Calling all repair guys

[ohiovacuums]

I recently purchased an old Apex straight suction vacuum.
It's in pretty bad shape but I'm trying to bring it back the best I can.
Picture 1 is the vac
#2 shows the handle with the on/off in the end of the hand grip
#3 shows the fan
#4 shows the back of the motor

My questions are:
pic #3 - the fan appears to have the end broken off....other vac motors I have seen have a post sticking out that can be used to hold the shaft while turning the fan free. Any ideas how I can get the fan off ? The motor sparks but does run.

pic #4 - what is the screw for ? The hole next to it is for the rear swivel wheel.

I've never seen this before but the electrical wires run on one side of the wood handle. There is a valley cut out and the wires are just shoved in there tightly.
The handle is solid so there is no way to run the wires through the middle.

I have the work 1/2 done as far as polishing/cleaning.
That's the easy part...hoping I can get the motor purring.

 

[hoover300]

No need to remove the fan. The bearing plate is held in by the motor screwing to the fan case. Just tap the armature with an ice pick from the back. Should come out

The screw by the caster hole is an oil wick.

Best of luck! These can be finicky creatures, especially the rotating switch.

 

[huskyvacs]

Also keep in mind some sparking is normal with these old motors, so do not try to eliminate all the sparking entirely. They are all hand built and do not have the same tolerance as precision engineered motors today.

The wires running through the handle was a way for them to negate wear and tear on the cloth cords from running against furniture or from hands, and to prevent shocks. Very innovative for the time period. Birtman did it on their Bee-Vac vacuums too.

Just take your time and be delicate and you will get it.

 

[lesinutah]

The

Hole in the back is likely old wiring hole.

 

[ohiovacuums]

Follow Up

I have the handle all done and the on/off switch works ! Good thing because I don't think it can be dis-assembled and repaired. I polished the snorkel (I call it) but it still has a haze on it......how do I get that out ?
I haven't done the motor yet...I attached more pics of it. There are no machine screws to take out..I can't see anything that holds the armature, etc. in.
The large screw near the rear wheel hole is an oil wick as far as I can tell. There are two ball bearings that can be pushed in to add oil....see the pic.
So, I'm still confused on how to attempt to fix the motor.???

 

[lesinutah]

I

Have a bee vac junior that had oiler ports like your apex.

The spindle on the fan you put vice grips or pliers with a rag on the teeth to not hurt the fan. The spindle will come off but the fan stays attached.
You need needle nose vice grips. The 2 oiler port location are floating bearings. You put the vice grips on the upper armature shaft so the armature won't spin. Then you spin off the fan off the spindle. Then once the fan is off there's going to be 2 screws holding the bearing plate in. Loosen the screws or bolts and the bearing plate will come off.
Be careful to keep track of where the washers go when taking everything off.
The 2 screws from the bearing plate hold in the coil usually and screw into right above where the carbon brush housing is. I'd leave the coil in.
I'm guessing this is how yours comes apart as the 2 oiler ports are bearings and they float. This makes the fan removal different than any other vacuum I've disassembled.
I sprayed degreaser and sprayed water into the housing after I took everything out. I let it air dry and that should make the motor housing clean as it can be.

 

[hoover300]

NO!!!!

This is not a Kirby or Bee Vac! This will break the hub of the cast, 1 piece fan!


See the rear bushing, and the rotor in it? Tap the back of it with an ice pick. Or, pry it from the front vent holes with a screwdriver. Nothing is holding the bearing plate in except friction. The fan is almost impossible to remove without the armature removed from the unit. I got this information from an old VL thread about an Apex like this and it WORKS. The fan does not need to be removed in the way he did so - as you can see, nothing on the bearing plate. Hopefully my screenshot can be read, if not it is thread 8069.

 

[ohiovacuums]

Thank You

Thanks to Hoover 300, getting the armature out was very easy.
Now my final question......I cleaned the copper on the armature but I notice
the part that revolves within the magnets (sorry, don't know what all
this is called) looks like my dog got a hold of it. The magnets are also
chewed up. Am I out of luck or will the motor run anyway ?

 

[evolutionclean1]

She'll run

Just fine. Internals of the motors were made out of softer metals back in the day, that's just wear from age. I'd be willing to bet the motors of most near antique machines probably look about the same

 

[lesinutah]

Um

Sand them down.
I'm willing to bet about no old motors are scratched that bad.
Try spraying engine degreaser on it and then sand it.
The armature looks rough but the copper isn't marred and you can sand out the dongs and it may hopefully.

 

[evolutionclean1]

Maybe not that bad?

But some pretty decent wear is to be expected in 70 plus year old machines

I was not meaning that as a negative thing at all. It's definitely fixable, but it just goes to show that they used to build things a lot better than they do nowadays

 

[lesinutah]

The

Commuter bars might be too thin to conduct enough electricity to work. That's my only concern.

 

[ohiovacuums]

follow up

I sanded the commutator with 1000 grit paper. Just about all the scratches
are out. I very lightly sanded the magnetic bars but will leaves most scratches as I don't want to ruin it.
I will test the armature with a multimeter and hopefully, will have no shorts or other problems.
I'll put it back together and see how it runs. If it still has problems, I'll take it apart again and try plan B...whatever that is.

 

[hoover300]

Might want to seat the brushes using a seating stone.. A freshly sanded commutator will spark quite a bit

 

[huskyvacs]

I'd gently blow a lot of that dust out of the motor while you have it apart too, not too hard as everything this old gets very fragile - even metal. All that dust wont help the connections any and can be a fire hazard.

 

[lesinutah]

Um

Here's a trick. If you wash it out in the sink. It gets all the nooks behind the coil. You can use a blower to dry or air dry.
I'm glad you got it apart. If I ever get an apex I'll refer to this thread.

 

[huskyvacs]

I don't know if I'd expose it to water. These old motors used cardboard insulators and shellac sealant for the wiring that can be water soluble. The stators are also hydroscopic and absorb water, not good.

 

[lesinutah]

Husky

I just tore apart 1926 beevac junior hand vacuum. I washed the inside with water. I use a sprayer in kitchen sink. I don't soak it in water it spray on use towel dry off. The electrical parts are taken off. It works never had trouble yet.
The beevac vacuum is back together and runs like a top.
If there's cardboard or electrical I usually use a vacuum to clean it out. I plan out and only use water safely.

 

[hornet]

Ohiovacuums:I had a similar problem with an old fan motor , with wear in the same area, the magnetic bar plates are not lined up and are being struck by the armature , may have been dropped and the plates shifted a bit .
To fix this I took a 3” dowel laid it flat against the plates and tapped the dowel with a hammer until the plates were even again, then put a bit of lacquer on the plates to sink in and lock them in place, also you might want to check your bearings , one my be worn causing the armature to move enough to strike the plates.
I did this to my old 1920’s table fan and it totally fixed the problem, hope this helps you out?