Kirby vacuum cleaner nozzle and belt change

To change the belt on a post-WWII Kirby vacuum cleaner, you must deal with a sometimes confusing device called a belt lifter. You also have to deal with this when you remove the nozzle to use the hose, carpet washer, or other accessory. To use another head (nozzle) or hose on the Kirby motor unit, or to change the belt, you must remove the head from the rest of the vacuum. CAVEAT! Always unplug any electrical appliance before working on it.

To remove the nozzle, first lift up the headlight. Then turn the belt lifter (the thing at the front that can turn about 3/4 of a turn) counterclockwise as far as it will go. This should lift the belt off the motor shaft. In many Kirbys some arrows say take off the belt will line up. Some early 70’s brown models had a window on the belt lifter that said take off the belt. You can now unlock the latch on the main body that holds the mouthpiece. This is right in the center over the top of the mouthpiece. Now you can remove the mouthpiece. If you look inside the hole in the back, you should see that the steel hook inside is at the top and the belt is hooked to it. This is what it should look like when you are ready to put the mouthpiece back on. If you are putting on the hose or another head, I recommend that you turn the strap lifter back to the position belt on position, so you are not stretching the belt.

If you want to use the hose, hook the bottom of the hose end behind the small shaft under the motor shaft on the main unit, tilt it up and fix it on top. If the small axle is not centered (the same amount of axle sticks out on each side), tap it gently until it is centered.

Belts stretch and slip, especially on thick carpets. Genuine Kirby belt for machines manufactured since 1981 has an inside tread to help reduce slippage. Also machines made since the mid 80’s have a green LED on top of the nozzle rim that lights up when the brush is spinning at a good speed. If you have an older machine (or your green light mechanism is broken), we recommend routinely changing the belts every 3-6 months as they will stretch. If your light comes on when you are using the machine at the correct height setting, then your belt is correct.

With the nozzle out of the machine, as described above, to change the belt, turn the belt lifter to belt on if you don’t have everything ready. Then remove the bottom plate. On pre-G series machines (G series are generations 3, 4, 5, 6, ultimate G, Ultimate G Diamond, and Sentria) (which came out in late 1989), the brush will be attached to the bottom plate. Carefully pry up one end, remove belt, slide new belt over brush, and reinsert brush into bottom plate. The screw heads should face down so you can adjust them. On G-series Kirbys, the brush is on the nozzle instead of the bottom plate. There is a number 1, 2 or 3 on the outside, there are also 1, 2 or 3 notches on the square end. The same number should be facing out on both sides when you reinstall. Cut any hair. Put the bottom plate back on (some had latches, others just push in). Push the brush up. Place a straight edge at the bottom. The bristles, when pointed down, should hang past the straight edge about the thickness of a quarter. We have the G-series machine 1 that puts fewer bristles. As the brush wears down and not enough bristles hang down, put all 2 down, if still not enough, all 3. On older models, adjust the screws until one corner of bristles hangs below the bottom plate.

IF you took out the whole brush to clean it more thoroughly, which end goes where is important. The bristles are angled so that as the brush rotates from front to back, the dirt will go towards the center. One end is larger than the other, so it should be impossible to get it wrong. BUT, if someone removed the ends to clean the bearings and reversed them when she put them on, then the brush will not work right. Also, on the pre G series brushes, the large end can be forced into the small slot, though it breaks the end. Also, on machines after the mid-1980s, there is a magnet at one end of the brush that induces a current in a coil of wire that lights up a small green LED on the nozzle. If the magnet is not at the end where the coil and LED are, something is wrong. The ends can be removed and changed to fit. IF you decide to remove the ends to clean the bearings, do so one at a time and reattach before removing the other end.

Then, when you’re ready to put it back on, turn the belt lifter to the take off the belt position, making sure you have grabbed the belt (you can see through the hole in the back). Then hook the nozzle over the shaft (making sure the shaft is centered, see paragraph 3) under the motor pulley on the main unit, tilt it back and lock it, just like you opened it. Then turn the belt lifter to the position belt on position. This should drop the belt onto the motor shaft and it should be ready to use.

The rug washer and handy old butler attachments also have a belt lift and are attached and unhooked the same way from the front of the machine. Leaving the belt in the air on the hook will stretch it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *