Kenmore Progressive "Multi-Force" series

[gmerkt]

That's an interesting idea. I haven't seen one of the machines that you describe, but my first thought when you described it was the technical complication involved with the reversing process. My thinking is that as a consumer product, vacuum cleaners shouldn't be over-the-top complicated. People have enough trouble with broken belts. Most people thrust the machines forward and backward fairly quickly and a hesitation for transition would be a significant drawback.

Since we've been discussing this, I think I've found an NOS filter for the purple basic Phone Mate for a reasonable price. It may yet make it back to the used vac lot.

 

[kirbylux77]

Gary, I have been keeping an eye on this thread for a while now, & I must admit, I at first thought you were misinformed about PhoneMate making the newer Progressives & the Quick Clean, but I will trust your word since you seem to know so much about them. But one thing that occured to me....Did TTI contract out to PhoneMate then for some of their models? In particular, the Dirt Devil Reaction D2 dirt cup & design looks VERY much identical to the PhoneMate made Dual Chamber vacuum. Also, if you look at Dirt Devil Vision's, as well as their other offerings, it appears that Dirt Devil are using the EXACT SAME Dirt Tube coming from the powerhead as what is on the Quick Clean, & the same tools too for that matter. And if you look at the Quick Clean, the pleated tower filter it uses is a shortened Dirt Devil F1 filter the Vision models use. Same with the Retraxx, the round HEPA filter that sits in top is off another Vision model.

Another possibility entirely is that both TTI & PhoneMate were contracting out their designs to Chinese firms, such as Kingclean, to have their vacuums made for them to their designs & specifications. I just can't ignore the obvious similarities to the Dirt Devils....and there has to be SOME explanation for it!

Rob

 

[carolinaguy1996]

Reviving An Old Thread

I need to adress some things here...

1. The lavender Kenmore is supposedly a girl's machine due to the color, and because girls love things that are simple and not complicated.

2. Sears is definitely dying, because Amazon is the new way of shopping (but at least Home Depot and Lowes will still be around).

3. Cleva now makes Kenmore machines and not Panasonic.

4. I agree that the bagless machines are terrible. I agree that the spare parts for those machines tend to be expensive.

5. The canister market for department stores is small nowadays. I know uprights are easy on closet space, but most people nowadays end up with a dust mop (Swiffer is ass) due to hardwood flooring being the norm in homes.

6. A machine that is over-built means higher price, but it is more likely to break down.

7. How about Dyson get deported back to England. No offense to the fans, but you may want to peek into the bagged market...

 

[ethiceze54]

Just picked the red version of the this up at a thrift store today (model # 116.32913200). Just happened upon it cause my kids destroyed my 07' Kenmore progressive model 116.35922500. The og receipt was stapled to the manual. Bought in 2002. Sorry for reviving an old thread, I'm new to this forum and I'm just trying to find out as much as possible about this vacuum to determine if it'll be a decent replacement. I only paid 7 bucks for it. So, if it's not, I'll live, lol.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Hi Brandon,

I'm not real familiar with these models like your newly acquired red one, although I have seen them at thrift stores too once in a while.

But I have one just like your 07 that got broken and I find it to be an excellent vacuum. I think it has an edge over that red one at least as far as features go. I myself prefer the bagged design over the bagless as well but that's just a personal preference since it negates having to deal with the filter cleaning as much.

IMO that red one should do just fine as long as you like it. It should probably clean just as well as the other one.

In my experience the models like mine and your former 07 turn up pretty often in thrift stores. So for me, I'd keep an eye out for another one in good condition, and keep using your new red one for the time being. But that's just me, the red one is probably perfectly fine to keep using, it should clean well. Like I said I just prefer the bagged setup and touch pad controls, gentle sweep, Inteliclean, 3 suction levels, etc like the other model has. None of that is necessarily important though.