Parts for Kenmore 2.0 Magicord canister from early '70s

[KenmoreFan]

Hello. In the early '70s, my then husband and I got this Kenmore. It still works well. The 5023 bags are available, but the foam filter wore out.

Because the vacuum doesn't seem to have a model number or other identifying info, I can't find out if replacement filters are available.

1. Does anyone know the model number?

2. Does anyone know if it has any other filters that might need replacing?


Many thanks

1. The canister is brown and beige.

2. The only identifying info.

3. Where the foam filter goes.

 

[suckolux]

DT you are up to bat here bud

 

[kirbylux77]

KenmoreFan

I would bet that the foam filter would be discontinued by now, since your vacuum is from the 1970's.

However, here's an easy way to get a foam filter for your Kenmore....go to your local vac shop & tell them you want to buy a TriStar motor dome filter. Then, after you purchase it, tell them you want them to remove the foam so you can use it in your Kenmore canister. If you look underneath the TriStar motor dome, there is a plastic cage that sandwiches the foam between it & the dome....it's all too easy to pull it off & remove the foam. There will already be a hole in the centre of the foam so you can use it on your Kenmore without cutting one, the cage on the underside of the TriStar filter has a pole that hooks onto the underside of the top of the dome, that holds the 2 pieces together & sandwiches the foam between them.

Hope this helps you out....Rob

 

[super-sweeper]

Wait until D.T sees this, he'll be flooding the thread with questions and his usual antics! 


 


You can do as above, or simply buy any brand synthetic vacuum bag for any model vacuum. Synthetic bags are made from a form of synthetic cloth, and give any vacuum HEPA filtration. Simply cut a circular filter from the bag, and attach it as a filter! You now have HEPA filtration in your Kenmore, and can throw away the filters at will, just cut a new one out! 

 

[DesertTortoise]

I just finished refurbishing one of those! Figuring out a premotor filter is a challenge. The original filter is not available.

This is not the same body as the full sized Kenmore canisters of that era. They look the same but are only 3/4 the size of the ones you are thinking of and it has a single stage Lamb motor. The fan housing is carried under a plastic housing with a gridded opening for the motor intake, so that Tri-Star dome filter won't work (it won't work on the larger canisters either, not enough clearance from the lid, I tried believe me). The tell tail difference between these and the larger canisters of the same style are the tool recesses on the lid and the rear face. The larger canisters have a removable rear panel with an opening for a hose to use the vac as a blower and a square louvered opening for the exhaust with a filter in the opening (well, there is supposed to be a filter) while these smaller models just have a round hole in the back and no exhaust filter. The rear panel is not removable either. They really are cool vacuums the way they are made.

There is, or should be, a black circular filter frame that fits over the opening in the vacuum body above the motor (go back and look at my photos in my post titled "Swamp Creature" to see an image of this). I think there was a very thin sheet of open cell foam cut in a circle that you placed on the motor opening and then secured it by placing that black filter frame on top of that and turning it 1/8 turn. I tried using some Electrolux bulk filter material, which is pretty thin stuff, and even it was too thick to allow the filter frame to secure. Now I'm waiting on some thin foam to arrive (the vacuum shop doesn't always have this stuff either, I had to order it from Israel!) so I can have minimal premotor filtration.

Do you want to sell me that vacuum? I'd buy it in a New York nanosecond. I want another one that doesn't have a broken handle like my current one.

Btw, you can use a HEPA bag for a Riccar or Simplicity canister to increase filtration, or a HEPA bag for a Numatic Henry. Both fit the spout on the red bag holder but with bags for Numatics you have to bend the lower edge of the cardboard bag end over a little for the red bag mount to slide all the way down into it's slot in the canister, and the Numatic bag is on the large size for that canister. It is fine for the bigger canisters however. It's what I use in mine.

 

[suckolux]

Like a duck on a Junebug!

 

[DesertTortoise]

I owe Kenmorefan an apology for offering to buy it. I'm sure they cherish that vac. It has bothered me all day. Apologies

I'll post up a couple of pix of the filter area for the rest of the audience to see what I am rambling on about.

Cool vacuum though, might even become a favorite. The way the motor fastens into the body is different from the bigger Kenmores of that era. There is a rubber donut directly under the intake grid the fan housing is pressed against. The base plate of the motor is retained to the body by two brackets and as you tighten the screws through the brackets and into the baseplate it draws the fan down hard against that rubber donut.

You can see my failed attempt at making a filter out of Electrolux filter media. Even that thin stuff was too thick.

The whole time I was working on it I was thinking how much fun it would be to ditch the old motor for a modern Ametek-Lamb Advantek series single stage motor. They have one 5.7 inches diameter like the one in this vac that makes 484 air watts. Pretty stout for a singe stage fan. I think it would fit. If not, the motor from a new Progressive certainly would. Frankenvacuums!

