Electrolux PN 5 - Need help please!

[turboace]

Hi All,

I may or may not be done with my Silverado Deluxe rebuild. I totally disassembled the PN5 power nozzle today and cleaned it and put it back together. It runs great. But...

When I took the rear wheel assembly off by removing the cover over the axle it pretty much just sprang apart, so I didn’t know how it was supposed to go back together. When I put it back together, the spring required about a ¼ turn in order to get the end of it in the hole it is supposed to go in. As a result, the back wheels are “jacked up” or extended raising the rear of the power nozzle. You can push down on the rear of the nozzle and the wheels go down or up depending on how you view that, into their recesses and the front pivots up a little bit.

What is the purpose of the spring on the axle and did I get it right? I question if it is correct because the pn really seems to be bogging down on carpet because it is forced down by the wheels as well as sucked down by the awesome suction this machine makes.

My other question is related to the neck. Is it supposed to be totally lame, loose, floppy in its fitting? Is there supposed to be felt strips around it to seal it? Mine is really floppy in the housing. When you put it up into the park position, is there supposed to be any detent or anything. Is this related to the axle and spring I think I have wrong? Sorry no pics for now, but if anyone can help me please let me know.

Thanks in advance,
Andy

 

[danemodsandy]

Andy:

The PN-5 is a "floating" design that is supposed to adjust itself to differing thicknesses of carpet. The spring is what makes the back wheels float. The "jacked up" look for the rear wheels is normal; so are the wheels going up and down as you push on the rear of the PN.

If you are having difficulty pushing the PN, there might be some problem stemming from being incorrectly reassembled, but it sounds like you got it back together right. Check the shoe (the bottom plate of the PN; the piece that contacts the carpet) for scratches or gouges; these can be taken out with very fine sandpaper or steel wool (No. 0000). Also, if you've had your carpets cleaned, there could be soap residue on the shoe; this will show up as a brownish or blackish residue if you wipe the shoe with a paper towel moistened with Windex. The shoe really needs to be clean. Since the PN-5 has a plastic shoe, it's a little more prone to scratches and residue problems than the older Lux PNs with chrome shoes, like the PN-1.

Also, you're right about the suction on these machines; it's pretty phenomenal. On certain carpet types, the suction is so strong that the PN will "hang" slightly, being hard to push. Electrolux's recommendation about that was to open the suction control on the hose handle until the PN became easy to push.

The neck flops on the PN-5; there are no felts or anything else that go in the neck area. There's nothing wrong with yours from what you're telling us; everything's normal. There is also no detent when you put the PN in its "Park" position; it's sort of a balance thing. If you push the PN into the "Park" position, it's supposed to just stay there because of the angle of the wand/sheath assembly. If it won't stay there, it's because the hose is pulling the wand/sheath out of the "Park" position.

The one thing you should know about PN-5s is that the screw holes for the brushroll bearing retainers are moulded into that plastic shoe. You should be VERY careful with a PN-5 never to jam the PN, because any sudden stoppage of the brushroll will cause these retainers to jerk violently at their mounting points, breaking the screw holes. The shoe is no longer available, and is very HTF used. Also, if you put new brushroll bearings in a PN-5, go easy when you tighten the bearing retainer screws; it's easy to strip them out. For a time, there was a redesigned housing kit to correct this problem, but the housing kit is also NLA now.

I think you're fine- just exercise caution with it. You might consider looking for a PN-2 or PN-4 for everyday use if you're concerned about the PN-5s shoe breaking; both the PN-2 and 4 are very sturdy PNs. I will say that of all my Lux PNs (I have the 1, the 2, the 4 and the 5), the 5 is my favourite for leaving carpet with a luxuriously fluffed look, with no obvious grooming marks like other PNs leave.

Hope this helps!

 

[turboace]

Thanks, Sandy

Yes the back goes down when I push on it just takes a little more effort than I thought it would for it to go down. But, sounds like I got everything correct. I was very careful to not overtighten anything, I am famous for doing that and breaking things so I was especially concious of it since the whole thing is plastic.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. All the knowledge that everyone here has is just awesome. My $5 garage sale find is all rebuilt and running like new. I really appreciate all the help from everyone here. The automatic function is even working, bag check light and all. The build quality of this machine is great, easy to work on, sturdy, built to last. They don't build 'em like this anymore.

Now that I have a few more machines rebuilt I think I'm finally ready to post some pics of my collection sometime soon.

Thanks again,
Andy

 

[danemodsandy]

Andy:

You're welcome. Don't get too concerned about that PN-5s shoe; the thing is still built about fifteen times better than most of what you can buy today. Silverados are very nice machines. I have a Diamond Jubilee, which is a little later.

If you took any pics during your resto, I for one would just loooove to see 'em.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S., Andy:

Re-reading your second message, I see something I missed the first time around:

"Yes the back goes down when I push on it just takes a little more effort than I thought it would for it to go down."

You shouldn't be pushing down on the PN when you're using it, if that's what you're doing. Just push the PN back and forth, and the "floating" feature takes care of itself. Pushing down definitely would make pushing the PN difficult.