Recent content by powertank

The 90s style, the 501, or the new ones?

Same here. I like them a lot, and so do our customers.

The best part is that it doesn't even die. I can't believe they had to use a match to get it to light.

Ugh. I saw a beat up tan one of those in a thift store recently as well as a Decade 80. I was not impressed with the quality, so I steered clear of it.

I don't know why my email address doesn't show up, I need to sort that out: [email protected]

Actually, those darn motors seem to last forever. They're Ametek, and the ball bearings last a long time. I'm no Oreck expert, but I've never seen a recent one without ball bearings.

Oh, I forgot. I always laugh when I see the two speed Orecks- they just barely work on high- who thought low speed was a good idea?

I'm not a huge fan, but I like them for their simplicity. You can replace any part in less than 15 minutes. Access to the motor is easy. I never use the side belt access because the bottom is so easy to remove. I actually don't like the new ones as much- they changed the brushroll slightly...

There are plenty of Dirt Devil brochures. I only have Regina warranty forms and a window sticker for a dealer. No Panasonic stuff, sorry. DysonAnimal, you're welcome to the packets. You may already have them. I'll try to send you some pictures so you can check. Everybody, send me an email...

My boss told me that they moved to China mostly because the American tooling was getting worn out, and it cost less to create new tooling in China than replace the American tooling. Too bad. We would get our parts a lot faster if Royal was still USA made.

The new Royals maintain very high quality casting- they are still made very well. The motors are very loud and (IMO) overpowered but they will last just fine if they aren't seriously abused.

I'd say you have to weigh the hassle of getting at the bearings versus the ease of finding another motor. I'm sure a member here has one of those lying around (I don't). If you haven't done many motors, I wouldn't reccommend digging into this one.

Oh bugger. I was beginning to have a nasty feeling it was one of those. How bad are the bearings currently? You can replace those bearings, but it is a royal pain in the butt. Do you have access to a drill press? You need to be able to set the depth of the drill bit so that it doesn't punch...

Oh, okay. If you can take a picture, it would be helpful. Like I said, I've never done one of those personally. But usually for motors that have rivets, you drill them out, replace the bearings, then put screws in place of the rivets if you don't have a rivet gun.

Explain what? How to get at the motor and replace them? Getting at the motor is easy enough but you'll need a bearing puller to remove the bearings. If you bring the disassembled motor to the shop where you're buying the bearings, they should be able to pull them off and put the new ones on...