Well, scratch one Kirby...

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Little late!

Ah the legend II a lovely looking model but just in case you were still searching goodwill's website has a heritage I with no bids at 14.99 with a fixed shipping price of 17.98. I would have sent the link via email but that wasn't an option. They say opportunity knocks but temptation leans on the doorbell.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/76299586
 
Blackheart--Now I know why there aren't any Kirbys at Goodwill anymore. They're auctioning them all online!!! I went as far as creating a buyer account but I'm going to have to give myself some time to calm down before I make any bidding decisions. Thanks for the heads-up but I hope I haven't just created a monster for myself, especially seeing as I just bought a Sanitaire SC 686A upright over the weekend for $10.
 
Thanks. I'm trying to take a deep breath at this point. I don't think I'll be making any immediate Goodwill online purchases just yet, but I now have a new place to hunt for bargains, which could be fun—if a tad bit dangerous.

Right now, I'm having fun with the Sanitaire. I needed to take a break from grading papers Sunday afternoon and ended up walking around in a nearby Goodwill store not far from my house, not really expecting to find anything, but there it was and as they say on American Pickers, the time to buy something like that is when you see it. I wouldn't really call it a bucket list item but I'd had it in the back of my mind for a while that I'd like to have one if I could get a decent one on the cheap. This one was in such nice shape, I thought it was fairly new and mistakenly posted about it in the "Contemporary" forum (see link below) but I now understand it's almost 40 years old. It needs a belt and a lower cord hook but it's otherwise intact and in unusually good condition for a commercial vac that age. By all indications, it appears to have had a relatively short and easy commercial career.

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?39019_10
 
Human,

Hi Edgar, I've been following your post and I'm glad to see you're moving forward. A lot of us here felt your loss as well. I'm jazzed to learn you've picked up a Sanitaire! I've got an SC888 which is the newest of the three I own. It's wider wheel base and larger wheels make it more stable going in to those high speed turns,lol.I was wondering what type of bag set up yours has? Mine came with the shake out cloth and I'm really leaning towards replacing with a top fill arrangement and maybe even hepa if that is possible. I brushed up against the wall while demo-ing the cleaner to my cousin the other day and a small plume of dust pushed out the side of the bag, and well... " it really is a good vac..just needs..."
 
The Sanitaire has a heavy canvas shakeout bag, which is in almost pristine shape. I'm thinking it may be a generic replacement since it doesn't say 'Sanitaire' on it. The only lettering says "Heavy Duty Commercial". Like you, I'm toying with the idea of converting it to top fill. It looks like kits for it run about $40. The only thing is the ads I see for the kits don't list my model so I don't know for sure one will fit. It's probably due to its age. The ratings sticker says the thing was made by Eureka Williams, not Eurekalux and not Bissell, so it's on back there.

Speaking of bags, the Heritage II Legend bag assembly arrived for my Legend II. I haven't decided whether to use it as is or harvest the mini emptor (and for convenience, the fill tube) to put the Legend II's bag assembly to rights. I'll use the Heritage II bag for the time being while I determine what--if anything--else it needs.

I've been getting a little antsy about the Legend II the past few days as the seller posted a tracking number within hours of my completing the purchase but as of this morning, it hadn't yet hit the mailstream. Fortunately when I went go give the seller feedback for the bag assembly, which I had purchased two days after the Legend II, I clicked on tracking and USPS is now in possession and it's scheduled to be delivered on Friday. Sounds like I'll be having a good weekend playing with vacuums.
 
You're going to see such a difference in performance when you get that new belt on the Sanitaire, it can't be over stated. I'm glad the Legend is back on track. Sounds like a recipe for a great weekend coming up!
 
As of this morning, USPS tracking shows the Legend II out for delivery, so it should arrive on my doorstep sometime this afternoon. The belts for the Sanitaire, also originally scheduled for delivery today, won't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest, thanks to USPS' infinite capacity for incompetence. The package has inexplicably been diverted to another nearby town. It's the second time this has happened in the past week. Oh well, one day at a time...
 
@human

I have a couple of Kirby Heritage I's. 2 I have used for work. One needs a good cleaning up however still very service able. 1 needs a handle spring. I could part with.

I have to stay on a roll. I just bought eariler this summer a 2001 addition from a rummage sale and shipped it to a friend in Ga. Just this week Bought a Sentria II for a local friend and will deliver to him this weekend.

I am beginning to believe that I should have gone with my original decision at age 5 to become a Kirby salesman. (I think I missed my true calling L.O.L.)
 
The Legend 2 Has Landed...

