THE NEW KIRBY IS HERE

VacuumLand – Vintage & Modern Vacuum Enthusiasts

Help Support VacuumLand:

I'm all for the new Sentria still looking much the same as the Generation models, it keeps my G7E looking modern even though its 9 years old now, and in England, you can pick up a G7E for £50 (about $80) - well, thats what I paid for mine anyway with a broken power cable. Kirby feel obviously that if something works well, then why keep changing it? I cant keep up with the amount of new models and re-designs Dyson has come up with since the DC01 launched in 1993 - it makes my DC04 look very old and dated now, but the Sentria 2 is essentially a 1991 G3 with LED headlight and more curvy trim and bumper strip.
I hope they carry on with the dirty fan design as in the UK, you just cant get anything for the domestic market with the direct air system any more, and it does have a great deep down clean on carpeting.
I still think that they are doing a great deal of harm to UK sales with the prices charged for the brand new models, as we are in a recession and not many people here can really afford the £1500+ ($2300) pricetag in this day and age, especially when they see that the model is still essentially a 22 year old design. People here make much more use of the hose on a vacuum nowadays and I find that it is a real faff to use the hose on my Kirby, so I only use it for deep down carpet cleaning only, and use another cleaner for the jobs that need the hose.
They need to find a way to be able to use the hose without dissassembling the front of the cleaner - and they need to make the cleaner lighter, as when I was trying to sell Kirbys 18 years ago (The G4) that was the main bug bear to the average housewife - its weight (As well as its pricetag lol!). Just wondering if the new Sentria2 is any lighter than the Generation 3 - 7 range? How much is to be the average retail price for a Sentria 2 in the US after all the haggling and discounts etc?
 
I'd guess that the Sentria 2 would be $1200-$2500, since that is what they are sold for here. Royal vacuums, which are similar in design to Kirbys have a removable cap called the Adjust-O-Rite on the front that is used to indicate the correct height setting. When the adjust-o-rite is removed and the belt is removed from the shaft, the hose can be plugged in.

http://royalvacuums.com/Household/Uprights/everlast.aspx
 
I've seen those Royal models, very cool cleaners, very retro, the button sucks in when the height adjuster is correct. But the point is that Kirbys need to become a bit more user friendly, and move into the next millenium - I think the new bag design is cool, but if they wanted to make a real difference, it would be to make the weight lighter - good quality doesnt always have to be heavy - I bet the Royal weighs nowhere near what the Kirby does, but it has just as good suction and looks very similar. Kirbys should always retain the "Harley Davidson" of vacuums look, but I wait with trepidation for the Centenary model, will be very interesting how they finally alter the Generation main body shell.
 
I hope Kirby still carries on with their basic Direct air design--and keep in mind Kirby is the ONLY DTD upright cleaning system out there!Yes,make it lighter---but NO PLASTIC!!!!!keep the metal housings-I could maybe see Kirby going to a Titanium fan and fancase-no worries about busted fans or cases.then the Kirby would be worth the high price-they could put a lifetime waarantee on the fan and fancase!Titanium is a hard,tough,metal.And please----ditch that stupid combo floor carpet tool!Go to a real castle cut brush for bare floors and a seperate carpet surface tool.Good for places the upright can't fit-like under very low furniture.and make the tools METAL with replaceable brush strips.please.Metal wands-nice touch,too!I just think for the price of the Kirby-more use of METAL should be made here.If the machine was all metal-get rid of the transmission-would indeed make the machine lighter-remember Royal metals are all metal and they are just as easy to push as the Tech Drive Kirby!And they are easier to lift and carry.Ditch the Kirby foam carpet cleaner and go to a dry cleaning system like Host or Capture.Would be better for us folks that live in very damp climates.A Kirby attachemtn could be devised to distribute and work in the cleaner-then the regular carpet-floor head could be used to pick it up-and into a reusable dump bag-save on bag cost and soggy paper bags-the Filtrete bags should work with Host or Capture without breaking-but expensive.Damp Host or Capture weakens paper bags causing them to break or burst.-what a mess!!!
 
