Well, scratch one Kirby...

[human]

I agree. I'm sure the folks at Kirby had a special tool for putting the bag assemblies together. I just used a big, flat blade screwdriver to get it started but it quickly got too tight to continue with that, so I just wrestled it the rest of the way into place with my fingers. Persistence was the trick. If I stopped to rest my hands, I would lose ground. I just had to keep going until it was all the way on.

I know it's silly, but that bag assembly is so nice and clean now, I almost hate to put it on the vacuum and use it. I know I'll get over it shortly, but for now, I'm enjoying its pristine state.

 

[kirbyklekter]

It's the thread that wouldn't die

Reply#80 I don't blame you. After wrestling the first bag back on the sani-emptor, I still had three more to go. I was on a roll.These were the shake out bags, the messiest. So I thought about trying another way. I shook the b'jeebers out of a bag turned inside out, vacuumed like a madman with strong canister vac. Then put it in the bathtub and sprayed it with hand held shower wand, then filled the tub with warm water and laundry detergent.It's a bit clumsy with the emptor still attached and I had to use a few different sized brushes to get in all the nooks and cranniesbut I got it really clean. I had to drain and refill a second time to get it right. Obviously you can only spin dry this in a top load washer and no dryer at all.Then I stuffed it with a bunch of hand towels and zipped it up to dry hanging from ahook. Voila! A shoe salesman told me to stuff my sneakers with newspaper after washing them to retain their shape while drying. Works!

 

[human]

Yeah, I almost started a new thread about this bag but I decided to continue with the existing one for continuity's sake. That does sound like a job cleaning those older bags. Washing this one was pretty easy, once I got the plastic trim pieces off the outside and extracted the emptor/fill tube assembly. The bag itself was super filthy, thanks to several holes in the old fill tube, so I took it outside, turned it inside out and gave it a good shaking (standing upwind) before I brought it in and put it in the washing machine. Once it was done, I just tuned it right side out and hung it on the clothesline to dry, leaving the zipper open for maximum air flow. By the time it was dry, it looked practically brand new, except some of the flocking had worn off from the inside. But it looks great on the outside. For the photos below, I just unhooked the other bag from the Legend II and hung this one from the handle.

 

[kirbyklekter]

That's a really snappy looking bag in the first picture, I really like that.Kinda dressy, just needs a nice tie to go with it!

 

[human]

I agree. I like the red bag better with the black trim on it. Gives it an elegant look that would really be sharp on a black-trimmed Heritage II. And I think the red trim sets the gray bag off nicely as well. It especially makes the red Kirby word marks pop out. I think Kirby kind of missed the boat with their monochromatic approach. I believe they're going to stay configured this way for the foreseeable future.

 

[lesinutah]

Legend 2

The maroon is what I prefer. I'm not a huge fan of black on the heritage.
You don't see black plastic of emtor as its hidden. If you can get led light would be a nice touch.
I'm digging how nice it looks after Reno.
If you can get a chrome zip brush for it is jump on it. The vacuette is made to match like royal prince 501 was with royal vacuum. The chrome zip brush and vacuette could cost more than you spent on the vacuum. I have lots of Kirby items including 2 vacuette but no chrome zip brush.
If you have a zip brush it's excellent on car interiors.

Les

 

[kirbyklekter]

I couldn't see from the pics, do you have the Kirby wheel covers installed? I've heard others sing the praises of switching to LED for the headlight so I might do that. I just hope that your Sanitaire isn't getting a little jealous with all the TLC the Kirby has received as of late. They can be a force to contend with, just saying.

 

[human]

Yes, the Sanitaire has been sitting in the corner lately but really needed a lot less TLC than the Kirby. I do have the Kirby wheel covers on the Legend II and they still have their protective plastic film on them. I don't have a chrome Zip brush but I do have a gray one that came with my Sentria. Chrome ones do look sharp and can be had for around $25 shipped. The Legend II has a regular headlight bulb in it. I'll have to give that a thought.

 

[kirbyklekter]

As the private detective Colombo would say,

"There's just one thing I gotta ask", do you have the newer brush roll with the ball bearings and extra brushes? I'm not sure which model was the first to be equipped with this roller, but I've read time and again from members saying in essence,you need this.I suppose the ultimate would be to have a 13" with the b.b.brush roll up front! One can dream...

 

[human]

I have an original silver painted wooden brush roll. No idea whether it has ball bearings or not. It does turn smoother than the one I took out. I got it second hand with a bottom plate that was in much better shape than what came with it, which was bent all to hell. The bristles show far less wear than the original one and the whole assembly, which also came with a good belt in place, was less expensive than a band new brush roll.

 

[lesinutah]

Heritage

The heritage 2 was first brush roll with bpi.