Kirby suction fans

[kirby519]

We have been talking about a scrap trap for the kirbys in one of my other topics. One suggestion for minimizing fan breakage was to put a scrap trap on the vacuum. You can find it in my G Series topic. The new kevlar fans are a big improvement from the lexan fans. I still love the sound of those old metal fans. How ever one thing kirby could do to is look at the fans for the hoover conquest. It is the same material or very similar. If Kirby would make the blades just a little more beefy like on the conquest. It would be even more durable and less prone to breakage. I myself haven't broken any fan blades on the kevlar fans installed on my Heritage II or the G 5. (Both fans over 5 yrs old) one of my workers or bank employees sucked up a quarter in the G 5 I loaned out and the fan was undamaged. So I feel the kevlar fan is durable but it couldn't hurt to add a little extra insurance.

 

[tolivac]

A problem with plastic fans can be age-don't know how well Kevlar ages-but Lexan and the early plastic fan material Kirby used can suffer age cracks as the plastic gets old-plsticisrs leach out,and chemical changes can occur-and molding stress shows up as the plastic ages.In a Heritage I bought from a Kirby trade in pile-the machine worked GREAT with the floor nozzle at low speed-tried the hose--and BANG! the fan exploded from the higher speed.Looked at the fan peices and they had what looked like age cracks.Needless to say metal fans don't suffer from this problem.I have older vacuums with metal fans-Kirbys,Hoovers and they are fine.I just am not convinced the plastic fans are better than metal ones.I so remember the Royal penny test!

 

[kirby519]

I too very much like the metal fans as well. I also have seen the metal fans that developed stress cracks too. High rpms and repeated heating and cooling of any material is going to cause it to fail at some point. While it takes longer for the metal to fail it will in time. I have gotten longer life out of the new kevlar fan and it has had some hard items pass thru that one. If we can't have a metal fan. Then at this time the kevlar is the next best thing. It is a two sided coin. If we made everything to last forever nothing would ever need replacement which means no jobs. At the same time you wish for something that would last for ever. At least we have a goal to make things that last but at the same time need to be replaced at some point to keep the circle of cash flow in motion.

 

[kirbysthebest]

In my 40+ years of pushing a Kirby I have only had two broken fans. One metal on my Omega when it age a rock while cleaning out the car. (I use a shop vac now). The other Lexan on my Tradition. On the Tradition I didn't pick up anything that caused it, at least at that moment. I had just put the hose on and started the machine and BAMM!! The fan split into two pieces.

In both cases, luckily it is a cheap fix. I think it was $16 C&C. I installed myself.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

When I was younger

and used to trash pick vacuums which I would never do with todays vacuums . I always used to find Kirby`s , Hoover convertibles and Eurekas with metal fans always were broken . I am 43 and must have replaced at least 25-30 metal fans in my life due to breakage. Now a days I just deal with Kirby G series and have yet to replace a fan due to breakage. I usually just replace them becuse they are a tad nicked and most people would just clean and leave them on the machine.
Dan

 

[ryanm]

Having a Kirby as the main vacuum in my home most of my life, I have seen more than several fans break due to picking up anything from a screw to a quarter. This seemed to always happen when using the hose and attachments, not when cleaning rugs. I currently have a G4 in otherwise mint condition sitting in my basement for years due to a broken fan from sucking up a quarter coin. It was for this reason I decided not to get the machine fixed for everyday use, and to switch to a cannister vacuum, because I got tired of the design that everything you pick up had to go through the fan, thus if you were cleaning under a sofa or a bed with the hose on, or if you wanted to clean your car, you never know what might get sucked up in error, and with a house full of people that can happen. I always loved the Kirby, but always hated the design that you had to be careful that you did not accidentally suck up objects that might damage the fan

 

[twocvbloke]

I've only had to deal with one quite abused LegendII with a broken Lexan (grey) fan, other fans I've had have been chewed or chipped, but not broken, and the Kevlar fans are the worst for chewing because the plastic is softer (which is why it doesn't break, it just absorbs impact and leaves dents, it's why the military uses the stuff for helmets), but metal fans can suffer too, that's why fans are consumable items, they don't last in dirty-fan vacuums...

And just for the heck of it, this fan is the one that came out of my no-model-number Hoover Junior (probably a 1334 or early 1346 at heart), it was very chipped & chewed and it was ready to blow apart:

 

[whirlsonicmore]

It's good insurance to replace the fan whenever servicing a Kirby. Just about every one I do will get a fan unless it's relatively new. Those fans take a beating.

 

[kirby519]

It is amazing what a kirby will in hale. If it will pass thru the space between the blades you can bet it will suck it up. I sucked a crochette needle out of a chair one time and didn't know it until I took the hose off. I was just using the end of the hose cleaning in those dark recesses. Luckly the it stoped at the fan case. (Classic Omega)

Also sucked up a lead fishing sinker thru the head of the same machine. The sinker was under a sofa and sucked it thru the head. the sinker only clanged 3 times thru the machine and started out on the far left side. The only thing I can think of is the belt helped carry it up to the fan. I just hit the power switch at the 3rd clang. It went thru that fast.

