Kenmore Porn :-)

[DesertTortoise]

The cream colored one is a Kenmore 3.9 circa 1980-ish I think. It was bought as a spares supply for the nearly identical 1982-1983-ish Kenmore 4.1 I inherited from my parents. $39.95 on eBay. Turns out it is much too nice to part out. So when the lid hinge on the avocado bomber, the re-motored (Ametek Lamb 115923, wretched overkill) early '70's steel bodied thing finally broke, off came the hose from that vacuum and I teamed it up with the Powermate from the 4.1. My fiancée has my parents old 4.1 which is in really great condition and a new Hayden Superpack. The 4.1 has all the features, infinitely adjustable motor speed, the one and only too tray (Tool Garden) I have, the tools are in better condition and it switches on and off from the hose. That is Electrolux bulk filter material you see in the secondary filter of the 3.9. The cheesy dark gray open cell foam Kenmore used long ago disintegrated.

The grey 4.1 is my newest acquisition. I just competed it's refurbishment. It needed a cord reel (not so much because it didn't retract as much as there were a couple of cuts in the cord that I didn't much like) and a good cleaning. The original wheels and rubber bumper were had a lot of battle scars so those were replaced with new parts that are darker than the originals but look ok and are at least not beat up. The carbon brushes looked to have almost no wear, but someone spilled a sticky beverage on top, and getting the goo out of the vents between the bag cover and motor cover, and out of the tool tray, tools and motor compartment ( ! ) was a momma bear. No 360 degree swivel hose here with dodgy sliding contacts, the hose is two wire and is hard wired past the swivel. The hose only moves about 60 degrees either side of center which is more than enough for me. I like things to be simple and reliable. It has a simple ON/OFF switch that I can source from a number of electronic supply companies even if Parts Direct says the part is not available. The OEM for that switch, Carlson Electric, still shows it on their catalog in updated, higher amperage, form. It's a cord, switch, motor and bag mounted in heavy duty durable plastic. Simple. Last of the US made Kenmores too. Next week or so it will be teamed up with the $35 Wessel Werk powered brush I just bought. Ought to be a great team and I am certain they would last me longer than a brand new Kenmore (gawd they're cheap) or some crappy Hoover or Dyson thing.

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

Very, very nice! I love those US built Kenmore's.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

that kenmore powermate with the woodgrain and updated PN is from 1982. it was the last year of the woodgrain. you can tell as the bumpers are white, which changed from a lovely rust red in spring 1982. the 1981 model was the exact same but with the rust red bumpers

 

[gsheen]

The first Kenmore looks like a panasonic we got here in the 90's Nice vacuum never gave any trouble with a big double fan ball motor. 

 

[DesertTortoise]

I have seen the same vacuum as the grey one sold as a Panasonic. The model number prefix is 116 indicating Matsushita Electric, the parent of Panasonic, built it, but is says Made in USA below the model and serial numbers.

By the way, I would shamelessly do embarrassing and degrading things to obtain the 4.8 version of that vacuum with the power switch on the hose and a variable speed motor. That is my vacuum Holy Grail.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

Dircik, 116 again, is NOT idicator of that! 116 is a SEARS part prefix for vacuums. this was in swing WELL before panasonic farted an idea of sears vacuums. it was used thru the entire whirpool line as well. not sure if it used during the birtman era.

 

[kenkart]

116 Prefix...

Birtman thru mid 1957, Whirlpool thereafter.

 

[DesertTortoise]

No, bnsd60m9200, emphatically wrong. If your premise is true, explain the Kenmore 3.1 canister model number 175.2603580. Here is the Sears Parts Direct page for that vacuum.

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/par...2/0642000/00015513/00001?blt=06&prst=&shdMod=

Here is the eBay page for one of that model vacuum, which I have been watching and thinking of buying.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12106252805...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648#ht_4154wt_1027

Now, here is a link to a chart that explains how Kenmore model numbers work, with the three digit prefix identifying the manufacturer of the product.

http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/Sears-And-Kenmore-Appliance-Fault-Codes.aspx

Prefix 175 is for InSinkErator, which is owned by Emmerson Electric, the probable manufacturer of that vacuum. If you have a better explanation for a 175 prefix in the model number of a Kenmore vacuum, lets hear it but it emphatically shoots down this claim that all Kenmore vacuums have a 116 prefix.

