Today I found two five-dollar-finds sitting together at one of the local Goodwills:
a 2.5 amp Sears Craftsman Powermate and a 3.0 amp Dirt Devil Plus. Both came home with me, but for different reasons.
If I could have taken only one, the Dirt Devil would have been the winner. Pro Tip: If you need a Dirt Devil Broom Vac motor (originals are unobtanium), take one out of a 3 amp Dirt Devil Plus hand vac. So far as I can tell, the motor in the 3 amp Plus is the same part that went into the 3 amp Broom Vac. Swap the fan and belt pulley from the Broom Vac onto the Plus motor and you're back in business.
You can do the same swap with a lower amperage motor such as the 2 amp from a 103 or a really early Plus Hand Vac, or the 2.8 amp variant of the Plus Hand Vac, but you may be dissatisfied with the results. Your Broom Vac may become gutless--trust me, I've tried.
Anyhow, the 3 amp Plus was bought so it can be sacrificed for either of my Broom Vacs should they ever need a motor transplant.
As for the Craftsman, it just seemed neat and I've never had one before, so why not? lol. IIRC, this one is made by Douglas and was sold under many brands: Craftsman, Kenmore, Kirby, Oreck, and Douglas, off the top of my head. Without trying it out yet, I think it'll be superior to the Dirt Devil. It's lighter and its brushroll seems more convincing. We shall see.
Both machines are in quite good condition--particularly the Craftsman--but you will just have to take my word for it until I can snap some pictures. The Craftsman looks the same as the one the collector has in the thread below.
I see a hand vac showdown in my future, between the Little Lux II, Royal Prince, Dirt Devil 103, Dirt Devil Plus, and the Craftsman. I can throw in the Hamilton Beach HV and the Dyson DC34 for good measure, too, but I don't expect these straight-suction machines to dominate.
Anyhow, any and all comments and conversation are welcome. Expect pictures soon.
broomvac
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