A Garage Full of Vacs, Part 2

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Since Chad loves vacs with pns, here's a couple more of those. First, a gold and white Air-Way COMPLETE! This one's a real favorite of our own Robb C. [rexaircollector].

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*Gasping for Breath*

you have some nice vacs! I'd have to say the Premier with the power nozzle is my favorite of the bunch, easily followed by the Sunbeam with power nozzle and awesome wood grained finish. Very lucky guy!

Kyle
 
Since Chad loves vacs with pns....

Yes...Yes i do....

So now that I see the underside of the Sunbeam powernozzle, while it does look very "hooveresque", It does look as if Sunbeam came up with their own powernozzle for the Challenger vacuum cleaner. This suprises me, only becasue they really did not have that machine around that long, and they couldn't have reaped back their investment in just the few years it was on the market.

I always wondered about the Sunbeam becasue the back two wheels, and the wand neck, looked VERY similar to the Hoover PowerMatic, hence my ask for the moneyshot. It does have a beater brush though. That's interesting.

Your Air-Way Sanitizor Mark series is just a sight to behold. I have the same machine, but with a chrome powernozzle hood. The sticker that says "RugMasteR" has that beigy color intertwined in it. I wonder if that was an upgrade?? A chrome hood, or the painted one. I guess we will never know.

I had several of those Hoover Celebrity canisters over the years. My very favorite was the baby blue and chrome Celebrity Elite series with the earlier PowerMatic II head with headlight. I had a later green one like yours, and then a grey one with the two speed powernozzle, that I ended up sending onto Jeff Parker. Aparantly he has two, becasue one of them one best of something at a previous convention.

I've never clarified if it was his machine, or the one that I sent him. In a way it really doesn't matter.

I am unsure as to why I have never kept any of my Celebrities. They are super powerful, and still clean like no tomorrow. I guess as you age you learn what to give, and not to give. I do know that the blue one needed a new motor , and it sat under the basement stairs at the old house for quite some time. After I moved out, and went back to get it a few months later...the ex (ahem) must have thrown it out...becasue it was gone.

Good batch of machines tho.

Finally, I DO remember that the Princess models of Filter Queens were I believe made for the vacuum stores, and remember that creme and tomato soup color combo. Of course the ones I remember the best are the all grey models with like the 10 ft. hose. I've had one or two Princess's over the years. Again a machine I let go of...

Oh well...


Chad
 
Did Sunbeam make a full sized upright.,......????

Brian,

To answer your question, Sunbeam DID offer a full sized upright thruought most of the 1970's. Several variations were put out, nut most of them were nothing more than rebagdged Singer Twin-fan uprights from the same period.

Some were single speed, some were two speed. Some had a Cord Reel, and some did not. Some were wild and funky colored, some were not.

This is mine that I was given by David Cibrian at the convention in August. I went thru the thing fine tooth comb style, and now it's on perm. display at my apartment.

Heres a few shots of it...

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And a full on shot.......

This machine is two speed, with a two position height adjustment. Uses regular Singer/Kenmore SUB1 bags, or of course uses F&G bags thru Eureka. I have a Arm and Hammer F&G in there now. It's actually kinda neat.

And it cleans and grooms very well.

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chad a quick question

how well do the arm and hammer bags work?? I have heard that they clog up quicker because of the baking soda that is in them.
is this true?
Mike
 
You gotta love Ugly Betty! She reminds me of the ugly puppy I kept from a litter because I couldn't give him away. He grew up to be a really cute dog and is the best pooch I've ever had! I'll bet Betty is that way too! She really is cute -- kind of quirky -- in the "60s Vibe" sort of way. LOL! But my favorite in your cool collection is the Hoover Celebrity. Thanks for sharing your collection.
 
Chad, isnt the paint and body on that Sunbeam in great condition, considering how beat down the innards were?
 
Ive never used or owned an Airway (wish i could have!) , but Someone once told me the RugMaster power nozzles (such as this one), were not near as powerful as they looked,,and the brush roll was thin and wimpy,,,is this true or no?
Thanks much for showing your collection!

BTW, are Airway bags still avalible?
Also, what are the controls on the front of the Sunbeam ?
What were they for, and what did they do?
Are the Sunbeam bags simular to an Electrolux tank of the time?
 
Brian, the brush roll in the Rugmaster is fair, but I've seen better. The controls on the front of the Sunbeam are for adjusting the suction, and while the bags are similar to Lux bags, they won't quite interchange.
 
Replies.....

Re: Arm and Hammer Bags,

I really don't find them that bad. Of course I very seldom fill up an F&G bag to any appreciable amount. In many cases it puts too much strain on the zippers, and in these old machines with the orig. bags, I rather not push it. It took me 5 yers to find another gold brocade boxtop bag to replace the one with the busted zipper on my Eureka Golden PowerTouch model 2082 for example. What I like is that they do not SMELL like shoes/moldy /mildewey scent after vacuuming a time or two with them. And considering I use these machines infrequently, that's a good thing. Keeps the machine fresh...

Re: Sunbeam Upright,

David, this machine wasn't bad at all, I mean it's not beat down at all. I cleaned out the motor housing, which was full of fluff, which is very common with these machines. I greased up the bearings, and got a NOS brushroller from Morrison's in Canton Ohio. It runs like new. But you're right...that machine shines like a new penny. Whoever had it before us, must have not enjoyed it, or liked her or his earlier machine better. Cause this thing diddn't get that much use.

Re: Rugmaster Nozzles,

I feel IMHO that the powerbrush in the original Rugmasters was no better or worse that many of it's contemporaries. The orig. PN used like on Brian's machine, and like the one I have buzzed quite alot. Mine sounds like a motorcycle puttering along. I think for grooming, it does leave something to be desired, but so does the PN1 I have on my 1205. I think that the second to the last one....the one that was made for them by douglas was a far worse powernozzle in terms of cleaning ability than any of it's contemporaries.
Again MHO. The comapny did much better with the Hayden/Whirlpool/Kenmore/Panasonic double Beater brush head that they used on the Centurion and The TG anniversary edition...and was also available as an upgrade, and the Sani-Clean.

My few cents here....
 
Thank you for your help,,,you guys are excellent! I love learning about old vacs i wish i could have owned back in the day! Id have a larger collection, but just dont have the room to store them,,thats why its fun seeing all of your collections!
 

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