Advice needed about Hoover Constellation wand ring seals

[kmarkg2]

I love my vintage Hoover Constellation and keep it in top shape but I need some advice please. The flat O ring seals that fit inside a groove in the aluminum wand sections constantly bind up and unseat when inserting tools or additional sections making it difficult to properly seat the attachments. I could just remove the wand seals to remedy the problem but that would result in a small loss is suction. Do other people have this problem? I thought about glueing the seals in place so they don’t dislodge when inserting tools but I’m concerned if this doesn’t work then I’ve ruined the seals which undoubtedly will be hard to find. What have you found to be a good fix for this if you’ve encountered it and I’m curious if the seals were initially glued in at the factory?
Thanks for any advice!

 

[huskyvacs]

They are likely hard and rotten and if they were glued in, the glue has rotted, or if they were press-fit, the rubber has just shrunk and no longer fits in the slot.

Take the ring seal to a hardware store and look in the plumbing section and see if there might be a gasket that is a close match.

 

[real1shep]

I've mentioned......

these innumerable times in here. They seem to be more like a Teflon type material. Plastic I would assume to be stiffer after all the yrs.

I tried a touch of grease and that worked until dirt attached itself to the seals. I interchanged them to different sections...that helped a little because one is usually the worst and I put that one where I least pull it apart...the head.

When TTI took over Hoover, old parts items like these were of no concern to the bean counters.

I'm sure there is something out there to sub in....you can tell the value of the suggestions by the people who have never seen the seal.....

Kevin