I'm getting my first sanitaire today! I'm so excited!!

[baglessball]

Its a c12.

Any hints/tips or tests for me?

It will be but through it paces this weekend!

 

[twocvbloke]

Upgrades is all I can say, my C12 was thoroughly battered and fried when I got it (hence why it was only 99p!!), and only recently have I got it all finished off with a brand new ST bag, a new hood with headlight, and a new fan, fan chamber and VGIII brush strips, all it really needs is a hood label I've custom-made, just not printed...

Oh, and use Hoover Senior belts in it, the standard Eureka-type belts go slack far too quickly, though some others here will disagree, I haven't had any problems with the Hoover belts in my three Sanitaires...

And a pic of the just about finished C12:

 

[twocvbloke]

And as a comparison, here it is before cleaning up, the shakeout bag has a small hole in it, hence why I decided to get the ST bag above:

 

[Sanifan]

You will love it...

Sanitaires are great!

Be prepared for a more "vigourous" vacuuming experience if you haven't already used a vac with a Vibra Groomer II in it. Depending on how sound your floor is, you may find that the Sanitaire will vibrate it like a sounding board in certain spots. It can be loud! Sympathetic vibrations can really shake the floor.

I had a curious problem with my Sanitaire where it would suck/clamp onto the carpet, and as I would push it forward, it would release, suck, release, suck, release, suck onto the carpet. Kinda an oscillating effect of sucking and releasing. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time as my other Sanitaire wasn't doing that.

It came down to the belt being worn. The brushroll still spun and there was no burning smell, but something about the airflow, the suction, the worn belt, and the compromised speed of the rotating brushroll contributed to that strange effect. It disappeared once I popped in a new belt.

Enjoy your new vac!

 

[twocvbloke]

Oh, forgot to mention, hold on tight, cos my C12 when I first tried it, ended up wandering off on it's own after it escaped my grasp, the other two don't do that (but then, they have loop-handles), so, make sure to keep a good tight hold on the handle...

 

[baglessball]

Thank you for your input!! I'm even more excited now!

How much did all that upgrading cost you? I wouldn't mind a chrome hood!

What's the difference with a vg3??

 

[twocvbloke]

To be honest, I haven't been keeping score of how much it's all cost me to date, a lot of the parts I used have been given to me by a friend, or stuff I had already, the most expensive part though was the new ST bag assembly, which was I think about $25-$30, plus a couple of packs of ST bags which I can't recall the cost of either...

And the brushroll is a VGII, it has been fitted with VGIII brush strips though which seriously improve the sweeping action as they have longer bristles with built-in bristle stiffeners unlike the VGII ones which allow the bristles to bend back, so it's a decent improvement...

All in all, this is what I replaced or added:

Hood
Headlight socket & bulb
Cable
Footswitch
Brushroll tube
Brush strips (VGIII type)
Bag assembly
Fan
Rugplate
Kwik-Kleen chamber

But my C12 was VERY well-used when I got it, and needed most of those parts listed...

The parts can be bought from Hesco over in the states, I haven't a clue how much the shipping directly from them would be though, but you'll be 99.999999% guaranteed to be stung on import taxes courtesy of HMRC....

 

[broomvac]

Haha

About those Hoover Senior belts...

JK

No, really, Sanitaire's are great cleaners! You will be happy with yours!

I went through my own Sanitaire rebuild a while back. My S661 was in an extraordinarily poor state, for the previous owner had vacuumed something awfully heavy into it, which smashed the fan to smithereens (only the hub was left), blowing to giant holes in the base and cracking it in other critical areas, and the motor and the brushroll were both rusted and both were substantially bent. (I imagine the moment the thing blew up was kind of like a small scale version of the A380 jet engine "blade off test.") Everything else was filthy, the brush strips were shot, all the seals were gone, and the bottom plate was rusty on the inside. I get the feeling the cleaner had seen moisture before.

So, I replaced the:

-base with a new one
-motor with a brand new 7 amp
-brush roll with a complete and brand new VGII
-fan
-belt pulley
-motor seal
-bag flange seal

I also:
-washed cord
-washed bag
-took the rust off the bottom plate with my dremel
-polished handle
-polished hood

Now she runs and cleans like a beauty

Here is the before pic: (yes, I know, it still looks fairly good, but mechanically virtually everything that could have gone wrong did)

 

[broomvac]

In fact, the fan shattering was so violent, that when it exploded, one of the mounting holes on the MOTOR itself was ripped clean off when that section of the base shattered!

Anyways, here's the after pic:

 

[baglessball]

I love the blue sanitaires!

Mine has not yet made it! So it should be tomorrow other wise I will be having a firm word with a certain Ebay member!!

Mine looks in good in ok condition on the photos, but we will see of that is the case when it finally arrives!

http:// bit.ly/yaPsTM

 

[baglessball]

It's here and I am way pressed!!

 

[broomvac]

I too like the Blue Line Sanitaires the best.

I'm glad your Sanitaire is working fine for you. When I saw mine on Ebay, I thought it was in good condition based on the fact that it looked good in the Ebay pictures (see the before picture) and the fact the seller said it worked. Well, not exactly!

I emailed the seller to describe what condition it was in, and he said just keep it! He refunded all costs INCLUDING shipping! That's a good seller!