New Kirby addition, at last!!!

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twocvbloke

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And it's green, as Scotty once said to an attempted starship hijacker... :D

After a few years of looking, I finally got the one Kirby I really wanted, the Dual Sanitronic 80, in it's wonderful Avocado green, and the best bit is, there's not transatlantic shipping involved, cos it's here in the UK already, only issue is I haven't got a 110v transformer for it, yet... :P

Anyway, observations from the pictures, it appears to have been rebuilt, with a grey Lexan plastic fan (I can remedy that with a nice 10-blade Metal fan which I need to pull from my gold tradition), I'm not too sure about the bag's originality (as to whether it's a modern replacement with a vinyl Sani-Scraper pocket, or original with a cloth pocket), but I'll find out about that when it arrives, and of course, it runs, so, that's a good thing at least... :)

So yeah, I'm happy, I have one of the vacs I really wanted, the next one being a HeritageII with a custom shake-out setup (black "Classic replacement" bag, black emtor assembly, narrow rear wheels, etc.), but that can wait I think... :P

I can't wait for it to arrive, even if I can't actually power it just yet... :D

Anyway, a link and a pic (and if you're quick, they have a Hoover 612 for sale too, no bids as of yet, but only 20 hours to go):


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/110710701494
twocvbloke++7-11-2011-12-12-50.jpg
 
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Wow! David I'm excited for you! I know how much you always wanted one!

The bag is a replacement. I have the same one
 
Got to wait until something like Saturday before it arrives, cos the seller just informed me that the 12th and 13th are Irish holidays (cos it's in Northern Ireland), so won't be posted until the 14th, and as it's going by ParcelFarce48, so, should arrive within 48 hours... :D

All I need now is a transformer, that's easy to find, but, I'm a cheapskate and don't want to pay full whack for a site transformer (big yellow box thing usually used with building site tools, and certain 110v Henry vacs), so will have to scout about for a used one to repaint and rewire with US wall sockets... :)
 
Congratulations!  It's hard to compare the joy of finally getting something you've wanted for so long.  I finally got my D80 this year, only about 43 years since I first saw one and fell in want!
 
I remember when I first discovered there were other Kirbys than the Trad, Heritage & Legends, that was about 6 years ago of course, and the Sanitronic series was one of the first "other Kirbys" I came across on ebay.com, I think it was a V.II, but it was a while ago... :)

I did buy a D80 (along with a trad motor unit) in poor shape about 3 years ago from a US seller, but for whatever reason, the seller stopped communicating with me and I had to get my money refunded by ebay, so I've still been wanting one since then, and now, I have, so I'm happy, but I'll reserve the excitement for when it actually gets here... :P

All it needs next is a tool set, but I'll sort that out in due course... :)
 
Beautiful D80! I know how long you've wanted one!

Some people think the green is ugly but I like the uniqueness of the color.

VW
 
The thing I find funny about the colour is when I see it on TV (such as a british daytime show "Homes under the Hammer") as part of household fittings, such as a bathroom suite, and personally, I quite like it cos it's different, but on TV they always say "We're going to rip out the horrid green stuff and replace it with clean white fittings", and it's so boring having white everywhere, it's nice to have some variation, cos the same thing everywhere is dull and rather repetitive... :&#92

Still, I have what I wanted, well, I bought it at least, when I have it here I'll be very happy indeed... :)
 
I wouldn't consider them as tacky, just a colourful deviation from the sheeple norm, I just like colours rather than shades of white, even my G3 looks a bit boring in white, there are places where white is useful, but when you have a white bathroom or kitchen or whatever, it make me wonder where the walls end and the fittings begin... :S

Not to mention, white things begin to look dirty very fast, so you absolutely must always keep them clean or they look neglected... :P
 
I do hate the waiting on delivery, not to mention I'll have to stay indoors tomorrow waiting for the delivery van (no "Leave on the porch" thing here in the UK, at least, not on terraced houses, too many thieves!!!), that's assuming it actually arrives tomorrow, it should in theory though if the seller sent it yesterday as they said they would... :)

But still, I hate waiting, waiting sucks...
 
OK so I'm Greedy!!

Kirby Dual 8o is also one of my favorite Kirby's. (because of the Avacado Green color) Any way I have 5 of this model. And lot's of extra attachments.I will have to try and round up a set of Green attachments for your new Kirby Dual 80. when I do I will get them to you. Do you just want hose and hose attachments or do you want the floor polisher and rug shampooer also????? I think I have extra of those also.....
 
Hi, hanks for the offer, I'm still waiting on the thing arriving (didn't turn up on Saturday, nor have I gotten the tracking number, so, I haven't a clue what's happening!!), but tools aren't too urgent at the moment, one of those "cross that bridge" things... :)

And yes, 5 D80s, that's just plain greedy... :P

(Though having owned three LegendIIs in one go, I'm not too innocent of that myself I guess!!)

