Canadian IONA Dirt Raider

[aeoliandave]

Inspired by Star Wars? The logo anyway.

Out thrifting in London Tuesday came across this square blue beauty at the new - since November - Salvation Army Thrift Store for $5.99.

I recall the IONA name but thought they only made stickvacs.

 

[aeoliandave]

Doesn't have a scratch on it and cleaned up real good. The blue shell is thickly molded of the highest quality robust plastic.

Pretty cloth bag.

 

[aeoliandave]

The design patent date.

 

[aeoliandave]

It uses a specific inner filter bag.

It had the one bag inside full of dust. Emptied it out, ironed it and put it back in. This is potentially quite ferusterating. WQhere am I gonna get replacement filter bags?

Oh Pete.......?

 

[aeoliandave]

Oh yes, it has a belted roll with good brushes still on it. And it's surprisingly powerful and smooth running. Butch square shape that won't tip over and it's soooo blue.

There appears to be a missing brush guard grate that would clip to that bottom button latch. This certainly does not affect it's cleaning action on carpeted stair treads.

It has friction melt damage to the front belt cover, I think from having the belt once installed backwards. The rubber belt ran up the spindle and contacted the cover, almost drilling right through.

Anyway, I think it's a lovely Star Wars Era Hand Vac.

Dave

Much other London Thrifting treasures of the non vacuum variety that I'll post seperatly later today.

 

[arh1953]

Nice find

That is a spiffy little unit, Dave. I have a small collection of hand vacuums.

 

[petek]

Instantly I thought of those little bags I showed you last time...but they don't have the same cutout opening. The ones I have here have a square cutout right in the center of the cardboard collar.

 

[aeoliandave]

Found bags

Googled IONA Dirt Raider and came up with 3 Canadian mail order sources, one in Hamilton with a street address for the store. 3 pack costs ~$6. so this tells me I can find these at a bigger vacuum shop.

 

[normvac]

Dave, I have a hand vac like that, it is a Black and Decker
brand that I bought for my son. Probably 10 years ago. He
just asked me over Christmas to look at it. The belt was
running over the stem of the fan and onto the plastic fan.
Hence over heating the fan. It has a vertical motor with
belt going horizontal rather then vertical like a dirt devil.
I tried to get a new belt but it didn't work. never got to
the black and decker store. I just gave him my Dirt Devil.
No paper bags on this one, just cloth!
Norm

 

[mathew]

Iona Handvac Attachments and Bags

That’s a great Iona HandVac. I own the same model and it still runs great. The motor inside is more powerful than any small handheld today. This model came with a bunch of attachments that attaches to the bottom clip.

“There appears to be a missing brush guard grate that would clip to that bottom button latch. This certainly does not affect it's cleaning action on carpeted stair treads.”

That is actually supposed to be like that. A hose nozzle attached to the bottom and snaps on the clip. There is a brush and crevice tool attachment as well. There is also a vacuum rack that lets you mount it on the wall.

Iona is no longer around, but you can still get bags for this model. The Mini handheld DirtDevil (late 1990s) is a similar model and uses the same type of bag. All you need to do is to cut the slot in the bag a little larger and it works perfectly. I just picked up a bunch of bags for $5. Most Sears stores sell the DirtDevil Bags.

 

[mathew]

Bag Modification and Attachments...

Just a little correction...

The Dirt Devil pictured is a newer model. It uses a similar bag but the end is rounded. It also has a slot on the top. The bags can be easily modified by adding/gluing a piece of cardboard at the end that will slide into the original blue Iona cloth bag. The bags are sold everywhere and with a little modification, you can add new life to a great hand held vac.

I looked everywhere for the original manual but I only came across this picture that will illustrate how the original attachments were connected. Sorry for the bad image quality…