The postman dropped the Kirby Legend 2 off on my doorstep about an hour ago. I've been working to put it together and was going to wait until I had it all in once piece and post a photo of this beautiful, albeit dirty, machine but I need a little help. The brush roll was out of it when I got it and the bottom plate was all bent up on the sides where it meets the hubs of the brush roll. I straightened it with pliers and now I'm trying to put everything back together but it doesn't want to go. In order to get the hubs into place, I had to remove the set screws but when I screwed them back in, it's preventing the brush roll from turning. Am I missing something? I'm assuming the screw heads are supposed to be facing down (toward the bottom plate) so one can access them. How far should the screws be screwed in? I'm assuming they provide some height adjustment for brush roll as the bristles wear down. I just can't seem to find the sweet spot and judging form the worn spot on the belt, this problem has persisted for a while. The PDF of the manual I downloaded was of little help in solving the mystery as the line drawings lacked sufficient detail. I have to say I greatly prefer the G-series bush roll.
 
Got it together!

After a little cursing and creative bending, I finally got the dad-blame thing together, as the photo below will attest. And yes, I am well aware the bag is technically wrong for the machine (although the stickers on the front of the fan shroud and on the bottom of the machine identify it as a Heritage II). I knew when I bought it that the mini emptor was busted all to hell and when I went looking for a replacement online, the best deal I found was an entire Heritage II Legend bag assembly for several dollars less than the cost of a new mini emptor, including shipping. It turned out to be a good call because that's one less thing to fuss with right away--just stick it on and go. It would be nice to eventually swap the mini emptor (probably with the whole fill tube assembly) over to the original red Legend II bag, but I'm going to save that for another day. I got as far as pulling the red collar band off of it but I'm a bit lost from there. Do I try to push the mini emptor up into the bag and out or pull everything down through the bottom of the bag? I'm sure there's a trick. Think I'll go finish vacuuming my bedroom...

Of course, nothing can be completely easy and this machine is no exception. When I plugged it in to make sure it worked, I discovered the power switch is stuck in the 'on' position. I guess that's better than being stuck in the 'off' position, but still, that's just one more thing to sort out. I need to find a tear-down tutorial so I can see how to take it apart and either fix or replace the switch. Oh well, I feel like I've accomplished a lot in the past couple of hours and there's no time limit on getting it all done.

human-2019092715295702386_1.jpg
 
Heritage 2

They are very good machines. I like the tradition A little more. The heritage 2 legend 2 I have 2 currently. I used wheels and handle on other Kirby's. I took all the wheels off and made it a cannister vacuum. I like it has a lot of power and compact mode vacuum stairs, bed, chairs , dusting fans. I figured make it cannister mode I can use it instead of taking time to change vacuum owner. This one is prettier than your other one more than likely too.
Les
 
human,

On your switch that's stuck on "on", I would take a look first at the plastic foot petal to see if it's mounted correctly. There is a screw that needs to be screwed all the way in. It holds the petal in position. If you can push it up and down and it makes contact with the actual on/off switch below it, then it may be the switch.Before replacing it, make sure to unplug the motor and spray some contact cleaner down into the switch and work the button, on and off for a few times. If that frees up the switch then you're good to go. Be sure to let the switch dry out after spraying it before plugging back in. Hope that helps. Billy
 
Thanks Billy. I'll look into that as soon as I figure out how to take the cover off. I'd like to be able to fix the existing red switch, if possible, and not have to replace it with a black one.

After comparing the two bags, I've determined that the Heritage II bag is in enough better condition that I'm leaving it on the machine for the time being or at least until I can remove the fill tube assembly from the red Legacy 2 bag and give it a good washing. It's pretty nasty. I did, however swap the red Legacy 2 bag topper and bag guard band over onto the H2 bag to make it look more like it belongs. It actually doesn't look bad.
 
Clean red bag...

So after a close encounter with a large flat-blade screwdriver, I was able to convince the red Legacy II bag and its fill tube assembly that their relationship was over. I just finished laundering the bag and have it loaded onto the solar clothes dryer (aka clothesline). It looks a lot better and I may well decide to put it back on the vacuum cleaner sooner rather than later.

I'm glad I decided to go with the whole used bag assembly instead of paying a couple of dollars more for a brand new mini emptor alone, because I haven't a clue how to remove the broken mini emptor from the end of the fill tube. I've decided that can wait for some time when I really have absolutely nothing better to do, so it's on a shelf down in my barn for the foreseeable future.

The renovations will continue...
 
On mine, the fill tube is just threads into place,and zip ties are placed over the threads to lock it on. Post a pic of what yours looks like. Mine just be a one off hack job.
 
There's no zip tie on mine. There's one on the top piece that holds the paper bag but not on the bottom where the mini emptor connects. I've tried twisting it but it doesn't want to budge. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow. It's really a low priority item, though since I have a complete mini emptor and fill tube assembly for that machine.
 
Yeah David, that looks like the same setup mine's got, except for no zip tie. Wish my machine were that shiny; right now, it looks like lead. I have no idea what's holding it on so tight. Maybe I just need to get over my fear of further breaking an already busted—and therefore useless—mini emptor and just get brutal with it. The only real reason for taking it off at this point is to throw it away
 

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