Just sent the seller a message asking about it's whereabouts, hopefully nothing's wrong, just a slight delay... :)
 
patience is a virtue

Ian, I daresay your Kirby will be on its way when Royal Mail/Parcel force get their asses into gear,

Always amuses me that 24 and 48 hour promises mean nothing to them :P
 
Erm, who's Ian? :P

And yes, there's a reason I call them Parcel Farce, they're a pain when it comes to getting things here, not to mention the 1 nanosecond they give you to answer the door before they impatiently speed off, that can be annoying, especially if I'm upstairs or something... :&#92

Got a message from the seller though saying it should have arrived by now, but, hasn't sent me the tracking number so I can track it myself... :S
 
excited for you to get it and take more pics (or videos)!

The older "pre-Classic" Kirbys I think the D80 is by far the nicest looking. For one thing it has the wider fork handle with label, which looks better than the metal "broomstick" look of the older ones. And yes, the green!
 
Well, it arrived a couple of hours ago, and it has a few flaws, but I can overlook those, cos all I care about is that I have a D80 at last!!! :D

And, I risked my 425VA transformer (on paper not capable of powering the D80), and powered it up, and I've read people's comments about the D80 being quiet, and, they're not wrong!!! In comparison to my Tradition which has a metal fan and often a shake-out bag, it is VERY quiet!!! I love it!!! :D

The flaws;
The handle spring hinge thing was bent out of shape (looking at the pictures, you can barely see it), I bent it back to get it "working", buy I have a spare somewhere so no matter...
The green paper backing on the handle is hanging loose, but I'll try and carefully stick it back down, though interestingly, there's another paper backing underneath!!
the ID plate is missing, so can't offer up a serial or anything to work out it's age, which is disappointing... :(
The bag is faded, it's bordering on being tan-yellow in person, but is in great condition otherwise...
And lastly, the cable's a replacement, but after about 40 years, that's not much of a surprise... :)

But, despite those issues, it works, it looks great, it's light and easy to use, all I can say is I'm chuffed (as we say in the north of England!!), needs a bit of a polishing, but that's easy to do with the Handi-butler... :D

I'm just waiting for my camera's batteries to charge, and I'll get some pics up... :)
 
Oh, forgot to say the height adjuster's slipping, so falls straight down to the floor when I press the pedal...
 
And it's now fitted with a metal fan, and sounds more like it should... :D

The Lexan fan that it was fitted with though is pristine, and as I'm guessing Kirby stopped making them in the early to mid 90's when they replaced them with the Kevlar fan, then this fan has seen little use, and the pulley is perfect too... :)

One interesting thing though was the motor case had this hand-written on it:

"Do not repair
89
Award"

I have no clue what that is about, I would have gotten a pic, but need to wait for my batteries still, they're taking their time to charge!! :S

Anyway, had a bit of "fun" trying to get the metal fan out of my gold Trad, it was stuck fast, so ended up ruining the armature from that (wasn't exactly the best armature I had anyway, so no loss, the motor was only meant to be temporary to show it working), but, either way the D80 has it now and sounds amazing, I just need a bigger transformer cos I don't want to burn out the one I have... :)

Oh, and the paper backing on the handle is re-attached, I got a bit lazy and used a glue-stick, which is usually used for paper anyway, but it's back in place... :)

And another bad point, the brushroll is on it's last legs, I've got it adjusted as far as it will go and the bristles only just poke out of the nozzle at a proper length, so, I'll have to get a new one (plus it's a sleeve-bearing one, so replacing with a Ball-bearing one would be a good idea), but it's working as it is... :)

Still, I'm just happy I have the small green cleaning machine, just need to give it a polish up and wash the bag & emtor, the latter two first though I think... :P
 
Well, that's the bag cleaned and washed, though I think it lost a rather unnerving amount of dye, so, I'm pretty concerned about how it's going to look once it's dried out... :S

And seeing as the bag is drying out, I thought I might aswell construct a conversion bag for it, and as the only spare bags I have are a pair of LegendII bags, I decided to use one of them... :P

Thinking back to school though and doing colour matching stuff in art classes, I do recall red & green being opposite colours, so, technically speaking, the maroon of the LII bag and the avocado green of the D80, they should match, but either way, here's the first pic, in my wonderfully tidy bedroom:

twocvbloke++7-20-2011-15-41-4.jpg
 
Thanks, I'm having a ball with this D80, it's light and easy to use, still needs a few bits sorting though... :)

I have swapped the height adjuster pedal using one borrowed from a LegendII, so it no longer falls straight to the floor when I go to lower it, plus it's easier to press than the small pedal in my opinion... :)

And the bag's clean, dry and ironed (using that mysterious "iron" device!!!), doesn't look like it has lost too much dye, infact it actually matches the cable... :)
 
Thanks, it was a stroke of luck that I found it really, I was just doing a general search for "Kirby" on ebay, and saw that and a ClassicIII, and I had to have the D80... :D

If I get a moment's peace this weekend I may try and get a video of it (aswell as a couple other vacs I've been meaning to video), but no guarantee of that though... :)
 
That LII bag looks interesting, I assume you are keeping the original in storage for if you decide to change it back? (how did it come out anyways?) Nice to see that you intend on using it anyways! I hate shakeout bags.

The Tradition in the background you have the 2 sexiest Kirbys ever made. ;)
 

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