Thread Number: 16392
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Post# 175054   3/27/2012 at 20:27 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        

Hello all,
Today I got a new Kirby and would like help in idtentifing what model this is. The serial plate is rusted. the trim is brown, with a round handle like a Sanitronic would have, and a Classic III bag and cord. Pics to fallow

Post# 175055 , Reply# 1   3/27/2012 at 20:28 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
Another

 Here is another pic.

Post# 175057 , Reply# 2   3/27/2012 at 20:29 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
Finally

 The front and whole of the Kirby.

Post# 175063 , Reply# 3   3/27/2012 at 21:32 (4,405 days old) by twocvbloke ()        

You have Frankenkirby's Monster.... :P

Looks like a brown-trimmed Sanitronic model to me, but the lack of an ID plate (and a pic with the nozzle removed) makes it a bit difficult to pin it down...

Post# 175064 , Reply# 4   3/27/2012 at 21:37 (4,405 days old) by venson ()        
It's a marriage . . .

None of the components on this machine appear to belong together. The bag comes from a much later Classic III and so is the Sani-Emtor I believe. The handle style goes way back, and the front wheels don't appear suited to the vintage. What it looks like is that you have acquired someone's bright idea of a refurb.

There's too much to investigate in one sitting but the link below may be an aid in helping you help yourself.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO venson's LINK
Post# 175065 , Reply# 5   3/27/2012 at 21:39 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
Nozzle removed

 Will this help in telling what model Kirby this is?

Post# 175069 , Reply# 6   3/27/2012 at 21:57 (4,405 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

eurekastar's profile picture
Yes. The nozzle gasket and the speed switch will help narrow its vintage.

Post# 175071 , Reply# 7   3/27/2012 at 22:26 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
How so

 Will this work?

Post# 175073 , Reply# 8   3/27/2012 at 22:28 (4,405 days old) by twocvbloke ()        

I don't know about the gaskets myself, but the safety switch can nail it to it being either a 500/Sanitronic or a Dual Sanitronic motor unit...

Post# 175077 , Reply# 9   3/27/2012 at 22:37 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
But

 What 500/Sanitronic model? How do I remove the oxidation off the metal plate on the underside?

Post# 175081 , Reply# 10   3/27/2012 at 23:08 (4,405 days old) by twocvbloke ()        
"What 500/Sanitronic model?"

 Post the requested pictures and it'd help, after all, "A picture tells a thousand words"...

As for the ID plate, have you tried just washing it to see if it's just dirty? The plates are usually Aluminium, they don't "rust" like something made from iron & steel, but if the plate has been wet for some time, it may have caused the paint to flake off the metal, so the actual model number will be gone forever, hence the reason for asking for more detail in the form of photos...

Post# 175084 , Reply# 11   3/27/2012 at 23:35 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
I'll try washing the plate

 and seeing what happens. Oh and I've asked my dad to take a pic of the udnerside for reference.

Post# 175086 , Reply# 12   3/27/2012 at 23:37 (4,405 days old) by twocvbloke ()        

And take a photo of the front with the nozzle removed, incase the ID plate is too far gone...

Post# 175090 , Reply# 13   3/28/2012 at 00:01 (4,405 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
Will do

 Can we make an attempt to make the original color scheme?

Post# 175105 , Reply# 14   3/28/2012 at 01:29 (4,405 days old) by twocvbloke ()        

Well, the guess as to it's original colour would be about as accurate as guessing what colour a house built in the 1840's originally was, there's three colours I can see on it, Classic Omega Brown, ClassicIII Red and Sanitronic Tan, the most likely would be the Tan colour as the handle lock and footswitch are tan (though the footswitch button can be pulled out and swapped easily, the handle lock trim is fiddly to remove), so, unless it was completely rebuilt with Tan parts in the past, I would give Tan as an educated guess... :\

That's the problem with vacuums that have been rebuilt in this manner, they lose a lot of their originality so that it's pretty much a beast of many parts, hence "Frankenkirby", once cleaned up and refurbished, it'll work fine and do everything it's meant to, but it's a bit of a mutt and would take more money than it's worth to get it back to original, but at the end of the day, if you're happy with it, then that's fine, people are happy with rebuilt models with many colours, and others are only happy with all-originals, it just depends on the owner... :)

At least your Kirby has an ID plate, my D80 hasn't as it had been removed in the past and not refitted, so I know it's 1967-70, but I don't know when specifically it was made, but I love it anyway... :)

Post# 175112 , Reply# 15   3/28/2012 at 02:32 (4,405 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)        
KirbyDS80

 kirbyclassiciii's profile picture
Going by the color of the motor switch alone leads me into believing it's either a Sanitronic 562 or Sanitronic VII, as I believe it appears to be original.

All Kirbys had narrow wheels on all fours until the Classic 1-CR, in which new wide wheels were assigned to the front axle.

~Ben

Post# 175125 , Reply# 16   3/28/2012 at 08:18 (4,404 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

eurekastar's profile picture
With the Sanitronic VII, Kirby began using the nozzle gasket that's still used to this day. Prior to that, it was a much thinner gasket. That's why the gasket helps to narrow which model it might be.

Post# 175132 , Reply# 17   3/28/2012 at 10:27 (4,404 days old) by kirbyds80 (California)        
Can we

 Get tan parts for this machine?

Post# 175159 , Reply# 18   3/28/2012 at 19:11 (4,404 days old) by twocvbloke ()        

Yep:



CLICK HERE TO GO TO twocvbloke's LINK on eBay


Post# 249409 , Reply# 19   9/7/2013 at 22:42 (3,876 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)        

kirbyclassiciii's profile picture
Re: Bill (eurekastar),

Actually, the G4 was the last model to use that gasket, for from the G5 onward, a new "unigasket" was used.

Re: Jayson (KirbyDS80),

The safety switch design will also help you narrow down what this machine really is: if it has only one button, it will be from a 516 to Sanitronic VII, but if it has two buttons, then you have a Dual Sanitronic 50.

~Ben

Post# 249666 , Reply# 20   9/9/2013 at 23:44 (3,874 days old) by vacuumman206 ()        

well unless that vac was heavily restructured/customized/frankensteined, I don't think it's newer than a sanitronic 80. VII or 562 does sound like a fair guess to me. Don't you hate it when people make marred marriages out of beautiful, elegant older kirbys??

Post# 249677 , Reply# 21   9/10/2013 at 07:22 (3,873 days old) by jade_angel (Fort Collins, CO)        

I'd rather see someone make a frankenvac than just toss it for lack of proper parts, since at least the frankenvac functions. Also, every once in a while, a particular strain of frankenstein shows up multiple times - can't say I've seen it with vacuums, but I used to collect computers, and I'd see some weird, nonstandard configurations pop up over and over, usually something custom or some kind of refurbishment all coming from the same place.

That said, I'd much rather see a proper refurb than a frankenstein when it's possible.


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