The new Air-Way Ultra Kleen

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@ electromatik

Should we celebrate China , No and everything you say about the country themselfs is true BUT 


 


Sorry but you are completely wrong on the quality control. The western companies have complete control over the quality of the products they import from China. They know that its cheap , they know that because they chose it. 


I still do R & D for one vacuum company locally and another company that does small appliances, ( kettles, toasters ext ) 


We have complete control over the quality but quality comes with a price. when we test samples we will often pic up problems  which is totally normal, ( our market is unique and harsch ) we will go back to them and they will always improve the product, change the bearing quality or whatever we ask. But those changes often come at a cost and this can move that product out  of its intended price point, Choices are made, sometimes the product is accepted as is and we get lucky and have very low returns rates, Other times the product is completely scrapped. 


 


As for the Jolion, have you driven one, Cause I have.


 


As for western manufacturing, Oh I do wish it would come back but it wont, Not soon 


We have not China to blame but ourselves, 


We shop at huge big box chain stores and Buy off amazon instead of local shops because its easier 


We tell young people to go to collage to get a deg they will spend half their life paying back instead of a Blue collar job because those are looked down on in society,  


Its our very western CEO's and upper management that move production to China because it cheaper than making it locally ( I lost my first good job because of this ) 


Their are more people alive today than in the years past so why cant Hoover, Eureka, Royal, Dirtdevil , sustain production in your country with more people than ever buying them. Greed 


 


 
 
I'll throw my hat in the ring with a Company who treats

This is a very True statement. 


Like you I own a small vacuum shop, and to me its the relationships with the suppliers that really matters. Their is a Local brand that I like to sell, ( also sourced from China 
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) but are really well made. what I like about them is I know the CEO really well and he never misses a chance to go the extra mile for a customer. I handle their warranty work for Cape Town but their seldom is any. I never battle to get spares, OUr market is unique in that most home owners have a domestic worker that handles the cleaning but these ladys have a reputation for being very heavy handed on appliance, vacuums and ions are the NO1 destroyed household appliance in SA, On cylinder vacuums you wil be lucky to get a year out of a floor tool. 


I often get asked why i sell this brand over Miele for example and its really simple, Spares. If it breaks , when you need a floor tool I have them, I can get them easily, 1 day order wait time, Miele never has stock, the parts cost a fortune, I have started to use this brands floor tools on the Miele because they last as long, and cost around a quater of the price, they just happe to fit which helps too.


 


If a customer buys a machine from me and it breaks I need to be able to sort it out asap. Its my name on the line, not the brands as I sold them the vacuum. Made in Germany means noting when I have to tell the customer sorry no stock of the part we need to fix your vacuum 
 
Went to Godfrey's Website and...

Perused their online catalog.

https://www.godfreys.com.au/wertheim-7-series-w9000

My greatest niggle is that it's a re-badged machine. Yeah, I know a lot of sellers do that, it's quite commonplace, but a name as legendary as Air-Way now being a $1299 re-badged plastic vac kinda twists me in the wrong direction.

Link to the manual:
https://www.godfreys.com.au/media/catalog/product/file/series-7-manual.pdf

Since I'm a performance guy, the manual states:
1300W (cleaner only), 1500W (with PN)
No other specs listed like suction or airflow.

Tom, I'm glad you will fill up 6 bags and then partially disassemble the machine to check for weak spots. One owner did have the wand break shortly after purchase.

If the U.S. price remains at $1300+, it'll have stiff competition I believe.

Best of luck and let us know how your trial period turns out,

Bill

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Some questions about the Ultra-Kleen

I have not found this for sale online anywhere as of yet. I do think it is an attractive machine. I like the black faceted paint scheme. This is now under consideration, and I would likely buy one if I can find a good deal. I would appreciate it if someone can answer the following:

Has anyone tested the filtration performance with a particle counter as of yet? If so, what are the results?

I can't read the cord length, how many feet?

Can you park the power nozzle on the machine?

Thanks for any help.
 
The cord is 25 feet, which is nice compared to the cord on my Electrolux Classic.

I believe the watt figures are different on the US model, but not by much less.

The bag chamber is black, making it very easy to see any escaped dust. My first bag is almost to the extremely full point but the airflow is still like new so I'll wait for the full bag light to show first before changing it.

Basically, I'm treating it like a customer would and not a collector. I don't think those electric wands can be fixed, I think you just replace them. The warranty is fairly long. I noticed they were using three rivets to lock the wand necks to the aluminum wand, making it stronger than the similar Tacony wand.
 
Mark

I am going to address the comments you made about the bag first, as you made a separate post about them.

Ok, so the bag is 5 layers and has a "fluffy polypropylene" material like Miele uses. That DOES NOT make them as good as the Miele AirClean bags! You should also be aware that EnviroCare Technologies makes their generic GN and FJM canister bags this way, and Qualtex makes the Miele U uprights bags like this. I have used both, so can attest to their performance. Sure, they do filter the dust out of the air and keep the bag chamber clean, just as any HEPA Cloth bag does. I actually bought a pack of the EnviroCare FJM bags back in 2018, and was expecting them to perform similar to the Miele AirClean bags because of their construction. Boy was I ever wrong thinking they would!!

The big difference, and what makes the Miele AirClean bag superior, IS those additional layers of bag material....even if it is thinner. Those additional filter layers allow for fine dust storage within the walls of the bag. They are literally the ONLY BAG the market that you can fill up to 3/4 full without losing hardly ANY suction or airflow. Also, the cloth bag straps inside the bag cause the dirt to bounce around inside the bag and make the ENTIRE bag material absorb the dust and dirt evenly, not just the bottom and sides of the bag as a conventional bag would. Any other HEPA Cloth bag, if the walls of the bag become clogged with dust, the only way you are going to restore suction and airflow to the cleaner using that bag is by taking it outside, giving the bag a good vigorous shake to loosen the dust from the walls of the bag, and reinstalling it in the cleaner.

As far as the Air Way bag having the activated charcoal in a pouch in the bag material, they actually copied that idea from Miele. Miele introduced a bag in Europe a few years ago called the Miele HyClean 4D Smell Protect bag, which is exactly identical to the AirClean bag material, but with a pouch of activated charcoal right above the plastic bag collar.

So, now the score is Miele 3 / Air Way 0. Unless you have laboratory testing that PROVES the Air Way bags can be filled to 3/4 full without a appreciable difference in the suction and airflow of the cleaner while in operation.

Rob
 
There are two parking spots on the back of the canister. So far, I've only parked the combination tool which has its own post for the parking slot. The wand has the same post for the other parking slot.

One of the things I think MY customers will like is how easy it pulls on carpets. Many vacuums don't. My Miele Aquarius has such small wheels they sink into the rug and you literally drag the canister.

I had fun this past weekend experimenting with different power nozzles, wands, adapters and pigtail cords on the Air-Way. The hose end is 35MM, so I have adapters for that diameter. My EBK360 from the Ritello really is quite the nozzle connected to the Air-Way.
 
suction motor

What kind of motor is in the new Air-way? Is it a two stage motor or one of those one stage screamers? Also, what's the electric plug like on the hose? Is it standard? Converting 35 MM to 32 MM is easy, adapters are available to handle that and I have several of them.
Mike
 
Mike, I haven’t had a chance to take it apart yet because we have not gone through all six bags that came with it. When I’m finished filling them to the top with household dirt, I’m going to take the machine apart and examine it thoroughly, including the circuitboard. I only went to sell customers a vacuum cleaner that is adorable. Not only for them, but because I don’t wanna have to fix the damn things. So far so good. I had a small Fourth of July gathering with Vacuum friends and they all took a turn trying it out.

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I actually do love it

This is the kind of canister I want. Has anyone measured the emissions yet?

Dysonman1, I'd be interested to buy this from you, but I think you are quite far from NC. I am afraid of damage during the shipping process, but I guess I'd have to do that anyway.

Can we discuss prices privately??
 
Any updates

Has any other collector purchased one to comment on how this machine is? Who makes the power nozzle? I’ve seen what looks like the exact same nozzle on a central vac power kit. Thanks
 
I haven't purchased one yet but I was super close to doing so. It was hard to restrict myself from opening my wallet. I think if the machine was navy blue, then I probably would have purchased it.

Quite honestly I loved it!

25' cord

Long hose-- I believe 7'

Very durable feeling flexible hose. Does anyone on here remember the Panasonic Jet-Flo canister wire reinforced hoses? Yes,they were wire reinforced but better flexing than just about anything else of its time. That's the feeling I got with the Airway hose, except it is crush proof and not wire reinforced.

Quiet-- I mean this thing is near silent both the power head and suction unit.

