Electrolux Diamond Jubilee - where to get a new motor?

[minivanmegafun]

Hi folks, first post here.

I just inherited my grandmother's Diamond Jubilee; and with it the typical pile of accessories accumulated from Luxes past and present: PN5, combination rug/floor tool, a couple upholstery/dusting attachments, older cast aluminum wall/floor tool, sprayer, a vaporizer; and about 50 Genuine Electrolux bags. The only uncommon thing is an Electrolux-branded extension cord, but I'm not about to complain about not finding anything particularly interesting.

My significant other has been complaining that it doesn't have quite the suction of the Hoover Tempo Widepath I'd like to have it replace (cheap uprights are terrible for hard-surface floors), so I dragged it to Avalon Vacuum in Lakeview, Chicago, hoping for a tune-up; and I feared the cloth hose might be leaking.

The guy at Avalon grabbed his vacuum gauge, and measured about 60 inches of water at both the canister and the hose. No leak in the cloth hose (yay!), but the pull is a bit weak. He said that there wasn't much to do other than replace the motor, and at its age, it's probably not worth it.

I've worked on my car plenty, how hard can an Electrolux be? And for that matter, where do I find a new motor?

Thanks!

 

[kirbykid63]

It's not that hard to replace a motor. We have one for the Diamond J in our eBay store - click the link to see it. Don't listen to those people who say it isn't worth it to replace the motor! The new ones are horrendously expensive, but a rebuilt is not so bad.

http://tiny.cc/70j73

 

[kenkart]

???

If it is running and not either smelling hot or slowing down, I really would get another opinion, usually if there is something wrong with a motor,it will smell hot or just quit,maybe run slower, but I tend to think it could be fixed easily.Could be a suction leak somewhere.

 

[kirbykid63]

The hose

Before replacing the motor,Replace the hose its been my experience over the years that those breaded hoses leak even when they look good.Replace with a aftermarket vinyl hose this should solve your performance problem.

Richard

 

[minivanmegafun]

hose

I considered replacing the hose, though at the shop we did test the suction at both the canister and the end of the hose, and got almost the same vacuum rating. I wouldn't doubt that the hose is leaking, or will start doing so badly in the near future, though.

Is there any reason to replace the brushes alone before the motor seizes up altogether?

 

[kirbyds80]

Another Electrolux

Try to find a good working Electrolux like a Olympia 1, Silverado etc and pull the working motor from it.

 

[scvacuumguy]

Pay no attention to their advice. Replacing the Diamond J motor is very worthwhile as those machines are the last series of the metal tank (Diamond J-Ultralux Classic). One bit of advice, though, do NOT let anyone put one of those "peanut" motors in the machine. It runs hot and will burn out long before the replacement amatek-lamb motor.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

I would tend to agree with consensus... Probably doesn't need to be replaced... Getting rebuilt wouldn't hurt anything, though. And probably a new hose. Keep the original for show, but those original hoses are so short, stiff and difficult to work with, a new hose will probably give you better performance and make the cleaner much more user-friendly.

I think the Tempo is probably a better overall carpet-cleaning machine (if you're talking wall to wall carpets)... but the Lux is going to be better for doing everything else. That's actually not too bad of a pair of vacuums to have -- if you have lots of mixed surfaces or lots of wall-to-wall carpeting.

I'm on the lookout for one of those late-metal body luxes, I've never had a late-model like that and think that I would probably really like it.

Thanks for sharing, definitely let us know what you decide to do with it. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have!

And welcome to VacuumLand!

~Fred

 

[aeoliandave]

Correction, thanks to the 8 hour EDIT window.
Was at work when I first posted this. Now I am home and just Vac-U-Tronic tested the G, 1205 and Golden J.

60" lift is a tad low for a J, normal for a 30 and E/AE.

60" - 65" is fairly standard for a Lux G style and pretty much that across the board of canisters and cylinders of other brands. (with exceptions like an Air-Way 66, Compact, McAllister/Fairfax or post-200 Filter Queen...and the Canadian Lux ZB80 Series)

My 2105 pulls 70". A Golden J pulls stronger as it has the new improved stronger motor - the body is ~1" longer to accommodate it. My Golden J pulls 82".

Count yourself fortunate that you have a hose that gives essentially the same reading, though, 1" - 1.5" loss through couplers is not unusual in any vacuum.

So, nothing wrong with the hose integrity. Lucky fellow.