Whirlpool has a lot of prefixes, but 116 isn't one of them. 116 is a discontinued prefix that represented Masushita Electric. In 2005 Matsushita retired that name in favor of the more well known Panasonic brand name and the 116 prefix was retired with it.

http://www.webanswers.com/home-garden/appliances/kenmore-manufacturer-8288c8

http://www.namedevelopment.com/articles/PanasonicPRNewsMatsushitaNmeChng120904.html

 

[DesertTortoise]

Btw, Matshushita has been manufacturing consumer and industrial electronics in the US since the early 1960's under the Matsushita name. Panasonic was reserved for consumer products. Those old Kenmore canisters of mine were US made Matsushita products. Same for the Powermates. Matsushita was the largest US based manufacturer of vacuum cleaners in the 1980's. The Hayden Superpack is now made in a Panasonic plant in Mexico. The vacuum manufacturing unfortunately moved to China.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I didn't intend to be snippy with my replies. If I was I apologize. I see some documentary evidence that Kenmore serial number prefixes are coded to indicate the manufacturer of the item. I would very much love to find some hard, verifiabl data on this. I have contacted both Panasonic and Kenmore posing this question of them but so far I've received no repl from either. If/when I receive one I will probably trip all over myself and the cute doggies I sneak into my pictures to post it here.

 

[fan-of-fans]

If you do a search on the forum, there is a lot of info to support the earlier vacuums being made by Whirlpool. The Kenmores in the 1950s and 60s were Whirlpool designs, and Whirlpool had a very similar line of vacuums under their own name. In fact, they made the first power nozzle for Kenmore canisters. That division went to Panasonic in the early 90s and they inherited the Whirlpool designs like the Whispertone.

In fact, the 116 prefix is still being used on Kenmore vacuums. I have a 2012 Kenmore Progressive canister, the current top of line Progressive, and it has the 116 prefix. I think my bottom of the line lime green one does too but I haven't checked.

There are a lot of old posts on these machines, very interesting reading.

And there have been Sears vacuums made by other manufacturers such as Singer, Sanyo and Eureka. The vacuum you posted with the 175 model number is a Singer made machine. I have a Sanyo made Kenmore canister and the prefix is 346.

However I believe, but am not certain, that all of the current Kenmore canister line is Panasonic made. The power nozzles are made by Cen-Tec and have been since the 90s at least. Not sure about the small power nozzle on the silver bagless canister though. It might by German but I have no idea.

 

[eurekaprince]

Just to clarify some history here: in June of 1990, Whirlpool entered into a joint venture with Japan's Matsushita Electric to produce vacuum cleaners for North America at Whirlpool's Danville, Kentucky plant. There was an option for Matsushita to buy out the plant completely 3 years later. Up until June of 1990, Matsushita sold Japanese-made vacs under the Panasonic name in North America. And up until June 1990, Whirlpool sold completely different vacs under the Whirlpool and Sears Kenmore name.

Part of the incentive for the deal was to have the Danville plant create Kenmore vacs under the design influence of Matsushita's engineers and designers. The reputation of their North American Panasonic vacs was very good by that time, and Sears saw the benefit of having Whirlpool work with Matsushita. Panasonic vacs were outdoing Kenmore vacs in Consumer Reports testing by that time. In fact, I think one of the Panasonic "Dial-a-Matic" clones actually was top rated at some point in the 1980's.

See the link below for a news article about the joint venture agreement in 1990:



http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...fgaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hUcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6877,1127703

 

[DesertTortoise]

I'm sending the following e-mail to Senior Editor Austin Weber of Assembly magazine along with images of the four vacuums I mention in my e-mail. I'll post his reply.

Good Evening,


We are having a vigorous debate at Vacuumland whether or not Kenmore vacuums from the 1970's and 1980's were Whirlpool or Matsushita products. My position is that vacuums with the 116 prefix in their model numbers, which includes most Kenmore vacuums going back to the very early 1970's through the 1990's were produced in the US by Matsushita. One of my canister vacuums, Kenmore model number 116.2041080 is the twin of the Panasonic MC-V9610. Both are made in the US. Others maintain that Whirlpool made Kenmore vacuums up to about 1990 when Matsushita bought a Kenmore plant.


