Thread Number: 10041
What a great week for vacuums |
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Post# 109216   9/25/2010 at 02:42 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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I was so lucky this week. I received the Kenmore canister from Michael Frey. He packed it so well, It's just perfect. I also bought a Royal from Phillip Muller (Kirbyman123) which is close to the one my grandmother had, but obviously a lot newer. It doesn't matter because it is a pre-TTI Royal and that is good enough for me. Today, I went thrifting and found a Kenmore Progressive upright in surprisingly good condition. The price on it was $25.00 but today everything in the store was 50% off so I got it for $12.50. I think Crevicetool hit the nail on the head. I'm hooked. Either I need an intervention, or I'm gonna need to find a bigger place to live. Pics of my new new machines to follow tomorrow, as well as a story with the Progressive.
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Post# 109254 , Reply# 2   9/25/2010 at 12:51 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109255 , Reply# 3   9/25/2010 at 12:56 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109256 , Reply# 4   9/25/2010 at 12:59 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109258 , Reply# 5   9/25/2010 at 13:23 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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I walked in to the thrift store and they had a few really beat up plastivacs that they wanted entirely too much for, but I thought that's OK cause I'm not looking for a vacuum, unless it is a blue GE swivel top, the only one that I need to fill out my childhood memories collection. Well, I walk into another room, and there she was. I looked it over and noticed that it wasn't beat to hell like most of the others. In fact it was very clean with very few scratches. I opened up the bag compartment, and instead of finding a stuffed bag and filth, it was surprisingly clean, and it had a new bag installed. Looked in the filter compartment, again expecting the filter to be clogged, but was pleasantly surprised to find the filter in good condition. All the attachments are there, and it looks like only the crevice tool saw any use. As you can see there was a sticker on the machine that said it needed a belt, as well as the $25 price tag. I turned to walk away and looked back at it, and it looked so sad sitting there, and almost seemed to be begging me to take it home with me. I was hooked. Since it was 50% off, it only cost me $12.50 plus tax, so I figured why not. Belts can't be that expensive. So I take the machine out side and while waiting for the bus, I'm looking it over and I noticed on the nozzle, it said "Continuous Cleaning Beltless Direct Drive System". I look on the other side of the nozzle, and there is a switch that says "Agitator On / Off". Well, guess what? It was in the Off position. I got it home. and flipped the switch on. Good thing I was holding on to it when I did, because it tried to pull me across the room. Only thing I can think is that the switch got accidentally got turned off and the previous owner thought the belt broke. They probably tried to find a belt for it and couldn't and then dumped the machine. This is a Kenmore Progressive model 116.31913100 with S/N 024243212. Anyone know when this machine was made? It doesn't look very old. Thanks to all for looking and have a great weekend. Joe |
Post# 109263 , Reply# 6   9/25/2010 at 13:53 (4,933 days old) by joe22 ()   |   | |
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kenmore canister is awesome |
Post# 109265 , Reply# 7   9/25/2010 at 13:56 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109270 , Reply# 9   9/25/2010 at 14:52 (4,933 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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That's great information. A couple more questions: 1. The cord on this machine is very long, as you stated, but it feels stiffer than other vacuum cords. Is this normal? 2. Am I correct in thinking that this machine was made by Panasonic? It is a great machine, and am lucky to have found it. Thanks again, Joe |
Post# 109291 , Reply# 12   9/25/2010 at 21:21 (4,933 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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When Sears sold this, Consumer Reports rated it as the top upright on the market. The neat thing about the Kenmore / Panasonic Direct Drive uprights is that the brush is powered by a little motor hidden in the brush roll itself! Ingenious!!! No need for belts or gears. And to turn it off or on, you control the electrical supply connected to the brush's hidden motor - no fancy gymnastics with secondary belts needed. Consumer Reports also liked the fact that you could set the brush speed to "gentle" for delicate rugs - this setting provides slower brush rotations in the nozzle. Panasonic sold uprights in Europe with the same unique beltless brush. They are really cool-looking machines. Kenmore and Panasonic in North America still sell direct drive uprights - probably the coolest innovation in upright design since the "sideways motor" Singer upright designed by Raymond Loewy in the 1960's. |
Post# 109310 , Reply# 13   9/25/2010 at 23:49 (4,933 days old) by vacman117 (Chicago, IL)   |   | |
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Post# 109326 , Reply# 14   9/26/2010 at 09:23 (4,932 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109370 , Reply# 15   9/26/2010 at 14:51 (4,932 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)   |   | |
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Post# 109397 , Reply# 16   9/26/2010 at 18:36 (4,932 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 109444 , Reply# 18   9/27/2010 at 07:35 (4,931 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Panasonic's European version of this Direct Drive was called the "Icon" - really cool looking machine. Click on the link below for some person's description of the bagless version of this Kenmore. The description includes the line "Gentle Sweep" control for Berber carpets and delicate rugs. This webpage is referring to the series of Kenmore Direct Drives that came after the premiere version which Joe luckily found. The second series was much improved, and it came in a light blue colour which I loved. (In Canada, all the Kenmore "Progressive" vacs are relabled as "Elegance" vacs because the word works in both French and English!) CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK |