Kirby DS 50 Fan Case Housing Cleaning

[paul]

There is something that looks like adhesive around the opening of my DS50's fan case housing. What would you recommend to remove it without harming the surface?

 

[firebirdman55]

That is most likely silicone to seal the fan casing. Make sure to re-apply new silicone when you reassemble the machine.

 

[sptyks]

Do you mean the opening where the shaft protrudes the fancase or where the front of the fancase attaches to the main part of the motor unit? If it is the latter, you can remove the old sealant with a knife or razor blade. Make sure to reapply a thin layer of silicone sealant when you re-attach the front of the fancase.


 


There should be no sealant around the air intake opening.

 

[bikerray]

If it is around the intake in the circular groove it could be the glue for the nozzle gasket.

 

[paul]

Thanks for all the replies.

Here is a photo of a fan housing for the G5s and newer which I annotated to show where the adhesive is (I don't have a camera to post a photo of mine). It's a tannish-brown color, so I don't think it's silicone. It looks like someone accidentally got it on there as it is random.

I'd also like to know ...

... if window weather-stripping would work to replace the foam strips that crumbled off the motor assembly

... what adhesive to use to re-attach the loose Sani Em-Tor gasket

 

[chicagomike]

Remove the old gasket, scrape off all the old gasket the best you can, use acetone or MEK to remove the adhesive you cannot scrape off, then buy a new o-ring gasket from a local kirby dealer and re-glue the new one on using 3M 847 Rubber and Gasket Adhesive... However it is likely cheaper to have a local shop install it for you as the adhesive is $20-30 for a tube (which you will likely never use all of the adhesive from the tube unless you are restoring many machines).

 

[chicagomike]

P.S., if you removed the fan case housing, use a scraper to remove all the old adhesive from the fan case housing and from the motor housing (so both mating surfaces will be clean and both surfaces will mate together flat) then apply silicone to one surface, let it sit 10 minutes, then screw both mating parts back together.

 

[paul]

Thanks much for the information, Mike. I'll plan on taking my Kirbys (D50 and 560) to a service center soon.