vap0rtranz
Active member
Hi, I rescued 2 vintage Kirbys and want to restore them both to daily use, so what would folks recommend I do to them?
Pics attached. The factory stamp says: 1st is a 514, and 2nd is a 561.
(If you like the story behind these, then here's a short story)
[start of short story]
I saw one of these in the back of a local Habitat for Restore but only admired the look of it because we had a ball Dyson. Well the Dyson's "internal hose assembly" failed after that visit to the ReStore. I bought Dyson's replacement part, started disassembling the Dyson, ... and stopped. I stopped DIYing the fix because the machine build was a nightmare IMO: plastic parts to pry, layers of plastic to remove, more plastic parts that looked like they were going to fail soon too, and the reason the "internal hose assembly" had failed was because of a plastic tab that broke. It upset me that such a simple, plastic tab prevented the whole $$$ vacuum from working -- one would think it would be a critical component, more solidly built, and what's worse was the failure happened right after our Dyson warranty expired. Planned obselence anyone?! :/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence.)
I got approval, from my signifigant other
that if the old Kirby at the Restore shop was still there, then I'd grab it. I sort of knew what I would be getting. My sister bought a Kirby G5 new back in the 90s and I remember it being LOUD and HEAVY as heck but she swears by Kirby to this day -- so 20+ years later? -- for picking up dog and cat hair. Well, you can see from the pics that the old Kirby was still there, and another one! So I grabbed both: $20 bucks each!)
[end of short story]
Can folks give some advice on a couple questions about how to restore these vacuums for daily use?
1. replace belt
2. replace beater bar?
3. clean cloth bag
4. service motor
1. replace belt - folks on this forum have given out part #s, like for belt replacement, but I cannot find where those part #s come from. Are folks talking about OEM Kirby parts that are on Kirby's website? or on this Vacuumland site somewhere?
2. beater bar - I can see and hear the bars beating the carpet (but I've not risked touching the bar while the vaccums are on), so what are signs that the bar needs replacing? Is it if the brush looks worn down? or something else.
3. cloth bag - both bags came full of dirt & dust, and both smell "musty". I've emptied them both the way Kirby's owners manual says to, but it sounds like most folks recommend a hand wash with mild detergent. So how do I get these cloth bags off of the Sani Em-tor to wash them? The bag looks and feels like a very tight fit on the Em-tor's mating ring, and the Kirby owner's manual doesn't say how to remove the bags. My fear is the bags could tear or I stretch the fabric trying to remove them, so how do you do this without breaking bags?
4. motor service - what's expected in a service? I'm pretty frugal so try to DIY anything first, and there are 2 highly recommended vacuum shops nearby, though neither is exclusive to Kirby. I watched a couple Youtube videos where folks disassemble a Kirby and the motor itself looks pretty contained, so can a tickerer type of person actually DIY the service?
Pics attached. The factory stamp says: 1st is a 514, and 2nd is a 561.
(If you like the story behind these, then here's a short story)
[start of short story]
I saw one of these in the back of a local Habitat for Restore but only admired the look of it because we had a ball Dyson. Well the Dyson's "internal hose assembly" failed after that visit to the ReStore. I bought Dyson's replacement part, started disassembling the Dyson, ... and stopped. I stopped DIYing the fix because the machine build was a nightmare IMO: plastic parts to pry, layers of plastic to remove, more plastic parts that looked like they were going to fail soon too, and the reason the "internal hose assembly" had failed was because of a plastic tab that broke. It upset me that such a simple, plastic tab prevented the whole $$$ vacuum from working -- one would think it would be a critical component, more solidly built, and what's worse was the failure happened right after our Dyson warranty expired. Planned obselence anyone?! :/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence.)
I got approval, from my signifigant other
that if the old Kirby at the Restore shop was still there, then I'd grab it. I sort of knew what I would be getting. My sister bought a Kirby G5 new back in the 90s and I remember it being LOUD and HEAVY as heck but she swears by Kirby to this day -- so 20+ years later? -- for picking up dog and cat hair. Well, you can see from the pics that the old Kirby was still there, and another one! So I grabbed both: $20 bucks each!)[end of short story]
Can folks give some advice on a couple questions about how to restore these vacuums for daily use?
1. replace belt
2. replace beater bar?
3. clean cloth bag
4. service motor
1. replace belt - folks on this forum have given out part #s, like for belt replacement, but I cannot find where those part #s come from. Are folks talking about OEM Kirby parts that are on Kirby's website? or on this Vacuumland site somewhere?
2. beater bar - I can see and hear the bars beating the carpet (but I've not risked touching the bar while the vaccums are on), so what are signs that the bar needs replacing? Is it if the brush looks worn down? or something else.
3. cloth bag - both bags came full of dirt & dust, and both smell "musty". I've emptied them both the way Kirby's owners manual says to, but it sounds like most folks recommend a hand wash with mild detergent. So how do I get these cloth bags off of the Sani Em-tor to wash them? The bag looks and feels like a very tight fit on the Em-tor's mating ring, and the Kirby owner's manual doesn't say how to remove the bags. My fear is the bags could tear or I stretch the fabric trying to remove them, so how do you do this without breaking bags?
4. motor service - what's expected in a service? I'm pretty frugal so try to DIY anything first, and there are 2 highly recommended vacuum shops nearby, though neither is exclusive to Kirby. I watched a couple Youtube videos where folks disassemble a Kirby and the motor itself looks pretty contained, so can a tickerer type of person actually DIY the service?
)
