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A small amount of blue arcing right where the brushes touch the commutator is normal and no cause for concern. If the arcing gets more significant or starts to wrap around the commutator, the motor is on its way out. I should save a bad motor and make a video about normal vs abnormal arcing.

To me this seems like mostly an aesthetic choice. Any vintage Electrolux with a power nozzle (at least once you get a new hose) will do a beautiful job. The 1205 and Golden J (which was still a model 1205) had a "decently powerful" motor and either a PN-1 or PN-2 power nozzle, respectively...

You mean like one of these? Vac shops. This one came from my good friend's store that he took over (they had been a Hoover dealer for quite a few years). Since these were never sold to the public (obviously), there are not too many out there. My own shop was a longtime Sanitaire and Royal...

Very cool! Looks like a copy (or private label?) of a Tornado...several other companies produced something similar. I worked on a commercial Filtex central vacuum (CTS-500 dual motor) that was originally installed in a bowling alley. My assumption was that it was used for general cleaning...

120th anniversary of the Spencer Turbine Cleaner (1905) 70th anniversary of Vacuflo central vacuum systems (1955)

Interesting to see the ad touting "Especially Built for Home Use" when it says "Industrial Vacuum Cleaner" right on the thing. Also strange that they were advertising it as "the answer to shag carpet problems"...! Imagine.

Nice find! Weren't early versions of this machine called the Bissell "Plus"? I seem to remember those being available sometime in the 1990s in hunter green...perhaps there was a blue one too... This uses a Bissell Style 4 belt...I am not sure if there is a cross reference for those, but it...

You've got a "Rotrex" system there...an early wet/dry self-emptying central vacuum. Besides power and vacuum pipe connections, this machine would also have been connected to water and sewer. It mixed the dirt with water and sent it straight through the pump and into the sewer as a slurry. The...

I'll send you an email.

I don't think Royal made this one. Different switch, different cord, different bag, made in Taiwan per the label. Seems like a very close copy. Possibly involving some secondhand dies/molds/parts that originated from Royal. Weird though in any case!

That's a TSP300L Two motors in parallel. I see them from time to time, but the TS300L (same motors but in series) is much more common. Yes, I'd be open to a trade for either model. Much easier for me to find another of those than a Beamco Grand Central. -Owen

This is super cool, thank you for sharing the pictures. Very unique system. They manufactured (or modified) the hoses themselves, and now that they are out of business your best chance is finding another used one on CL/Marketplace/Offerup/eBay etc. It would be entirely possible to convert the...

It would be interesting to know the story here...

What a gorgeous machine!

A Beamco "Grand Central"! Longtime California brand, I believe they were self manufactured and installed (a la Sequoia, Omar's in the PNW, or Budd in NJ). I believe these use a permanent cloth filter, right? Have seen one installation that had two canisters...one like yours and a second one...

I wish I had that much space at my store. Actually, I take that back. I'm glad I don't, because then it would look the same as this. Now, to go back in time and see the boneyard in a vac shop from the fifties or sixties, THAT would be cool!

It's my understanding also that the three row brush was for PN-1s originally paired with CA and Hospital G machines...though no doubt it was available as a service part, so may have found its way into "domestic use" PN-1s. How's the bristle length on yours? If it came from commercial or heavy...

Awesome! This is great to see, as so many Hoovers with Quadraflex agitators have been retired solely because the brush strips were no longer available. IMO, the Concept One grooms plush carpet better than anything. The Quadraflex PN also cleans beautifully, though I never really warmed up to...

I used to really wonder why Lux kept offering woven hoses long after everybody else had gone to vinyl. Planned obsolescence, like Charles said, no doubt played a part. Without the slow deterioration of the woven hose, there was not much that would cause an Electrolux to lose its performance and...

They were bypass, like a shop vac. The old Floor-A-Matics were direct air, which I always thought was wild for a wet pickup machine. But they worked!