Electrolux Model L - Rebuilt NOS

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Keither,

Well you did it again!!! Two fab beauties for sure!! Growing up in Boca Raton there used to be a vac shop just up road from me and there was always a lux or two in there.

A neighbour gave me a model L that belonged to her mother. The suction was so strong. I put the hose to my face and when I pulled it off there was a huge red mark on my cheek. I tell you that thing would have sucked a baseball through a length of garden hose.

Electrolux was always the favourite brand for mom.

You can start a museum with these two and the rest of your collection.

These two gals are sparkling beauties for sure!!!

Gary.
 
@ Barry and Gary - Who me 😳😳😳 😄 L o L @ you did it again!!! Thanks guys ..you all are awesome! I love these vintage machines as they continue to exceed expectations to this very day. We don’t have the luxury today of being able to go to the Woolworth appliance section to see the latest vacs on display or to see the Electrolux salesman walking up to the door with a new 70s-80s demo! I’m down for keeping the Lux Legacy alive 😉 Have a great Saturday 😊
 
Love that hammered paint finish

I’ve always wondered where I could get really good hammered paint like this. I’ve tried rustoleum brand’s version and Hammerite brand’s version as well liking the Hammerite better but a nice finish like this one these vacs is what I’d like to obtain on an old Electrolux AF that needs a paint job.
 
You are going to make me want to get a model L!

I don’t need any more vacuums but this is going to make me want to get myself a model L. Though I may resist...I can visit my Mom’s original annually which resides at their summer home and is in beautiful shape and runs just as nice as it always did.
 
@ Charlie : Come on over!!! Its not often I get to meet other collectors! Thanks so much for the kudos 😊

@ Joe: They are very light weight and can pack a formidable cleaning punch! I love the hammer tone finish and the way the machine sounds - the sound of the airflow is almost therapeutic! Trust me you will not go wrong with a Model L 😊
 
Yes

Yes Keither I agree, the Model Ls are durable and quiet and powerful and light weight. I use an AF for my remodeling jobs instead of a shop vac. It has the same motor as an L I think as it sounds nearly identical to many of the Ls I’ve used. I chose an AF over an L for this purpose because the handles on the AFs don’t rip like more common on the model S,R, and L. They’ve been apt to tear at the front right where they turn to go under the screw and tool clip that holds them in place. Plus I figured the AF added the automatic feature which is convenient so I don’t overrun the unit with a clogged bag from plaster dust. I didn’t get one with a cordwinder to keep it light.

My housekeeper wanted me to get her an Electrolux off eBay for her personal home vacuum because she loved my Silverado so much. I asked her some questions about what she wanted for preferences and light was one of them. I chose an L for her and she loves it and says her Mother came to visit and loves it too.

My only complaint about the L is that it tips over too easily.

I cleaned for a lady growing up who had cats and was a customer on my paper route. Well it started as a paper route customer who asked me if I could feed her cats on her long 2 week summer vacations. The house was dirty and I found she had an Electrolux model L in the closet and loving the Electrolux, I cleaned the house while she was away because it was fun to do and satisfying also and I got to use a neighbors Electrolux in the process. She noticed that I had cleaned and asked me and I said yeah, I just thought it would be nice to clean up after the cats while you were away because they left a lot of cat hair around on the couches and there were cat hair dust bunnies around on the floors. After that she started asking if I would vacuum the house for her if she paid me, I said yes. Hers had a nice PN2 with it and she also had an aftermarket shag rug tool which I didn’t like but didn’t know better that it was for her shag living room rug. I went to town on the shag rug with the power nozzle which wore out the shag of the rug some years later. Being a teenager, I had no knowledge of the proper way to clean a shag rug as we didn’t have them in our house.

I always enjoyed using the L in her house though as she had a mix of area rugs and hard floors and lots of furniture to get under and around and of course the furniture all had to be cleaned from cat hair. 3 cats in a medium 3 bedroom house. I vacuumed about once every 3 to 4 weeks and filled a fresh bag every time I cleaned because of those cats and their hair. Even when I was in college and would come home for a break, she would ask me if I had some time to do a “good vacuuming” because it needed it. She would do it some but never nearly as good of a job as I did. I always made time to do the vacuuming since it was using the Electrolux Model L. At one point I think I did tell her that I enjoyed the vacuuming because of the Electrolux and that we had one at home too and I found it easy and enjoyable to use and that it does a good job.

I remember the original box had a date written on it of November 1975 and I assume that was the date she bought it. It was the blue version and It had a Golden Jubilee mustard colored hose with the blue external wire wrap so it was right at the end of the blue L era just before they changed the color to the gold.

I remained friends with her until she passed away and I am friendly with her children still and hopefully her son, who lived locally, took the L as he did most of the emptying out of the house. I thought about asking for it but I would have had to deal with shipping it from NJ to TX where I now live and I already had my Silverado. He also had a model L but the tan bronze colored version he must have gotten used as I went to his house once and saw it in the coat closet when we went to hang up our coats. His house was two story so hoping he kept it for his second story.
 
