Kenmore canister memories

DesertTortoise · Jun 16, 2014

Kenkart, I have a Kenmore exactly like the one in your third image, light green steel lower case, greenish cream colored upper half and lid, two speed motor (two pole toggle switch on the rear of the case)and all the attachments but no Powermate.

My folks had it when I was a kid. I remember the Powermated quit and instead of buying a new Powermate or repairing it, they simply bought a new Kenmore 4.1 with Powermate round about 1982 or so and which I still use regularly.

The one like yours, with the "Sears Best" sticker was retired to garage duty and has seen better days. Made a new hose for it and replaced the worn out original motor with a new Ametek Lamb 115923 motor, losing the two-speed feature in the process. This was teamed with a new Hayden Superpack. I had a devil of a time figuring out all the places it was losing suction. I ended up buying a new motor gasket and making a gasket for the cord reel cover out of gasket material I bought at an auto parts store. After that it would flex the lid inwards towards the bag and make the tools bounce pretty good if I pulled any kind of suction! A little hot rod. I even found a domed HEPA filter for the motor to replace those cheesy open cell foam filters. Unfortunately two weeks ago the plastic hinge on the lid finally cracked and broke. I would almost kill to get a replacement. I don't want to retire an otherwise good vacuum. I could maybe put a piano hinge on it but gawd that would look ugly.

Cool collection you have.

paulg · Jun 16, 2014

Two Kenmore memories

The first Kenmore in my life is one I picked up in the garbage. Grade school... It was a vertical tank-type with a top flip lid that opened with a thumb latch.
It worked great and I enjoyed using it. The neighbor came over one day and saw me with it. She was glad I found it and would have rathered her give it to me instead. No biggie.
The other case was in high-school. My friend Jerry was giving a party and needed to vacuum the carpet. He brings out a 1950's Lady Kenmore upright identical to the one shown at the recent VCCC convention in Ohio.
At any rate he says, "Whatever you do DON'T hit any air vents with it!!"
Why? I ask,
"It'll spark" He replied.
And so he vacuums.
Ultimately he hits an air-vent only to see a shower of sparks from the unit.
Clearly the vacuum was "hot" with some sort of serious short to the frame. Yes, a hazard...
Oh well, we were kids then. Nowadays I would have torn it from his hands and repaired it for him.

DesertTortoise · Jun 16, 2014

I was at the Sears outlet store in our town today looking at new Kenmore canister vacuums, including the $559 list price Intuition. Gawd they are cheap! The tools on the Progressive are horrible cheesy little toys. Lids twist and flex, won't stay open then when they finally cooperate and remain open they later refuse to close. You feel like everything you touch you are going to break. I haven't looked at one of their vacuums in a while, satisfied with the old bombers. It is sad to see how far they have come down. Better to buy a used good used vacuum on eBay and rebuild it with the best components you can find than buy a new Kenmore. Really deplorable.

super-sweeper · Jun 17, 2014

fan-of-fans,

I'm betting this is the model you speak of! I rebuilt a bearing in the motor, and this is a POWERFUL, QUALITY canister! I love it!

DesertTortoise · Jun 17, 2014

Supersweeper, that one is a later model than mine. The one I referred to has a heavy steel body in a similar shade of green, a very pale greenish grey plastic lid and the hinge is a polymer "living hinge", which was awfully innovative in terms of the material science of the day for the early 1970's It is exactly the same as the one in the photo with the hose draped over the lid and the Powermate to the right.

I have two more old bombers on the body you show, the bodies of which are all color molded plastic (cream in the case of my beasts) but much better arranged and easier to work on than that older metal beast. They are probably stronger than the metal beast too. Those are exceptionally well made vacuums. Too bad the bag adapters are so rare. If you break or lose one you are done unless someone has a secret stash they are hoarding.

Btw, you wouldn't know where to find a tool tray for the lid like that in the photo? One of the two, the all cream color 4.1 has the "Tool Garden" but the slightly older 3.9 with the faux wood grain on the lid does not. Both are in daily use so not having tools handy makes the 3.9 a little inconvenient to use.

super-sweeper · Jun 18, 2014

I wouldn't know,

Those carriers got VERY rare over the years, people would bust the plastic clips trying to take it off! I haven't seen another Tool-Garden or red bag holder since I bought my model nearly a year ago! I'll keep my eye out for you one, though!

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