1979 Royal 602 on eBay

It's identical to the one pictured, including the bag, and a friend of mine has a 602 with the same bag, so I believe this one to be correct. It's possible Ben, that if you've seen a 602 with a commercial bag that it might have been a replacement. Don't know why, but it seems that it was at one time a common practice with Royal to use commercial bags for replacements.
And Rick, the 602 and 880 were actually produced about the same time, but the 880 was a higher tier model. As for higher model #'s indicating newer machines, that's partially right, but within the same tier. For example, the 886 replaced the 880, the 603 replaced the 602, which replaced the 601. For example, a page in a catalog I have from the early or mid 50's shows the 601 as the economy upright, 701 economy tank, 801 deluxe upright, and 901 deluxe tank.
Here's a pic of mine as it was when I got it. Looks the same now, except cleaner and shinier, and the adjust-o-rite cap has been replaced with a blue one, which I think looks better, if not more appropriate.
Jeff


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Post# 107823 9/6/2010 at 22:19 (4,973 days old) by kirbyclassiciii (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes Hi, Here is a 1979 Royal 602 (serial: L78A39389) upright, but what catches me off guard is that the bag currently installed is intended for an older, earlier '60s Royal 880. The original bag on this model, and all commercial models through about 1986, is dark blue in color, with a black bag cap, and on the front of the bag it reads "Royal" (the then-current print logo), with "COMMERCIAL" read vertically down the bag. Everything else appears to be correct here, including the "Adjust-O-Rite" plug. The motor housing itself appears to be hammertoned. Is it true Royal continued to use a hammertoned finish on some of its motors as late as 1980 or so? ~Ben CLICK HERE TO GO TO kirbyclassiciii's LINK on eBay

Post# 107824 , Reply# 1 9/6/2010 at 22:21 (4,973 days old) by kirbyclassiciii (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *Hammertoned Motor Housing* Here is the close-up view of the hammertoned motor housing:

Post# 107826 , Reply# 2 9/6/2010 at 22:39 (4,973 days old) by vac-o-matic (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Checkrate/Likes I have the same Royal, and my bag is the same and is in perfect condition. The 880 came after the 602 as I remember, the higher the model nbr. the newer the machine I believe and the motors also increased in amps. Hard to believe the 602 just had 1.8 amps, and trying to compete with the Kirbys.

Post# 107829 , Reply# 3 9/6/2010 at 22:47 (4,973 days old) by kirbyclassiciii (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *This One Has 3 Amps* It even says so on the nameplate affixed to the back view of the nozzle. It seems as although Royal had used the 4-amp motor on the model 880 (it would increase to 5.4 amps in its final years), some of their commercial-grade units continued to use the 3-amp motors, such as the no-frills 801 and this 602. I know the 618 commercial (and maybe 654, 655, 656, 657 and 658 as well) with its 18" nozzle used a 6-amp motor that household models such as models 884, 886, 887 and 992 would use.

Post# 107831 , Reply# 4 9/6/2010 at 23:39 (4,973 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *I Also Have A 602* It's identical to the one pictured, including the bag, and a friend of mine has a 602 with the same bag, so I believe this one to be correct. It's possible Ben, that if you've seen a 602 with a commercial bag that it might have been a replacement. Don't know why, but it seems that it was at one time a common practice with Royal to use commercial bags for replacements. And Rick, the 602 and 880 were actually produced about the same time, but the 880 was a higher tier model. As for higher model #'s indicating newer machines, that's partially right, but within the same tier. For example, the 886 replaced the 880, the 603 replaced the 602, which replaced the 601. For example, a page in a catalog I have from the early or mid 50's shows the 601 as the economy upright, 701 economy tank, 801 deluxe upright, and 901 deluxe tank. Here's a pic of mine as it was when I got it. Looks the same now, except cleaner and shinier, and the adjust-o-rite cap has been replaced with a blue one, which I think looks better, if not more appropriate. Jeff

Post# 107833 , Reply# 5 9/7/2010 at 01:00 (4,973 days old) by kirbyclassiciii (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *Southjk's 1977 Royal 602 with Commercial Bag* Here is a video of user southjk's 1977 Royal 602 with the Commercial bag. The Adjust-O-Rite plug is the 1978 version. This vacuum is the last one shown in the video. ~Ben CLICK HERE TO GO TO kirbyclassiciii's LINK