Good and bad Electrolux Motors?

[ronni]

I found a photo of a 50th Jubilee postcard which shows a black/black bumper logo; also photos posted by compactelectra of his Super J with black/black and a 1977 Super J manual cover which suggests gold/black (albeit it's in b & w). My 1976 SJ manual shows black/black, a white hose & PN-2, a K_A serial and purchase date of April 1976 written in the blanks. So, it may be that the late 1205s, all the GJs, and early SJs had black/black, and mid-later SJs had gold/black.

Regarding the 5-year decals on the SJs, I did find a K_P SJ with one, so either the suffixes did not always go in alphabetical order, or the decals were affixed to all SJs as they were brought in for service. Tig21er, a longtime Electrolux salesman, did state that the K_S motors were the ones that initially had the outsourced motors.

Re: your reply (#21) about the combination upholstery tool/dusting brush colors, the one with green sides (as Electrolux called them until 1968 or so) was one from an aquamarine green Model G. Here are the colors of them (holder/sides) from the Model E to the Model 1505 Silverado:

blue/blue: E, EA, T
pale gray/ivory: F, R (early)
pale blue-gray/ivory: S
ivory/teal green: aqua G, R (mid-late), ivory L, CB
ivory/tan: tan G & L, CB
teal blue/teal blue: 1205, teal blue L, CB
ivory/ivory: 1205 50th Jubilee, 1401, 1401-B, brown 1453 & 1505, honeygold L, CB
light gray/light gray: gray 1505, 1453, CB, CB2000

 

[real1shep]

Wow...thank you for that on the upholstery brushes! I always assumed that ivory body with the teal sides was a repair of some kind. Very cool that it probably came correctly with one of the G's I have. Is there a source anymore for the horse hair rings to renew the brushes?


 


I have kind of another anomaly...I have a floor brush that looks like it came from the 1521 era...gray or whatever bland color designation they gave it. It has the wand release on the right side. My other two gray ones have the wand release on the top. I'm puzzled by this....and it makes it impossible to turn to the right side to say, sweep under a sofa. The side wand release hits the floor when the wand is turned.


 


The colors are not exactly the same;the side release head is more an ivory with a gold plate where the brush is(possibly a Super J floor brush?). The other two are more gray with the top release and a silver plate where the brushes are. Otherwise, the heads are identical.


 


I don't know how for sure we'd ever know for certain about the bumper colors, unless we could match color to serial #'s. And given that the units are so old now and likely have replacement parts(or have been re-colored)....unless we got some notes from the factory about this issues, I don't know how it could ever be settled. I've come across this in other hobbies where the original company folded, got bought out, or a fire took out all their records. Just becomes an educated guess or conjecture at that point.


 


As I understood it....only the armatures were outsourced from another company...that part of the plant was damaged by fire. They still had the rest of the plant serviceable and the outsourced, Electrolux spec-ed armatures were put into the in-plant motor housings. I wonder then if Electrolux decided rather than retool again for the armatures, after they made their last run of SJ's.....they just decided to out source all their motors in the future? The SJ was a relatively brief vacuum model run(what, three yrs?) for all the hoopla and expense to build that motor. Maybe they couldn't come back from the stigma of the bad K_S motor failure....I dunno. Had to be a corporate decision based on something.


 


Kevin  


 


 

[this post was last edited: 11/7/2016-12:07]

 

[ronni]

1) No problem for the information on the replacement dust brush rings. I'm unsure if Aerus still carries them--it's possible, because it still sells the exact combination tool (minus the logo)--but I've seen them on eBay and on different vacuum parts websites before. Here's one, but you'll want to do some research before you make a purchase: http://onlinevacshop.com/product/dust-brush-insert/. You just need a flat-head screwdriver to pry the brush ring out and push in the new one until it snaps in place.


2) Combination rug/floor tool w/side wand lock tab ... You should be able to swivel it, so the tab is on top. If not, maybe the wand lock was replaced at some point without placing the tab on top. While the honeygold brush plate is original to the Super J, it's also possible that the swivel connector may have been replaced at some point with an aftermarket one--is the "This Side Up Electrolux" decal the same? Following is a list of combination rug/floor colors (holder/bumper/brush plate) that will help with identification of original parts. Keep in mind that the brush plates were painted the same color as the tank bodies until the 1521s; then they were just brushed aluminum. Further, sometimes colors (or primers) were different between the standard and budget models--two that can be easily confused are the more metallic teal of the 1205 and the flat teal of the Model L. That's getting really picky, isn't it?

Furthermore, there was an on/off gleaner switch on the side of the head from 1954 (E, EA, T era) to c. 1967 (tan G--some of them have the switch and some don't).

