Found a Lewyt Electronic

[kc_kirby]

I found a Lewyt Electronic at an estate sale yesterday. I hear these are pretty rare, dare I even say that? Sorry, some people get upset when you dare call something rare. I've never found one in my travels all these years so to me it is rare. Anyways, the estate sale people told me the vacuum came from another house than the sale, so they must have thought it was worth trying to sell since they brought it there. They were all so excited someone finally bought the vacuum. I didn't want to tell them how rare it was. They asked me if I collect that sort of thing and I said yes. They thought it was cool. It also has some rare attachments like a hair dryer and air cleaner. The air cleaner is kind of cool, you take the disposable bag out of the vacuum and put the filter in its place. Then you run the vacuum motor to filter the air. I didn't know the Lewyt had such attachments.

 

[kirbylux77]

OMG!

Chad, you are so lucky to find this!! Terrific score! That is one of my dream machines I want to find someday, even if you can't use the powerhead since you could risk getting shocked. Are you going to try & correct the wiring inside the vacuum & make it so the electric hose doesn't take power from the motor & try to hook it up the conventional way (like a Compact or Filter Queen) ?

Rob

 

[cuffs054]

Or just wear a pair of Lineman's gloves.

 

[funvacfan]

Nice!

looks to be in great shape too!

 

[fantomfan]

Gorgeous!

That just might be your jackpot! It's condition looks amazing too. I have a Lewyt Electronic but the powerhead is missing. It's very rare indeed.

 

[countryguy]

Wonderful score! I have the big wheel cannister but have yet to find even the hose, wands or tools.

Gary

 

[delaneymeegan]

Good find for you, and how sweet that the people at the auction felt SOMEONE would be interested in it.

My Great Grandmother had one of these, and when she passed, my Grandmother inherited it (1977). When she passed on, my parents inherited it (1982) and I think it went into storage from there. I haven't seen it since.

I remember when it was at my grandmothers, I was always fascinated with the over sized wheels, but every time I went to investigate, my grandmother was like "don't play with that. It's not a toy." But it would be sitting in the bathroom, near the overfilled closet, and she'd have the hose hanging on the hook on the closet door. I don't know if there was a PN. Way back then (I was like 10), I didn't know what an electrified PN was. I don't think I'd ever seen one.

It looks like you will need either a hose cord, vac receptacle, and hose cord straps OR a receptacle and electrified hose.
It depends on how authentic you want to keep it.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rainbow-Can...329515?hash=item2c790b116b:g:w0cAAOxySFJSHOJr

 

[kenkart]

You better not THINK OF

Using anything but the original setup! That power nozzle is 12 volt or 24 volt, I cant remember which, if you try to wire it up normally you will burn it up! I wouldn't be afraid of it.

 

[blknblu]

aeoliandave may help you with Lewyt


 


Theis thread has some info on the Lewyt "motorized beater sweeper"


http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?8635
[this post was last edited: 12/7/2015-08:14]

 

[delaneymeegan]

12 or 24 volt? That would be cool.

Would still want the cords, but would need a transformer inside the cleaner to step down to 12/24 volt DC.

 

[dysonman1]

There IS a transformer inside the Lewyt to bring 24 volts of power to the Power Nozzle. It's part of the motor's field coil. The rectifier would fail if the person using it became grounded (touched a sink) and it would send 120 volts of Alternating Current through your body. The lawsuits killed the Lewyt company under Alex Lewyt's ownership. Smith Corona Manufacturing (typewriter fame) bought the name Lewyt and put it on cheap vacuums that didn't last. By 1970, they were gone too.

 

[caligula]

Hi delaneymeegan:

I think all of us who were interested in vacuum cleaners when we were kids heard "don't play with that, it's not a toy!" on a regular basis. In my case it was an Electrolux model LX, and it was the husband of my next door neighbor who said it to me. His wife simply laughed and said to her husband, "he knows that!"

The interesting thing is that when she died in 1986 he husband sent that Electrolux to me.

 

[rugsucker]

Rare ! & more RARE !!

Great find ! The vac is very rare but I have seen 3 or 4(not all complete) over a period of many years.I have heard of but NEVER seen the accessories.More pictures please!Is the green box Speed Sacs?
Much good information above.Remember the 107 and the 111 and later are similar but DIFFERENT.
It is interesting that in the McCalls 'News is in the Nozzle' 2 page color feature of about 4-59 the Lewyt is first and only with an electric nozzle.Others are shown with air driven nozzle,Vibra Beat,etc.
One consumer testing magazine said they could "find nothing electronic about the Lewyt".This is about the time that G Greenes 'Man in Havana' was talking about the 'atomic' vac.
They were troublesome.Does anyone have actual FACTS of injuries and lawsuits?Is the word ELECTROCUTION correct??Were users injured or actually killed(there is a difference)???

