Kenmore intuition 116

[lesinutah]

I went to the thrift store yesterday and scored a kenmore intuition 116 for $10. I got it cleaned up and tried it out. It's a very nice vacuum it's only missing the powermate junior attachment.
I can't figure out how to get regular straight suction tools to work. I noticed some models have a sliding switch for carpet bare floor and another setting. Mine is all on the handle. It has a button that switches from carpet to bare floor. I'll add pics. I'm just not having any luck. If anyone can help it would be appreciated.

 

[fan-of-fans]

That was a really nice find for $10. That was the top model about 5-8 years ago, I think it sold for around $400.

To turn on both the canister and the Powermate motors you push that button that looks like a carpet and wood floor once.

To get just suction, you push it twice and just the canister motor will be on.

It will light up floor or carpet to show the setting. Then you can press the button that looks like a bar graph to select the suction level, and H M or L will light up.

Also if you are using the wand with the attachments, if you want the LED wand headlight to come on it has to be on the carpet setting. Otherwise no power flows to the wand and the light won't come on.

You can probably get a new Power Mate Jr on eBay for pretty cheap.

Here is a copy of the manual

http://s3.amazonaws.com/bobspdf/mn/k/L0802443.pdf

 

[lesinutah]

Thanks

For the info and the manual.
Im pretty sure It should be working as I pressed the bare floor button on but the motor to the cannister isn't coming on. I wonder if that is why it was at the thrift store.

 

[lesinutah]

Bare floor

Doesn't work on power nozzle either.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I'm confused, so does the canister motor work only on the carpet setting, but not bare floor? Or does it not run at all?

If it only works on carpet but not bare floor, then sounds like the control board might be bad. I've never really heard of a canister motor running on only one setting or other.

If it doesn't work at all I'd say you either need new carbon brushes or a new motor. You should be able to find a match on eBay.

The Powermate isn't supposed to run on the bare floor setting. Is it running on the carpet setting? If not, try pressing the reset button. If that doesn't work then you likely need to replace that motor. Or maybe the motor is running but you need a new belt.

I can see you are getting power to the wand because the headlight is on. So in theory the Powermate should work if it's attached.

 

[lesinutah]

Power

There is no power from the canister at all. The bare floor mode doesn't work with the powermate or attachments.
I'll reset it and go from there. Thanks for the help.

 

[suckolux]

Nice looking machine! I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that there is a break in the hose somewhere, as I've always heard in the past that they fail on many of those. Good luck !

 

[lesinutah]

Thanks

for the nice comment. The reset didn't work. I'll check the hose. I'll then check the carbon brushes. I'll get my electrical tester and see if it's the board or faulty wiring somewhere. If all of it checks out which I'm guessing it's with the hose or something electrical.
I do really like the color. I've been looking for one of these for a few months. I wish the brush roll had harder bristles. I do really like the lighted power nozzle.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Sticker

I noticed there is a sticker above the data tag that says "reconditioned"

Is there a date on that?

 

[lesinutah]

Tag

The tag is dated 3/18/08. Does that mean trade in or a broke down vacuum refurbished.

 

[mmcphee]

Floor Tool

My mother has had 3 of these vacuums. Check to make sure the floor tool is fully seated into the top of the power nozzle. Yes, the floor tools lifts out of the top of the power nozzle and if it's not fully inserted, the electrical connections won't connect.

 

[huskyvacs]

That's a great find for $10. The electrical problems is just likely a dirty or loose wire somewhere. These little canisters get kicked and thrown about from careless owners so it's not hard to damage something somewhere. Nice to see it has real horsehair (or at last imitation) bristles too, those are always so nice to have for cleaning lampshades and tiny delicate items.

Also "reconditioned" is just another word for refurbished - likely by the factory itself, by Sears, or a 3rd party under authorization. It could have been a customer return (open box) that was used and returned to the store, or it was sent in by a vacuum store from a trade-in to be resold as refurbished. That was 12 years ago so a lot could have happened between now and then.

I see these every now and again on eBay people put down well over $60 for just the canister alone, so they must be a good vacuum!

 

[fan-of-fans]

Yeah, I'd bet that was either a factory defective unit that was exchanged and refurbished by Sears or a 3rd party that handles that. That model couldn't have come out far before 2008 so it was likely close to new at the time.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Also I bought a Kenmore canister that was a customer return at Sears back in 2012 and it didn't have a sticker like that, and I had to have it repaired a few months later and still no sticker. So I'd agree with huskyvacs again on a company refurb or similar scenario.

The biggest issue I've heard on these models is that special floor tool tends to lose its wheels. So I'd be careful with that.

The Matsushita and Sip Cinderson motors on these newer Kenmores aren't as good as the old Lamb/Ametek motors they used to have back 20+ years ago. I haven't had any problems with mine yet, but I'm not too concerned with it. If it blows I'll just get one on eBay and pop it in.

 

[lesinutah]

Yes

It's a nice vacuum. I've been busy cleaning out my father who passed house.
I'll have time tommorow to find the problem and fix it. I found the powermate jr on ebay for $20.
It's my favorite color and it is quiet and powerful.