Hey Dan, I too have a Legend II, I absolutely love the color. Its my favorite post 1980 to current Kirby

AAHH "Who's the boss" Vacuum cleaner. I always wondered as a child what type of vacuum that was, Only years later when I discovered the internet did I find out. Cool looking vacuum, we never got them in South Africa :( 

No,

No Kenmore or Sears :( 

I would love one of those, I do have the first Electrolux cyclinder cyclonic vacuum which I believe was also sold as a Kenmore. It was a very good cleaner here and was the first bagles vacuum sold in SA, ( dyson only came here in 2005 ) These were also the most expensive vacuum vacuum sold in retail stores in SA at the time. 

They were made in Sweden 

Here is a pic I just got it out its a bit dirty its been living in storage in the garage 

This was sold as a Eureka for a short period aswell, I have some info of it at work 

Rating plate 

It was a good vacuum, we however did not get a PN on ours but rather a a turbo brush. I bought my mom one when they came out They used it for a long time until I got them a dyson. This might be their one i can't remember I have a few of them.

I think it was a decent first attempt at a cyclonic vacuum, No dyson, but it was sure better than any of the newer cyclonic Electrolux's I have seen 

Dan Sorry for hijacking your thread there with this Vacuum 

Thanks Dan 

I wish we had that small nozzle for the Legend II 

On the bag less Electrolux( Swenden ) /Eureka /Kenmore , That is what i liked about it so much was that they went back to the original style.  

I often find consumer reports useless, ( well at least the ones here in SA)I am not sure how they get their info sometime's but been in the business I know what is good and what is bad out their and in more than one occasion they have named the best machine as a machine I would not give to my worst enemy.

My friend who is in large appliance repairs says the same thing, They will give a washing machine as the most reliable brand and yet that is the machine he gets in for repair the most.

I must say  Thank you very much for this thread Dan , It has got me so interested in my vacuum collection again. I have been working really hard the past few years, Late nights , early mornings, weekends, Holidays and it finally came time to take it easy, I leave work at 4 pm now and don't work weekends any more, This has freed up so much time and one of the things I have enjoyed working on my collection but now I have enjoyed actually using my collection to clean my home.

I have always used modern vacuums with built in hoses and attachments , They are great for my house with multi flooring , two naughty ( take after their dad ) sons, Cats , dogs ,Rabbits and my wife and me, But most of all I use them because  they are the  fastest way to get my home clean effectively. At work and in my workshop at home i am a vacuum guy & collector but at home everyday I am just a Dad and husband doing my bit to get things done and vacuuming was just a chore to be done. 

Now with more time on my hands I am enjoying using my collection to do some cleaning and its bee great fun and reminded me why I collect all of them.

So Thank you for this awesome thread

G

You my brother have patients, I do not I could never leave a vacuum in a box without testing it out. I cant even order online as I hate waiting for them to arrive, When I have decided or found a vacuum I want I will drive any distance to get it NOW. 

I have one of those but need a new fresh water tank, it leaks due to a family member pouring water from a kettle into it. I got it from the USA as they don't sell them here.

I agree, I have two, This one and a older model, Both are USA machines. 

I always wonder how a machine that old ends up never been used, I can understand if its a shop and it got lost in the stock room but I have seen many that belonged to people that were just left in the closet never used. 

While i do enjoy restoring machines I would love to find something like that Unused here, But the chances are about 0

I have that same dc28, Its a beast, It will drag you accross the carpetwhen the brush roll grips. Unfortunatly someone ( not me ) plugged it into the wrong plug socket in my house, ( 220v is standard in SA but seen as I have lots of USA vacuums I have 110v aswell) some how forcing the plug into a multi plug socket and fried the motor :( Its sitting at my workshop awaiting a new motor.

I like that Hoover, I like the squared off lines of the bag housing. 

I didn't use it on the carpet in our bedroom that is thick pile, seriously sink to your knees thick :) but it worked well in the lounge which is medium cut pile. I love all the tech in it though.

