Shark Navigator Deluxe NV42

Avg. consumer rating = 90/100 

The Shark Navigator Deluxe NV42 is quite popular.  It is also reasonably priced and can generally be found for under $150. Owners like the fact that the machine has strong suction and performs well on both carpet and bare floors.  In addition, it works well on pet hair and is fairly quiet.  However It is advertised as lightweight but is really more of an average weight if compared to most uprights today.

 

 

Quick Specs
Type	Upright
Bagged/Bagless	Bagless
Best for...	Hard Floors & Carpet
Pet Hair Features	Yes
Approx. Weight	15.1 lbs
HEPA Level Filtration	No
Power Cord Length	25 ft
Motor Driven Brushbar	Yes
Warranty	5 Years

 

Consumer Ratings & Insights
Consumer ratings for the vacuums are quite good and can be found on several popular online retail websites – as shown in the table below.  When these are averaged they produce an overall score of 90 out of 100.  You can compare this score to that of other uprights in our upright vacuum ratings table.

Source	Consumer Ratings	#Ratings
Amazon	4.5 stars out of 5	3303
Walmart	3.5 stars out of 5	6
Overstock	4.8 stars out of 5	75
Lowe's	4.7 stars out of 5	190
Staples	4.8 stars out of 5	15
Home Depot	5 stars out of 5	2

A thorough review of owner comments yields the following likes and dislikes:

PROS
- Not too loud
- Strong suction
- Works well on pet hair
- Has brushroll on/off control
- Washable filters
- Easy to maneuver
- Respectably long warranty

CONS
- Not as lightweight as some expect
- No motor-driven attachment included
- Not all attachments store on vacuum

There are many reports about how well the vacuum performs – especially on carpet.  Quite a few owners highlight that the vacuum picks up all sorts of dust and dirt that their older vacuums don’t. 

We also notice that a number of owners report having to constantly clean the filters to help maintain the vacuum’s suction.  It seems some folks have to do constant filter cleaning while others appear to have no problems with this.  This may relate to the amount of dust/debris the vacuum is picking up.

In addition, there are several reports that the front cover for the post motor filter sometimes falls off on its own.  While this doesn’t affect vacuum performance it is an annoyance.

You can see more owner comments on Amazon if you wish.

Details & Specifications
The NV42 is not a “Lift-Away” machine.  This is important to note as many folks looking for the lift away feature come across this vacuum.  Lift-away machines allow the dust canister and motor assembly to be lifted away from the vacuum and carried along with the hose/wand.  The NV42 is an upright and while it may look a little like the Shark Navigator Lift Away Vacuum (NV350) or other Lift Away vacuums, it does not have this feature.

This is a gold colored, bagless upright that uses cyclonic technology – what Shark sometimes refers to as “Never Lose Suction” technology.  This is the usual approach used by most bagless vacuum cleaners today.  It essentially involves using one or more cyclones to spin the incoming air very rapidly, thereby “throwing” the dust and debris out of the airpath and into the dust canister.  This approach has the added benefit of keeping much of the dust/debris away from the filters and keeping them cleaner longer (however given some consumer comments one has to question how effective this is).  The dust canister on the NV42 is quite large and has a capacity of 0.53 gallons.

There are several filters on the vacuum – both pre-motor and post motor.  They are all washable and Shark says you should clean the pre-motor filters about once a month and the post-motor filter once a year.  Make sure they are 100% dry before putting them back in the vacuum cleaner – this is important.  Replacement filters can be ordered at www.sharkclean.com.  

The NV42 does not have HEPA filtration but it does have complete seal technology.  Complete seal technology means air does not leak out of the vacuum before it is properly filtered.  You can read more about the advantages of this kind of “sealed system” in our article on HEPA filters.

Several attachments are provided with the Shark Navigator Deluxe NV42:
- Pet hair power brush
- Small crevice tool
- Dusting brush
- 24 inch crevice tool

Tools attach to the end of the 11 foot stretch hose or to the end of the wand.  We would suggest checking with the retailer with respect to the tools provided with the machine.  Even though Shark indicates the tools we have shown above, there are varying reports about what comes in the box.  This is something we sometimes see with Shark vacuums – a wide array of tool options with each machine.

The vacuum weighs 15.1 lbs which is about average for an upright.  Some feel this is lightweight while others are not so convinced.  In our experience this is about average for an upright today.  We have reviewed some uprights over 20 lbs and others under 10 lbs.

The vacuum has a motorized brushroll in the nozzle.  This is generally better than an air-driven brushroll as it is more powerful.  There are also brushroll on/off controls.  This is a useful feature if you have both carpet and bare floors to clean.  Usually one vacuums carpet with the brushroll ON and bare floors with the brushroll OFF.  It is nice to be able to turn the brushroll OFF on bare floors as it can cause scatter of debris (and some brushrolls can even mark/mar delicate hard flooring).  Using the brushroll on carpet helps to deep clean.

The cleaning path width of the vacuum is only 9.25 inches.  Compared to many other uprights this is rather narrow.  This has both its good points and its bad points.  The good thing about this is that the vacuum nozzle is quite maneuverable and it fits into narrow, tight areas.  The bad thing is that it takes more passes of the vacuum to clean an area so it is more work in large open spaces.

The NV42 has a 25 foot power cord.  We have not heard any complaints about this being too short, however in our experience anything under 30 feet has a tendency to cause some owner frustration.  

The machine has no height controls but it has no issues operating on different carpet heights. It also carries a 5 year limited warranty.

The NV42 is both UL and ETL listed.  ETL is a group that performs electrical and reliability tests on products to ensure they meet US product safety standards. They also audit the manufacturing site and require that the applicant agrees to future factory inspections to ensure continued adherence to the standards. ETL operates nationally recognized testing laboratories. UL stands for Underwriters' Laboratories who are a non-profit, independent product safety certification organization in the United States.

Vacuum Cleaner Manual
You can find the manual for the NV42 here: Shark Navigator Deluxe NV42 Manual