L is for 'Limited' & also 'Lovely' in the csse of your two 'Refurbished - Reassembled' Model Ls. Congrats!

They must have been redone during the Silverado era; what with the black PN5 & gray paint.

I own Model Ls in each of the original color schemes: ivory with teal trim ('63-'66); tan with brown trim ('66-'68), teal blue with ivory trim ('68-'77) & honey gold with ivory trim ('77-'79).

Speaking of refurbs, I purchased a Model G, that was done in the mid-1970s due to its 1205 blue paint and white hose with the teal/gold/teal tracers.
 
@ Tom : No - the machines were sold to me w/o attachments. I already had the accessories that would have normally been packed with the machines when they were on the market. [this post was last edited: 4/27/2020-15:44]
 
Dang

Nice looking machine. I must say your choice in in colors is similar to mine. The majority of the time it's the first time I've seen certain models in said colors.
I'm guessing you got your mojo back.
Thanks for showing the vacuums there excellent.
Les
 
Hey thanks Les :-) Yeah...I think I got it back. Its probably been on reserve due to the challenges of life we all go through from time to time. Thanks again and hope your doing well.
 
Hi Karl and thanks for the kind compliment! I feel its my duty to help keep the Electrolux USA memories alive , and I enjoy sharing with the group! Take care and see ya soon! [this post was last edited: 4/29/2020-11:59]
 
I agree!

I totally agree with you! These older Electroluxes are certainly pieces of our history that are meant to now be celebrated for surviving all these years in whatever condition they're in. I will try to get all of my Electroluxes together for a picture soon.
 
I just wish....

I just wish today’s Aerus’s were as good as yesterday’s Electrolux’s...I just don’t think the main unit motors will last as long but there’s really no way to know until we get 40 to 50 years down the road to see if they are still around like the 40-50-60+ year old Electrolux machines are today. The closest thing we can get new is a Lux Classic and rightly named as such because it uses the classic handle and metal wand system with sheath which has been last improved and perfected in 1987 and has now proven itself to be durable and reliable since it’s last modifications over 30 years ago and pretty much any older Electrolux attachments will work with it keeping consumers of past models happy as they can get a new machine and hose and use their old accessories they might still like. A polisher and attachments from a model XXX will work beautifully with it for example. I think the Lexan plastic body is pretty good, it eliminates some of the issues with the 1205 - Ultralux series bodies such as weight, the front wheel plastic sled that tends to break (mine is cracked) causing the bag compartment to crack and some loss of suction to occur. Also, it doesn’t dent up and is lightweight and scuffs can be cleaned off to keep it looking fresh and it takes the classic canister bag which will likely never be discontinued because there simply are too many machines out there that take them. In theory, the Lux Classic should last as long and if the main motors don’t ...then replacing the motor would be a viable option since the hose and attachments and power nozzles all have proven themselves to last close to if not longer than 30 plus years now. I think Aerus realized the positives of this body and perhaps that’s why we saw the Guardian Ultra suddenly changed to use this body than the previous renaissance/guardian body design and if they hadn’t entered into some sort of arrangement with Electrolux of Sweden for the Guardian Platinum, the Current Guardian would likely have been similar to the Guardian Ultra.

Personally I think the Lux Legacy should be improved to use the sealed system the Guardian Ultra did and the after filter the Guardian Ultra did combined with its current features of the onboard tool caddy and automatic control feature.

With the Guardian Platinum’s main unit being made by the original Electrolux of Sweden, clearly Aerus has entered into some sort of partnership or collaboration with them. Electrolux of Sweden wanted to sell their machines here in the US and brought them here in 1924, then they did it again in 2003 but at that time they owned Eureka and brought a Eureka machine with the Electrolux name on it here which basically failed because it didn’t live up to the US companies product standards. Now that they sold off the Eureka division to AEG, once again they are wanting to sell their machine here and hence have entered into whatever the arrangement is with Aerus to produce the Guardian Platinum for Aerus. I have a sneaking suspicion we might see the Aerus name go back to or be combined with Electrolux at some point in the future because no doubt, Joe Urso knows the name change was NOT beneficial to the US company in any way except financially.

But yes, there is something to be said about keeping these older models alive and well. I just wish Aerus would continue making the pigtail hoses, cords and power switches, etc. for them as there is nothing quite like the genuine parts, their quality is just better. Perhaps they figure 40 years of supporting a product is long enough as the last model L was produced 41 years ago in 1979.

Jon
 
Re: Reply 10

Hey Keith,

I finally got around to snapping some photos of the Model G Refurb in 1205 teal blue.
A couple items I noticed were the relocation of the pn port to the handle trim like the retrofitted Model E_As back in the day & that the original serial number remains instead of being burnished or sanded out. No pn was sold with the tank.

paul-2020050321544600834_1.jpg

paul-2020050321544600834_2.jpg

paul-2020050321544600834_3.jpg
 

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