 

[coffeecanman]

Yes there is a difference. Electrocution = shocked to death. The word was coined in the late 1800s to describe what the electric chair did...execution by electricity. Otherwise it's just electric shock. There is nobody on earth than can accurately claim that they were electrocuted. ;-)

 

[delaneymeegan]

Robert-

I know that situation: ".... it was the husband of my next door neighbor who said it to me. His wife simply laughed and said to her husband, "he knows that!""

Our neighbors, in the 1970s, had a M.Wards "suitcase" vac (Eureka), with vibra-groomer, a woven hose, and all the attachments (which btw, I did also end up getting from them in about 1981). I thought it was cool and wanted to play with it. I think I just helped myself to it one day when over at their house, where it was standing in the closet, and proceeded to take it out, but that didn't go over so well. They also had a Hoover constellation he kept in his neat garage for cleaning the car, which didn't do anything for me.

A relative had an green 60s Airway vac, which, when I was really small, used as a go-cart. The handle at the back was perfect for a 3 year old to push.
Later they moved to a new (1973) house with a Nutone Central Vac....

There were other friends who had kids my age and they had an Electrolux 1205. It was cool and I got possessive. It had a cord winder and it looked cool. lol. I remember getting into petty arguments with the kids on how to correctly plug it in. lol It had a neat round plug which was gray and had a unigue groove in it. I think they traded that for a Silverado in 1983.
When they came to visit, they tried the same possessiveness routine with our crappy Silver King vac. I was like, whatever. You can have it. lol.

The memories. lol.






As for the Lewyt: what an interesting concept with the low voltage PN. And what an interesting situation with the motor and it's potential lawsuit credentials.

I think I would get the hose cord set up as I suggested, alter the canister motor, or change it if it's a safety hazard, and put in a 120 volt motor in the PN. Unless, of course, one wants to relive the WHOLE Lewyt experience making sure their vac is plugged into a GFI outlet and they don't touch anything metal.

And yeah, there is certainly nothing on it that makes it "electronic". Back then, most people didn't know what electronic was. I remember now, turning the knob on the top and thinking 'it doesn't do anything' and how our Silver King didn't have a dial like that.


Apparently Lewyt is still made? A couple of vacs, one of which looks like brand new plastic style?

 

[kirbylux77]

Delaneymeegan

The Lewyt name was resurrected for a short time, from 1997 to 2002. SMC Corporation (NOT Smith Corona Corp), which is a maker of ceiling fans, resurrected the brand for a short time, but the brand didn't sell very well as it was very cheaply made. From what I understand the company was deluged with warranty claims as the motors in particular weren't very durable. I have also heard that the new Lewyt vacuums were so cheaply made that when vacuum distribution companies were shown the vacuums, they refused to carry them.

Tom - Lewyt may have went out of business in America in the early 70's, but here in Canada the Lewyt name carried on all the way to the early 90's, I think 1992 or 1993 was the year they went under.

Rob

 

[dysonman1]

Rob:
I knew the Lewyt name was used in Canada for a long time. Doug Smith gave me a Lewyt that was really a Regina canister with a trendvac power nozzle, some years ago.

 

[kirbylux77]

Tom

What model was this Lewyt that Doug Smith gave you? Was it a LV60 perhaps? Post a pic for all of us to see, you have me intrigued. To my knowledge, here in Canada the only PN's that Lewyt used were the Douglas PN & Broan PN.

I just bought a Lewyt Big Wheel myself, & am working on restoring it & adding a PN receptacle, electric hose & PN to it, make it modern. That Lewyt PN the Big Wheel used looks nice, but would be rather wimpy by today's standards.

Rob

 

[collector2]

Hey Guys

Finally had some time to get back on here.

Great find!!!!

First off, if memory serves, it wasn't the rectifier that was shorting it was the coils. What caused this was overfilling the bag so that the motor overheated and the laquer on the wires started to melt, allowing them to short together.

Before you even think of destroying such a nice example of an Electronic with useless cords test it and see if there is any need. Take an ohm meter, place one connection on a spot of bear metal and the other, in turn, on each prong of the plug with the switch in the on position. If you don't get a reading in any of these positions its safe.

Also, even when they were shorted out, the person was safe using it as long as they were holding the rubber handle and not one of the metal parts.

The model you have is the model 121 which was the last Electronic Lewyt produced. It was out in 1960-61 and featured a window in the bag which allowed you to see how full it was.

Did you get the parts with it. The machine should have a floor brush, dusting brush, small nozzle and crevice tool as well.

Doug