trust me, these filters were SO dirty when I got there! Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures. BTW, just so you know, my hands got coated in dust after cleaning the filters.

niclonnic-2015051318430000233_1.jpg
 
shark cyclonic filtration normally isn't the best but without the screen it becomes terrible the screen is designed to stop the filter from getting dirty and without it those filters are gonna clog literally instantly normally you can go few weeks even months if you vacuum once a week without cleaning the filter,and actually the whole screen is the cyclonic system so without the screen it can't separate the dust.
 
there is a few things I do like about sharks cyclonic system it's not complicated and it's easy to clean easy to clean the filters I just really like it and have noticed I only fine dust goes to the filter not hair and fluff like others.
 
to dys0nb0y

That same reason I like my Electrolux UltraPerformer/UltraActive. It has similar cyclone design like in the Shark. Bin and cyclone assembly is see through and very easy to wash and empty.
Yes the cyclone efficiency isn't good as the multi cyclone vacuums, but far better than filter in the bin vacuums.
I don't think it's too much trouble to wash the foam filter once or even twice in a month.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemPr8-XVQY
 
That's why I also have my 26 year old bagged Volta with large high filtration bag. It remains me that good canister vac doesn't need to be state of the art bagless with million cyclones to keep my home clean :)

mike81-2015051408422004943_1.jpg
 
Oh here we go again...poor ownership maintenance.

It doesn't surprise me in the least that the Shark got clogged up. Clearly whoever emptied it before you did Nic, may well have knocked out the screen by accident.

To be honest some bagged "brands" are just as bad. It depends on what the brand put in to make emptying easier without anything getting lost in transit. I know this from past experience with some brands who produce bagged vacuums with the slide in bag holder.

Some go to the point of adding a handle carrier that is supposed to slot into the existing bag holder inside the dust bin. If that gets chucked along with the full dust bag then a new bag can't be inserted properly, hence why most motor filters at the back of the bag then get completely choked with dust.

It is good that they have you around!
 
Yepp, that is a good video. Really wish they sold Riccar's here in the UK. Don't see how there isn't a market for them if they are in the same sort of price range as Miele and SEBO.

That is one thing that is disgusting about bagless units, is the fact the dirt is spun around and whipped up like candy floss, scratching the inside of the canister, with rubber seals that are never good enough.

The rocket looks like a nice little vacuum, but they seem very noisy and it seems this cyclonic system is pretty poor.
 
I think that video wasn't the best because fine dust is what cloggs vacuum bag and he didn't pick up a lot only really a small amount and the bag wasn't even full.and in a real home there's a lot more dust then that.it's the same with poor cyclonic vacuums.shark cyclonic technology isn't bad it was pretty good job it just has more filter maintenance compare to others and no hair of fluff goes to the filter fine dust which is really good.
 
I'd have preferred the time in the video that shows when the bin gets emptied. Try 7.34 to everyone else. The compressed air tip is a lot of nonsense though - the average vacuum cleaner owner won't bother with this.

Not unless you're OCD about cleanliness, which for most OCD people I know, they don't own a bagless vacuum.

But the original posting of this thread isn't about bagless versus bagged.

I'm a bit surprised to see that the Riccar sole plate seems to lack edge brushing on each side of the brush roll. I'd have thought for a high end upright and with all the airflow comparisons made in this video, that this upright would have had edge cleaning on either side, rather than just two dust channels to scoop dirt in from the sides.
 
Alright

Sebo_fan, to clarify, the dust cup on the Shark Rocket Professional vacuum opens up both on the top and bottom. You first push the bottom release lever to empty the big debris. Then you push the top release latch to flip open the top of the cup and clean off the screen when necessary. It just lifts up out of the dust cup. However, that makes the screen more prone to getting lost!

Yes, all the places I've volunteered at are glad to have a vacuum aficionado like me around!

BTW, my real name is Nick, not Nic.

That video was decent. Yes, bags are more sanitary, but I prefer bagless for the convenience factor. I don't bother using compressed air to clean out the canister. Besides, I don't even have an air compressor! I just wipe down bins with paper towels as needed. Occasionally I will take apart a bagless dirt cup and wash all the pieces under water. I'll admit that I have a bit of OCD.

I'm from a generation that was brought up around bagless vacuums.

To me, when a vacuum states "no loss of suction," it should mean just that. The Shark states that right on the front of the vacuum itself, but when you remove the dust cup, in small writing, it says that "loss of suction may occur if foam filters are not cleaned every 3 months. Rinse and let air dry completely." How misleading!

