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Thread Number: 32169
/ Tag: Brand New Vacuum Cleaners
NEW Vorwerk Kobold VK200 |
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| Post# 353960 6/17/2016 at 18:46 (2,863 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
Vorwerk have launched the next generation of it's Kobold the VK200.
Complete new design ethos for the Kobold. Certainly a complete change from the out going VK150. New features: New PN EB400 used for vacuuming only this time of both carpets and hard floors using a sonic sensor to detect flooring. New style brush bar that has brushes and rubber blades. New attachments for the Polsterboy used to message in the Lavenia powder into the mattress, the other for deep vacuuming of the mattress and to vacuum away the Lavenia powder New head to distribute the Kobosan powder and brush into the carpet (then using the PN EB400!to vacuum away A rating Motor wattage range from 50 watts to 700 watts (includes the four settings as before including automatic setting) Larger bag (so I'm told!) Dovina fragrance chip is placed into a holder next to the motor exhaust air New LED bag filter light status, displays green then turns to amber as bag fills up New LED display on EB400 to show floor type (carpet or hard floor mode) Fully adjustable telescopic handle this time The electric hose and small accessories and the duo-clean head remain unchanged. The hard floor head has been updated but same principle as the previous version. The canister the Tiger has had an update to include the new accessories and heads and the new LED bag filter light status the model has been named the VT300. Some pictures of the VK200..... | ||
| Post# 354169 , Reply# 1 6/20/2016 at 19:34 (2,860 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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| Post# 354195 , Reply# 2 6/21/2016 at 01:56 (2,859 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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| Post# 354201 , Reply# 3 6/21/2016 at 04:20 (2,859 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here) | ||
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| Post# 354208 , Reply# 4 6/21/2016 at 08:28 (2,859 days old) by vacerator (Macomb Michigan) | ||
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Or, A powder similar to "Capture"? | ||
| Post# 354227 , Reply# 5 6/21/2016 at 12:13 (2,859 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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| Post# 354238 , Reply# 6 6/21/2016 at 15:00 (2,859 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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Sebo_fan is right similar to other dry powders on the market.
It's very soft and not gritty, damp with a fresh but not over powering fragrance. Not to damp you can't walk on it once you brush it into the carpet. Bit like snow!!!! Leave it after brushing in fir a minimum of 30 minutes then vacuum up. It does make the pile soft and springy again. I'm told it sort of protects to from dust mites and sort of re-soiling! The new Kobold Vorwerk UK website is now live as the official UK launch was today. Although looks like the UK version of the VK200 doesn't come with the separate hard floor tool as the new EB400 PN can vacuum both carpet and hard floors! Might be available separate at some point but not on website yet! They have also launched the window vacuum VG100 and the new version of the robot vacuum VR200 new products to Kobold UK but have been available in Europe for over a year or so now! kobold.vorwerk.co.uk/home/... | ||
| Post# 354243 , Reply# 7 6/21/2016 at 15:34 (2,859 days old) by Spiraclean (UK) | ||
Some nice improvements there, I like the auto sensing power nozzle, and the placement of the secondary handle seems as though it would be better balanced than previously. Noticed they've gone back to a separate dry cleaning head, but at least it applies the powder for you now.
Kobosan is pretty good stuff. It has a finer texture than Dyson Zorb or Sebo Duo P, so it sinks down into the carpet much more easily, and is less apt to scatter everywhere in the process. I used to use it a couple of times a year, and it really does do a grand job even on traffic lanes. You wouldn't think it would clean particularly well, but wet extraction cleaning later only ever yielded clear water in the recovery tank. The spot remover Vorwerk make for spills never failed me once either. | ||
| Post# 354246 , Reply# 8 6/21/2016 at 15:58 (2,859 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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Sure are, I'm loving the new design ethos Vorwerk have taken with the new generation Kobold. The new power nozzle looks great. I'm told it turns the brush bar off when it detects hard floors! I'm assuming if that's the case the rubber blades on the brush bar must be for carpet cleaning along with the brushes!
Although I like the 2 integrated handles in the VK150 they can be a bit unbalanced! They have which it's great it grooms it into the carpet too! New mattress cleaning too! Same weight as VK150 of 3kg without anything attached, I thought it was heavier but it's not. Bigger bag which was addressed from previous models like the VK140/150 being too small! And lower watt motor 700 watts (50 watts to 700 watts). A rating too. Kobosan is great stuff plus the spot cleaner as you say the Kobotex is great too. | ||
| Post# 354253 , Reply# 9 6/21/2016 at 17:41 (2,859 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
Love these Vorwerk multifunction vacuums.
