Kenmore Twin Fans

[luxy1205]

Hope to get some info on this baby of mine! Sorry in advance for the pictures of the Twinny!!! I wasn't about to take the vacuum down off of the shelf that I can't even walk to right now! At least you all can see my very small collection! Also, I have an Electrolux 1401-b Olympia One named Ollie, an Electrolux teal model G named Tealy, a 1987 Hoover Brush Roll (my personal favorite), and a newer POS Dirt Devil in our bedroom that are not pictured. Kinda hard to see in pictures, but I have a Kirby Heritage II all apart and an Electrolux 1205 series Beautifier in with all the vacs as well! Anyways, I bought this Kenmore Twin Fans at a garage sale that some friends were having this summer. I literally paid $1.00 for it!!! It runs great, sucks the carpet right up like it's going to eat it!!! Great runner!! I don't know anything about it!!! I've trying finding it online, but I'm at a loss!! What year is it? What kinda disposable bags does it take? Is there a chance that I could buy a light lens for it? I'm glad I got Twinny because I've wanted one to have all due to the flower bag! Silly, but that's what sold me on it! It still needs to be cleaned. We tested it out, works great, but I want to get it new bags before I use it too. I love vintage things, but I want to know that my cooties are all that's present! Ha Ha! Hope there's Twin Fan nuts out there that can help me!!!???!!! -Michelle

 

[DesertTortoise]

Turn the machine over and tell me what the Model Number is. It should be a number of the form 116.____ with some more numbers after the period.

Once you know the Model Number, you can go into Sears Parts Direct and look up the parts for that model vacuum. Sometimes the parts diagrams have dates on them that tell you what year that model was made, sometimes not. They were pretty good about that in the 1970's through the mid 1980's.

Here is the link to Sears Parts Direct for Kenmore parts:

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/brands/kenmore-parts

I registered with the site and have all my models saved under my name. I can scroll through a drop down menu of my model numbers, click on a particular model and view the parts diagram(s)

 

[ronni]

Very nice collection, Michelle.

Unless my eyes deceive me, it appears as though you also have 3 Model 1205s. I wonder if they are early, mid, or late versions. Charles Richard Lester has a website that gives some details of each in case you are interested:

www.1377731.com/lux (scroll down to find the link to the Model 1205 page)

I also didn't realize that you had a Model XXX and a Model LX (there were different versions of them, too). Guess we've heard the most about Ollie (I believe you were part of a discussion on a different thread that mentioned the three models of the Olympia Ones: 1401 (horizontal-carrying handle and a vertical-carrying finger grip like the 1401/Super J), 1401-B: a vertical-carrying handle and a shorter horizontal-carrying handle than the 1401's, larger wheels for thicker carpeting, and fins on the bumpers) and 1505 (plastic on inside cover instead of metal); final run before the 1505/Silverados debuted). I wonder if your Ollie has a 1980 Winter Olympics decal affixed behind the blower port as some 1401 and 1401-Bs did that were manufactured around that time since it was the offical vacuum cleaner of the event?

Sorry, I can't help you out with Kenmore information. Great buy!

 

[DesertTortoise]

Btw, looking at the vacuums hood, I am betting it used the same headlight lense that Powermates of that vintage used, in which case you can still obtain new ones from Sears.

What is funny about Sears is that you can have the same part, same form fit and function but it will have slightly different part numbers for different models. While the part might be shown as NLA for your vac, you can find the same part is avaiable with a slightly different part number for another vac of that series. This was true of the headlight lense I needed for an old Powermate.

 

[super-sweeper]

Oh...But D.T, it doesn't! it uses a special head-lamp lenses that slides into a small groove on the base of the vacuum too! 

