Electrolux Automatic Control Question

[danemodsandy]

Both my Luxes are later models with Automatic Control- a 1205 and a Diamond Jubilee. I know the settings can be varied for different kinds of dirt, but I find myself wondering: what, exactly, does the control adjust? I know there are gizmos and tubing behind the control panel, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what they are or what they do.

Or does one have to be a thirty-third degree Luxonian to be initiated into these mysteries?

 

[swiveltop]

secret life of the vacuum cleaner

you need an operating manual for a 1972 electrolux

 

[charles~richard]

I refer you once again

to the LX section of my Lux History, where an explanation of the suction control can be found.

See link below, and scroll down to the paragraph that begins "Customers soon found that under certain conditions, the bag would eject too soon."



http://www.137.com/lux/luxlxs.html

 

[swiveltop]

the bag would eject too soon

so if your bag is ejecting prematuraly,would you simply adjust the controls?

 

[countryguy]

But how does the control work? When the setting is changed what is actually happening from a technical viewpoint?

 

[danemodsandy]

How Does It Know?

"But how does the control work? When the setting is changed what is actually happening from a technical viewpoint?"

Yes! That's the question! Is motor speed being adjusted (doesn't sound like it), or is suction somehow being adjusted, or are elves running on treadmills to accomplish something?

In other words, WHAT inside the vacuum is being adjusted when you move the control, and to what purpose?

 

[crevicetool]

O.K. kids, this is going to be lengthy,

so go get some coffee. The control does not change motor speed. It is simply a pneumatic system of valves, diaphragms, springs and tubing. I'm going to talk about the system found on Lux models AE through -(not current on new Lux so I don't know when or if they stopped using it)at least all metal bodied units. The same system is used on the LX but more involved and more mechanical but the pneumatic part of the system is basically the same. When you take the cover off of the front bag "door" to reveal the control knob and tubes, you will notice that one tube comes from the (in most cases) clear valve casing to the bag/hose inlet tube(where you connect the hose). Another tube goes to the cover itself which via a small rubber "nipple" connects to the suction side of the bag chamber. On 1205's onward, you will notice a little brass rivet just about an inch below the latch on the top of the bag chamber, that's where the nipple connects. OK, ya still there? One more tube comes from the valve and goes to a diaphram. You will see the front cover latch connected to this diaphram, some springs, etc.(on I believe F, and I know G's have additional levers and spring to hold the cover latch lever down when the cover is open or when there is no bag in the chamber. on 1205's this extra mechanism is merely replaced by a switch that shuts the motor off. But I'm sort of getting ahead of myself. When there is a UNCLOGGED bag in the vacuum, vacuum "pressure" is equal at the hose connector, and the bag chamber. so nothing is taking place with the automatic control at this point. Once however, the bag has become clogged, suction at the bag chamber is higher than it is at the hose, the control valve "senses" this and starts to move a diaphragm toward a cylindrical shaped "inner" valve. This inner valve is connected to the knob that either says advance, retard or later had bars or numbers or words telling it's position. e.g.1-6 fine-course. The greater the number, or setting determines how much suction is necessary to move that inner valve. Greater suction is determined by how clogged the bag is. (bathroom break) Now, once enough suction has entered the control valve to move the inner valve about an eighth of on inch, or so, vacuum is admitted into that diaphram, it is sucked down, moving the levers that will open the front cover, shut off the motor, light the check bag light, (1205 on). On the AE-G there is a spring loaded rod extending from the front trim area that goed to the motor control switch at the rear of the machine. You can see this switch move when the front cover opens. That's BASICALLY it. I hope I didn't bore you. I'll explain the LX later today, Don't have time right now. I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles for that. In the mean time, any more questions please post them. If Iknow the answer, I'll write back... Rick

 

[crevicetool]

Fun Things to do with your Lux...

I'm back. If you are totally bored with the previous book on the automatic control I understand. Here's a couple of fun things to do with your Lux. (it thinks it's so smart) 1. If you've got thin enough fingers, feel inside the hose connector for a little brass covered rivet, this should be at about the 4:30, five o' clock position looking at it from the front. turn the machine on stick two fingers in the connector just above that rivet. the closer you bring your fingers to the rivet, you will see the cover release button start to pull down, move your fingers away, it will return to the previous position. 2. Turn the control knob down to a low number say, 1, or 2 depending on the condition of the bag, then go clean, when that cover pops open, set the knob just a tiny bit toward a higher number. Then turn the machine back on, wait for a few seconds then jerk the hose out of it real fast. The lux says wha? what the? and pops the cover. Then just sit there and laugh at it for being so dumb.