Two comments: 1. Amazed that it uses a bottom fill bag - you'd think that one could get better airflow with a top-fill bag. Strange for such a premium expensive machine. 2. It would not take much to add LED lights to the powerhead or a spotlight shining down from the main body - if Miele can offer it, why not Vorwerk? | ||
| Post# 354270 , Reply# 10 6/21/2016 at 21:30 (2,859 days old) by spiraclean (UK) | ||
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According to the manual (link below, page 101), the roller brush slows down to 800 RPM on hard floors, similar to the Soft function on the previous power nozzle. In addition, a rear sealing flap swings down to prevent debris kick-back. Controlled automatically via a sensor, however you do have the option of manually toggling between hard floor and carpet modes instead if preferred, by means of a small pushbutton on the handgrip.
Eurekaprince - a Vorwerk fills in much the same way as a Sebo, only turned upside down. As dust enters the bag it is compacted to the side(s) by the incoming airflow, leaving a clear path ahead of the opening. The inverted bag, and lack of onboard hose, means the air path is unusually short and straight for a clean air upright. As for headlights, I can only assume the reason for their omission would be purely a matter of regional tastes and preferences. On the rare occasions we see modern vacuums with headlights in Europe, nine times out of ten they either originate from the USA (Kirby, Oreck, Shark) or were designed with export to the USA in mind (Miele S7). It's not really a feature we look for nowadays, much less expect. CLICK HERE TO GO TO spiraclean's LINK | ||
| Post# 354282 , Reply# 11 6/22/2016 at 00:34 (2,858 days old) by henrydreyfuss (Ohio) | ||
I find Vorwerk vacuums very interesting. They've always been versatile, and progressive in their design. This new power nozzle has me worried. Here's a picture of the brushroll from their website. The suction inlet is so narrow! With it that narrow, I can't imagine the brushes protruding far enough to really agitate carpeting. The flooring self-adjustment system looks great (along with the cleaner's overall beautifully-simple aesthetic), but I can't imagine this deep-cleaning rugs.
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| Post# 354325 , Reply# 12 6/22/2016 at 14:21 (2,858 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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There are five suction power settings on this new Vorwerk. As you can see from the screenshot shown (and taken from the user manual) you'll see that the brush roll is one piece compared to the twin brushes on past models. The thin strip might have been done because of EU testing regulations because the Vorwerk VK200 gets A rating for both hard floor and carpet cleaning.
I doubt that the A rating would apply if the VK200 can't agitate and clean deep down. 
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| Post# 354329 , Reply# 13 6/22/2016 at 15:11 (2,858 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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Ooo that's great to know spiraclean thanks for finding that info out, not read through the UK manual yet! Hence the rubber blades on the brush bar!
The bottom fill bag is very effective even on the low settings. The airflow through the machine is great with this setup and as spiraclean says makes for a short straight air path. Vorwerk has always used the bottom fill bag design. Henrydreyfuss it had me thinking the new EB400 PN when I first saw it and especially the small brush bar and opening. I've been told this new PN gives a deeper, gentler but effective clean. I'm hoping the brushes still groom as good as the VK150 EB370! Will see when I get a demo of it. Mind you the EB370 inlet behind the brush bar on the VK150 is very thin but I've never had blockage issues might be due to the airflow! Do like the new PN though and the overall design of the new VK200. | ||
| Post# 354333 , Reply# 14 6/22/2016 at 15:19 (2,858 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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| Post# 354360 , Reply# 15 6/22/2016 at 21:46 (2,858 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Regarding the bottom fill bag design: I still don't think this works as well as a top-fill bag. Not all dirt can compact to the sides. Larger dirt particles such as sand, gravel, cereal, salt, rice and even paper clips will always fall back to the door of the bag when the motor is shut off. And these get blown back into the bag every single time the vac is turned on. This can't be good for the bag and certainly may cause the self-sealing door not to close completely when being replaced. I don't think the increased cleaning effectiveness of a shorter dirt path outweighs the benefits of a cleaner airflow path provided by top fill bags. I think Vorwerk is the only bagged vacuum that still has this old bottom fill design.