Here are the model numbers of four Kenmore canisters I have that I think are Matsushita products:


116.29971

116.22997

116.2399182

116.2041080


I have attached images of each in the order listed.


Can you help settle our argument? Thanks.

Btw, to stir the pot on another argument, some claim the last two numbers in the model number are the assembly date. The problem with this is that 116.22997 was produced a year or two before 116.2399182, maybe 1981 or so, and 116.2041080 is depicted in a 1992 Sears catalog and is the twin of a Panasonic MC-V9610, also an early 1990's product.

It will be interesting to hear his reply. I'll keep you posted.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Before sending my letter to the Senior Editor at Assembly Magazine, I had sent a roughly similar inquirey to Sears. Here is their reply.

"Thank you for choosing Sears PartsDirect for all of your parts needs. The 116 means that your vacuums were made by MATSUSHITA which is a part of Panasonic.

Mode number 116.29971 was produced in between 1987 and 1999.
Mode number 116.2399182 was made in 1987.
Mode number 116.22997 was made in 1987.
Mode number 116.2041080 was made in 1987.

Please let us know if we can help you with parts for any of your vacuums. If you have any other problems, or need any additional information, please don't hesitate to respond to this e-mail, and we will give you a call. We, at Sears PartsDirect, want to make sure that all of your needs are met. Please feel free to contact us via chat with our live online representatives, email us at [email protected] or call us at 1-888-205-0966. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Sears! "

Comments welcome. I think they have the wrong production date for 116.29971. That is the model number of the Avocado Bomber, my old steel beast. It does, however, confirm my contention that 116 model numbers were produced by Matsushita.

I still am waiting on answers to the same question from Panasonic and from the Senior Editor at Assembly Magazine. I'll keep you posted.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

yes and ALL of the vacs you inquired about were made AFTER kenmore switched to panasonic in 1985. before 1985, ALL the powermates were whirlpool, and uprights were singer or whirlpool until you get to the old birtman era. i have seen 1960's kenmore's made and designed by whirlpool with a 116 serial code stamped on them. suggest you reseach more about pre 1985 machines. kenmore had no dealings with panasonic until 1985...

 

[DesertTortoise]

The reply from Sears has at least one error. The first listed model number, 116.29971, is a heavy steel bodied thing that was purchased in the early 1970's and discontinued later in the 1970's in favor of the much nicer and easier to repair plastic bodied square vacuums. 116.2399182 was purchased new around 1982. Were 116.29971 and 116.2399182 made by Matsushita or Whirlpool? I dunno. I thought they were and that Matsushita had been making Sears vacuums since sometime in the 1970's or so. All I know with certainty is they all have a 116 prefix (while some other obscure Kenmore canister vacs and shop vacs have different prefixes) and if you believe the Sears reply, the 116 prefix means Matsushita made it.

Also, we now have one person now posting the transition from Whirlpool to Kenmore was 1985 while another posts an old newspaper article claiming it was 1990. Again, I dunno if either are right. Matsushita had manufacturing plants in the US making consumer goods as far back as the early 1960's.

Sounds like an opportunity for some intrepid soul to write the definative history of Kenmore vacuums. A certain best seller !

 

[suckolux]

My last year Kenmore has the 116 on it still. Looks like a Panny

 

[DesertTortoise]

I can tell from the Postal Service tracking information I have one of the hard to find "Tool Garden" tool caddies for the old 1980-ish Kenmore 3.9 (hopefully that on the lid filled with tools with distract the eye from the horrible looking faux wood grain!)sitting on my front porch next to a box holding a Wessel Werk EBK290 powered brush that will be teamed up with my 1992-ish Kenmore 4.1 canister, the gray one I just finished refurbishing. Can't wait to see if I can plug the German cord and two prong plug into my Kenmore swivel wand and plug that into the Kenmore hose. I want to hear some German rumble tonight. I want to go attack some huskey hair. Now the clocks at work all seem to be turning backwards.

 

[super-sweeper]

I saw,

A Kenmore 4.1 in a thrift shop today! The graphics had that cool 80's touch to them! Didn't buy it, though. I've got Kenmores everywhere already! Plus it was $20! I don't know what you mean by "Hideous faux wood grain",My very own "Avocado Bomber" Is decked in it, And I couldn't be happier!


 


Let me know if you want that manual scanned,I have a-lot of paperwork to scan in for Automatic Ephemera!