Got around to tearing into it last night to clean it and assess its condition, but I have some questions.
1. Armature - I vaguely remember reading about 4A Kirby motors and the motors basically being the same from the late 513 to the S7. However, my armature resembles a 3A one, based on the kinds of armatures Ive seen on here. The pointed-star cooling fan is a giveaway, and not like the cooling fans you see on the Sanitronics et. al. I've never had a Kirby older than an S7 till now, so I'm confused. If it helps any, the numbers stamped on the rotor, from commutator end down, are 12 (illegible) 3 53, so I'm assuming that's the date code. What do I have?
2. Field - there looks like what resembles two wires coming out of the coil, but obviously there's no wires extending past the coil. What's up with this? It doesn't go to the light, as it was wired into the foot switch.
3. Fan - Imagine my surprise when I popped off the floor nozzle to be greeted by a six-blade fan. I was excited! However, after disassembly, I noticed that one of the blades has a chip off the corner edge, the edges of the blades show obvious wear and I think there's been some bending as the sides of the blades "lean" rather than stand 90°. Again, I've never had anything older than an S7 so maybe the "lean" is OK. I just want to know if it's OK to use this fan since I will be putting brand new bearings into this machine, or should I shelf my metal fan dream and spring for a 505-515 Amodel fan kit to preserve the life of the motor and bearings?
4. Rubber wheels - Every piece of this vacuum (save for the non-original Kirby Sanitronic-era bag which was machine washed and will be saved as a "backup" for my S7/D50) was cleaned with hot water and Simple Green disinfectant. The wheels came clean but are kind of chalky. How do I restore the blackness of the wheels?
I'm real excited to finally have a pre-516 style Kirby as I've wanted one for the longest time. I love the "crude, tactical" design.
1. Armature - I vaguely remember reading about 4A Kirby motors and the motors basically being the same from the late 513 to the S7. However, my armature resembles a 3A one, based on the kinds of armatures Ive seen on here. The pointed-star cooling fan is a giveaway, and not like the cooling fans you see on the Sanitronics et. al. I've never had a Kirby older than an S7 till now, so I'm confused. If it helps any, the numbers stamped on the rotor, from commutator end down, are 12 (illegible) 3 53, so I'm assuming that's the date code. What do I have?
2. Field - there looks like what resembles two wires coming out of the coil, but obviously there's no wires extending past the coil. What's up with this? It doesn't go to the light, as it was wired into the foot switch.
3. Fan - Imagine my surprise when I popped off the floor nozzle to be greeted by a six-blade fan. I was excited! However, after disassembly, I noticed that one of the blades has a chip off the corner edge, the edges of the blades show obvious wear and I think there's been some bending as the sides of the blades "lean" rather than stand 90°. Again, I've never had anything older than an S7 so maybe the "lean" is OK. I just want to know if it's OK to use this fan since I will be putting brand new bearings into this machine, or should I shelf my metal fan dream and spring for a 505-515 Amodel fan kit to preserve the life of the motor and bearings?
4. Rubber wheels - Every piece of this vacuum (save for the non-original Kirby Sanitronic-era bag which was machine washed and will be saved as a "backup" for my S7/D50) was cleaned with hot water and Simple Green disinfectant. The wheels came clean but are kind of chalky. How do I restore the blackness of the wheels?
I'm real excited to finally have a pre-516 style Kirby as I've wanted one for the longest time. I love the "crude, tactical" design.
