Is the Kirby Dual Sanitronic 50 a good vacuum?

[kirbyds50]

Forgive me, but I flat out don't know a thing about vacuum cleaners but find old vintage appliances fascinating and would like a good sturdy vac for household chores. Our old Electrolux is getting pretty tuckered out and frankly, I don't want to spend a bunch of money on something new so I started looking around at second hand vacs and researching and discovered the Kirby company and how they seem to have a unbeatable reputation for making some of the world's finest vacuum cleaners out there. Most sources indicate that the older ones are better than the new and quite frankly, the new ones are ugly and I prefer the looks of the old ones. So anyway, I found what I think is a Dual Sanitronic 50 on craigslist, the model isn't specified but looking at pictures on the internet it sure looks like one. The guy claims it runs great and works better than any modern vacuum I could buy, it looks rough and is in bad need of a polishing, but an hour of work I could have this thing looking pretty good. I am going to go check it out tomorrow and test it out, he only wants 25 dollars for it so I think that is a good deal considering new Kirbys cost around 1500 dollars and that is just outrageous in my opinion. So what are your thoughts on this model? Are they a good investment and would I still be able to readily buy parts if need be in the future? Sorry for the newb questions, I really am pretty clueless about vacuum cleaners so bear with me here.

 

[kirbyds50]

Guess my urls arent working so here are the pics

 

[kirbyds50]

Another look

 

[kirbyds50]

And another

 

[kirbyds50]

And lastly, a good frontal shot.

 

[kirbykid]

<span style="font-size: 12px;">Im pretty sure its actually a sanitronic 7. The model before the dual 50. The parts are available, but these kirbys are tanks and rarely need parts. And for 25 bucks, its a great deal. </span>

 

[kirbyvertibles]

That's a great model from 1963-65. Looks to be all original and it worth the $25.

 

[d-jones]

If you paid twenty five dollars for it and it runs then you did well. When properly polished up vintage Kirby's are by far the prettiest vacuum cleaners money can buy. Search around in some of the past Kirby threads and you'll see what I mean.

By the way, for longevity's sake it's best to post photos directly to the blog as you did here. There are a number of threads in the archives where people posted pictures to photobucket or some other similar site and a few months down the road the links no longer work. Without the photos those threads are pretty useless.

 

[rugsucker]

Kirby Sanatronic

Agree with above that if it has good fan and motor with service and cleaning it should look and work great.If the sellers cabin is all wood inside it is wrong for a non carpet house.The cloth bag is not as clean as newer paper and hepa types but could be changed if you wanted.

 

[dysonman1]

Keep in mind that it's a fifty year old vacuum. You have no idea how much wear the motor has already taken. Carbon brushes in the motor are good for about 700 hours before they're worn out. The brush could be down to nubs by now. The bearings will almost certainly have to be changed. It's rare to find a machine that old that doesn't need any work. While many people say a Kirby will last "forever" - I've fixed thousands of Kirby vacuums in my lifetime (owned my own vac shop) and they do indeed wear out and are somewhat expensive to fix. Your $25 bargain could wind up costing more than a new vacuum by the time you refurbish it. The filtration is terrible through that cloth bag and disposable bags are not available for it. Once rebuilt, the Kirby will indeed by beautiful.

 

[1926700]

Well Tom,

then explain this to me, since you seem to know what your talking abut. If carbon brushes are only suppose to last for 700 hours, then why do Hoover 102 and 105's and 700's and such still have perfectly good carbon brushes. Also with Kirby's Ive tended to notice for the most part, they have a extremely long life span. I just sold a Sanitronic VII on Cl this week that was yes serviced, but did NOT need ANYTHING motor wise replaced, as the majority of those that I see.

 

[kirbyds50]

Well, I went ahead and bought it. After hearing it run and trying it out I was hooked. It sucks really good and the adjuster still works. Now I have the motivation to clean up my room and vacuum the floor! The Kirby needs to be polished for sure, it's pretty grungy now, and needs a new headlight bulb but other than that it seems flawless. Will take more pictures soon when I get the time, probably wont be for a few days though as I go back to work tomorrow and got lots of other side projects I am gonna be doing off-shift.

 

[kirbyds50]

Also, what polish would be best to shine it up? I've detailed cars and what we always used on chrome bumpers was turtle wax chrome polish, seems to work wonders. But, not sure if I should use this on the vac or not so I figure I'll leave it to the experts.

 

[dustin]

I use Mothers aluminum polish. Just make sure you use old rags that you don't mind destroying. As the tarnish is removed, the rags (and anything else) will turn black. If you get it on your hands, it will wash off (with some effort!) I have polished all my Kirbys this way and they look great.

 

[kirbyds50]

Yeah, mothers is good stuff. I use it on aluminum wheels and such and have some in my shop. Going to jump on it and get this thing shiny!

 

[kirbyds50]

Some more pics of my Kirby, if anyone has ever watched the Brave Little Toaster, this vac looks just like the Kirby in that movie! The D80 looks even more like Kirby because of the green.

 

[kirbyds50]

The plate on the bottom, is there a way to decipher how old this thing is by looking at those numbers, any of you Kirby experts?

 

[kirbyvertibles]

it's 1963-65

 

[kirbyds50]

I think there may be something wrong with it. Does not seem to have much suction? It picks things up but not like I thought it would. Bag is empty, is there anything else I can try?