Dan you have a Merc there is no need to fly, Looks like we have allot in common 

That is how I got into Mercedes I needed a car to travel between Cape Town and Joburg for business as I am petrified of flying. I have not seen a Aeroplain made by Mercedes yet so I dont think they are built well enough  

Now that Is a machine I would love to have, I wish they still made it, I love the Look of it 

Steve and Dan , You guys have really hit the nail on the head, Its about preserving things so in the future people can look back and go Wow, I don't have many NIB machines I prefer to use them and try them out but my specialty is taking the discarded and destroyed and bringing them back to their original beauty. Even then I may use them once or twice but they are put on display in my shop on special shelving for all to see.

I love that Hoover Windtunnel . To me it looks like a modern concept one, I would love to own one, One day my Brother when I come and visit we will have to go vacuum shopping and I will need to get a container to send the stuff back to SA

I believe any vacuum can last a long time if you take good care of it and use it properly, Take the Eureka 4700 series, sold here in SA as the Electrolux petlover, It was a disaster I have never seen so many vacuum come back under warranty in my life, The problems were simple the filtration system was not the best so the filter would clog easily eventually causing motor failure. This was made worse  by the fact that most people had a straight suction canister before buying it, meaning the upright would remove piles of dust from the carpet left behind by the previous vacuum.

They had no sooner been replaced on the market by the much better powerglide than you could walk into any recycling plant and see vast quantity's of them standing their.

That all said I have a few customers ( generally the more mature ones ) who come into my shop to buy new filters and belts every few month perfectly happy with their 6 year old machine, The reason, they look after it.  

We have a load of Guardsman in the cleaning company I co Own, They are fantastic machines outlasting the sebo's Kachers and all other Euro commercial machines we have. Mine are all orange though, with the longest cord I have ever seen on a vacuum. WE don't et original parts for them here any more ( bags , belts brush strips ) but the generic ones wok well enough, We hardly ever see these in my workshop for repair, They are even maintained by the staff better than the other units, The lady's even change the belts and brush strips them selves, I keep getting asked when am I going to get more. Pity we just don't get them here any more.

I wouldn't say you have to many vacuums, come on 400+ thats not even two different ones a day for a year, No you need more, Many more, If the Mercs can still get into the garage's then you have to few 

Love that Hoover, I have a hard bagged blue version. 

On that new Simplicity Model, I am a huge fan of both poly toothed and poly V belts, due to the fact that they do not streatch and so give the same cleaning performance continuously, Unlike rubber made normal elastic belts that loose there elasticity quickly and need to be replaced every few months to maintain proper cleaning. 

The Poly belts can deteriorate over time but it takes years, Most will last 10 to 20 years with ease.

Oh how I would love to find one of those, They were called the convertible here in South Africa, Convertibles were given the 652 designation and later known as seniors, I have not seen one of those in maybe 15 years at least.

I like that allot, We never got those in SA, I figure I would triple  my collection if I cam to the USA. 

I like the mixture of plastic body and on board attachments with a cloth bag.

Considering the retro craze at the moment from cars to furniture Kettles toasters I have often wondered why there are no or few retro vacuums. 

I am sure we can all convince Tom to see what he can come up with at Tacony, Its got to be modern but retro wth nice design cues to the past without loosing any of today's modern amenities 

I have the Siemens one 

Dan Bosch and Siemens have a 50/50 partnership in Home appliances from cooking to cleaning.

I know on our market we often get vacuums that look similar but are sold to different retailers so they don't compete on models 

That's a pity they are often overlooked at in favor of Miele here to and its to bad because they make some pretty good bagged vacuums much better than anything I have seen out of Miele lately. 

The problem is like Toyota people buy Miele here in SA because of what they used to be and when they break prematurely they just blame the maid for abusing it not realizing that the quality has dropped.

Thats very nice Dan, I have a siemens version of that , similar but not identical. Its at my shop I will see if I can post pics tomorrow. It does not have a PN ( sigh)  

I totally agree with you, The hose on my one is just to short. I dont know what it is with European vacuum company's and short hoses. I know the houses there are generally smaller than in the USA and South Africa but even in a small house a long hose is great as it means less need to  pull the machine around. 

You don't want to have to tug the vacuum behind you every five minutes just to vacuum a small room.

I think this is just why I have always preferred uprights, why drag something behind you and then still push a floor tool infront of you when you can just push the upright instead.