Goodwill today

[bikerray]

Went to Goodwill this morning and found a Kirby G5 for $5.
Then went to another Goodwill and found a set of G6 attachments and Shampoo kit, passed on an Electrolux 1205 and also a Silverado.
Hit a third Goodwill and found a Riccar Supraquick shoulder vac for $4.

Here's pics of the G5 before cleaning and after cleaning.

 

[kirbyklekter]

The only time I get to see

the treasures the likes of what you find at Goodwill is on yours and others posts! It would take me months to come up with what you found in a day. That G5 would never have seen the day of light out on the sales floor, instead it would be listed on the internet somewhere. The "thrill of the hunt"...naah not around here. Unbelievable, $5.00 for a G-5 in great shape like that...wow, good for you Ray.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Congrats on getting a steal on such a beautiful G5!!!

I have been on a hunt for a G5 but I have never seen one at a thrift store at any price. I found many other G series though. I sure envy the ones that find such cheap vacuums. Any store here would have a minimum of $20, regardless of condition or completeness.

Ironically, I was curbside scavenging today and picked up a semi-complete G5 shampoo kit in the box and the attachment caddie. I wished the whole vacuum was there, but was not. This was from the same house I got the '80s Rainbow from several months ago.

 

[lesinutah]

Dang

It sounds like you hit the goodwill lottery. I take it you bought the supraquick. How does this vacuum compare to mighty mite.
The g5 looks good.
Les

 

[huskyvacs]

Whaaaaat Kirbys and Riccars at your Goodwill? Lucky! Very rarely mine will have a good Hoover, but most of the time it's nothing worth their $20 price tags.

I get all my Kirbys on eBay whenever ones shows up for less than $50. Not often they show that cheap, but I usually end up finding 1 or 2 a year.

The G5 is one tough vacuum, I got one too that has the brushroll monitor light.

 

[human]

I've always compared thrifting to fishing. Some days they're biting and some days they aren't. They were really biting today in your neck of the woods! To see that many good machines in one day is almost unheard of. Good vacuum finds are few and far between around here although I recently scored a pristine Electrolux Epic upright for $3, which was pretty sweet. I might see one or two Kirbys a year but they're usually beat down and overpriced for their condition and I can go years without a spotting an Electrolux.

Good trash finds are also exceedingly rare, but oddly enough, I have found more Electroluxes that way (total of three) than Kirbys (just one). I've gotten a few machines off of eBay but while they often look like good deals in the photos, they almost invariably end up costing me more in repair parts than the initial acquisition price.

 

[electromatik]

That's the model we have

My Mom bought that in 1999 for $1,100 dollars including the shampooer. She has never used the shampooer. Her TechDrive pedal broke off years ago and we don't know how to repair it. She doesn't want to fool with mailing it to the company. You cannot roll it without the TechDrive. The switch broke in the "on" position so lucky for us it it still easy to push. She wants to trade it and I guess she will eventually.

 

[human]

The N/D pedals aren't hard to replace with modest screwdriver skills. The YouTube video linked below will show you pretty much all you need to know:

 

[electromatik]

@human

Thanks for trying to help but I'm not mechanically inclined and that video didn't look simple to me. Too many small parts and too much to get back in place. No way I'd attempt that.

Mom's TechDrive pedal is strange. The pedals are still attached but the entire spindle pole they are attached to came out. Weird situation.

 

[turbo360]

Interesting

I was given a G5 that also had the pedals removed. It was missing that metal mechanism thing that I used from a parts Kirby. Installing the pedals is actually fairly easy if you know what your doing I’ve done it so many times. P.s. sorry if the photo is sideways

 

[kirbyklekter]

It seems like I hear more

about G5's than the other G's. Was that the year they had improved the tech drive?

 

[regularrett69]

Improvement

From my information, the tech drive was redone with a complete silent noise in around 2010 which was when the Sentria was coming out.

 

[lesinutah]

Upgrade

Its the ugly burgundy or Brandywine color the g5. The G3 and G4 were the first tech drive and we're a little twerky. Late g4 and g5 they changed the gearing. This improved the jerkiness. I got a g4 serviced and this change was done during the service.
The g4 would stall or react when switched between gears.
The sentria was late closer to sentria 2 release. I can't speak of this as I have only owned a sentria.
If someone is mechanically inclined and backpedals maybe they're mechanically inclined but seems less inclined than they think.
If you watch a few you tube videos you can become an expert. I have massive hands and I can fix a tech drive. Maybe an alcoholic screwdriver would help.
Les

 

[bikerray]

Another good day at Goodwill

Found a Dirt Devil F1 filter
A really nice Hoover Tempo for $5
Another Kirby G5 for $10
Royal A bags, Buster B bags and Nutone Central Vac bags

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Another G5?

Rub it in whydonecha... )
What such luck!

 

[human]

Daaaaaang!

Got your vacuumojo workin' overtime!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Astonishing to get such an expensive

machine for $5.00
Amazing!

 

[huskyvacs]

My local ACE still sells a Hoover Tempo for its original MSRP. They also have one they use for in-store cleaning.

Great find on the Royal bags.

Always good to find vacuum parts and filters in the wild at a thrift store. Saves a lot of $$$ versus paying so much on eBay for them.

 

[bikerray]

Todays finds