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[justjunque]

Well, I gave in to temptation once again. I added two more vacuums that I’m kind of surprised I hadn’t gotten before now.
I haven’t been thrifting in a little while. And, at this particular store, they’ve had nothing lately.
Today, they had a good selection of both bagged and bagless, newer and older.
The two that came home with me were a Dirt Devil 103 with original box, and an older Kenmore canister.
I kind of can’t believe it took me this long to get a Dirt Devil 103.
And, I needed another canister vacuum like a fish needs a bicycle. But, I don’t have anything Kenmore. And, I love Sears. It’s dirty, and I see a couple of small cracks in some of the plastic parts. But, I don’t think it will hurt the operation of it. And, I think it might clean up nicely. Plus, it has all of its tools. And, it’s old enough to have been made in the USA.
I’ll attach several pics of both, and see what the experts can tell me.

 

[justjunque]

Sorry. I meant to include prices.
Although the uprights were all priced at either $19.99 or $29.99, the Kenmore was only $7.99.
And, the Dirt Devil was marked $9.99. But, when I got to the register, it rang up at half price!
So, I carried both out the door for $13 and change.
From some looking around online, it seems people refer to this Kenmore as a model 116.
I've also seen some call it a PowerMate; which I believe is the name given to the power nozzle.
From the serial number, I'm guessing the Dirt Devil was made in 1992. Does anyone know on the Kenmore?

 

[justjunque]

Bags for Kenmore:

The bag that was in the Kenmore when I got it is a 5055.
In looking at new replacements for it, I'm getting results for a Type Q/C; of which there's even a HEPA version.
Is that the correct bag for this model?

 

[evolutionclean1]

The Q/C

Replaced the 5055, yeah. The genuine Kenmore HEPA bags are phenomenal!

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, Jake!
I ordered a package of them.

Aside from smelling a little funky, the Dirt Devil seems to be in great condition. I've washed the bag, cleaned all the accessible places, took out the brushroll and pulled a bunch of hair and synthetic thread out of it. I'm pretty sure it could use a new belt. Thankfully, the cord isn't broken near the strain relief. But, from being stored in the box, it's bent pretty good right there. I'm not going to stuff it back in there, even though it's neat to have the original box.
I was hoping mine would be the style that can use paper bags inside the cloth bag, but it's not. I guess there used to be an adapter available, but they're nearly impossible to find now.

Regarding the Kenmore:
The motor seems to sound good when running. But, when you turn it off, there's a weird, high-pitched sound during the wind-down. It's not a growly sound, like what I would imagine bearings would make. Any ideas what that might be?
Actually, for any Kenmore experts, I have a few questions.
1.) Can you tell when this was made?
2.) Who made this version for Sears?
3.) Do you know if the pre-motor filter is still available? Mine is there, and seems in good shape. But, you never know.
4.) How tricky is it to open up and clean this particular Power Mate nozzle? I find it a little intimidating looking; what with the height adjustment and all. It seems like there could be things inside that could make it tricky. It's going to need to be opened up, because the nozzle is the dirtiest part of the whole machine. The little top pod, where the headlight is, was easy enough. It just pops off.

Thank you![this post was last edited: 1/31/2024-18:55]

 

[paul]

Hi Barry,

Glad you got a couple vacs that you've wanted! The navy blue Kenmore Power-Mate makes me think 1990s right off the bat (then popular along with dark plum, forest green, and other deep colors). While I couldn't narrow it down, I found a couple online Sears catalogs from 1993 (US) & 1994 (Canada) that are similar to yours (albeit without the Premier moniker) and a 2010 thread that goes along with that (#10799). I think Whirlpool was making vacs for Sears during that time.

I went to https://www.searspartsdirect.com/model/5hib5gz3b6-000582/kenmore-1162481190-canister-vacuum-parts and found one filter listed that's unfortunately NLA from Sears, but may yet be in stock in some local vac shops in your area.

P. S. At searspartsdirect.com I entered the model as '116.248119' and it added the zero; so I'm taking for granted it's the same. I also noticed in your photo that '117' was included ahead of that, so it may be that it was the Sears Canada prefix or even a production code (eg. November 1997); as it just doesn't fit the typical US model ID pattern.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, Paul!
I haven't had any luck finding any other examples of a model with the "Premier" name either.
It's funny. When I picked it up at the store, I thought it looked blue. But, I've spent a bunch of time trying to polish up the plastic. The longer I look at it, and the more shiny it gets, I'm starting to see it as either a dark teal, or maybe even green. Then again, my eyes might just be going wonky from looking at it.
I managed to get a better shine on it, but it has a ton of nicks, scuffs and scrapes. It's far from minty, but I still think it was worth $7.99.
Of course, I haven't even attempted to mess with the power nozzle yet.
Interesting about the pre-motor filter. I would have thought it would be sold as a complete assembly, with the plastic frame. If it's just a matter of replacing the filter media, and reusing the existing frame, I'm sure something could be cut out of bulk filter material. In any case, mine is still intact for now.
Thank you again for your research!