$10 'Dirty Kirby' G3

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I suppose it would be possible to JB Weld it, although my track record with that stuff is pretty poor. Fortunately, the damaged spot is on the back side of the nozzle and is completely hidden by the rubber bumper. Structural integrity is in no way compromised, so I don't know really what would be gained by gluing that chip back into place. My inclination is just to leave it be and call it a lesson learned.
 
Regarding the G3 Bag assembly

Ed,

I would leave it alone as I am going to do the same with mine. Use one of those party beverage buckets and fill it with warm water from the garden hose and use a good detergent with OXY clean in it. Agitate the water manually. Rinse REALLY well. DO NOT USE fabric softeners or perfume additives. Let it drip dry in the sun. Don't wring it out because it can leave crease marks.

I have heard guys mentioning that the plastic posts can break that hold the top portion of the outer bag intact where those black round retainer clips are. Again, sometimes LESS is MORE!

As far as the bag zip tie goes, you can also let it sit out in the sun for an hour and let it get nice and hot. Then, with a flat screwdriver you can hold it against the "tab" and with a hammer tap cautiously in the opposite direction and it should back off nicely, OR you can like Les said, insert a flat screwdriver under the teeth area and with a quick jerk, pop it backward and off it will come.

Now when you put it back together, take note that there is a very faint seam line on the bag cuff that attaches to the emptor and there is also one on the emptor itself. Line up these two seams and your bag assembly will be properly aligned. The bag will be positioned correctly and face forward the way it should.
 
and back to the polishing...

"Just for ducks" as Mom would say, I tried dysonmans polishing tips from a while back. You apply and rub some Mother's Mag Polish and leave it on for about 15 minutes. Then while leaving said polish as it sits, polish a second time but don't turn your cloth or applicator, as the oxidation on the cloth becomes your polisher now! You can ad a little fresh polish if needed but work that old darkened cream for a while! It really made a difference in the depth of the shine.

He used a softer type of paper towel that I can't find here on west coast for removing and shining the metal pieces. Glad I tried this.

*Louvac: Happy belated birthday! I believe we share July 22 as our date of birth.
 
Attacking the bag...

I'm going to see if I can get that zip tie off with breaking it and if not, I'll just wash the bag with the emptor and fill tube in place. The header is definitely staying put. I've got some Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent with OxyClean in it that should work pretty well. There's what looks like a water stain at the top and the aforementioned mildew marks at the bottom. We'll see how clean it gets. One thing's for sure. No doubt it'll be better than it is now.
 
The G3 Bag....continued

Ed,

Don't get too crazy with the bag coming clean. Don't know exactly why, but it does seem that once you launder it, even though it appears that a stain doesn't come completely out, it does seem to fade over time. To get the strap off, insert a screwdriver under where it goes thru, and twist quick. Use a LARGE flat screwdriver. OR, take a flat head screwdriver and hold it against the tab and then wack the top of the screwdriver with a hammer. It should back off.
 
No

Hammer you will strip out the teeth on the tie off. The off grey color isn't quite the same as an ultimate g.
The g3 I had a bag covered in Kool Aid. I sprayed shout on it and threw it in the washer and hung dry. It came out Kool Aid free.
 
Washing the bag...

I took a look at the 'Dirty Kirby' today and found the black mold is not coming back so I'm proceeding with the next phase, which is to hand wash the bag in Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent. Following the lines of least resistance, I didn't bother to take the bag and fill tube assembly apart; I just manually agitated it, scrubbing the fabric against itself. I then let it soak for a little bit before rinsing it in clear water and hanging it up to dry on the clothesline. It looks as though at least some of the water stains may have come out but I think the mold/mildew stains at the bottom are likely there to stay. We'll see the net result for sure once it dries thoroughly before I put it back on the G3. At any rate, it'll have a nice, fresh scent.
 
Nature's Rinse Cycle...

So the bag was drying quite nicely outside in sunny, 95-degree weather this afternoon, but sometime after I headed over to a friend's for dinner, it ended up getting an unintended extra rinse, courtesy of Mother Nature, who sent us a much needed rain shower while I was gone. It was quite damp when I got home, so I now have it hanging on a nail in my tool shed, which also houses the gas water heater and thus stays toasty warm. I'm hoping that will accelerate the drying process while protecting it from further overnight showers. I'll check on it in the morning and put it back out in the sun until it's completely dry. Photos will follow.
 
Back together...

