A prime example of why you should ALWAYS...

[Klectrolux]

...Take apart and inspect the machine before plugging it in!

In my thread about the machines I got for free, there is an AP100. I thought to myself "Might aswell shine the machine up first." So I started to to flip the machine over to remove the bottom half after removing the skids that hold both halves together. Then I noticed a pimple, a blemish between the wheels. Hmm... Odd. Once I removed the cover I discovered this! So, I am very thankful I did NOT plug the machine in before I started to work on it! Holy!

 

[eurekastar]

Yikes!

 

[goadie12]

I can help

If you need any parts for an AP100 please let me know I have a couple and what ever you need please let me know. Here is a pic of the AP100 I have in my collection.

 

[electrolux~137]

So what exactly happened there? It looks like there was a short between the two terminals, but the housing material appears to be plastic, so I can't see how a short could have occurred.

Scary, to be sure!

One time Stan Kann gave me a lovely Singer R1, a spare machine. He just kinda handed it to me one day and said, "You can take this home with you." I just about fell out because I had been ogling his other beautiful R1 from the time I first laid eyes on it.

As soon as I got home I wanted to try it out. I plugged the machine in ... heard this "WARRRMMP" sort of sound inside the walls of the apartment, sparks shot out of the outlet, and ALL the power went out. I went to the fuse box and looked at them. They were all good. What to do??

I called the Power Company and a guy came out later that day. He showed me that outside, in the electric meter box, there were "master fuses" for each apartment. He asked me what happened and I told him I just plugged a vacuum cleaner in, leaving out that it was a 60-year-old vacuum cleaner! He said that it had to have been completely shorted out for it to have blown the master fuse like that, instead of the more localized fuse inside.

After the power came back on, I started taking the R1 apart to see what was going on. It didn't take long to find out... Inside the handle, the two leads from the motor were just twisted together ... bare wires, inside a metal handle ... I was lucky I didn't get electrocuted!

I called Stan and told him what happened. He exclaimed, "Oh My God! I had forgotten about that! The switch in that machine went bad and I started to replace it but didn't have time to finish it. Later on, I just twisted the wires together meaning to go back sometime and finish it." And that's why I had such a massive fuse-blow, because the Singer motor was completely shorted out. (It was also lucky that the motor wasn't fried -- it didn't get harmed at all, thankfully!)

So, yes, I agree ... it's never a smart thing to just plug in an old vacuum cleaner -- or any electrical device for that matter -- and "let's just see if it runs."

 

[twocvbloke]

And that's why us brits have fuses in the plugs....

 

[Klectrolux]

Thanks for the offer Goadie12, I already have an AP100 set like yours, so the shorted machine is now a parts machine lol.

As for what had happened, on the inside of the motor housing, one of the terminals had arced (shorts don't produce enough heat to melt plastic), somehow, probably from wire insulation weakening from heat over the years. Then causing the plastic to melt. There is a carbon-like substance all over the terminals in that area, so the arc was definitely big and long.