I would definitely pull the motor to access the double turbine fans - you may find the blades somewhat clogged with hardened dustbunnies from a burst dust bag in the past. Clen the blade channels with a pipe cleaner - DO NOT Scrape the blades lest the discs become unbalanced! With the motor out also inspect the rubber mounting ring - it could have unseated itself or have a split that allows a leak to flow around the motor rather than through the motor. Any of these conditions would account for a 15" leak.

Dave

Vac-U-Tronic suggested readings for 1953 with new condition hose or at the inlet:
[this post was last edited: 3/23/2011-18:09]

 

[suckolux]

I wish I could make my Silverado stop smelling like dust when I clean! Am used to no smell on others. 4 ply Elux bags. One room and the place has that ready to sneeze smell and I love the machine and its looks.

 

[suckolux]

Just spoke to my independent repair shop, he suggested taking the motor out and cleaning the fans? Think it would help? Or are these just a but dusty on the exhaust?

 

[scvacuumguy]

If the motor doesn't have any issues with it, then probably a good blow out and service will handle it. I definitely agree with everyone here that you may not necessarily need a motor, just warning you though, stay away from that new peanut motor.

 

[suckolux]

I think some of my dust smell may have even been my nos bags. Maybe too old.

 

[a007kirbyman]

Welcome Chris...

I too would like to welcome you to the forum/club.

I'm somewhat limited on assistance w/ other brands; however, with KIRBYs, if you decide to add any to your arsenal, I'm here to assist, & feel free to contact me directly at the office by phone [or, thru my email in my profile]. These are many times, much quicker than thru the forum with me.

And again, welcome.

Cheers & hagd all,

Bill

In case my email doesn't show in my profile, here it is [change the: at & dot]:

a007kirbyman(at)aol(dot)com

 

[minivanmegafun]

Thanks for your help everyone! I'll try to open it up and give it a good cleaning over my next days off, and check the seals are doing too. I'll probably also try to track down a local Aerus Electrolux dealer for any seals I'll need.

What's a good place to keep in mind for a new hose in the future? Scouring eBay, or is there another place I can look at?

Does anyone have a link to a good tear-down guide for these machines?

> That's actually not too bad of a pair of vacuums to have -- if you have lots of mixed surfaces or lots of wall-to-wall carpeting.

Nope! That area rug in the picture is the only carpet I've got. Everything else is polished concrete, which the Tempo (with an always-on brush) is awful for.

 

[minivanmegafun]

Tear-down instructions

Welp, I took it apart. I didn't find anything particularly interesting, but it looks like it could use a new set of rubber seals (if such a thing exists). And the hose is deteriorating quickly, looks like I'll need to replace it sooner rather than later Everything else appears to be in good shape.

Either way, I was dismayed at the lack of teardown instructions anywhere on the web. So, if anyone wants to know how to tear one of these apart, click away at this link! Enjoy my awful photography and pictures of my one-eyed cat.



http://chrisswingler.com/blog/2011/04/electrolux-diamond-jubilee-canister-vacuum-disassembly.html

 

[henry200]

smelling dust

My Diamond Jubilee has been my daily-driver for the last two years but the level of filtration leaves a lot to be desired.  I had a Miele cannister which was bar none the best cannister I've ever owned both for both suction and filtration.   In a moment of weakness I let my ex have it.  To improve the filtration on my Diamond J  I have been making a bag liner out of loose Filtrete material, intended for hammock style furnace filters.  Using a couple layers of the material I make a "bag" to slip the Electrolux bag into and then insert the works into the machine.  I can go through a couple bag changes before changing the extra filter material.   I also keep my automatic setting on the low end, rather than letting too much old dust accumulate in the bag.  I notice a measureable difference in how much dust is coming out of the exhaust, and the interior of the bag chamber is no longer coated with fine dust.


 


I just discovered that there are style C bags made of the Filtrete material available now.  I might order a package and give them a try. 

 

[elux89]

New motor/better filtration

If you want to put a new motor in, you can find ones that will fit well on ebay. The motor you have is the LF series motor. Every LF motor I've ran across the airflow wasn't all that great. It seemed that the ones that have the black plastic holding the carbon brush assembly have much better airflow.

In regards to filtration levels, I'll state this once again, go buy the Perfect Vacuum hepa bags for your electrolux. The filtration level is phenomenal.

 

[minivanmegafun]

Bought a new hose...

HUGE difference. Despite testing okay, it seems like it's gotten more leaky in the past couple weeks. I can hear and feel the air rushing through behind the swivel joint, so I went ahead and bought a replacement from govacuum.com.

Bonus is it's not as stiff (as the old Electrolux woven hoses tend to be), and it's longer! I'll post pics in the Daily Driver thread tomorrow.