To seal, or not to seal, now is the question.

[danielsand]

Restoration on G4 is coming out nicely. I DO believe in sanding, and the nozzle had some DEEP gauges, that needed to be taken out. Starting with Dremel, and going to power sander with 150 sandpaper, gradually decreasing the grit, finishing with 1200, and I have a good "canvas" on which to proceed with 0000 steel wool, and Mother's. It "only" took four hours so far, and the polishing will have to wait till Monday. I'm always swamped with horseback riding, and all other work associated with horses on the weekend.

Question is.......to seal the fan case or not? I have clear silicone (from the previous restoration on Heritage 2), and I can do it, but I am not sure it's necessary. So what do you say? Do you guys do it, or not?

When I took the fan case off, I realized the machine was serviced before (not by Kirby), and the dude applied gobs of some gray silicone, that dripped inside the case upon assembly, and created "nice" trap for the dirt! Got it all out, and now I'm wondering. I am sure I didn't use too much on Heritage (I did MANY engine rebuilds on bikes and cars), but the question remains.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

I have rebuilt tons of KIRBYS

Replaced many fans and have NEVER used a sealer on the fan case and have never had any leak dust my KIRBY guy never uses sealant during fan replacements .

Dan

 

[bnsd60m9200]

if you have the fan case craked apart. go ahead and do it. the kirby service manuals mention it in both versions i have. while dan is right, they usually dont leak, its more to prevent moisture from getting IN the fan case where it doesnt belong than things escaping from it.

 

[danielsand]

Sorry, I don't buy this "moisture getting in" prevention. The thing is designed to be used like a blower, right? Fan totally exposed. Sucking up moist air (in the ocean communities air can be VERY damp). Top cover is not sealed either (all electrical is right under the top cover).
Point is,....moisture has many points of entry, and yet the machine keeps running, and running. Why would the fan case be so "sensitive to moisture"? People run these things on damp floors, puddles (deliberately or by accident), and I found plenty of caked mud in the fan cases of couple machines (evidence of water being sucked up).

I'll seal this one, just because it's apart, and the silicone tube will dry out if I don't use it. But I really think this is not necessary.

 

[pr-21]

I don't think.....

Kirby always sealed the fan case. When I got my G4, it had a squeal if you used the attachments. I watched as the Kirby Repairman took it apart. There was no sealant to remove and he did not apply any. All he did was put some grease on the rubber gasket behind the fan and reattach the fan case.

My aunt bought one and they did the same thing to it.




Thanks,

PR-21
Bud

 

[sptyks]

Danielsand, did you figure out why the BPI light wasn't working on the G4?

 

[danielsand]

No, not yet. Everything is in pieces right now. I'll start buffing on Monday (I left off yesterday in the sanding stage), on Wednesday I'm getting the shipment from Kent (new bumper, BPI, and the lifter label). Once everything is here, I'll assemble it, and we'll see.

Magnet in the brush can not go bad, so it must be the BPI itself. Brush was turning on the initial inspection, and even if the belt was loose, BPI would still flicker, right?

BTW,....I was able to salvage the original belt lifter. I sanded the edges in about 45 degree angle, and applied "Back to black" (which I use on the plastic bumpers of some of my cars), and it came out nice.

Just found a NICE Ultimate G Diamond on Craigs. With carpet shampoo, and all attachments for $55.- It's kinda long drive, so I'll see if it's still available on Monday, I might grab it.

 

[vacuumfreak95]

I ordered a BPI light for my ultimate G that I just finished restoring. It was only six bucks on ebay.... The finish on mine could be better, but I don't have a bench polisher. Sniff.....

 

[silentjon]

I always seal the fan case on every Kirby I take apart. Fine dust DOES find it's way out.

 

[danielsand]

Vaccumfreak.....how many Kirbys do you have? Do you have one that came with "Handibutler"? You can use that for polishing. You can also use the "Turbo sander" that came with Heritage series for polishing. If none of that is available,......you can get a bench grinder on Ebay, or locally, for thirty bucks (new), or a used one for ten bucks on the local swap meet.

