Kenmore Whispertone cleanup/exhaust filter

[fan-of-fans]

I'm on a vacuum cleanup spree I guess! This morning I took apart my dirty Kenmore Whispertone canister from 1999 to give it a cleanup. The motor compartment was coated in fine dust so I got all of that out and washed all of the plastic pieces. I guess they call it Whispertone because the motor has a plastic shell that it fits into. As someone else mentioned, it is a really good idea to wash the foam exhaust filter on the motor. Mine was very dirty and I'm sure the airflow was lessened and the motor running warm because of this. I had a lot of dirty water come out of the filter at first. I washed the prefilters as well, and the suction seems to be much better, although it seems a bit louder.

Anyhow, I'm glad I spent a few hours to do this as the machine looks much better inside and out, all I need to do now is a bit of polishing and repair the Power- Mate.

 

[jmurray01]

Just out of curiosity, do you prefer the foam exhaust filters or the white ones ? Sorry, I can't think of the proper name for the second type, but hopefully you know what I mean.

The foam ones definitely give better air flow in my opinion, as my '93 Philips U800 with a foam filter blows out lots of air when running, but my '94 HOOVER Turbopower 1000 with the "white" filter blows out hardly any air, despite having a more powerful motor.

As a result of that, the Turbopower gets very hot, where as the Philips doesn't.

 

[fan-of-fans]

By white filter, do you mean electrostatic filter? This vacuum actually has three filters. There are two thin pre motor filters, a thin foam and then a white cloth electostatic filter. Then after the motor there's a thick foam filter.

I guess I prefer the foam filters as they are washable. The white electrostatic ones are supposed to be replaced (but I've never done it) and they are about $10 I think. The older Kenmore canisters didn't have electrostatic pre motor filters, just the thin foam one.