Kenmore High Desert Restoration Center Quick Turn

[DesertTortoise]

This is my $30 Craigslist vacuum purchased last Saturday being prepped for use by my fiancée. I need to bring the old ivory colored lunch box shaped Kenmore 4.1 home for a rest. Hoses are just too hard to come by lately and she complains about my old vacuums.

So figure $30 for the vac, $37 for the hose including shipping (smokin' deal), $30 for the wand and $35 for the Wessel Werk Kenmore powered brush, plus another five to adapt the brush to that wand and about $25 more to add a two prong socket to the vac so I can use a brush with it. $160 all together. Maybe not the best deal done that way. The other floor brush and telescopic wand came with the vacuum as did all the tools.

Getting hinky about letting the fiancée use the old Kenmore daily. Hoses are hard to come by and she tore up my Hoover upright. Time to bring her home and give her something else that is less valuable to me. Two hours total time to disassemble, clean, add the power outlet, reassemble and test.

The cord reel was cocked like that when I took it apart. Never saw that happen before. I though I had a bad reel but now that it's straight it works fine. Whew, saved some money there! Nice high quality Chinese POS one stage motor. Right out of a Progressive I think. When it dies a big two stage Lamb motor fits right in the same hole.

Simple wiring. A cord, an on/off switch and a motor. Not even a performance sensor. Everything you need and nothing more. Tell me please why my Electolux carpet torpedo has to have a circuit card in it and a bag door interlock. Oh, you can't, can you. Here is proof you don't need that stuff. Then I wired in the hose connection. Still nice and simple.

I had already rubbed on the plastic cover with some Softscrub and brought a little shine up. Tomorrow night I will love on it some more with some automotive polish and wax, and a little Lemon Pledge on the dark gray plastic parts. It works fine, the brush works as expected and I'm hoping my fiancée likes the smaller brush and lighter vac better than the old square beast and the big Hayden she has been pushing around.

Oh yeah, bought a Pet Powermate for five bucks from the grab bag at the vacuum store and added that to the pile for her.

There you are. For a motley assemblage of disparate parts acquired over a period of months it almost looks like Sears might have sold it that way. I'm almost tempted now to keep it for myself!

 

[DesertTortoise]

And here are the glamour shots. Try to contain yourselves guys!

The two prong plug looks like it belongs there, doesn't it. Canadian versions came that way from Sears. You hosers!

 

[super-sweeper]

love that,

Transparent cover! 


 


Don't be trash-taking Electrolux, you'll start a riot! 

The bag sensor is a safety feature, so you cannot vacuum without a bag in the vacuum. Could you imagine vacuuming a kitty litter spill, and opening the vacuum and discovering kitty litter ruined your motor? Yikes! While I'm also against circuit boards, the same job can be done with a simple switch!

 

[DesertTortoise]

Super-sweeper, the presence of a bag didn't stop cat crap and puke from blowing through the bag, through the motor and splatter all over the inside of my bag sensored Electrolux carpet torpedo. The vacuum has a fatal flaw, it lacks any sort of secondary filtration. Having a bag in it didn't save my poor vac from being FODed thoroughly.

And if some members here take offense to my critique of Electrolux, let them be offended. I have hands on takine mine apart on the same table plenty of Kenmores, a pair of Windsors and a Hoover upright have been apart on. My critique is based on experience with the machinery. We can differ but working on them has informed my view of them. It isn't just some uninformed bias.

 

[tolivac]

I have made my own "safety filters" for Lux cleaners--A fellow I knew used to be the main 'Lux dealer in Wash DC-he made safety filters for them,too.He has shown me Lux motors and fans DESTROYED from stuff getting into them from burst bags.Lets see,shotgun& BB pellets,drywall debris,pebbles,glass shards,goes on.I and the fellow cut filters from filters for other vacuums or the thin AC filter material-This is just to keep debris from getting into the motor if the bag breaks-this does happen-and on ANY canister vac with paper bags-this isn't such a problem with Filtrete type bags-they are stronger and more resistent to bursting.I bought a Lux vac from a yard sale and someone tried using it without a bag--guess why it was on sale?Had to take it apart and clean out the junk from the motor and fans.Wonder they didn't get broken!As you may know canister motor fans are not strong like direct air vac fans.The canister vac fans rely on the bag and filters for protection.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Tolivac, I have yet to see this bag compartment filter for my series of Electroluxes that has been mentioned here. If I can't find it then it's useless as far as I'm concerned.

Instead I took a 5 X 5 inch secondary filter intended for a Kenmore Progressive or Intuition canister vac, cut it down to 4 1/2 X 5 inches and shoved it down to the very back of the bag compartment of this Electrolux, covering the inlet to the motor, as a way to prevent a repeat of what almost ruined that vac. The ribs on the inside of the bag compartment hold the filter media in place pretty well

I have had paper bags in Kenmores tear on occasion and FOD everything. Nothing wet, just dust and doggie hair but still a mess to clean up afterwards. That is why I now back up the thin open cell foam secondary filters on my older Kenmores with bulk filter material from Electrolux that I buy in big sheets and cut to fit. You can see examples of this on my first thread on the Electrolux and a more recent one titled FUBAR.