Whirlpool Upright

[veg-o-matic]

Hope I'm posting this in the right place...

Found this on craigslist. It's a Whirlpool Power Clean 2000. Any ideas when it was made? It looks pretty modern to be a "true" Whirlpool, but what do I know?

veg

 

[ian88]

If I recall correctly (i'm a brit so my US machine knowledge is hardly encyclopedic) but its probably made by Matsushita (National Panasonic) they did Kenmore and Whirlpool machines didn't they? hell it just looks like a Panasonic.

Ian

 

[hoover1060]

Nope, thats really a Whirlpool...

Made 1985-86 somewhere around there. These were sold in vac shops, and were a kinda/sorta/maybe copy of the Hoover Concept One.
There were 3 versions, even a self propelled model! They were all gone by the early 90's...

A very RARE machine, they were also made for Sears.

 

[ian88]

Its better than the "proto-orecks" they made anyway...

Unless the older models (which they usually are) are superior to David Oreck's modern offerings.

Ian

 

[portable]

Hey Veg...

I remember in the mid-80s that Macy's in San Francisco had a big ad for the Whirlpools. As a matter of fact, I think they carried them for about a year. They seem to be quite sturdily built. Didn;t they have tool conversion in that funny left-hand square on the machine? I think they WERE made by Panasonic, Ian.

 

[charles~richard]

Whirlpool

The most bizarre Whirlpool I remember is one that one of my school friend's family had back in the late 1960s. (The "friend" was actually a girl friend, named Gwendelyn Joy. My, how times change, hahaha!)

It was called the "Convert-o-Vac" and could be either an upright or canister depending on how you configured it. It's kinda hard to describe, but if you've never seen one imagine a smallish, squarish canister with a sloping front. You attached a hose to the motor unit to use it as a canister, OR, you could attach a long handle and it became a revolving-brush upright! As an upright it seemed very heavy and difficult to maneuver, at least to a 10 year old kid (me).

I don't remember a whole lot about it except that it was white with black accents (or dark brown?), and there was no external bag -- it was contained within the motor unit.

 

[magic-clean]

The "Power-clean" line of vacs were in production at the new Whirlpool Danville KY division from mid 1985 until 1989. Then, the division was sold to Matusushita Floor Care Company (MFCC)Panasonic. Who continued producing the upright for Kenmore for a few more years.

Interesting tidbit, the uprights were tested in Southeast Florida beachfront hotels. This was done to evaluate the fan housing & blade resistance to abrasion from sand and the abuse from the housekeepers. The full dust bags were sent into the lab to have their contents evaluated weekly and the machines changed out after a certain period of time had elapsed as monitored by timers built into the machines.

The Whirlpool machines were sold as Jeff stated above, through vac shops and department stores like Burdines, Bloomingdales, Macy's Rich's etc.

Leslie

 

[hoover1060]

Sears had them too

I have a Kenmore version, unsure of the year, but it is similar to the pictured machine above.
Its a loose copy of a Hoover Concept One, it has a Panasonic style floating nozzle though.
Its a nice light machine thats easy to use, and I do like the top tool conversion as well. Its got decent tool suction too!
I have to finish getting ready for Tucson tonight, so maybe when I get back I can post some pics.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Pssssst!

Charles-Richard--that Convert-O-Vac was a Westinghouse.

veg

 

[ian88]

Amusingly the thing that told me it was a Panasonic design, was that the floor head looked similar to this old Panasonic central vac powerbrush i saw on ebay (LOL)

funny how things remind ya ;]

Ian

 

[charles~richard]

"Pssssst!"

Oh........ duh--hhhhh! Guess I should keep my mouth shut on machines I don't really know anything about.

While I am "correcting" myself, let me note that I got an email from a subscriber about the Electrolux Model G blower louvre. I had said you cannot remove it without breaking it, and the writer presented the correction that you can do so, that it is held in place with some sort of spring that can be popped off with a flat-blade screwdriver.

Well, apparently I was wrong about that; it IS entirely possible ... as I =am= wrong from time to time *grin*. The thing is, as y'all know, I have been sick for over three weeks. Although I am much better now, I really am still in a weakened state both physically and mentally. My thought processes have not always been at top form. Not that they -ever- were, mind you...!

Point is, I have not looked closely at a G in a long time and I was just going on my apparently faulty memory. And I don't have the strength right now to dig out one of my Model Gs to look at it. So I am posting this correction on good faith that the writer is correct and I was wrong.

I am the last one who would want any misinformation spread in the forums.