 

[danemodsandy]

Thanks, Rick!

Actually, your explanation was very understandable, and I appreciate the info. I don't like not knowing how things I own work. Now, if I ever have trouble with premature "Check Bag" lights or shut-offs, I know where to start looking for problems. And I also know how important it will be to make certain that all those little tubes go back where they belong if I ever perform any service in that area. My machines are late ones (1205 and a Diamond Jubilee), so premature ejaculation is not an issue.

I'm tawkin' about the BAGS! Boy, do youse guys have a dirty mind...;-)

 

[charles~richard]

Yes, thanks, Rick for the explanation

I had a pretty good idea of how the system worked since I have certainly had plenty of Electroluxes apart, but this is the first time the entire process has been laid out so specifically.

 

[crevicetool]

AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY...

The LX. The pneumatic system of the Lx is basically the same as later systems except of course for the bag ejector. Earlier, I said that a clogged bag creates more suction, if you will, in the bag chamber than in the hose connector. While this situation starts the automatic control, in the LX it provides a second function. For example, (and I'm not wandering off course) fill a drinking glass half full while holding it under water. Then try to lift the glass, upside down, air side up out of the water. You will feel a resistance, the pan of water will try to hold on to the glass against your attempt to remove it. The same holds true for the bag in the LX. After the motor has been turned off, it takes a few seconds for the suction to die down to the point where it can no longer hold on to that bag. The "sled" then has enough spring power to push the bag of of the machine. But first, that sled has got to be released. The diaphragm that opens the cover in the AE and later machines is located, (as is all the other pneumatic parts) in an aluminium casting under the front end of the LX. This casting also serves as the hinge point for the front cover. If you have an adjustment knob it would be sticking out of it too. The diaphragm not only releases the front cover it pulls a pin down from under the bag ejector sled. The sled is held in loaded position by a catch at the rear of bag chamber. When the pin pulls down, a rod slides forward and the catch is released allowing the sled to spring forward ejecting the bag. At this point in time though, that LX motor is technically still running ('cause we ain't shut it off yet) On the top of the front cover there are two pins projecting out that fit into corresponding holes in the top trim piece of the vacuum. The pins push yet another sled that, (when the cover is closed), allows the switch to rock back and forth to turn the machine off and on. However, when the front cover is open, that sled moves to the front of the cleaner and turns off that switch, allowing the motor to slow down, the bag to eject, etc. etc. blah blah blah. Charles-Richard's Lx pages talks about a "Rube Goldberg" chain of events and there is no better explanation for what has taken place with the Automatic control in the LX. The Universal 6700 is the vacuum that stole my heart at the age of three, But it was the Electrolux LX that started me on the path to studying and applying mechanical principals in life. It can be used as an emergency boat anchor if needed, because it just weighs a ton, but when it's polished up-It's just a damned fine piece of good lookin' metal. Rick

 

[crevicetool]

Spell check said that is how to spell

Diaphram. It just don't look right to me. Hell if I'm movin' off this chair for a dictionary, would have to know how to spell it anyway......

 

[laspirateur]

It's Diaphragm

Great explanantion!!!!
All I now is that we were an Automatic Electrolux family and that control was always and forever set on "6". Electrolux really wanted you to use the lower settings because that would encourage you to change the bags more often because sometime in the early sixties, their bean-counters realized they were making more money on the paper bags than on the vacuums themselves. I remember at least one manual recommending that housewives change the bag after each use for "optimal performance". As Al Pacino once said, "Whooo Whaaaaa!!!!!!!!!"

 

[charles~richard]

My Mom's Model G

I remember when Mama got her new tan G (*) she told me that the Electrolux man had recommended that she change the bag after each use. He said, "Why would you want to store dirt and germs in your lovely house?" That flattery fell on deaf ears. That was too great an extravagance for her.

She did, however, keep her setting on "2" which meant the machine popped open when the bag was about half full. Not a bad idea, really, since any fuller than that and the machine dramatically lost suction. That's the one big drawback of all Electroluxes over the years. Once you start vacuuming, if you are doing an entire house, you can soon tell that suction is declining. It doesn't take long for it to get to the point that it's barely picking up at all and you have to replace the bag, frequently before the cover pops open.

