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.