Update on Apex....... A rebuild by Chad...and hopefully my f
Apex Model 120
2.5 amp
Two Speed Motor
Headlight
Backwards Revolving element...
I did most of the work today..I will be taking my digital to work tomorrow, to take a few photos of what i have done so far.... This is my dissertation of what needed to be done to make this a safe and fully operational vacuum cleaner....
Firstly, lemme say that getting back to work today after the holiday weekend was NO fun let me tell you, as I had to dig a trench from my door to the parking lot before I could do literally anything vacuum related.
Thank you Momma Nature for that wonderful snow dumping...we in the north appreciate this...
Love, the folk's who got more than a foot of your dump...
Anyway...I immediately went to the trunk to dredge out the old Apex to give it a once over. Upon initial inspection, the machine is literally as nice as one could hope to find for a machine that dates from the 1935-39 period. The chrome was/is now more shiny than before and as nice as I will ever hope to make it. I used Brasso, fine steel wool, and a final polishing with clean paper towel to touch up some un-buffed areas, and the handle which had previously not been done.
I flipped the machine over and installed a new Hoover Elite belt as it literally has the correct dimensions to work properly, not put too much strain on the brushroll, and rotate it backwards as designed. I cleaned out the end caps of the sleeve bearings and adjusted the screws underneath to make the brush stick more out of the nozzle housing a'la Kirby, only backasswards.
The filterbag needed washing, and I used my tried and tested cold water double Woolite wash, and triple rinse with no wringing (or rinse until the water is totally clear of scum, film and suds and dirt sludge), a final rinse with a light amount of Suavitel fabric softener ( my favorite brand)...then a hang up to drip dry leaving minimal wrinkles....placing a fan on it to aid with drying.
After doing all those things..I began to examine the cord situation, and amassed almost immediately that this thing was going to need a complete re-wiring. If you scan up to photo # 3 from Kyle, if you were able to look at it from below, like I was, you could see two totally bare wires touching each other ready to zap me retarded, and cause my store to shut down electrically, as well as the entire strip of Jackson Rd my store sits on.
Noticing all of the above, and more with the electrical connections, I tore into the machine literally rewiring the machine from the cord complete, thru the handgrip downwards to the motor , as all the cords and wires were cracked, and brittle, and were flaking off at every unwinding of the cord or at every inspection of those lines of power.
This machine IMHO is a very hard copy of the Hoovers from this period. Of course the backwards revolving brush roller (sans) beater bars, and the step lever height adjuster, and the bayonet style bag lock, are some of the more glaring differences...If you look at it from underneath, you can see what I mean.
I found that the hand grip removed by undoing the two screw fasteners up top, giving me access to the inner working of that which was electrically unsafe. Undoing the two small screws holding the switch plate taught and the switch inside the grip, I found the wiring that was all sorts of unsafe, and (really folks this wiring was all sorts of Edselized.... It literally would have caught fire had I even plugged it in...
I ran new wiring from the lower handle bail socket again a'la (Hoover 725 and etc. for example), all the way up to the grip, and properly, and safely wired it to the switch and the new cord, and using good ol ingenuity to fasten every thing down to make sure it wouldn't come apart.
I fashioned a new Cord relief out of a 2 1/2 inch black rubber Eureka upper cord relief and screwed the whole thing back together. I checked it with the voltmeter, and gave it my quick tap with the hand test to see if I was gonna get zapped braindead...and SUCCESS!!!!!!! no leaky leaky of the current, and after unplugging the new cord, and replugging the motor plug back into it's freshly wired socket...
I plugged in the machine, gave it a quick tap with the hand to see if the motor was faulty...no poke...so I flipped the switch at the handle grip...and....You shoulda' HEARD THAT SOFT PURR.....
Stan is right as rain of course about this machine being silent. I reached behind the motor housing and flipped the motor speed to what was then HIGH and even then the rush of air got louder, a bit louder roar, the carpet on my bench started to vibrate, and......I got a faceful of grit and dust...
Go me....
After that was over with, I proceeded to disassemble the entire machine, to replace the wiring from the motor outwards if that was humanly possible, as if the wiring was that bad up top, it couldn't have been good down below.
What I found was that in order to remove the hood, you had to undo the entire bottom assembly of the machine including the rear wheels, lower fan casing, and the lower brushroll housing assembly as one unit, which was seriously held fast by 17 million flathead screws. After that assembly was removed, there lie four more flathead screws holding the outer motor housing to the base.... ANOTHER area that was definitely NON_HOOVER!!!!!LOL but design wise very imitated..
If you look at picture # 1 you can see the motor cord running down the left hand side of the handle bail. Where it goes into the machine is a thick rubber grommet that acts again as a cord protector. Well, upon even FURTHER inspection, that grommet stopped protecting that cord about 1960. It was definitely frayed below that area and I could see thru the crack a few bare wires......damn.....
So after removing all those screws that I just mentioned, the hood casing popped off, and I was able to see all the wires that went from a central junction block on the back of the motor, up to the two speed switch and out front to the headlight.
I used fresh supple wires to redo the lines running from that junction block out of the motor housing as all the wires in the motor casing were surprisingly NOT frayed, and actually quite supple, which I was VERY happy about, just the wires leading out of the casing were bad....THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!!
I of course with the machine "unplugged", then snipped the old wires off the original motor cord, and shortened it about a half an inch. I found supple wiring inside the old sheathing, and stripped the old wiring, and wire nutted both black and white wires from the old cord, to the new wires running around the side of the motor to the junction block.
After these were back together and sealed with good old electrical tape for added security. I reused the old grommet and used a metal wire stop to prevent the cord from pulling out of the motor casing. I added a few rounds of electrical tape around that to give an added measure of security.
After refastening the 17 million screws, and reassembling the cleaner. I gave it it fist real maiden run, without fear of electrocution,fire and personal hurties....
I attached the bag, hooked the spring to the hook, and....
I vacuumed my little rug with my pre-war Apex....
Methinks I'm gonna call her Annie Apex-Air-Flow, because when running it just sounds like rushing air for one, and It kinda reminds me of the Chrysler Airflow from the same time period.
I think I'm really going to like this cleaner....
Pray to god Im smart enough to do the picture thing....
Chad