I've never been really a fan of the Kirby shampoo system, I have the tools and hose but no shampoo kit - I prefer to wet shampoo my carpets with a VAX machine. A agree about the Kirby accessories, the wands should be telescopic metal like Miele's, and like you say a better floorhead, but how many people actually use all the accessories, expeciall the sander/massager - when I used to show customers the massager, and they heard how loud it was, they just laughed! Kirby's excel in there dry carpet cleaning ability and the reason for the tech drive is not so much the weight of the cleaner, but due to the drag on the carpet of the suction force pulling the head down at the correct height adjustment. I know how hard some other cleaners can be to push - the greater the suction power in air-watts, the harder the cleaner is to push, regardless of its overall weight. Dyson had to modify the soleplates to include air bleed pathways on some of its early model DC07's onwards as the suction was that strong people were complaining that the cleaner was impossible to move on carpets and worse on lino flooring. Kirby soleplates have no air bleed routes and this means that full suction has to pass through the carpet, and thats why the tech drive was put on, with power increasing substantially over the older Heritage/Legend model range (1970-1990). I'm sure the tech drive could be made lighter, but still serve the same purpose, and is a main selling advantage as how many other cleaners are power assisted?
The main things Kirby needs to do, is make the hose easier and quicker to use, improve the quality of the accessories, but reduce the number of unnecessary attachments that most people never use, and make the cleaner sustantially lighter to carry. I am not going to comment on the shampoo system, as I dont have any experience of this since I used to demo it in 1994. Price is still an issue, and many people dislike the method of direct sales that Kirby still uses. I love Kirbys but really dislike the hard sell, pushy, ignorant sales techniques employed by its agents.
 
In the times I have used both of those-never have seen them completely dry out.Even after waiting for an hour.Guess the dampness in my area-it REALLY damp here-even with AC.And my home has a vapor barrier under the flooring.
 
Kirby sander-messager-Remeber a freind was redoing some of the drywall in his house-He was having a hard time sanding it by hand and coping with the dust-He asked me over to help.I brought a Kirby with the sander-was GREAT for sanding the plastered areas on his new drywall-the suction system is truely dustless.No drywall dust in the room.And that sander worked even better when I used it with the NSS M1 ! Kirby can make the sanders and such which I beleive they do-sold as extras.The toolkit with the Kirby is nice-just make it better quality to match the price of the machine.Yes,Kirby does use the sealed suction "airlift" system much like Royal-and Royals are easy to push-no power drives required.Same with Sanitaire-Riccar Radiance--All of these I see my carpet "Airlifted" to the floor nozzle just like Kirby.Come to think of it other folks who have used Host cleaner have had the same problems of it not drying completely-maybe you have to wait MORE than an hour!anyway-no matter how you do it-a reusable shake out bag would be best for picking up the Host or Capture.Using disposable bags for this adds up quickly!One time I used a dump bag on a Royal to pick up spent Host-it was better.Then just dump the spent Host into a trashbag.
 
what would you guys think if kirby came out with a new vacuum style all together? kind of like a bissle or hoover? like a total rip off of another vacuum and they would start manufacturing the sentria and this new style vacuum? would you still buy it? or would you just not buy it because it is a rip off of another vacuum or its not really a kirby? now another thought of the new kirby is, what if they make a kirby that is afordable for the modern person. like a $450 vacuum. they could sell an afordable one and a higher priced one that lasts longer and is better quality.
 
Affordability...

Well Kirby's view point on the matter of money is they build a their product to a standard not to a price. They also feel that rather than having multiple models out, they would rather put their money toward research and development to make their next model even better rather than running different lines creating several different models sold simultaneously. I agree that a brand new Kirby is more expensive than it needs to be, but when you think of it in terms of that one machine will last a life time and the fact that it comes with a life time rebuild agreement, I guess that price isn't so bad.
 
Price of the Kirby or any other high end vacuum cleaner-think of the cost of your home furnishings the vacuum is helping you take care of--now the carpets alone in your home would cost MORE than a Kirby or other high end vac to replace.and then the other parts of the home the vacuum helps you take care of--furniture,your car,drapes and curtains,blinds,and so on.When you think of it-the vacuum cleaner has got to be one of the most commonly used home care tools.
 
Kirby all the way

Hi Rex You are so right i am a Kirby man ALL the way. The other day my sons friend came in who is a18 year old boy says to my wife wow this new rug really looks nice she said thank you but this is a 20 year old rug cleaned with a Kirby G4 Doug
 
Guess us Kirby guys have to stick together-however,I do like other vacuums besides Kirby.Kirbys do their job well.And they are built to last.And when I use my Kirby as a "Monster Vac" with my NSS M1-did a bag autopsy and found all kinds of very fine stuff I never picked up before.Kirby "Filtrete-HEPA" style bags fit the M1.If someone here has an M1 vac-Shop Vac 5Gal paper bags will fit-you just have to push harder to get them on the M1 bag feed horn.Use the drywall yellow bags for best filtering.At present using the Kirby Filtrete bags-But remember--the Kirby does well by itself,too!Sometime when I am not working OT at work-going to try the Kirby in the hose mode connected to the M1.
 
I love all things Kirby, but the price for a new one is really high. If you know someone who's a distributor, they might sell you one for a little over cost, which is probably no more than $750 on the high end. I'm leaning more towards the $500-600 range. When I sold them back in '94(ish), my office agreed on a price to sell one to someone I knew for $750, and it included the shampooer, zip brush and turbo accessory kit (sander/massager). They retailed that bundle for $1,400 back then.

A friend of mine had a Filter Queen distributorship for years, and she told me her cost on them was around $500.

I spoke with the national Assistant Sales Manager for Hyla-USA about distributorship a while back. He told me the entry price is at least 5 machines for $785 each plus shipping, and the price goes down by volume.

I could probably get the Hyla dealer (3 hours away from me in MD) to sell me one for $1,000 because he knows I talked to the national ASM about pricing. Otherwise, he retails them for $2,495. I'm waiting for a redesign with a brushless motor (like Rainbow) before I buy one. I can't find a definite answer about that, even from the national ASM. I believe the Hyla motor has brushes. Can anyone confirm?

I did NOT have such luck with the Rainbow reps. I offered them $1,000 cash for a new one, and they turned me down. So, we're happily content with our E2 Gold that I found for $45. It needed a power switch, HEPA filter and a new cord (still have to order the cord and filter).
 
The bag is really ugly in my opinion. Hopefully 2014 will present a better looking Kirby. I also don't like the fact that the brushroll indicator light is on the right side of the nozzle (looking from the back of the machine). I like it better on the left side like on the G4 and G3.
 
I agree

that it's NOT the best color combination. Those brown, blue and white circles and the brown and blue manual could have been much better. Still - they are great machines I'm sure.
 
Bag

I miss the big puffiness of the older Kirby outer bags. This one looks even smaller than my Ultimate G Diamond.
 
Hello, has any of you ever wondered why kirby doen't design a better floor tool? I've always been disappointed with kirby floor tools, did any of you noticed that they don't clean hard floors very well and that are too small if compared to the widt of the power head, being a Kirby a vacuum cleaner for homes of certain dimensions? I had to buy ( for very little, about 20 euro, a standard floor tool with front and rear brush bristles, large air path so it doesnt continously clog with objects and hairs etc and two rubber wheels that allow it to glide perfectly on hard floors and also on area rugs or carpet.i think that a cleaner of that price would deserve a much better attachment, more simple and better working! Your opinions? Greetings, Tommy
 
I love the old Kirby's and would buy the new one in an instant, but a just can't get past that cheap plastic hose and the cheap plastic on the tools they are using now.
 
I can go along with the better hard floor tool,as well.GET RID of that COMBO thing Kirby now uses.For the price of the machine they could throw in a nice bare floor tool and carpet surface tool.And-yes,the toolkit needs redoing.LESS PLASTIC,PLEASE!!We are talking about a premium,DTD cleaning system that can cost upwards of $2000.
 
I just bought my mom the new chainlink Sentria II, she loves the colors... Though, I argued with her and argued, cause I just rebuilt her G3 that she has, she said she had to have the new one... A couple days later she calls me and says I can have it back if I wanna get my money back cause there are really no noticeable differences between the g3 and sentria II...... ... I nearly hung up.. All I said was 'AH DUH!'... I told her she was stuck with it.. LOL She still likes the machine.. just was thinking there would be a lot of changes... to her, the new thinner outter bags that support the new hepa bags, different transmission, pivot, carry handle on the bag holder, emtor and more poly body don't count as significant changes..

Oh well.. LOL I hope Kirby makes a self propelled vacuum in a similar design to the royal powercast... That would be a modern update!
 
Kirby-drather they stick with their tradational fan first design-its more efficient than the Royal Powercast-and LIGHTER-to power propel the Powercast-would envision a truck transmission to move it-and a forklift to lift and carry it.The Powercast failed becuase it was TOO heavy.Yes,heavier than any of the G series Kirbys.
 
It's Obvious what their doing here.

Sure, only the color changed, but ask yourself, why? Why only that?
A multi-million dollar company with top-notch engineers and designers arn''t going to "WOW" you with every release. They do this on purpose. It's quite obvious what Kirby is doing here. The Sentria II is nearly a distraction for something that is going to blow your minds. Yes, some psychology was involved here.
 

Similar threads

centralsweeper63
What is your favourite kirby
Replies
16
Views
689
cheesewonton
C
J
Well, I finally did it.
Replies
12
Views
1K
lesinutah
lesinutah
amtraksebo1997
If I owned Kirby...
Replies
13
Views
1K
kirbyg6
kirbyg6
mariotron
Favorite Outer Bag designs.
Replies
3
Views
375
panasonicvac
panasonicvac
bagintheback
"Kirby World" Conventions
Replies
0
Views
156
bagintheback
bagintheback

Latest posts

Back
Top