The hot, dry shed turned out to be just the place to get that bag dry out. The sun finally came out a little after noon and I went out to the shed, fully expecting to have to set the bag out in the sun but there was no need; it was bone dry, except for a tiny bit of almost black water in the emptor, which I was able to wipe out with a paper towel.

Once I got everything back together, I let the vacuum run for a minute or so without a filter bag and the fill tube hanging out, just to blow out any more water that might remain, but there was none.

The bag looks about as good as I could expect, given its age. There is some minor discoloration, which is most obvious down near the bottom, where it stayed folded up and protected from light (see second photo). The rest of the bag has a very slightly pinkish caste to it. Other than that, just some minor wear. I've seen worse on newer machines, so I'm not complaining.

The next part of the project will be to polish the metal but I'll need cooler weather to tackle that. I've also noticed the rubber 'tires' on the rear wheels are wearing kind of thin. I've got another set on a spare Tech Drive that may find their way onto the machine later on, probably after the polishing.

The funny thing is in the three weeks I've had this G3, I've been far more obsessed with fixing it up than I've been with the Sentria I bought last spring, which has been sitting untouched in the barn for almost five months. All it really needs is a good polishing, which would be an easy afternoon's work. The now not-so-dirty G3 is at the same point, more or less, but my gut tells me it will require a bit more elbow grease to put a shine on it. Right now, the G3 is sitting out on the deck I'm considering whether to bring in for a test run or just carry it back to the barn to continue slumbering and waiting for a crisp, fall day—or at least one that's not so dang muggy.

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I just gave the G3 a little test drive on the Persian rug in the dining room. It performed pretty much as I expected it would. The Tech Drive doesn't feel as powerful as it does on my later machines but seems to kick in a little stronger pulling it back than pushing it forward. Not sure what's up with that. Perhaps it has to do with the worn rear wheels. Maybe I need to do a wheel swap sooner rather than later. The height adjustment is also not as smooth as it should be. I'll give it a dab of grease and see if that helps. All in all, this little project is coming along.
 
Stuck in REVERSE!!!

So I swapped the new wheels onto the G3 and they get a whole lot better traction than the old ones but there's just one little problem. The Tech Drive transmission is stuck in REVERSE! It's also quite powerful so I'm totally fighting the thing when I try to push it forward. I guess a tear-down is in its near future but I'm not exactly sure what I'll find or how to fix it when I do that. I have an extra Tech Drive unit from a newer Kirby. Perhaps I should just swap that in and see if it works any better.
 
Id

Swap out the tech drive and see if you can keep reverse and drive switches. You always notice them I'd there incorrect.
The bag looks like it's in good shape too.
 
Tech Drive is fixed!

I just fixed the Tech Drive and I didn't even have to remove it; in fact, just replacing it would not have solved the problem. I watched the YouTube video linked below and it was 37 minutes well spent. Although I did not follow the video tutorial to the letter, it gave me a better idea of what to look for once I got it opened up and to formulate a plan to fix it.

I took the cover off and the inside was just furry and gross so I took it out to my shed, where my air compressor lives, and thoroughly blew it out, which was an oddly satisfying experience, even though I decided to wear a mask to do it. Once I could see the mechanism under all that gunk, I realized the sliding direction control block, located just forward of where the handle connects, was frozen up. So, based on knowledge gained from watching that video, I employed a time-honored caveman strategy and gave it a couple of light taps with a hammer to break it free, then sprayed it liberally with silicone until it was moving back and forth smoothly and easily.

Once I was satisfied I had it moving like it should, I brought the motor unit back inside, put the cover back in place without screwing it down, reattached the nozzle and bag so it would run, and gave it a quick test drive. It now goes forward and backward just fine. It's not jerky as some have described the G3 transmissions but it's definitely more aggressive than its counterpart in other models I own. The last step will be to shine up the aluminum to make it look somewhat close to as good as it now runs.

 
Transmission Handle cleaning and adjustment

Hi Edgar!

I just worked on a G3 handle transmission assembly. I would be glad to share what I did if you're interested. Mine came out perfectly and works better than brand new. It's not as hard as some make it out to be.
 
Lou,

I'd be interested to know what you did. I feel like I've got the G3 working reasonably well but there's always room to learn more. I haven't had time to mess with the G3 lately as I've been focusing my energies on a Classic III I just acquired.
 
You don't show one in your profile.

I don't have an upgraded membership so I can't delete posts. But if you do, you can add it to your profile and then go back and delete it. OR, we can ask Robert to email person B person A's email address.
 

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