Unless there is some sleeve creating a top fill configuration inside the bad that I don't know about? :-) | ||
| Post# 354398 , Reply# 16 6/23/2016 at 11:48 (2,857 days old) by Marks_here (_._) | ||
I still enjoy using my VK 130
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| Post# 354405 , Reply# 17 6/23/2016 at 15:17 (2,857 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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Great to here that Marks_here, your VK130 looks great.
EurekaPrince, I see where your coming from. I was a bit skepitic when I first got my VK150 but I have to say the bottom fill bag works well for Vorwerk with the design they use on their vacuums. Vorwerk seem to like this setup and continue to use it. I must admit the bag doesn't compacted the dust and dirt quite as much as my SEBO Felix bag does but it still fills up very well. Never had issues with larger debris falling out the bag the large debris mixes with the small and fine dust and dirt. The VK140/150 has a spring loaded flap on the bag so does the new VK200 bags. As for the VK140/150 when the vacuum is powered on the trap door opens there is a very small thin metal rod that makes sure the trap door opens and stays open whilst the vacuum is on. When you power it off you can hear the trap door close, the metal rod relaxes to allow this. I've had occasional pet hair caught on this rod that occasional stops the trap door from fully closing but that tends to happen when the bag is almost full. Not sure as yet how the VK200 bag works probably similar principle, has the same sort of trap door but looks bigger this time, bags are bigger too. | ||
| Post# 354410 , Reply# 18 6/23/2016 at 16:52 (2,857 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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Not all dirt compacts to the side in a top fill bag either and you haven’t mention the electrostatic properties that most dust bags have these days - dirt won’t fall down automatically to the bottom in a Vorwerk because the electrostatic layers in the bag prevent dirt and dust from moving that much until the motor is switched on.
In any regard I recall the top fill Oreck bags in our old Oreck XL never filled up to the sides but rather sat in the middle and seldom filled up to the claimed 13 litre capacity. Other modern uprights I’ve owned that have had top fill bags seldom fill to the sides, too. The Vorwerk design sees the motor on the bottom and the bag on top with a filter in between. I think the design has been reversed in the new VK200 where the bag sits at the bottom and the motor at the top. In any event, on my VK130/VK131, there is a spring loaded mechanism that keeps the bag locked into the round box that sits on top as well as a small feeder sleeve that has a rubber door that opens up the bag at the dust entrance when suction air is pushed through. The rubber door closes as soon as the motor air rushes and pushes dirt into the bag. This door also closes over the bag which of course seals the bag and prevents anything falling out when the motor is switched off. When the bin is swung over on its side, the bottom fill bag naturally becomes the top where dirt can fall to the base of the bag. But by then, the dust bag will probably require to be changed. | ||
| Post# 354412 , Reply# 19 6/23/2016 at 16:57 (2,857 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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| Post# 354413 , Reply# 20 6/23/2016 at 17:03 (2,857 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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I adore my VK130. I love the handle adjustment and so light to use on carpets and hard floors. I also bought two PN heads because the EB350 doesn't have the pop out squeegee and additional brushes at the front. EB351 does.
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| Post# 354429 , Reply# 21 6/23/2016 at 20:06 (2,857 days old) by Marks_here (_._) | ||
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Thank you as I got it new with the duffle bag full of accessories Plus I also have both of those too but the EB 350 works but the red light blinks on it like there's a fault, took it completely apart, checked everything & nothing's jammed on it, called Vorwerk California & they never sold that model here & wondering how I got which is none of their business to which they were no help what so ever & they only have some parts up to the VK 122 here. I'll have to wait to get the new one when I go to the UK or my friend does & she can send it to me.
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| Post# 354431 , Reply# 22 6/23/2016 at 20:29 (2,857 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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But Nar, a top-fill bag does not need to compact dirt to the sides in order to maintain a clear path for the air-flow. The dirt, both large and small, falls to the bottom of the upright bag and therefore it moves out of the way of incoming airfow. Most bag-first vacuums have bag compartments designed with fins that spread the suction all around the bag so that suction is maintained as the bag fills from the bottom upward. I actually like the suction "tower" of the Sebo uprights that seem to ensure strong clear suction all the way up the side of the compartment. :-)
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| Post# 354447 , Reply# 23 6/24/2016 at 03:11 (2,856 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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I hear what you are saying, but I find bag designs are different per brand and different as per the suction airflow and general bag holder in the first place. With mine, the bags are kind of curved and tapered in the VK130/131 so the dirt tends to land at the top of the bag (bottom when it is reversed) and the sides creating space in the middle for dirt to form and then collect with other dirt.