 

[luxy1205]

ronni

Yes I do have 3 1205's, you are correct sir! One is dear Luxy, another is dear Lux my mom's 1205, and the other in the middle is a parts vacuum. I need it to fix Luxy and Lux!!! They're sick right now and need some parts. I don't believe they're the earlier versions from what I've read on here, I think they are later versions. I know Lux was my grandma's vacuum she bought brand new and got handed down to my mom and now sadly she died and I literally pulled it out of the garbage and will restore it! It's highly coated in rust, wheels broken off/missing, and carry handle is busted off/non existent, but it runs like it's brand new and the cord winder works flawlessly!!! I will bring him back from the dead!!! Yes, those others are an LX and XXX. The LX named Lexy runs, but I won't use it till we go thru it first. The XXX named Exxy I bought doesn't work at all, needs a motor rebuild among new leather and a paint job. The whole entire thing was full of rust and is very pitted, I spent a very long time hand polishing it to at least look acceptable again! I bought it because I felt sorry for it and want to see it have a better life! I have a soft spot for Electrolux, but love others too! I'm branching out there! My husband who is 20 years older than me told me a story when he was a little boy going to his grandma's house that in her closet she had an old vacuum. I believe it was a Kirby, he was born in 1964, so from what he's described, it was probably a Kirby. Anyways, he was so scared of it, didn't want anything to do with the closet! So, I told him that if he misbehaves I will bring either my DS50 or HII out and hide it in a dark corner for him to awaken to! Ha Ha! BTW, I don't see an Olympic sticker on him, but that's ok because he's Ollie! -Michelle

 

[luxy1205]

DesertTortoise

Thanks for all of the wonderful info! I will see if I have some time here to get Twinny down so I can give you his numbers. I need my husband who is 6 foot 5 and has eagle arm span to get him down for me! Ha ha! -Michelle

 

[DesertTortoise]

Hard to tell from the photo Alex. You are probably right, the lens curves outward along the line in the body.

 

[luxy1205]

Alex

Wah wah waaaaaaaa!!! Ha ha! -Michelle

 

[super-sweeper]

Michelle!!! You're ruining the show!!! In the Season 1 finale of Dusting with Ollie, Ollie learns that his older cousins, Exxy and Lexy, are sick with Rustitis....and cooties! When no other doctor can treat them, Ollie decides it is up to him to pursue a medical degree, and save his cousins before it is too late! 

 


Oh, and before NBC's producer realizes i also just ruined the drama of the finale, just for you, here's a picture of my Kenmore Twin-Fan, with the correct headlamp lens! 

 

[suckolux]

This was a Singer vacuum right guys?

 

[super-sweeper]

Yep! Ryobi manufactured most of the Twin-Fan uprights for Singer and Kenmore! 

 

[DesertTortoise]

If it's a Ryobi built machine parts are going to be unobtainum. There is a seller on ebay by the name of 7774greene who bought a bunch of inventory from the Ryobi plant in Andersen SC when it closed and has a lot of goodies for these vacuums. He might be your best bet. I could also send you over to the lady who turned out to be my filter fairy and found both bags and filters for my Ryobi built Kenmore 3.1. She goes by takeitaway2813 and her name is Karen. Those two have been great resources for me and very nice people to deal with.

 

[suckolux]

Nice!

 

[DesertTortoise]

Luxy, post up the model number for your vacuum so I can look it up in Sears Parts Direct. My curiosity about your vac is absolutely killing me!

 

[jrkiszla]

You wouldn't have a Hoover Convertible lense would you?

I am looking for a model 1070 headlight lense so that I can finish this machine. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[bebring]

Just to add some model of lense cover of Kenmore, this is how the cover lense looks like on my Kenmore.

 

[DesertTortoise]

That's an interesting lense. Not at all what I expected. Thanks Bebring.

 

[luxy1205]

DesertTortoise

So sorry for the delay in getting you the model number!!! Been extremely busy!!! Ok, reading it word for word:
120 volts
60 Hz. AC
3.7 amps
model number 175.3060 (there's a little number 2 after the last zero)

Hope this will answer some questions!?! Thank you!!! -Michelle