HALEY'S COMET Lands at Casa Electrolux!

[clarkecombi]

Charles do you think u can take some video of it if it isnt to much trouble...i ant never heard one of those,but i always have wanted to

 

[aeoliandave]

Wouldn't you know, I can't find the empty can so maybe I tossed it. But never fear, I know exactly where it is at Canadian Tire Home/Hardware/Automotive Store. I'll get the info tomorrow. What I do remember is its matching dark gold color sample on the cap compared to the bag lid I took in with me.

It's a High Heat Ceramic Engine spray paint in the Automotive section, which is probably an international brand out of the USA.

I had to make up a new switch pedal - topped it off with V-ribbed rubber matting. When you have the machine apart you can adjust the switch upwards to level the pedal.

Here's the link to the archive on mine's Spa Treatment.

Stay tuned.

Any luck reversing the Comet on the background, Charles?

http://www.vacuumland.org/TD/ARCHIVE/VINTAGE/2008/3359x39.htm

 

[aeoliandave]

Just noticed something...

Your's doesn't have the cast-in lid dimple depression for the teardrop black rubber bumper for when you open the bag lid and it rests on the handle. But I can see the outline of old rubber cement where it had one stuck on the surface. Mmmm...a variation already!

 

[aeoliandave]

Oh, and the cordwinder is an easy fix, you'll see.

 

[aeoliandave]

This is the paint match, Charles...

...and anyone else that wants to touch up or repaint their Haley's Comet.

Not High Heat, as I was guessing but...

DUPLICOLOR Engine Enamel with Ceramic, Universal Gold # DE1604

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html

 

[charles~richard]

More info from Jack Wolf

Last week I emailed Jack Wolf, the son of the inventor of the Haley's Comet, to tell him of my good fortune. He gave me some more information on the machine and some insight into its design philosophy:

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Hi Charlie! My Dad over built the Haley Comet Vacuum on purpose. He didn't want his customers to say his vacuum was cheaply built! He had the choice on the tool caddy. He could manufacture a heavy duty cardboard box like the Kirby's had, he could make a plastic caddy that could break or he could make a metal caddy that could be repaired if necessary. He chose heavy duty and he went with metal and heavy plastic.

The black boots on the ends of the wands collapsed under pressure. The harder the vacuum sucked, the stronger the seals were on those connections.

The Comet had 3 filters. Open the lid and you'll find a paper bag inside of a special micron cloth bag. Remove those bags and you'll find a foam filter on the motor intake. The cloth bag and the foam filter are washable.

The hose was almost indestructible! My Dad told my cousin, who sold Comets, how strong the hose was. My cousin ran over the hose with a 1/2 ton truck. The hose wasn't damaged! Those pictures were a great selling point!

The greatest selling point on the Haley Comet vacuum was the mystery floor tool. The President of Interstate Engineering Corporation offered my Dad several million dollars for the patent rights on his floor tool. My Dad refused the millions of dollars because he knew the floor tool was the best thing the Comet had going for it! A Ford Motor Company Engineer helped design that floor tool. That floor tool out performed the Compact's floor tool. The Compact salesmen were being self recruited because the Comet out performed the Compact! Many Compact customers sold their Compacts to my Dad so they could buy a Comet! This hurt Interstate Engineering Corporation sales.

The only reason the Haley's Comet vacuum didn't continue was because of politics! The "Tri-State Law" with Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana shut down. That law prevented my Dad to sell to the people he wanted to sell to. The big companies with the money won! That was a very sad day!

I helped my Dad drill the holes at different degrees to see which degree created the most suction at the carpet. You will see the holes drilled in the front and the back of the floor tool. They create a venturi suction effect. The brush agitates the carpet to release the dirt and the vacuum pulls it up. The floor tool was invented because my Step Mother didn't want the normal tracks on their carpet after it was vacuumed. That's another story!

 

[aeoliandave]

Oh Charles, this is utterly fascinating and from the 'horse's mouth' no less. We thank you so much for unearthing these valuable and interesting recollections - more please, if possible.

I can see the engineering logic behind the floor/rug tool design. Not the only company to try a system of inlet holes to set up a swirl inside the nozzle but perhaps the only one to do it with a static nozzle. He put the edge cleaning channels at the corners and the sides (none across the front or back) letting the broad smooth plate eliminate track patterns...and of course it helps overcome the strong leeching action of that bottom plate to the carpet under the Comet's extreme suction, using the same motor & double fans of the Compact and Filter Queen.

Charles, is the central brush supported only at each end, suspended across the middle of the opening with airflow all around it?

I see now from your pictures that the 4 foot hose section that came with mine is likely the original, much faded in color. The farmer fellow in Cottam Onatrio just east of Windsor that I got it from told me he got it at a yard sale and used it to clean up around the barn and after the dog and his scattering of Doggie Chow. I can attest to that...all manner of pellets, mouse nest material, sticks and stones were inside the motor compartment, having fallen or climbed in around the missing switch pedal, also jamming up the cord winder drum.

Old Haley, she's a big golden blonde gal, may not be the prettiest at the dance but she's tough and can out-vacuum most every other gal in the neighborhood.