appx Age of a vintage Beam Central Vac

[panofan]

So I bought a used central vac recently (looks like it was hardly ever used) - I'm assuming it is > 20 years old - but I'm trying to get a sense of how old it actually is.

The model is 294

Here is a picture of the front with the beam logo - I have seen newer/older ones of this model on ebay, but the logo on those looked like an inlet value instead of a lower case b.

Is it possible to interpret this from the serial number?

 

[hoovercelebrity]

The power unit itself isn't shown in the 1961 Brochure that is for sale on Automatic Ephemera, but the company logo is the same. I would guess that machine is from the late 60s or early 70s. I'm not entirely sure when they changed their logo, so it could even be from the late 70s or early 80s... I don't think they date coded back then... If the Beam has a Lamb motor in it (it likely does), I think Lamb motors are sometimes date-stamped. Or maybe one of the relays in the cleaner has a date stamp on it. Pop the top off and see what you can find, that may give you a better idea to be exact.

http://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~649~Beam~

That is a very cool find!! Can you take more pictures, perhaps of the full unit, the filter, and the nameplate? Did you get any tools with it, or just the power unit?

I worked for a vacuum store in the late 90s/early 2000s whose primary business was Central Vac installation. We were pretty exclusive Beam dealers, and back then they had a super product and Beam was a great company. I believe they were owned by Electrolux floor care at that time, but were still operating as an independent company. Now it would appear that Electrolux Floor Care has come in and become more involved... I heard that they moved assembly to Mexico, cheapened the product, and reduced the lifetime warranty to 10 years... which is really a shame.

I would install an older Beam unit in my home in a heartbeat![this post was last edited: 7/17/2014-12:04]

 

[centralvacs1928]

Date Stamp

Fred is right, if you look on the motor, you should see a number stamped in black (older) or green (newer) ink. The last two digits are the year of manufacture.

 

[panofan]

Good idea!

I'll pop the top off this weekend and see what I find! And I'll try to take some more pictures as well.

HooverCelebrity - it was an awesome find - for a fantastic price. It came with the power unit (original, good shape, dust collection bin has been repainted), hose (I'm 99% sure it isn't original - it is a non-electric plastiflex type with a smooth interior and I think 1 3/8"), and what I'm also pretty sure are all the original beam tools (dusting brush, upholstery brush with removable bristles, crevice tool, barefloor brush, a straight suction carpet tool, a plastic wand extender (not sure what it is for), and a TK2 turbo brush.

The tools are also what makes it exciting for me - my parents had the exact same set of tools for the central vac they put in their house in 1983. So that is one point of reference for me. The one difference is the turbo brush - theirs had a plastic neck that attached to the wands (ultimately its weak point), this one has a metal neck. It is slightly different on the bottom (totally flat v.s. indenting in by the neck) and it has a sticker that says "Make in Switzerland" v.s. it being moulded into the plastic.

So far, the turbo brush has been my first project - took it all apart, wipe/sanitized it all. Removed carpet fluff etc - but, the turbine was missing a few fins . When I connected it up, it spins nicely, doesn't stall easily, but it doesn't sound like I remember - kind of a low growl v.s. the higher pitched, presumably faster sound I remember growing up.

 

[ronni]

The harvest gold color is reminiscent of the late '60s to the mid- '70s at which time coppertone, avocado green, pumpkin orange, and poppy red were also in vogue. Later on auburn, chocolate brown and almond became popular. Do let us know if you locate the date stamp. Also, if you have the hose and attachments I'm sure we'd all enjoy viewing them if you posted photos.

 

[ronni]

I believe Eureka-Williams Corporation (later The Eureka Company) manufactured the attachments for BEAM by Electrolux (formerly BEAM Manufacturing Company and BEAM Industries). The attachments were also rebadged for NuTone, Rainbow, and others.


Here is a link to the BEAM by Electrolux website: http://www.beamvac.com/Site-settings/Footer/About-BEAMElectrolux/Company-Info/

 

[luxflairguy]

Beam 294 central vac

The 294 was Beam's biggest and best in roughly 1978. It's what my parents put in. Still there and going strong!

 

[panofan]

Luxflair - sweet! I'd love to see pictures of that beam if you have any! This could well be the same model they have

Photos to come next

 

[panofan]

Here are pics of the tools. Total throwback to my childhood / teen years. I wonder if my folks still have these in the wooden chest they kept the central vac hose & tools in

I remember the upholstery tool and my dad teaching me to use it (without the bristles) to clean around the edge of the carpet up to the baseboards. It whistled when attached to the hose.

http://tools

 

[panofan]

Turbo brush

I believe this model is the 'TK2'. I'm pretty sure it is made by Dupro (duepro.com) in Switzerland. Again, this is slightly different than the one I had - don't know if this one is newer or older.

 

[panofan]

Wand

Never seen one quite like this before - hard to see in the pic, but there are oval shaped slits at the top of the wand where the hose goes - maybe for a bit of flexibility?

 

[panofan]

The unit itself

 

[panofan]

And - the inside - pics of the motor, etc

You can see a now hard to read wiring diagram and a peek inside the top.

Really hard to take a snap of the motor - but got its serial number and label captured.
The model is 116119 (3 stage, 7.2" fan) - which I found out with a bit of googling - so that's good.

Serial number is really hard to read, but it looks like:
390881 F4 (last pic).

Ideas on the year? 1988? 81?

 

[ultralux88]

88 sounds a bit closer in my eyes based on the looks of it all. I've got a GE cv unit from the 60s that's just a rebadged Beam, very different in many ways.