You don't even have to bolt it on the work bench (if you don't have one). You can use C clamps, and attach it to a small portable table, desk, or just about anything. Cover the surrounding area with a drop cloth (or some old sheets, bedding, etc), and buff away!

Silentjon,....."fine dust will find it's way out",,,,is that your opinion, or the actual experience? I can see that happening with the shake out bags, but not with disposable ones. If there is no obstruction in the fan case, there should be no dust accumulating there. Dust will go with the air down the path of the least resistance, and deposit in the HEPA bag. Once in the bag, it can not go back up the tube, and down into the fan case.

I'll seal this one anyway. It's easy to do, but I was wondering if it's really necessary.

 

[dysonman1]

It's not 'necessary', but Kirby does seal them when manufacturing them. It's to prevent air escaping at the seam when the bag offers lots of resistance, like when it's full or clogged with fine dust. The old cloth bag models had bags that were clogged most of the time with fine dust, as you really couldn't get them 'clean' completely by just emptying it. Seal the fan case, since you're doing such a thorough rebuild job, make it the way it left the factory.

By the way, I've never seen a BPI light go out. The magnet is stuck in the wood of the brush bar, lining up with the side of the BPI. Sometimes, vac shops sell the wrong brush (like for a G5) to G4 owners, and to make it work, they take off the end caps and switch them. If that's the case, the BPI light won't work until the magnet is on the correct side.

 

[danielsand]

After some research, I found out that indeed the brush rollers are different between G4, and later models (despite the fact that MANY Ebay sellers offer brushes that supposedly fit all models from G3 on!).

Then I started to research which brush I have in this machine, and I got stuck. No parts store offers the brush that I have, and looks like it's not the correct one for the machine.

The brush I have has two different end caps. One is marked "large", and one is marked "small" there is an arrow on the wood pointing to the small cap (correctly), and the #0425951 KIRBY. Next to the small cap, is some kind of plastic spacer (about 3/4" thick) made of the same gray plastic as the endcap itself. So what is this brush I have? From the pictures of other brushes offered for sale (that fit G3 and G4), I saw that the magnet is visible in the wood. There is nothing like that on this brush, unless the magnet is in the plastic spacer (which I initially assumed).

I found a used brush roll on Ebay, sold by the "independent Kirby repair shop", claiming that THIS is the genuine Kirby brush roll for G3 and G4! I stole the pic of the Ebay, but this is exactly what I have!

 

[danielsand]

Just to add,.......the small cap is on the end with the spacer, and the spacer has visible marks where it was rolling next to BPI. So I assume it was installed correctly, because there is no magnet visible on the other side. Question is,......is there a magnet inside this spacer, or not?

 

[bikerray]

Since I already posted this once before to your post where you couldn't get the headlight cap off, and that post is gone.

The BPI on the G3 and G4 is on the right as you look at from the front of machine then on the G5 and later they switched it to the left side. The small cap goes to the side with the magnet and the large cap goes to the side without the magnet. Sometimes people will get the wrong brushroll so the magnet is at the wrong end. Then they can't understand why the BPI doesn't work.

The one you have looks like the original, the plastic is over the magnet so you don't see it.

Here's pics of my G4 head

 

[danielsand]

Thank you for this. Mine looks exactly like that. Everything seems to be stock, and the BPI didn't work. So,.....I guess I'll have to wait to get the new BPI, put everything together, and see what happens. The brush I have with this G4 is in the same condition as yours, spins freely, no play in the bearings, bristles are not worn down too much.....all good, and no BPI light!

Your previous post helped too. I was able to dismantle the headlight cap, and sand it down. Thank you.

All aluminum parts are sanded down to 2000 grit, and I'll start polishing tomorrow. By the end of the week, I'll be vacuuming with this thing, and I'll post the pic of the Kirby "family".