Variable speed-- there were 9 buttons on the canisters, I couldn't even tell you what they all were but if you can't find a setting with that machine for a cleaning task then I wish you the deepest of sympathies! LOL

Parking Docks-- floor brush fits right on the back

Comfortable Handles and general feel-- The canister is light to pick up but has a very solid feel. It feels like one that I could do arm curls with for a while and not worry about busting it. Very smooth carry and operator handles. Brush roll on/off right at fingertips and it's a real switch, not some electronic roll over button.

Rubber wheels- power head and canister

Attachments-- At first glance the combo tool and combo floor tool made me shake my head. Then I tried them... well, talk about pulling a 180. Kudos to Airway for making a combo tool that is useful. It switched amongst the three functions well and worked well for each with all a decent size. The floor tool LOOKS like some central vac floor tools that were bulky and have very stiff bristles that don't sweep well from my experiece. Well, you have to throw that thought away becuase this combo tool works!! I did quite a large area of old hardwood flooring, it grabbed pet hair, didn't snow plow, was easy to maneuver and was edge cleaning well.

I have done a lot of commercial and residential cleaning over the years and if I was still doing all of that then I probably would have bought the machine and used it as a business tax write off. However, I've mostly dropped that due to covid and also how my IT career has me quite busy. But honestly, I could see the AirWay being a great for any household and for cleaning businesses.

I have not seen or tried the Simplicity one in person yet. I assume it's about the same but honestly would want to compare fit and finish side by side to test whether one has made a not so easily seen improvement somewhere.

Overall just a great fit and finish. I see this in my home at some point and it was really hard to keep my wallet closed on it but I've been really trying to keep my foot on the brake pedal for how many come home and how much I spend. LOL. Navy blue is my favorite color and despite the black being gorgeous, I think if the machine was navy then I might not have been able to talk myself into not taking out the credit card. hahah
 
Updates?

Just curious if any members have purchased one. With the simplicity version selling for $499 and the airway being 999 for what appears to be the same machine it seems foolish to consider the airway.
 
I wouldn't buy a Tacony product if my life depended on it. The Air-Way machines are just fine. I can show the history of it. No one has heard of it. And they can't shop it on Amazon. Normal people (not vac collectors) have no trouble buying the Air-Way. They will buy what I tell them to anyway. That's why they are standing in my store.

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Tom

The new machines aren't even real Air-Way products, I mean what they have today are just rebranded machines from Asia. That being said, I completely agree with Colby here. I think anybody who'd buy a Air-Way over a Simplicity is getting ripped off. Heck you can even buy the Simplicity off from Amazon if there's no Simplicity or even a Air-Way dealer nearby. Now don't get me wrong, I prefer the colors on the Air-Way as a collector. But clearly as a consumer it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to spend $500-800 on a different brand that's still the same machine. Not to mention Amazon and even Simplicity's websites shows reviews of their Scout Plus (so far it appears to be a decent machine), I definitely don't see that on Air-Way's website. I also still stand on buying a Cirrus or even a Tacony over any Air-Way upright, both of them are also being sold on Amazon as well for alot cheaper. If I ever wanted to pay extra on something that's still the same machine, it'd be for promotional like a breast cancer edition or like a American Flag edition such as these since today is Flag Day anyways.

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Oh wow... those look really cool....

I wonder... has anyone done the airflow CFM tests on these types of vacuums? Like what would be the CFM at the cleaner head doing a box test?
 
The

Airway is priced similar to its competition. I like riccar/simplicity but have a quick story.
Panasonicvac locally in utah county there's been A1 Vacuums for almost 50 years. There's a new store Vacuum direct 360(I might be off on the name but you know who I'm talking about.
The owner of A1 said it took him a while to become an riccar/tacony dealer. He sold them for years. Vacuum direct has been in business less than 5 years. They now are authorized sellers. Riccar/simplicity rolled out vacuums last year. Vacuum direct got them upon release. A1 got them 2 weeks ago.
A1 doesn't overcharge and there's a reason theft been in business 50 years. For taking to give an unproven entity senority is bad business.
You can bad moth Airway but I'd buy an Airway from A1 before I'd buy a riccar from Vacuums direct.
Tacony might have good machines but they aren't much if any better than airway. The way they did A1 dirty speaks volumes for the type of business they run
You buy your tacony but I'll buy Airway because they don't screw their dealers over.
Does this change your opinion on the mighty Tacony? It did for me.
 

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