Another idea....

[fantomfan57]

So the Sunbeam Touch N Lock bags are expensive on Ebay. I used the used one I have to serve as a template. I had already cut a Kenmore Uright cloth Hepa bag to use in my Electrolux 1504. So I took the Kenmore carboard collar to make a bag for the Sunbeam. I pulled the plastic collar carefully off of a Hoover bag for a Constellation and glued the new collar on with hot glue.

Worked.

I can find the hoover bags more readily. I also see using Eureka H bags the same way. Helps that I have a bunch of the Eureka bags.

Please share your manufacturing stories.

 

[real1shep]

Destroying  Connie bags....shame, shame.....lol.


 


Kevin

 

[fantomfan57]

Hey Kevin....

thanks man, I never thought about it that way. Do you have any work around ideas that you have employed?

Awhile back, I made a plastic collar which allowed me to use a different bag in the Sunbeam Challenger I had recently found...that was before I found quite a few Challenge bags pop up on Ebay. I see there are a few on there now, but I am pretty well stocked up.

Anyone else care to share? Does not have to do with destroying...

 

[real1shep]

I don't have anything so rare, Garry, that I have to do that. But I am on the lookout always for genuine Hoover Connie bags.


 


No so much anymore however, because I'm using the retro Connie as my DD.


 


Kevin


 


 

 

[fantomfan57]

Retro Connie??

Do you mean the newer version? I had one in white, cleaned up and it was really cool. Started running out of room and sold it. unfortunately I deleted my pictures of it.

Here is what it looked like:

 

[real1shep]

Yes!

That's the one and mine is in Pearl White too....which now I happen to like better than the brushed aluminum or whatever the metal finish is called.


 


I really like this vac.....for all the reasons some hate it. It follows close like a puppy dawg....if you've used the originals, you're always pulling the machine towards you.  The wand and attachments are actually better quality than the original, which is amazing considering the retro unit came out in 2008. Takes HEPA bags, the bag seal is a double lipped seal....has a really slick secondary filter that's much easier to change than the original AND has a filter for the carbon brush dust. Has a plastic plate bottom that wont shed paint and rust like the original. Motor has more lift and airflow than the original.


 


They really thought this one through with respect to the old one. Of course the dumber of the millennial hordes hated it and it flopped in the market place.


 


They told me the Pearl White models had a slightly shorter hose.... I can't verify that by part #.


 


Kevin

 

[fantomfan57]

I remember...

that yes, it floated easily. Not sure why I missed the details about the filtering.
It was a Goodwill find, I was surprised to see it in such good shape cosmetically and it I seem to remember it had all it's parts.

I have a Connie put up somewhere. that one needed a new bag seal. I may pull it out this coming week and check it out again.

 

[real1shep]

I can't say enough about the retro Connie....and I used the old ones exclusively on my hard floors.

I did have an 'incident' though....there's a collar that snaps in place to hold the hose to the handle with two small tabs. One of my tabs broke and all I can tell is that the one tab was faulty molded. I tried a few plastic glues and they failed. The plastic felt soft to me so I tested it to be ABS. Glued easily with plumber's glue.

Kevin

 

[fantomfan57]

Well done, Kevin....

Also, what was that glue? Name brand?

My friend who runs a vacuum shop showed me a "glue" they use that looks like contact cement, but sets up quickly and does not need the separate parts to dry a bit first.

Forgot the name, but it came in a pint metal can....like paint. She said, if you use it, the part will NEVER come apart.

Garry

 

[real1shep]

Plastics are.......

a real conundrum. They use over a dozen kinds in consumer products. Sometimes you can heat weld them back together again with a clean soldering tip on a low setting. But sometimes that can make the joint brittle and cause it to fail. There's a Loctite product just for plastic that has a felt tip applicator that 'activates' the plastic. Then you apply the glue. Pretty good stuff but alas doesn't work on all plastics.

I always test for ABS plastic by using the glue itself. Take a tooth pick to an inconspicuous spot, dab and swirl some glue on it, let dry. If the glue scrapes off with a razor, it's not ABS. However, if the glue won't come off without a portion of the plastic coming with it, it's ABS plastic.

They use ABS in LOTS of applications from auto interiors, to vacuum plastic. The ABS glue can be bought anywhere....Home Depot, hardware stores, plumbing shops et al. It's jet black and Oatey in one of the more popular makers. It's a solvent weld glue and there is no better ABS joint repair.

Love to know what that glue is they use in your friend's vacuum shop??

Kevin

 

[fantomfan57]

Good info.....

I will call her this week and post the name.

Thanks, Kevin.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I retro fitted my newer white Connie to take a Hoover power nozzle and plan to do the same with my aluminum one also.
Since the white one was a lower end model I used a white and grey matching Futura power nozzle and for the aluminum and black model I will use a black windtunnel power nozzle for the higher end.

I am pondering the idea of making my 60's all orange 444 fitted with a power nozzle. I'm thinking trying to see (with the help of my father in law who is a welder) if I can come up with a way to use an extra orange Convertible Special 34 I have that was the matching upright to this Connie and see if I can do an Airway/Don Clarke type set up aka tandim air.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

also just putting it out there I have an extra white connie for sale if anyone is interested

 

[real1shep]

Thanks, Gary!

Phillip, I might be interested in the white retro Connie. Is it listed in the 'Supermarket' here?

I'm not sure why you consider the white one a "lower end model"? I'm told they are exactly the same except for the white paint and a presumably shorter hose that came with the white one...

Kevin