Electrolux 612 Electronic & Electrolux 616 Electronic

[vintagerepairer]

A before E...

As I understand this, "A" indicates the second example of the cleaner, with any modifications made. For instance lets say the red filter cage inside the bag unit. Maybe the 616E did not have that, for example.

Quite why the prefix "E" was used to indicate "Electronic" when the none-electronic cleaners (save for the 350) always had their own model number. It is very strange.

Incidently, the hose on the 612 pictured is a rare sighting, as Electrolux soon changed it to the design seen on the 616 pictured below it. Why? Well, the stretch hose could not cope with having the threaded section inside of it, as if the hose was pulled hard enough, it came right out of the hose-end. Thus Electrolux changed it to a larger outside thread to stop this happening.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Also, with regards to the prefix, two long-running models spring to mind; the 87 cylinder and 170 upright, both of which could be found with A, B, C, and so on after the model number, as these cleaners had several changes to them as time progressed.

 

[Jakesvacs]

Good looking 600s!
What do you prefer now, Electrolux or Hoover?

 

[alexhoovers94]

Benny, I think you may be correct about the model number "thing", I thought you may of been the one that would of been able to answer that for me.

I thought that may of been the reason that they changed the hose width and hose cuff "chunkiness" the hose on this 612E was quite stiff when I first got it, so I tried to sort of, over stretch it to try and make it a little less rigid, and by doing such a thing, rippled the hose straight out of the cuff, along with the internal coiled wire, I unfortunately has to loose an inch of the hose as some of it wouldn't go back inside the hose, I did however got as much of the wire back into the hose as possible...That was that lesson learned.
I think the slightly larger diameter hose gives it better cleaning performance, at least I felt it cling a bit more.

Jake, I like Hoover very much, as a lot of people probably already know! lol.
I do have a rather large soft spots for 70's, 80's and 90's Electrolux uprights.
To answer your question, I like Hoover a little more, but I do love Electrolux's also.
I am not quite as narrow minded as I once was (like two months ago!!!)

Alex.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Alex have you noticed yet the difference in the sole plates? Your 616 has mouldings at the back of the sole plate which prevent the cleaner tipping forward. Most 612 cleaners did not have this and as such can tip right over on itself.

 

[alexhoovers94]

Ahh yes Benny, infact...

There are several differences in the sole plate, the 612 has 2 metal plates on where the opening to the brushroll is, where as the 616 doesn't, and as you said, the anti lean forward thing near the rear wheels, also, the 616 has a strip in the centre of the sole plate, I guess for a safety thing, possibly.

The 616 also doesn't have a handle on the bag door, which I believe only the 610 and 612 had, to assist with opening the bag door, but the 614, 615 and 616 never had it for whatever the reason.

I meant to mention, my 612 leans forward slightly and when you push forward on it, there is no real feeling of it stopping from going any further forward, there in no, "bash" feeling when you stand it upright and lean forward on the handle slightly...where as, when I stand the 616 upright, you can feel a big "bash" as it hits and obstacle to stop it from pushing any further forward, so it will stay at a 90 degree angle.

I hope that makes sense, because I can't think of any other way to explain it, lol.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Hello again Alex. The additional plastic moulding on the middle front of the sole plate is to strengthen the front section of the plate. Given that the 612 had the metal strips, this may well have been enough support, but certainly more would have been needed without it, as it would easily have flexed inwards when caught on gripper rods etc.

The 612 was supposed to stand still at 90 degrees, but the mouldings in the hood which were designed to do this were completely insufficient, hence the later design whereby the additional mouldings were added to the sole plate to overcome the issue. Also inside the hood, early models had a metal ring attached to the side where the pedal locks, but this ring was too soft and broke easily. The modification for this saw the locking positions being attached to the ducting where the hose handle slides in, moulded as one unit.

Now, as for the handle in the bag door, this was merely glued in place and I have seen several where it was missing. I assume that as the handle made opening the cover only slightly easier, a decision must have been taken to leave it off altogether. This would have reduced assembly costs and solved another of the countless issues which these cleaners had.

I must tell you also that the very last of the 612 cleaners were designed in the same way as the 616 was, with no handle in the bag door and also having the 616 style on /off switch which, as you will tell, is a lot softer as it is a one-piece unit with only the cap as a separate part, unlike on the original 600's which had the two-piece cap assembly and the large, trusty "arrow" brand switch underneath (same switch Electrolux used for goodness only knows how many years on practically all their cleaners). There is a "clunking" sensation when pressing this switch, unlike the 616 where it feels very much like a Dyson switch.

 

[thekirbylover]

they both look awsome

would love to have a 600 in my collection, though the 500's are my favourite Electrolux

, the 600's seem to be really heavy for some reason 

 

[rootcyclone]

Nice additions, Alex!

 

[alexhoovers94]

Video of the 616

 

[alexhoovers94]

Video of the 612