-------
(*) I was not at home when the Electrolux man came. And BOY was I mad when I found out I had missed him!! It was always a huge thrill when he came around. He was very congenial and long-suffering and never minded showing me all the new models and the fun stuff in his car. (Early on, he had a huge blue and white Rambler station wagon; later on he got a white Econoline van with the Electrolux logo in big letters on both sides!)

One time when he came by he gave me a complete Model F turbo-tool kit, the whole sheebang! I drove my family NUTS using that thing. It did not have the same eerie but pleasant flying-saucer drone that the older "air-powered floor polisher and scrubber" had. It had a piercing, high-pitched screech that sounded EXACTLY like a dentist's drill! My mom finally got so tired of hearing that sound all day long that she forbid me to use it anymore!

Anyway, I came home from school one day and I heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner running. But I could tell right off - as soon as I got in the door - that it was not Mama's old AE. That old beat-up machine had a sound all its own. Among other things, it made a loud hissing sound because she used a cloth bag in it and it didn't seal quite right. You could hear the sound of air rushing in around the sides of the front cover.

I followed my ears to the sound and went into my parents' bedroom. There was Mama, using ... a brand-new Tan G Electrolux! When she saw me, she started waltzing around, happily singing, "IIIII'VE got-a-new SWEEEEEE-perrr!" Then she glared at me and said, "And YOU keep your PAWS off of it!!" Of course, that lasted about a day and a half. It wasn't long before the novelty wore off and she was happy to let me use it.

I was kinda mad that she did not get the power nozzle. But she, being a frugal pastor's wife on a very meager salary, decreed that she did not need it. We did only have one carpet in the house, one of those frumpy 1950s wool rugs with the sort of swirly designs in it. I don't know how to describe it, but I guess most folks my age or older know what I am talking about. The rug was in the living room. It was not as large as the room; there was a border about 3 ft. wide all around the edges where the hardwood floor showed. Then there were throw rugs here and there but most of the house had bare floors.

Still, I fumed, she should have gotten the power nozzle! (n.b., it cost about $75 at the time, and the basic Model G was around a hundred dollars. I don't remember the exact cost but I remember my Dad grumbling about "spending a hundred dollars on a new sweeper." So the Power Nozzle was a pretty costly addition at the time.)


She saved the box it came in for me, and I had it for quite a long time, storing "secret stuff" in it. I don't remember what ever happened to it.

 

[charles~richard]

Living Room Carpet

This is the same type of carpet my parents had in the living room, although instead of a flowery design it had a "swirly" sort of pattern. I know I've seen photos of the exact carpeting somewhere; I just can't seem to find them now. The background color was the same though -- "cinammon" as the ad calls it!

 

[danemodsandy]

You're Right, Charlie

"That's the one big drawback of all Electroluxes over the years. Once you start vacuuming, if you are doing an entire house, you can soon tell that suction is declining. It doesn't take long for it to get to the point that it's barely picking up at all and you have to replace the bag, frequently before the cover pops open."

Yeah, that's the trouble with an in-line design, where the bag and the motor are in a straight line, one behind the other. Because of the placement of the motor and fan, the vacuum CANNOT do anything but pull dust to the rear (or bottom) of the bag, and as the dust layer gets thicker, it chokes off air intake worse and worse, because the fan is trying to suck its air through the dust layer. The Compact C-2 I grew up with was great about maintaining suction as it filled with dust. On that machine, Mom used only the cloth bag. There were a couple of paper bags included with the machine, and they actually outlasted the machine itself, being found- in pristine, untouched condition- in a box during a move some years after the machine itself had been discarded.

Still, Lux bags are cheap, and I don't like storing dust anyway, so frequent bag changes are no hassle as far as I'm concerned. I am absolutely amazed at the people who will spend the money for a fine vacuum, and then will NOT take even the most basic care of it. My Diamond Jubilee was found in a thrift for $2.02; it had a jammed-full dust bag in it, and a jammed PN-5 clogged with dog hair. There was nothing else wrong with the unit, except that its small tools were missing (floor/rug nozzle, dusting brush/upholstery tool, and crevice tool). An hour of cleaning and servicing got it working perfectly again, including freeing up a frozen roller brush bearing.

Now how the hell do you go from spending hundreds of dollars on a new premium-priced vacuum cleaner to a machine so jammed with dust and dog hair that you give it to a thrift store rather than deal with unclogging it and changing its bag? How can it be that anyone is that lazy and/or ignorant?

Ah, well. It certainly made the vacuum affordable for me!