1970s/80s Hitachi C-V160 Restoration & Strip down

[cheesewonton]

Exactly. Once a collector, always a collector.

I have had one particular bike for 41 years and always do my own maintenance. I can almost do things without looking just from muscle memory. Same thing riding it. It is like an extension of my mind, like one of my limbs. It talks to me and I know what it's telling me like it's connected to my nervous system.

 

[huskyvacs]

Excellent job, you make it look so easy! Your house looks a lot like the house that the seller that I imported an Electrolux upright from lived in.

I don't see anything wrong with that motor, it looks like where they torched the leads onto the connector block/heatsink and soldered it on. If the motor was burning you'd smell a sickly sour smell of the lacquer burning off the windings and your electricity would likely crap the bed. You'd definitely know if it was that badly off. They are definitely wrapped in some kind of banding sleeve to keep them from touching each other's coils.

That commutator would be very happy with a good polish from a fiberglass pencil tho.

 

[tonynz]

OOOOh thank you for uploading so much detailed info on the disassembly!! These were quite common here in New Zealand, but they are rare as hens teeth now lol... I have two of this model (one in red the other dark brown), and one of the later grey model with retractable power cable (I forget the model right now).
They look quite simple to work on, but it's good to know I have your info to reference back to when it comes time to restore mine.
I have a fair amount of nostalgia with these machines, as a kid, 8-12ish, I had a disabled neighbor who I'd made friends with their daughter, her mother couldn't vacuum on her own so it was something I regularly did for her, she had one of these vacuums from new, I loved using it, it was so light and nimble... Emptying it though, that was always super messy lol.

Ps. I LOVE the colour of yours!!!

 

[centralsweeper63]

I have been hunting for one of these. If you go right to the end of this video (around 54 seconds) the one in the top left corner that is red and white, so I have been told, is the vacuum my dad had as a kid. It is an earlier metal variant. Though still similar. I have had no luck in finding PYE (Hitachi) vacuums of any type.

 

[vacuumlover]

Excellent job, you make it look so easy! Your house looks a lot like the house that the seller that I imported an Electrolux upright from lived in.

I don't see anything wrong with that motor, it looks like where they torched the leads onto the connector block/heatsink and soldered it on. If the motor was burning you'd smell a sickly sour smell of the lacquer burning off the windings and your electricity would likely crap the bed. You'd definitely know if it was that badly off. They are definitely wrapped in some kind of banding sleeve to keep them from touching each other's coils.

That commutator would be very happy with a good polish from a fiberglass pencil tho.

Excellent job, you make it look so easy! Your house looks a lot like the house that the seller that I imported an Electrolux upright from lived in.

I don't see anything wrong with that motor, it looks like where they torched the leads onto the connector block/heatsink and soldered it on. If the motor was burning you'd smell a sickly sour smell of the lacquer burning off the windings and your electricity would likely crap the bed. You'd definitely know if it was that badly off. They are definitely wrapped in some kind of banding sleeve to keep them from touching each other's coils.

That commutator would be very happy with a good polish from a fiberglass pencil tho.

Thank you. Interesting wonder if someone used some of my old photos as I’ve never exported anything.

Ah perfect good to know thank you, I’d never seen anything like it before so wasn’t entirely sure but was surprised/confused seeing as it sounded healthy. I agree, I’ve actually been meaning to buy one for a while but keep forgetting, I’ve had other commutators in the past that could’ve done with it will need to make sure I revisit this one soon.

 

[vacuumlover]

OOOOh thank you for uploading so much detailed info on the disassembly!! These were quite common here in New Zealand, but they are rare as hens teeth now lol... I have two of this model (one in red the other dark brown), and one of the later grey model with retractable power cable (I forget the model right now).
They look quite simple to work on, but it's good to know I have your info to reference back to when it comes time to restore mine.
I have a fair amount of nostalgia with these machines, as a kid, 8-12ish, I had a disabled neighbor who I'd made friends with their daughter, her mother couldn't vacuum on her own so it was something I regularly did for her, she had one of these vacuums from new, I loved using it, it was so light and nimble... Emptying it though, that was always super messy lol.

Ps. I LOVE the colour of yours!!!

You’re welcome, glad it can be of help. I’ve actually spotted a service manual/schematic I might buy soon if I do I’ll remember to send you photocopies of it. I did find it was easy to work on but some parts a bit fiddly. lol yeah I made the mistake of using the filter cleaning feature and a big cloud of dust went flying up. Thank you I do have a soft spot for this colour style.

 

[centralsweeper63]

It is a very nice colour. Quite similar to the Hoover junior U1012.