This is more apparent with the synthetic material dust bags I managed to find online. The Vorwerk paper bags I bought are awful - Marks - perhaps you might know this already as they tend to clog up faster and don’t fill up as much. I also replaced the foam protection filter with a piece of black thin foam after experimenting with a Miele Super Air clean filter. The stiff black foam is usually used for cooker hoods- the suction is much better, doesn’t allow the bag to fill up so much and the synthetic dust bag lasts a lot longer. Sebo dust bags are different. They are designed to fit as close as possible next to the filter roll so that the only room is available to accommodate a full bag as it fills. Marks - I also went online to buy the EB351 and it has no permanent operation light that comes on which is a malfunction. It doesn't affect performance though, so I'm happy about that but strangely the light will flash if anything gets caught on the brush roll. | ||
| Post# 354451 , Reply# 24 6/24/2016 at 06:07 (2,856 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 354459 , Reply# 25 6/24/2016 at 10:34 (2,856 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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| Post# 354651 , Reply# 26 6/26/2016 at 12:24 (2,854 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
I actually rather like the look of it, Its just a pity that they are still stuck in their antiquated ways of no on board attachments. The new design has a nice spot for a decent hose. I think its absurd that in todays market a company will still offer a top of the line vacuum that requires you to carry the vacuum around in one hand while using the attachments with the other. At least Kirby you can attach the hose without needing to hold the vacuum in your hand.
Thats why you can get 25 year old voorwerks with all their attachments still virtually new , because they are just to much of a pain to use. Other than that I like the look of the new one, The vk140 was a disaster machine, Too Noisy to flimsy and they were by far the most unreliable vorwerk after the Vk130 and 135. Considering they sold in low numbers here, we still see 3 or 4 a month totally broken. | ||
| Post# 354653 , Reply# 27 6/26/2016 at 14:21 (2,854 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK) | ||
British vac makers can now go back to offering 2000 watt
Slightly off topic, sorry, but the only British manufacturer left is Numatic have have never made a vacuum that powerful. Highest they ever wet to is 1200w. They also have a huge market across Europe, so I don't see them making 2 different motors for the markets here.
It's not clear yet what, if any, EU law will still apply. Nothing will change for 2 years whilst we negotiate out. It's going to be a very interesting couple of years. | ||
| Post# 354677 , Reply# 28 6/26/2016 at 22:13 (2,853 days old) by Marks_here (_._) | ||
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Educate me please | ||
| Post# 354887 , Reply# 29 6/29/2016 at 10:13 (2,851 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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Things are up and down at the moment. Scotland has remained, the rest of the UK want to leave. At the moment general public are confused by the Mickey Mouse antics displayed by the politicians.
Back onto Vorwerk talk, the adaptor arrived today from Amazon UK as did a suction combi floor head that allows my old Vorwerk to turn into a straight suction stick. I am impressed with how light the whole thing is with this type of floor head tagged on. The VK130 is light enough with the PN anyway, but this suction combi floor tool makes things even lighter and the pick up is good with the setting 2 or highest from the motor. The suction combi is also the same floor head that is fitted to the Tiger canister vacs also by Vorwerk. There's a split channel on the suction channel but in reality its one main suction channel and presumably aids gliding with the central bar across the dust channel. Less likely to clog too. I also received a Vorwerk bag with a lot of attachments and Kobosan brush cartridges. The hose is non-electric but to be honest I find the whole idea of the tools a bit cumbersome and time consuming. I dont mind the tools and they don't get used that often - same with putting the SEBO Felix into hand held mode - good idea in theory but in reality too cumbersome.
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| Post# 354888 , Reply# 30 6/29/2016 at 10:14 (2,851 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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Here's me old VK130
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| Post# 354919 , Reply# 31 6/29/2016 at 15:40 (2,851 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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| Post# 354921 , Reply# 32 6/29/2016 at 16:10 (2,851 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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That's interesting to know.
I have a half moon shaped hard floor brush which has a reversible side with fixed polishing pads on it. Can't be used on carpets though and I find it is too flexible and not all that controllable.
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| Post# 356983 , Reply# 35 8/1/2016 at 16:22 (2,818 days old) by Madaboutsebo (Midlands, UK) | ||
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