Singer/Ryobi/Kenmore thingie

[DesertTortoise]

So despite the cries of one member here not too, I did it. I bought that Singer DLC 100/200/300/400 (Gawd only knows which) derived Ryobi built Kenmore thing that has been tugging at me for a couple of months on Fleabay. It's dirty, it belched a big cloud of dust out the back when I fired it up, the bag is pretty full, and the cord doesn't retract. I knew most of that going in (I assumed the dirty part). The same day I bought it another Fleabay seller was selling a cord reel the seller claims he bought from the Ryobi plant when it was closing. Says he bought two dozen of them and as soon as mine was sold he posted another just like it. The seller wasn't sure which of the models it fit, but for $22 including shipping, I bought it anyway. I've paid over $80 for a new old stock cord reel for my other Kenmore canister vacs so I took a chance. Life is short.

It runs and sounds great. Plenty of suction too. The vac is suction only, no powered hose. Maybe someday I can change that. There is a door on top of the vac hiding an outlet I assume you can use to operate the vac as a blower. I think there has to be a catch broken on it because as soon as you fire the vac up, the door pops open and all the motor exhaust comes out. I will have to suss out a way to latch it (probably using automotive trim clips or similar) and put some kind of filter material behind it. The diagram in Hesco shows a secondary filter I guess I have to find or make something up from scratch.

Isn't it interesting how the bag is held in place. You unlatch the whole front of the vac and slide a tray out the front. I kind of like that. It doesn't have too many battle scars and I think it is going to shine up nice. Notice the front "caster". It's a track ball. I dig it! Looking into the exhaust port it appears the motor is peripheral discharge, something I have not seen on a casister vac before (I'm sure that is just a testament to my limited knowledge more than anything else). I guess that means it has a separate cooling fan for the motor. I am anxious to open this thing up now and have a look inside. I wonder if there is a HEPA bag for one of these? The bag in there said it was a Kenmore 5042 bag. Guess I have to get busy researching.

Anyway, here are some before shots. I just received it today. I put it alongside another project vac for a size comparison. It's like a little gray mouse with a long tail Maybe that is what I'll name it, the Little Gray Mouse. Hey, I like that.

 

[DesertTortoise]

PS, it came with an unpowered hose but no tools or wands. Projects for the future. If you have suitable pieces please keep the Desert Tortoise in your hearts and minds. Canister syndrome is an all encompassing disability !

 

[suckolux]

Interesting piece

 

[eurekaprince]

Something tells me that the exhaust door is meant to open when the vacuum is in use. The European Hoover Freedom canister has a similar top-side exhaust flap. It might not be a good idea to close it with latches - the exhaust will have nowhere to go!

You should try and get your hands on a manual so you can read how it was suppised to function...maybe someone out there has one?

(Don't like the underside tool storage - it looks like the attachments have to hang on for dear life!

 

[DesertTortoise]

The door over the exhaust port has a grid of openings the exhaust could exit through very easily. It looks like there was a slot in the body for a catch on the door to slide into but the catch is broken off. I think I can come up with something to keep the door closed and slide a piece of that Electrolux bulk filter material underneath to filter the exhaust.

If you look at the image of the underside you can see there are two latches concentric with the front caster/trackball thingie that you would use to hold the tools in place. One flips forward to hold a crevice tool, the other flips rearward and looks like it would hold a dusting brush and upholstery brush by their necks. Not so sure how well that works in practice. The vacuum shop I frequent has a grab bag of various loose tools I can fool around with test fitting. He sells a big triangular upholstery brush from Sebo that might fit in one of the recesses very well. I need to see if my Windsor tools fit the hose or if I have to use tools sized for canisters. It might end up being a useful garage/car vacuum with an air powered pet tool and a crevice tool.

Fun for the weekend. Now to find filters and bags. Yeah, I like the oddballs. Some of my motorcycles are equally eccentric.