However, as it turns out, another company has solved it! Dyson solved that problem with their Cinetic science. By using tons of ultra-efficient cyclones with oscillating tips, Dyson Cinetic vacuums will TRULY never lose suction!

http://www.dyson.com/vacuum-cleaners/upright/dyson-cinetic-big-ball.aspx
 
Honestly my Shark Rotator powered lift away filtration is good and is sealed HEPA. I NEVER have had a plum a dust from emptying it like some claim bagless units do. And my filters are relatively clean.

All companies are going to have some misleading advertising, AT&T has the "strongest" LTE signal, while Verizon has the biggest network etc..
 
Sorry Nick. But I did understand your post the first time. I did realise about the screen filter - but evidently it has got lost in the hands of the average user, NOT the collector.

However, what you fail to see is that ALL brands lie about something. Lifetime belt? Has to be replaced eventually. No loss of suction? Not quite. Stretch hose? (that then pulls the upright back and breaks something.) Edge cleaning (cue THAT Riccar) on both sides of brush roll..

I'd have thought that in your experience of getting all those free Vine vacuums that you'd have learnt that by now.

Open your eyes - This member found dust leaking into the motor of his Dyson Cinetic.

 
Do I understand correctly-are these filters after the motor?If so that fine dust will eventually kill the motor.If that is the case of the filters after the motor-should be BEFORE the motor to keep those fines out of it.
 
I do not believe that in normal use, the Dyson Cinetic will leak dust into the motor. Mine has been used at my home for two months now, as the only vacuum, and there is absolutely no dust leaking into the motor. The first time I saw the video where the kid claimed to have found all that dust, I realized the machine had been tampered with. It states on the cleaner not to use it on drywall dust, and clearly this kid did just that (or talc maybe).
 
dysonman1

I agree with you 100 percent that's what I thought that well it is obviously been picking up very very large amounts of something it shouldn't have.
 
In every video

That guy has clearly abused every single vacuum in a way a contractor would and not a normal household would...
 
Sebo_fan, yes, I have learned about misleading claims on the free Vine vacuums I've used.

I have already seen that video. Plus, I'm subscribed to Kode1996. Those filters are non-washable lifetime post-motor filters. Due to the Cinetic science being so efficient, there is no pre-filter. I haven't used a Cinetic upright yet, so I can't comment on whether or not dust leaks into the motor.

I have no idea where Kode lives! Perhaps he lives in a rural area? IDK.

But I'm not the only one who's ranting about poor Shark filtration! Kode made a video showing the bad filtration of his Rotator Powered Lift-Away vacuum.

 
Aren't the newer "Lift Away" Sharks single stage cyclonics? That's probably the biggest contributator to "poor filtration." I have a single stage woodworking cyclone but it incorporates a few design features to ensure higher seperation than the relatively simplistic single cyclone designs on some bagless vacuums. The multistage cyclonics seem to be the design to go with if you need the bulk of the seperation done down to the fines and then the remainder of the fines get captured by the prefilters.

Even if the Cinetic's rubber cyclone design captures most of the fines, I would of moved the HEPA filter infront of the motor like Sebo has the prefilter infront, just to ensure the motor never deals with any bypass in any condition like overloading the filter.

Speaking of drywall dust: I found that Henry HEPAFlo bags (Crudely fitted to a ShopVac since they have a bypass motor) seem to do a great job, ditto with the synthetic Sebo Ultra Bags. No dust on the filters from my experience. It also seems that the ShopVac drywall bags are just microlined paper bags, similiar to my Sebo HEPA Box Ultra Bags.
 
Something I've always wondered about washing filters

You know how when you use a humidifier with hard water, how some humidifiers have filters that trap the minerals so that you don't end up with white dust everywhere. Well, since we're talking about washing filters, when you wash the filter, if you have hard water, won't some of the minerals from the water get in the filter you just washed clogging it somewhat?
 
Yes

All of the newer Shark Lift-Away vacuums are single-cyclonic. One exception to this was the original Shark Navigator. It used 21-cyclone technology. However, I did some research, and it turns out that the cyclones would clog easily and most people wouldn't clean them. Euro-Pro made the switch to single cyclonic on the Shark Navigator Lift-Away, released in 2010. I guess single-cyclonic is more reliable! It's not that big of a deal to wash the filters every 3 months.

I have never had a problem with hard water minerals ruining filters. Depending on the vacuum, I will use dish soap to wash filters. I make sure to rinse the filters really well, or else they will get sticky and clog more easily.
 

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