 

[DesertTortoise]

Kenmorefan, do you have the little black plastic filter frame like you see in the photos of my vacuum? I don't see it in the photo of the filter area you posted.

 

[super-sweeper]

D.T, I would give you a Progressive motor if you were close by! I'm not the best shipper, though,I still owe one member here a Tool Garden! 

 

[KenmoreFan]

Thanks, everyone, especially Desert Tortoise. No, I don't have the black plastic filter frame. We haven't used the Kenmore for about 8 years, but the frame must have been missing for longer than that because all I remember is the filter itself sitting on top.

After I posted a couple of days ago, our Eureka Boss SmartVac needed repairs, and I found a shop on Angie's List. The owner is a character and has been in the business for 30 years. When I told him we had a brown and beige Kenmore canister from the early '70s that was missing the model number, he rattled off 4 likely model numbers. When I told him it said "Kenmore 2.0 Magicord" on the top, he said it's this particular model number, and he could make a filter for it. Wow.

However, maybe it won't work without the filter frame, or won't work efficiently. DT, do you know?

I'm complimented that you thought about buying the Kenmore. Please cut yourself some slack on the apology.

Here's the deal. When I told the vacuum character guy that the roller in the Eureka was turning slowly, even though we'd replaced the belt, he asked if we had long-haired dogs. Yes, two big ones and a little one, plus two cats. He said the animal hair wraps around the ends of the roller, heats up, and melts the plastic ends.

When I asked what vacuum he'd recommend for lots of pet hair, he said a Sanitaire, which is made by Eureka. Evidently, it has a metal roller with metal ball and socket joints. One of his customers has two Saint Bernards and kept bringing in his Dyson Animal to have the roller replaced. Finally, the vacuum guy told him to borrow the Sanitaire while he was fixing the Dyson. The Saint Bernard guy was sold - no comparison.

So now we have a Sanitaire and donated the Eureka to the vacuum guy's vacuum charity. The only thing is, the Sanitaire has no hose. We need a hose and were going to use the Kenmore. However, if it won't work well because it doesn't have a filter frame, I'd talk with you about a price, but you might not want it with that part missing - understandable. Tomorrow, I'll also ask the vacuum guy about the consequences of the missing frame, although you may know more than he does.

Long story long.

Many thanks

 

[KenmoreFan]

Update. The local vacuum man says the absence of the frame won't affect the suction. Desert Tortoise, do you have any thoughts on this? Also, if you're still interested in the vacuum, just let me know. Thanks

 

[DesertTortoise]

I guess I don't see the filter material will stay in place without the frame to retain it. Sure suction will keep it in place when the motor is on, but what keeps it put when the motor is off. I park my canisters on end. It think that is how most are stored in the closets of the world. As soon as you stand the canister on end, without that frame or some other, um, innovative means to keep the filter in place, it will just fall off and land in the back of the vacuum somewhere. It won't magically put itself back in place when you start the motor. The filter fairy is good, but not that good.

I do have a soft spot for that model so if it needs a loving home, I can give it one with the rest of the Kenmore clan.

 

[super-sweeper]

What Kenmore doesn't dream of a desert vacation house? Well, except the Kenmores that are enjoying their new Floridian homestead! 

 


If all else fails, there's always tape! 

 

[DesertTortoise]

The Kenmore High Desert Restoration Center is not proud of how staff had to kludge reinforcements on it's current small Kenmore of that vintage to addd some degree of strength to it's repair the vacuums broken handle. The Center became quite fond of that model vacuum and would be loathe to ruin another using duct tape to retain the pre-motor filter,

Jimmy, do you have any of these circular filter frames in that warehouse you are cleaning out? It seems there is another worthy old Kenmore lacking only one important part.

 

[toby]

Hey, I've got this same Kenmore 2.0 vacuum and even have the original filter (a rotting piece of thin grey foam, 5 inches in diameter). Can't I just get some similar foam and cut it to size and poke a hole in the middle and voila? Is the difficulty one of obtaining the thin foam?

This is what it looks like: http://vacuumcleanersforyou.blogspot.com/2013/05/nobody-overlooks-kenmore-canister.html

Thank you all.

 

[DesertTortoise]

You are correct. I'm sure a thin piece of foam is all Kenmore originally used as a pre-motor filter. Cut a piece to size, poke a hole in the middle and you're done. Finding the material, however, is not so easy. I have been waiting for a couple of weeks now for some thin open cell foam sheets to arrive from Israel. All the US based foam companies want to sell you a 50 to 100 foot roll of the stuff for a couple hundred bucks. Nobody that I could find sells small quantities of it. The vacuum shop I like has the same problem.

The filter shown on your link is designed to fit directly onto the fan housing of a Lamb two stage motor. We can't use it on these vacuums, which is a shame because it is so readily available.