-blue/(no bumper)/hammertone blue - E, EA, T
-ivory/gray/pale gray - F, R (early)
-ivory/blue-gray/blue-gray - S
-ivory/teal green/aquamarine green - aqua G, R (mid-late), ivory L
-ivory/tan/tan - tan G & L
-teal blue/ivory/teal blue - teal 1205 & L
-ivory/ivory/honeygold - GJ, SJ, honeygold L, 1363
-ivory/ivory/brown (w/plastic swivel connector) - Oly One, brown 1453, tan 1451 & 1451E
-gray/dark gray/metallic gray (w/plastic swivel connector) - Silverado, gray 1453, gray 1451E
-sand/sand/aluminum (w/plastic swivel connector) - 1521, DJ & Marquise labels
-lt. sand/lt. sand/aluminum (w/plastic swivel connector) - 1521, Grand Marquise, Legacy, Ultralux, Ultralux LX, Ultralux Classic

3) The Super J was manufactured from October 1975 - April 1979. The 50th Jubilee (Golden J) sold from 1974-75. That motor was also used in the Oly One and Silverado. It may also have been used in the honeygold, brown, and metallic gray model CBs (commercial canisters) and the period's uprights.

4) I read somewhere that Electrolux first outsourced its motors in 1984 during the end of the Silverados and beginning of the Diamond Js. I don't know how long they continued to be, but supposedly the Marquise had a problematic motor along with some later 1521s--if not all of them.

5) Regarding the small changes (e.g. the bumper logo ink colors) I agree that it's next to impossible to obtain accurate information on all of them. As you mentioned, some early SJ photos included the bumper logo colors of the 1205. Even the manual editions may contain shared photos instead of each having its own. Kirby and Hoover manuals were known for photo sharing, too. It's a cost effective measure for sure.

 

[real1shep]

Yeah, the vac stores that went out of business in recent yrs carried the horse hair rings. I found when replacing the rings with new ones, it was a good idea to use some silicone as well, rather than just trust the plastic tabs. I'll check out that link, thanks.


 


I think you must be correct...I have a lot of Electrolux floor heads going back to the G(hell yeah, LOVE the gleaner switch!). I don't have any release tabs on the side like that, so I should investigate further. I betcha it came off a Super J....as per your chart....just got a feeling. It came with a machine and some wands, but since I didn't catalog it, I don't remember which machine.


 


The story on the Diamond J motor failure is legend. But as legends go, the story has evolved into a life of its own and exceeds greatly the original facts. I talked to some people in the biz at the time. Their stories were only slightly similar, but close enough that you could extrapolate the truth from fiction. One version is that Electrolux only had trouble with the Diamond J motors in desert climates. The other version is that initially, the vacs were throwing commutator plates while being demoed. It was suggested that they carry multiple demo units until the problem was resolved. I think the reality probably lies somewhere between those two versions. I don't get the desert air part, unless it had something to do with drying out the motor brushes? Yes, the motors were completely outsourced at the beginning of the DJ production run, hence the rumors about them ALL being bad motors. That just isn't rue.


 


The new DJ I bought in '84 was a 'force of nature' cleaning system.....a brute. My ex's cleaning lady was only able to destroy the machine from physical abuse in the late 90's. But it wasn't the motor that failed. I have gone through about a half dozen of them so far and never seen any evidence of failing motors. That being said, I have no idea if they all had original motors or not, but I'm sure some did.


 


My DD DJ pulls almost 80 inches of water. By contrast, the Super J I bought only pulled 60 inches. I bought a rewound armature for the big Super J motor and brushes, but have not had the time to restore that particular machine. I paid more for the armature than the entire vacuum set. I would think the Super J to be at least the equal of the Diamond J.


 


I'll post what I find out on the 'freak' floor brush!


 


Kevin   

 

[real1shep]

I'll see....

if I can post some pics. On closer examination, it sure looks like the floor brush was made this way. At first I thought maybe the metal ring had slipped sideways, but if you look closely, you'll see a indent in the body of the swivel neck itself, indicating the release is on the side. I don't see any way to remedy this.


 


Brush is low hr, but I hate using it for the reasons I stated earlier.


 


Kevin

 

[ronni]

Thanks for the photos of your swivel connector. I agree that the wand lock tab looks like it's situated correctly due to the indent. Right now, my tools are in storage as I'm in transition; so I'm unable to check them. It could be that Electrolux moved the tab to the side in the conversion to plastic connectors in 1979 and then moved it back to the center position during the gray-colored production. Either that or you have a rare prototype.

 

[real1shep]

Lol......

but in actual use, I hate it. Got the gold plate on the bottom which I did not photograph.....and the color really isn't gray, but more of an ivory. My two yr old grandson 'vacuums' with that one. I probably have a dozen floor brushes and never saw a side release tab like that. Not to mention all the machines I've restored and sent along....never saw anything like that. Factory floor brush though.


 


Kevin