Marbles can roll increadibly fast thru a 3 foot wand and 6 ft of hose. I was vacuuming under a bed with the furniture nozzle. Another time by the time I got off the floor and to the switch it was to late. And I started for the switch just as I felt it enter the wand. to bad at the time I didn't think to grab the hose and lift it about a foot off the floor at the same time I went for the switch maybe it would have given me more time but doubt full. I have always said "If a Kirby will suck up things it wasn't designed for you can be confident it is getting the dirt it was built to clean up" Got I love that machine.

 

[kirbylover]

I just bought a G3 with a shattered fan

The fan material is black plastic (I'm not sure if that is lexan or what?) when my new fan comes in the mail I think it might be white in color (at least it is in the ebay picture) would that be kevlar?

 

[twocvbloke]

Genuine Kirby fans are either metal (No longer made), grey (lexan, no longer made) or Creamy-white (Kevlar), anything else is just generic aftermarket parts...

 

[trebor]

Kirby fans are a wear part...

even if you never pick up anything you are not supposed to, they do wear down from sand, grit, gravel and ordinary dirt. The velocity the debris attains from the tremendous air flow causes millions of impacts a second to the fan blades. It makes sense to replace the fan when doing a major service.

 

[whirlsonicmore]

Try not to install aftermarket fans. I used to use them but then started seeing the machines come back soon after the replacement was put in. The material just isn't right. Same goes for just about any other machine brand. They're either brittle and don't last or the fan isn't properly molded and makes undue noise. The aftermarket Oreck fan is a good example for that.

 

[kirbylover]

The one I bought on ebay

Says "Genuine Kirby OEM#119096G" it is creme colored. I did a google search for that number and come across various sites with creme colored fan pictures and they all say lexan?? Guess I'll find out (I'm selling that one anyways lol)

 

[kirby519]

Oh yes I have replaced a few fans that were just worn down to nothing. Kirby and Hoovers. Places like founderies and machine shops can wear a fan out in no time. No matter what it is made of. We wore out the fan on my grandmothers 1970 classic just vacuuming up the sand where she lived. The soil is sand as far down as you can dig.

 

[kirby519]

Yes best to go the the original manufactures parts. The generic ones just don't seem to hold up as well. May cost a little more up front but by the time you replace a generic part with another generic one a few times you just spent much more than you saved.

 

[tolivac]

Funny-out in my area-Kirbys came into the Vacuum Cleaner Hospital(when it was opened)and the Greenville Sew and Vac for fan replacements.Mike keeps a steady supply of the plastic fans.they are replaced out here all of the time.Hardly see a Royal metal upright come in needing a fan.and And other plastic fanned vacuums come in needing fans..An aftermarket supplier makes metal fans and steel fan liners for Sanitaires.Bill at the Vacuum Cleaner Hospital specialized in these.The university out here has a huge fleet of Sanitiares.They were even asking for the metal fans and liners to be installed on NEW Sanitaires!I too,would love to see a metal bodied and metal fanned Sanitaire!THAT would be an improvement!The metal Sanitaire fan is the only Bojack part I would go with!.and remember any item going thru a vacuum hose could be going over 100MPH! think of it!And THAT could be going into a Kirby fan spinning even faster becuase of the higher motor speed when you use the hose!At this point rather than having the additional risk of fan blowouts-I use a Cansiter vacuum instead of the hsoe on the Kirby-esp for jobs where you know you can pick up "fan buster" debris like gravel from car floorboards.Yes,I have seen NSS M1 fans eroded-like from paint shops,foundries and such.Keep in mid NSS fans trailing blades can be quarter in thick!Now if you are eroding a fan like that you are picking up SERIOUS stuff!In the hose thing above--large objects will collide into the end of the Kirby motor shaft-don't think this is exactly good for it.This does save the fan,though.The motor shaft tougher then the fan.

 

[twocvbloke]

I have a metal fan in my Sanitaire, I bought it simply because I like metal fans (got two for my Kirbys, a few for my Hoover Juniors (aswell as a couple for pre-1334 Juniors, I think), and of course the one for my pair of Sanitaires, only have one motor so they share the whole assembly), I like the tinglyping noise they make when they pick up something relatively hard, it's kind of musical, in a strange sort of way...

The only issue with the metal Sanitaire fan is that it is ever so slightly off balance, so vibrates enough to leave my hand feeling slightly tingly for a little while afterwards, I certainly can feel the difference between the original plastic fan and the metal fan, that's for sure!!!

That said, the metal Sanitaire fan has no real cleaning or airflow advantage over the plastic one, unlike with Kirbys where the metal fan seems to improve airflow when compared to the later Kevlar fans (the Lexan fans are about the same as the metals, but have 11 curved blades, where the metal fan has 10 straight blades), but I do think that the heavier metal fans have a little more force behind them, so don't slow down as easily when something heavy gets in the way, unlike with plastic ones that seem to slow down if they have to tackle a weighty object, kind of like a flywheel on a car engine, the extra weight behind it helping to keep it moving...

I could just be talking out of my backside though, I just like believing that about metal fans...

 

[tolivac]

The metal fans are preferred by the customerThe University here-ECU) out here becuase they are more durable-and resist erosion better-and the steel fancase liner resists erosion and damage better.and its good for fixing Sanitaires whose plastic fancase is cracked or broken.The airflow is the same.I guess there is some thought to the flywheel effects of the metal fan-resists stalling if something is hit.The metal fanned ones here ran just as smooth as the Lexan ones.Can't remember what the supplier of those parts was.