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Thread Number: 20645
NIB Kirby Traditions (Summer 1979 Production) |
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Post# 231123 5/4/2013 at 01:07 (4,007 days old) by KirbyClassicIII  (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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Fascinated by the number of NIB Kirby Heritage II systems (these appear to be circa 1986 builds) that I have recently discovered on eBay, focusing on a different Kirby altogether, how many NIB Traditions have you come across (those with the headlight safety switch and the metal fan; these were the first issues that came out in the summer of 1979)?
~Ben | ||
| Post# 231164 , Reply# 1 5/4/2013 at 08:27 (4,007 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
Ben, it's not true that Traditions ever had metal fans. I unloaded the very first shipment of Traditions we got in St. Louis. The headlight safety switch, disposable bag adapter, and lexan fan were the changes. The first ones still had cardboard attachment boxes. We had to install the disposable bag adapter into the sani-emptor as it was packed separately. Had to heat them up in boiling water to make them pliable enough to fit into the emptor's ledge.
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Post# 231194 , Reply# 2 5/4/2013 at 13:22 (4,006 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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Tom G.,
Then I would like to wonder how the metal fan found its way into these? I'm wondering if certain customers liked the metal fan better than the Lexan one at the time when their Traditions came in to be rebuilt? (#F293137 - this is an export model) (note on this example the headlight lock provision is there but the button is missing) And if the story of the Lexan fan being there from the beginning is true, then, I see why in the instruction book, the Crystalator's main function was lost (paradichlorobenzene attacks plastic) and that Kirby renamed it as "air intake nozzle." ~Ben | ||
| Post# 231202 , Reply# 3 5/4/2013 at 15:01 (4,006 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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The Lexan fan broke too, just not as fast as the aluminum ones. When a Tradition would come in for a fan repair, many repair guys put the metal fan in it - so it would break FASTER than the plastic one. Repair men look at fan breakage as a huge source of profit. The metal fan used to cost us about $6 and we sold it for $50 (installed).
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Post# 231206 , Reply# 4 5/4/2013 at 15:33 (4,006 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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| Post# 231211 , Reply# 5 5/4/2013 at 16:39 (4,006 days old) by kirbymodel2c (Nottingham, England) | ||
Umm
Hi all. I don't wish to disagree but over here in the UK some of the early Traditions did come fitted with metal fans according to my friend Ken who was a Kirby distributor at the time. He use to moan the fans could be harder to get off when they broke compared to the grey lexan fan.
Just my 2 cents worth:o) James:o) | ||
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Post# 231213 , Reply# 6 5/4/2013 at 16:44 (4,006 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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| Post# 231223 , Reply# 7 5/4/2013 at 17:21 (4,006 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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Seriously Ben...
I was in high school. The Kirby distributor waited for me to get out of school to unbox the brand new Tradition's. We knew about the paper bag in advance but did not know the adapter and fill tube would be separate in the box from the sani-emptor. We struggled for quite a while before someone got the idea to soak them in boiling water to make them pliable enough to go into the emptor. That grey Lexan fan made the machine run quieter and we were extremely happy to see a fan that was designed not to break with the first quarter it inhaled. I remember remarking that the headlight safety switch would be a problem because the headlight locked in the UP position and I was used to just closing it. That's why most of the pins wound up breaking. Upon first use, I remember being surprised by the lack of edge cleaning ability as compared to the Classic III. Winds up history has taught us the bag fill tube was too small. Reduced the airflow dramatically.
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Post# 231226 , Reply# 8 5/4/2013 at 17:51 (4,006 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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Post# 231609 , Reply# 12 5/7/2013 at 09:26 (4,004 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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