Kenmore Whispertone canister with dirt sensor?

[fan-of-fans]

I was wondering when Kenmore had a Whispertone canister with the dirt sensor lights on the powerhead? I know they had one as I recall seeing the manual for it and I believe CenTec did and may still make that style of PN that Kenmore was using at the time with the dirt sensor?

I know it would have come after 1993-94 for sure as my catalogs don't show any with it. Also guessing it was before 1998 or so when the Progressive was introduced with the new curved headlight PN as TOL canister.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Nope, didn't happen. Kenmore never offered dirt sensors on their Powemates. Nor do Centec, Nutone or Hayden powered brushes offer a dirt sensor. I have enough of them to know, including a modern Hayden. The only change in the 1990's was to the headlight. It went the full width of the brush where the old ones were only half width offset to the left side of the brush. That was done to make finding dirt easier, so perhaps that is where the confusion lies.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Well the CenTec in this link definitely does and there are others that do. Do you mean Kenmore in the old days never offered a dirt sensor? My new Progressive definitely does have one, and they have all the way back to the first gen Progressives that have the CenTec PN I linked.

And I'm pretty certain there was a Whispertone that did, but I guess it wasn't for long as I've only seen one or two in photos. But I know for a fact I've seen some that did.

http://appliances.jhclark.net/Listing_i192714

 

[suckolux]

My gray 06? or so TOL had it

 

[DesertTortoise]

Interesting. I have a brand new current year Kenmore Powermate brush and a two year old Hayden, neither of which have dirt sensors. Both are very basic powered brushes that are mechanically identical to my 35 year old Kenmore Powermate and a couple of mid twenty year old examples, but with prettier plastic. That Centec head is not a Panasonic so I don't know about them and wasn't aware that head had such a sensor.

Suckolux, you have to show me an image of your Powermate because my brand new one doesn't have a dirt sensor on it. It's no different mechanically under the pretty plastic than my Hayden or any of my old Powermates. The wheels mount a little differently. That's about the extent of the differences.

 

[fan-of-fans]

The dirt sensor lights weren't/aren't that common. They are typically only offered on the very TOL models. Currently the red Progressive like mine and the Intuition offer the feature. It's fun, but I've found it isn't really that useful. Maybe my sensors need cleaning, but the lights rarely change turn red unless I pick up fairly big debris. I can hear lots of sand going up the wands and the lights will still be green. I think it's more of a gimmick to get people to buy the TOL models than anything else. I do really like that LED headlight on the wand though, it's great when using the bare floor brush.

 

[cam2s]

Not a whispertone...

But this TOL Progressive has a dirt sensor.

 

[suckolux]

Mine did look a lot like that one. The led lights on the wands stopped in 6 months

 

[DesertTortoise]

Wow. Mine looks exactly like yours, is brand spanking new (I haven't even figured out a wand to attach it to my older vacs) and it doesn't have that light. Interesting. Always learning something.

Inside, aside from the wiring being cleaner than the old ones and a few dust seals, everything is pretty much the same as the older Powermates, which is a big part of their appeal to me. Simple, mechanical and effective. I do like the new way of fastening the two halves. No more squeezing the bejeezuz out of the headlight cover to remove it to access those two screws. Now the screws are underneath.

 

[suckolux]

I think mine was $550 and on sale for $430? It honestly did not impress me, gave it away 2 years later.Air flow just seemed weak, never turned the speed off of high and the mini hand held quit too

 

[cuffs054]

Suck, you mention something interesting. Prior to my blue progressive being de-posessed it would act like it had a second lower speed. Interesting...

 

[suckolux]

This one was 3 speed

 

[vacuumman206]

I beg to differ, I have a kenmore pn from a late 90's TOL model that has the 4 red, yellow/orange and green dirt sensor lights. 3 brush strip roller...The finest kenmore nozzle I have!

 

[sbakerde]

I have seen the lights.

The late 90s, I believe TOL Whispertone series offered the dirt sensor light. That was the older style head that used the geared belt. My aunt has a TOL progressive which also has the lights. Never was a big fan of the feature myself.