 

[tonynz]

I was just up in the roof liberating some stuff for centralsweeper63 so I thought I'd grab some photos (please excuse the mess, I'm sure my fellow collectors will understand lol)...

vacuumlover, I see your mustard C-V160 is missing the little wedges either side of the front latch, I'll add a photo of my red C-V160 that has them, but my brown one is missing them too, I always wondered if this was a model variant thing, or if they just had a habit of falling off & getting lost?

My Brown C-V160 is complete and usable. but unfortunately the gasket seal around the fabric filter & spinny filter cleaner in my red one was badly degraded when I got it so it's not currently usable.
Hopefully I'll eventually find something to replace it.

While I was up in the roof I grabbed photos of some of my other machines from the same era, late 70's early 80's Hitachi/Sanyo/National (Panasonic) machines. I don't know if it was actually a proper name, but I always called this style of machine the "bagless split-a-part" era

 

[tonynz]

You’re welcome, glad it can be of help. I’ve actually spotted a service manual/schematic I might buy soon if I do I’ll remember to send you photocopies of it. I did find it was easy to work on but some parts a bit fiddly. lol yeah I made the mistake of using the filter cleaning feature and a big cloud of dust went flying up. Thank you I do have a soft spot for this colour style.

Wow yes please!
A service manual/schematic would be SUPER helpful

I always found it best to leave the hose connected when you use the filter cleaner too, otherwise it puffs out dust like an old steam train lol....

 

[centralsweeper63]

A Hoover wet/dry type machines from the 80s? Incredible. Tony, you REALLY have a good collection.

 

[centralsweeper63]

You need a hose in the front of a machine like a Tellus when you shake the filter out, the manuals stated that quite clearly.

 

[tonynz]

A Hoover wet/dry type machines from the 80s? Incredible. Tony, you REALLY have a good collection.

I do wish I had more room to display them, it's a bit of a waste having them stashed in the roof or garage
A friend who collects vintage T.V's and radios, another friend who collects vintage appliances and myself (with vacuums and washing machines) have joked several times about opening a small vintage/retro museum, but we doubt it would make enough money to keep it open lol...

That Hoover Module I think was just the dry version, but you could clean up small wet spills with it, the proper wet & dry shampooer version has a clean water tank that sits on top (unfortunately I haven't been able to find one of those).

 

[centralsweeper63]

I was trying to remember if it was the wet/dry model of not. I always get confused with the 4-5 different model names. Museums never really make money, but they do bring people. If you run a store selling machines, filters, bags, accessories and servicing you make more money having a museum because people WILL come to get a look at the different machines. Then, you have a good talk to them and you have a customer for life.

 

[eurekaprince]

Very few compact canister/cylinder vacs made in Japan offered disposable dust bags. It was only when Panasonic and Sanyo started producing full size canister cleaners for the North American market in the 1980’s did they offer disposable dust bags. Most compact cleaners made in Japan offered removable dust “cassettes” that required emptying - some with accordion filters that could be “flicked” clean by turning a crank or by pulling out the rewindable cord. Early Sanyo dust cassette canisters had a permanent bag that could be shaken through a separate access in order to drop fine dust into the dust cassette.

 

[centralsweeper63]

I have a brand new spare permanent bag for a Japenese machines.

 

[tonynz]

Very few compact canister/cylinder vacs made in Japan offered disposable dust bags. It was only when Panasonic and Sanyo started producing full size canister cleaners for the North American market in the 1980’s did they offer disposable dust bags. Most compact cleaners made in Japan offered removable dust “cassettes” that required emptying - some with accordion filters that could be “flicked” clean by turning a crank or by pulling out the rewindable cord. Early Sanyo dust cassette canisters had a permanent bag that could be shaken through a separate access in order to drop fine dust into the dust cassette.

All of the machines in the photos I uploaded above are all bagless or cassette type, as were most the Panasonic/National upright vacuums of the same era. The sound made by the automatic filter cleaning mechanism always used to worry me, but then I figured out what was actually happening & that it was meant to do it (I thought it was a problem with the recoil spring in the cord winder lol)...

 

[tonynz]

I was trying to remember if it was the wet/dry model of not. I always get confused with the 4-5 different model names. Museums never really make money, but they do bring people. If you run a store selling machines, filters, bags, accessories and servicing you make more money having a museum because people WILL come to get a look at the different machines. Then, you have a good talk to them and you have a customer for life.

The museum idea was only ever a whimsical thought (we all have full time jobs anyway lol)...
My friend that has quite an appliance collection used to have a shop in Lower Hutt called Nicknacks (her name is Nicki so the name worked well)
The plan was to put a vintage appliance display in the window to grab peoples interest and bring them in, but we only ever got around to a mannequin vacuuming with one of my Hoovers lol. She has since shut the shop unfortunately.