Attaching Royal Upright Tools

[encorevacuums]

Hi, I recently bought a vintage Royal upright complete with attachments. Although the vacuum is roughly 10 years old it had never been used prior to me. I have never had an interest in Royal upright; however I was sadly mistaken in their cleaning ability. They are a great cleaning machine. The brush roll is top notch and grooms our plush carpet like none of our other vacuums. That said the only issue I have is that it seems to be extremely difficult to re-attach the belt with/out the belt lifter tool. Am I doing something wrong or is that feature consistent with all Royal uprights? When using the tools I find them to be very efficient and well made, good suction too. Although the machine in the picture is not my vacuum, that is the very same model. Your opinions are all welcome.

Thanks
Michael

 

[henry200]

Yes Michael, reattaching the belt on a Royal is not an easy task, unless the belt is so worn and stretched out it needs to be replaced!  I don't think many Royal upright owners use attachments for that very reason.   Kirby's belt-lifter is a godsend by comparison.  I have had several Royals over the years and think it's much more convenient to pair the Royal upright with a cannister vacuum for above the floor cleaning.   

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

@henry200
That one looks like one of the following:
*886 or 886F (1991-1995)
*994 or 995 (1991-1993)
*996 (1993-1995)
*2025 (1995-2001)
*2028 (2001-2002)
*2075 (1995-2001)
*2078 (2001-2002)

~Ben

 

[tolivac]

I pair my Royal upright with--A Royal Power Tank canister vacuum.Avoids futzing with belts.and gives better above floor performance,too.Yes I put Royals up there with Kirbys for carpet vacuuming.

 

[encorevacuums]

Thanks all for the comments. Actually I love the Royal & do us it as our daily driver now. It has replaced the Sentria that I used to use because it was easy to use on plus carpet. However the Royal is almost easier because it is so lite. We have a Kenmore Progressive that we use for all other jobs & that does a beautiful job.

Again Thanks

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Michael,

What is the model # off of your Royal... and if you want, I would like its serial #, too?

~Ben

 

[reo580]

Attaching royal upright belts

Hi.
This is what I would do with my old Royal cleaner.
First, unplug the machine for safety reasons. It is too easy for something to trip the switch such as the edge of a throw rug,coffee table leg, etc. By all means, unplug it. Then, I would use a large screwdriver and slip the belt over the motor shaft with that. A long, thick, heavy screwdriver makes it easier because of the leverage. Hope this helps; I envy you. An unused, practically NOS blue Royal is quite a find.I am jealous. I used to have an 880 that I really liked. I'm still sorry that I got rid of it. Best of luck with your Royal. BTW, do you have any pics you could post of it and its attachments?

 

[tolivac]

The little Royal belt tool is helpful for belt changing-when I buy a new Royal-simply thread the belt tool over the chain that holds the bag to the handle pole-then you don't loose it!You can get extras from most vac places.the two Kirby "1600" Comvacs I have-were New Old Stock-have a metal belt change tool in a pocket on the bag!Yes,compared to the Kirbys--the metal Royals are light and kinda delightful to use.The Kirbys are getting a rest for awhile-using some of my Royals-its their turn!Even using one of the newer Orange bag commercial ones to clean up around my paper shredder-loves the paper bits!

 

[encorevacuums]

Hey Derek, Ben & Rex,

Thanks for all the advise. I like the idea of keeping the belt lifter attached to the back. However trying the srewdriver idea seems like a winner for me since I still struggle with the beltlifter that came with the machine. Bottom line I don't really use the attachments for cleaning, or at least not on a regular basis. I do use the hose for the blower application to blow out the dirt that collects on our two tower fans. That works amazingly.

I will take some pictures of the machine, including the attachment & include the serial number.

Thanks

 

[tolivac]

You can use most canisters and Royal Tanks like the blower or air compressor to blow rather than suck.For the Royal tank-just put the hose connector on the back of the vacuum-instant air compresser-blower.