Kirby Heritage - Early Warning Label

[kirbyclassiciii]

Could anyone who has a Heritage from the 1981-82 production season please confirm whether or not the earliest examples had a scuff plate label which read: "WARNING: ELECTRIC SHOCK COULD OCCUR IF USED OUTDOORS OR ON WET SURFACES" (same text as the warning label on the Classic Omega, Classic III and Tradition), rather than the more common version which uses these words: "WARNING: TO REDUCE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT USE OUTDOORS OR ON WET SURFACES"?

Thank you,



Ben (KirbyClassicIII)

 

[madabouthoovers]

Is this US market only? I have a UK model H1 with serial no 1811000548, but I cant find any labelling on it stating about the warnings.  I presume that this label has come off or it was a US only thing due to the risk of litigation.

 

[craig_1982]

Hello Ben, Yes my UK Heritage from early 81 has that warning sticker on the scuff plate. I presume it's the original scuff plate/sticker had it in the family since new I don't think its been changed, Look's a little different to other's iv'e seen which have the grey sticker in that spot.

Craig.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Craig,

I wonder if you could take a picture of that, please?

Thank you,



Ben (KirbyClassicIII)

 

[madabouthoovers]

Ah right. Sorry I couldn't have been any assistance.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

It should be known that the warning label I am talking about that Craig claims to have on his Heritage, that only lasted four months (September to December 1981) as I know a Heritage dated January 1982 uses the newer text on its label, and it too is all original.

~Ben

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Steve (madabouthoovers),

Does your other Heritage, made in December 1981 (if you still have it), have this early warning label?

~Ben

 

[kenkart]

Dont you just love..

Stupid instructions from the government...another seen recently on a new range was..Caution, hot surfaces,may cause burns...DUHH Its a stove ..LOL!!

 

[craig_1982]

My apologies Ben, got my Heritage out tonight and realised that I had replaced the scuff plate. I am 99.9 percent sure it did have the original warning decal which read WARNING: ELECTRIC SHOCK COULD OCCUR IF USED OUTDOORS OR ON WET SURFACES. It stands out to me because for one it was a white warning decal, and also why display this when you do use it on wet surfaces when shampooing?, and two, three other neighbours who had Heritage's around the same time had no warning decals on the scuff plate what so ever. As I was so interested in Kirby's this stood out to me as it was different. Also from what iv'e seen, most UK model's didn't have warning decals on just a plain sticker.

My Heritage I had replaced the scuff plate height adjuster cable and brush roll a few year back.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

I wonder if any of my fellow American friends have any 1981 Heritages out there with the first version of the decal (between serial no. X8109XXXXX and X8112XXXXX).

~Ben

 

[craig_1982]

Ben, Serial code for my Heritage is 1811100829

 

[madabouthoovers]

This is my October Heritage:

 

[madabouthoovers]

and its serial number

 

[madabouthoovers]

and this is the December one:

 

[madabouthoovers]

And its serial number. Both have no warning stickers.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Steve,

Wow! Faded text on one, no label on the other...

~Ben

 

[madabouthoovers]

My December H1 may well have had a label on it at some point or it could have had the scuff plate replaced as its a different style and colour to the older H1 I have. Its also missing the handle lock slider knob, but I only paid £20 for the machine and the accessories including the handi-butler.

The October H1 has a scuff plate that matches the handle pattern, and it looks like there was never a warning label on this scuff plate.

The October model has been about a bit and is my daily hack so its a bit untidy and has a H2 bag - but I'll tell you what, I love this model over the G series any day of the week.

I will have a look at Ebay UK to see if there are any pics of H1's showing a warning label

 

[craig_1982]

Today I have been looking in the family photo's to see if we had an old picture of our Heritage, I only managed to find one which was of me taken in 1985. Unfortunately it's not a very good photo and doesn't really show the area we need but you can just about make out the white label in between the handle lock and power cable.
The gold label on the handle is from our local service centre (KD service centre, stoke)
If you notice also the power cable is taped up where it attaches to the top of the handle, the cable would fray from the moulded handle grip, this seemed to be a common problem over here Iv'e seen many with this problem.