Kirby Rug Shampoo System

[eurekaprince]

Here's a question for all the Kirby fans out there:

How does the Kirby prevent suds and shampoo and liquid from entering the fan chamber when used in shampoo mode?

Our friend Roger Sensotronic Ibaisaic has a great demonstration video on YouTube and after watching it, it dawned on me that the fan chamber does not seem to have any barrier whatsoever to protect it from the carpet shampoo being flung around by the brush roll. And I imagine it still creates suction in the brush roll cavity. Is it not damaging to the fan and belt spindle to get shampoo caked onto them? Or does the user have to somehow open up the fan chamber and rinse off all the shampoo residue after each shampoo job?

 

[kirbysthebest]

Well

Supposedly, depending on which model there are large cutouts at the back of the nozzle directly beside the fan, or above the nozzle under the headlight cap.


 


Three is also a shield over the brush roll that directs the suds back down.  With these precautions it does a fairly good job of keeping the water away, but still allows a small amount of water to get buy.  Again depending upon the model, some are worse than others.


 


 

 

[eurekaprince]

Thank you for your response Harley. But what do the cutouts at the back of the nozzle do? The Kirby has very good airflow created by the suction fan, and so I imagine this substantial suction would draw in moisture and suds and soap and even wet dirt kicked up by the brush.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

eurekaprince

The Rug Renovator was first introduced with the Kirby Dual Sanitronic 50.

~Ben

 

[kirbysthebest]

Remember: the air-flow is already greatly reduced due to the back pressure caused by the suds tank.   The air vents bleed the suction away from the nozzle directly into the fan.  But the air going through is far reduced from when a bag is on the blower end. 


 

 

[eurekaprince]

Aha. I see. Very interesting.

Is there a way for the average user to open up the fan chamber on his own to give it a bit of a cleaning if needed? Or does this have to be done at your local Kirby dealer as part of the annual maintenance package?

 

[miskini]

It's very simple. Go on YouTube. Plenty of videos to choose from

 

[sptyks]

Brian,


 


To answer your first question: No water or suds can enter the fan chamber if you have assembled and installed the shampoo system correctly. There is a series of rubber baffles which act like squeegees to scrape the excess suds into the waste chamber. These baffles also block  any liquid from getting into the fan chamber. Also the suds tank provides some back pressure into the fan chamber which reduces most of the airflow so there is very little suction available to pull in any liquid.


 


I have shampooed my carpet many times and there has never been any evidence that any liquid has gotten into the fan chamber.


 


Second question:  If you want to open your fan cast to inspect or clean it and you can use a screwdriver, then you should not have any problem doing this easy maintenance. Here is a link to an excellent You Tube video that shows you step by step instructions on disassembling your Kirby to replace the fan. If your fan is in good shape, just clean it and the fan case if needed and reassemble in reverse order:


 





 


 


 


 

 

[kirbysthebest]

One caveat

Be careful with your technique, and be careful to mix the suds according to instructions on bottle, not the book. 


 


The newer suds are more concentrated, and hence take less than older models. 


 


Technique,  be careful to move the machine so that it spreads the suds the width of the nozzle but doesn't overrun.  If you over suds in error of either technique or mixing you have a potential to allow more suds to bypass the baffles and be sucked into the machine.

 

[eurekaprince]

Thanks for all your answers everyone! You have to admit, these Kirbys are very interesting vacuums, with fascinating engineering built into their attachments and features!