G4-tified!

[vintagehoover]

Being so impressed with my G5, and being on a bit of a Kirby-binge at the moment, I bought this G4, since it was a good price. It was a bit dirty and the metal was a little dull and tarnished, but has polished up very nicely. All the parts are correct on this one, too! I've bought a set of tools for it from the US, which haven't arrived yet.

The TechDrive does sound a little noisy in the video, but I think this is because my camera microphone has a tendancy to focus on and exaggerate high-pitched sounds. It's smoother than on the G5 I posted about last week:

 

[vintagehoover]

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[vintagehoover]

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[vintagehoover]

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[vintagehoover]

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[vintagehoover]

Alongside my G5...

I've decided to keep the G5 in the end, the seller was being so rude and unhelpful. Thanks to Clark, it'll be able to have the correct-colour wheel hub and flex, and I've ordered the correct handle back plate and a manual from the US. I might order a new furniture-guard for the G4, too...I'm fussy about my cleaners looking good!

 

[vintagehoover]

Upgrading the brush-roll...

I've bought a G5-onwards style brush-roll for the G4, but there's a problem; although the end-caps fit fine, the two central bristle-tufts seem to come under where the belt goes round the brush-roll...I don't know why it would do this with the G4, but not the G5 etc...has anyone else found this?

Should I just pull out the two central tufts with pliers??

 

[arh1953]

I like your video, and I hope you gave the G5 man the feedback he deserved! Nice pair of Kirbys.

 

[air-waycharlie]

Jack,

Yes, pull out the tufts and it will work fine. I do it frequently when replacing brush rolls for customers or for my own machines.

I always use upgraded brush rolls as they tend to clean more effectively. Sometimes you have to change/reverse the end caps as well to make it fit into the slots.

Charlie

 

[g3]

The rug plate & nozzle was changed on G5, compare the placement on the bars & placement of the belt sensor LED and you'll see what I mean.

While the end caps can be reversed, doing so will disable the belt sensor LED as the magnet on the brush roll is on the opposite side. The sensor relies on the magnet to generate the power for the LED.

If you were in back of the machine, the LED on the G4 nozzle is on the LH side, while the G5 is on the RH side.

It's best to just replace it with the correct G4 brush roll.

That what I'd do, but then I am very fussy and don't believe in mickey mousing machines.

Ray

 

[vintagehoover]

I've pulled out the 2 centre-tufts...

...and it works fine now, as does the LED. I didn't need to do any end-cap swapping, it fit perfectly without need for further modification. I just put it in the opposite way round I would have done in the G5.

I've noticed the nozzle-plate is slightly different, I may buy a G5 nozzle-plate and use that instead.

Thanks for the advice, Charlie!

 

[air-waycharlie]

I should have added in my earlier post, that if you do have to switch end caps, make sure the magnet end aligns with the indicator so it works correctly.

Glad to help Jack and happy vacuuming............or hoovering as you might say!

Charlie

 

[vintagehoover]

No, no...

...despite being English, I always say 'vacuuming' unless I'm actually using a Hoover! The American term makes more literal sense, although it does give me satisfaction to see people calling Dysons 'hoovers'; one of J.D's hopes was that in the future, people would refer to 'hoovering' as 'dysoning'...dream on!

I've seen several mentions now, here and elsewhere, of swapping end-caps around to do this particular conversion - as I said, I didn't find I had to do this; the end caps were identical to the original roller. I just put it in the other way round, so the magnet was on the right side. This is what caused the belt-misalignment, solved by removing 2 sets of bristles. Seems to work perfectly, much better than the old-style roller. The stiffer bristles make all the difference!

Ray - I understand what you mean, I wouldn't want to swap bits around with my vintage Hoovers to enhance performance. However, I just have the Kirbys as daily cleaners, because I've found them to be the best machines I've come across. I'm all for anything which makes them work even better, as long as it doesn't compromise the appearance!

 

[kirbyvacuum]

Tech Drive

Hi Jack I think your T- Drive is just fine. I love the G series I have the G3,4,5, they all sound differant. You have a nice collection. Do you have any other Kirbys. Take care Doug

 

[vintagehoover]

Hi Doug,

Actually, since posting about the G4, I've bought 2 more, a Tradition (I think the first one to be sold in the UK?), and an as-new Diamond Edition.

The bad news is I'll probably have to sell the G4, and maybe eventually the G5, to help cover the costs/make space for the new ones. My Hoover 912A might be sold as well, since I have a 912 which I like more because it's older! I've bought far too much this month, and some sacrifices have to be made to compensate!

I've also now sold the Legend II I posted about recently.

The Diamond Edition and the Tradition should be keepers! I'll do a post about them when they arrive

 

[turbo500]

English...

Oh in our house it's always been referred to as the "oova" for some reason. If I recall correctly, the first model of Kirby sold in the UK was the Classic Omega?

 

[petek]

YOU sold your Legend II ? I should come over and slap you. They're the nicest of the Kirby lot imho LOL

 

[vintagehoover]

As much as I liked the Legend II...

...I'm primarily interested in Kirbys because of their great performance; I just don't have the space to start a collection of Kirbys, as well as all my Hoovers. Also, I'd never go back to heaving around a pre-Generation model now I've discovered TechDrive!

I bought the Legend II because it was such a bargain - £8 in total - and with a polish, new belt and bag, it sold for £101, so I can't complain! I learnt new metal-polishing techniques, which I'm now applying to the rest of my collection. And the Legend II reminded me how much I liked Kirbys, which prompted me to upgrade to the newer models. So everyone wins, really!

I'll be keeping the Diamond Edition for many years, and also the Tradition if it cleans up well.

 

[petek]

Careful if you wash that Tradition bag, the blue dye leeches out noticeably I found on mine. I washed mine in the bathtub in barely barely lukewarm water and a squirt of dish soap, gently moving it up and down and could see the blue coming out into the water. Though when it dried it still looked good. Anything harsher and it might have dried noticeably faded.