My First Riccar Is The Firt Riccar?

[huskyvacs]

Alright, check this out! I finally can join the club now and say I own a Riccar, haha. It's an HP-30 model from I guess the mid 1980's or so. I paid $53.72 for this sucker and at the time I bought it, it was the only Riccar on eBay within my $50 "eBay Vacuum" rule. All the other Riccars were from the last 3-5 years and were well over $200.

I have looked all over the internet, and can't find any records of this vacuum. I did find a small snippet of information from a Riccar sewing machine website of all places where someone briefly mentioned when Riccar switched from sewing machines and started selling Japanese made uprights. I eMailed Riccar themselves and asked them if they had a manual for this vacuum or any information on it, unfortunately they could not help me at all and only stated it was an older model they no longer supported or offered parts for. I guess this predates their company records or maybe it was kept overseas since it was made in Japan?

I have not powered it up yet because I haven't had a clear enough space in my house to do so at the moment.

So enough jabber, here's the pics! I will post 1 photo per post, I have seen other people do their finds posts this way, so that there is no issues with the embedded photo slideshow widget.

Photos were taken on 8/16/2018 between 5:49 and 6:16 pm.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's the lovely box it came in. A nice enormous moving box. Definitely can reuse this box around the house. It traveled all the way from the twin cities! St. Paul, MN.

 

[huskyvacs]

The first view of the box upon opening. I guess this would be a "living room" item! Packed with newspaper, packing foam, and some itchy wool-type fiber blanket.

 

[huskyvacs]

Ah, here's the vacuum! I guess "this end up" was actually down! haha So coming out backwards....

 

[huskyvacs]

Beauty! This is one of those vacuums that the color scheme and its design spoke to me and said "buy me" - it wasn't just because it was a Riccar.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's the model tag.

Young Doc: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".
Marty McFly: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.
Young Doc: Unbelievable.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's another shot of the underside. Really clean for an eBay vacuum. Just a few strands of human hairs wrapped around the roller, not a big deal.

 

[huskyvacs]

On the off chance anyone here is a gamer, this vacuum has the same color scheme as the original Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) game console. It must have been a popular color scheme for Japan in the 80s.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's more detail of the handle.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's a closeup of the bag door. It's got some battle scars but nothing major.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's a closeup of the main lower decal, it's very shiny.

 

[huskyvacs]

Damn I knew that would happen, I posted the wrong pic.

Here's what pic that was supposed to be for Post# 398226

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's a closeup of the upper bag door decal.

 

[huskyvacs]

I almost threw the packing away without noticing these! The seller was nice enough to include a pack of bags they had for it, which they never mentioned in the auction. Was a nice surprise, and they were packaged in an empty Oreck bag. I guess they didn't have a Riccar dealer in their area and had to use Panasonic bags.

 

[huskyvacs]

It has a bag in it but it's barely full, they must have only used it seldomly or recently cleaned it.

 

[huskyvacs]

Well, that concludes the story! I hope to get it cleaned up and greased and shined up eventually! If anyone knows the exact year or does indeed have a manual for one, that would help a great deal!

 

[huskyvacs]

And I made a typo in the title too! Agh! Epic fail.

 

[madman]

Nice! It does look just like the nintendo.

 

[rivstg1]

Good to see you are adding

To your collection! I recall you mentioning the difficulties for $ for your hobby

 

[huskyvacs]

@ Rivstg1

Yeah it's tough but that's okay, it keeps things from getting too overwhelming. If there's something I know I'd never see in my area, I'd buy it on eBay. I try to stick to thrift store finds, but there are only 2 in my area and Goodwill hasn't had a single vacuum in for the entire month, I have no idea why. I am hoping more might show up around fall with the black friday sales and people wanting to clean their house before winter, more vacuums might start popping up. Even when I don't find vacuums I at least still find vacuum bags and belts to add to the collection anyway. Just bought a huge pack of never-opened Oreck bags for $2!

I have a bunch more finds I haven't posted yet because ive been busy, but I have to still sort through my pics and find them.

 

[repairman]

If you need parts,

That is a rebadged Panasonic Jet-Flo. I also bet that it was made by Matsushita (Company that made the Panasonic). It reminds me a lot of the MC-6230 that my cousin had. The U-3 bags are the correct ones for this model.

 

[lesinutah]

Husky vac

Nice acquisition. I got a riccar 8630 2 weeks ago. I just received the belt for it today. Mine is green and not as nice as yours. The silver bottom plate the 2 mounting screws be careful with those my old riccar they broke off.

Riccar simplicity Panasonic and maybe Kenmore use same bags. Not sure about Kenmore but the other 2 are made by same company.
Nice find.
Les

 

[ultralux88]

The first Riccars looked like the first of the Panasonic Jet Flo uprights.

 

[panasonicvac]

It's a Panasonic

Same exact model as the Panasonic MC-6210, the manual from the MC-6210 would also work for the HP-30. Mid 80's, back when Panasonic made vacuums for Riccar. But, it's not the first Riccar. The very first one was made by Vorwerk. Make sure to use genuine Panasonic belts, I would avoid the generic or aftermarket ones.

 

[lesinutah]

Pic

The two screws I mentioned. I found at a thrift store. It had an older Panasonic a simplicity and this. The other two motors were worn out.
You never see around here for sale either. They agitate and pick up similar to my royal 4.5 amp 880. They have good hose suction even with a 12 foot hose. One of few vacuums that can power zip brush.
Our vacuums are similar. They may be a little older but perform with upright and hose above average.
Enjoy they are nice vacuums.
Does anybody know about fans and carbon brushes in these. I know bypass motors wondering how often they wear out.
Les

 

[huskyvacs]

@ panasonicvac

Thanks for that! They look pretty much identical! So based on my research, the Panasonic MC-6210 came out in 1987, would that make this Riccar an '87 too. since they used the same chassis?

 

[panasonicvac]

Reply #24 and #25

Panasonic and Riccar separated in 1986.

Les, some of the Riccar 8 Series would come with either a single or a two stage fan motor. Yours uses a single stage fan motor and because it's an older model, it was made by Ametek during that time. Ametek makes perhaps one of the best motors on the market, they're not only powerful but they usually last a long time. And with those carbon brushes, they're easily replaceable.

 

[lesinutah]

Panasonic vac

Thanks for the info. The motor is 12amp I'm thinking it's same or similar to 8955 motor. It doesn't have attachments but I got riccar deluxe hose kit I use on it. It sucked up very well even with 12 ft hose.
My bristles are good but could be replaced soon. The plastic shell is not the prettiest but it's a horse of a vacuum I've wanted since my 8955 died.
Les

 

[funktionalart]

As others said...rebadged JetFlow. I have a Panasonic in the same colour combo as that Riccar you got. LOVE it! Really attractive and they work great, too.