Recent content by DesertTortoise

It just dawned on my that this vacuum was found in Minneapolis. There is another blue one just like this one being offered on Craigslist in Minneapolis that I have been e-mailing the seller of hoping I could convince them to let me pay them to ship it out to California. They are asking $31...

Yeah, but you have to say it with a certain flair Alex. Not sure the southern tongue can go there. :-) I have a new Progressive as a durability experiment, so we shall see. The dirty one I have apart was a freebee from a shop that the owner died and was being cleared out. Man that thing...

Ok Hoovercelebrity, you tell me why examples of the Panasonic V-Series canisters and Kenmore's first gen 5055 bagged machines and the follow on Whispertone series are part for part identical. We are talking vacuums that went on sale in 1984 that were sold under the Kenmore and Panasonic names...

Danemodsandy, yes the bodies were plastic, but there is plastic and then there is plastic. Those bodies are tough. Really tough. Nothing about these vacuums is fragile. We have had one in our family since 1983, a 4.1 with the variable speed motor and the off/on/floor switch on the hose. It...

I have revived a couple of these by spritzing a very small amount of Triflow teflon lubricant into the bearing area of the reel. It seems to free up balky ones enough to retract smoothly. Hard as the pull to retract cord reels are to find you can bet I breathed a big sigh of relief too.

http://www.sears.com/panasonic-model-v9626-cord-and-reel-canister-vacuum/p-SPM6125066405?sid=IDx20140425xECNMPAPL01&srccode=cii_20121666&cpncode=36-11161044-2&redirectType=SRDT This is the old style button release cord reel for the first generation 5055 bagged machines. Sears Parts Direct...

So what about the Panasonic V-Series canister vacuums I listed? They are part for part identical to Kenmore canister vacuums from 1984 onwards. I think it is impossible to argue that by 1984 Matsushita was not building Kenmore vacuums, or at the very least Whirlpool and Matsushita had some...

I think Panasonic makes those floor brushes for Centec, along with Hayden, Kenmore and several others. The same head was sold with Panasonic branded vacuums. Mine is made in Mexico. Outer skins vary a little but underneath everything is the same. They are identical underneath to a couple of...

Kirbyloverdan, I didn't get the information from Panasonic. It came from Sears. Panasonic has not replied to my requests for information. We will see if Whirlpool does.

So here is my letter today to Whirlpool. "I am trying to determine what Sears Kenmore vacuums were produced by Whirlpool and which were produced by Matsushita. I collect old Kenmore vacuums and have them going back to about 1970/71. I posed the question to Sears giving them model numbers...

What is a "low voltage system" on a central vacuum? Is the hose switch operating at line voltage or something else? Is this a two, three or four wire hose? The floor brush with your Royal vacuum is identical to my Hayden Deluxe, but I can't see what the connection at the top of the wand...

I saw a vac identical to the little 2.5 Swamp Creature being offered for free in Phoenix. I have a co-worker who has a retirement home there so I e-mailed the seller asking if he would hold on to it until Thanksgiving when my co-worker will be in Phoenix for a week. I could use the lower body...

Well, it looks like the Kenmore straight hose 2405 I bought new in the wrapper from Appliance Factory Parts in Colorado really was the last of the Mohicans. They nicked me an arm and a leg for it. It came in a nice fresh Sears pacakge, so I checked Sears Parts Direct and it was shown being...

Btw, the 116 prefix carries forward to their current vacuums which are still made for them by Matsushita/Panasonic, only at a plant in Mexico. My brand new Progressive is model number 116.21512012. That prefix has apparently been used by Birtman, Whirlpool and Matsushita/Panasonic and unlike...

There is no confusion. I gave Sears the model numbers to a number of my vacuums, the oldest of which is a steel bodied thing that dates to the early 1970's model number 116.29971 (2-speed 2.7 "Sears Best"). I gave them the model numbers of two of my cream colored square bodied Kenmore...