Is this worth it? Tristar.....

[vacuumfreeeke]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I e-mailed the guy and he said he doesn't know if he has the power nozzle or parts but I can come take a look if I want to. I would really like to know that because that will help me determine if I want it or not. How can someone sell something and just not know if they have all the parts?

I actually prefer a pistol grip to a gas pump grip.... just as I prefer straight open handles on uprights to loop styles. The gas pumps get in the way and are just too bulky and I like to think of the dirt going through my hand!

The same white aftermarket hose you have pictured below.... I have that one in black (at least the grip part, I know the hose is different) for my Rainbow SE and I hate it. I'd much prefer the original.

Sandy, yours looks great! I'm not too anal about all original, I prefer it, but I'm not obsessive about it. Is this the one that came with the glittered tools?

I would want an original power nozzle though!

We'll see... I looked around on Ebay and the accessories do not look cheap. I used to have two old Eureka power nozzles that would have worked... one from a Rainbow D2 and one from the exes Mongomery Ward canned ham, but I threw them both away!

 

[floor-a-matic]

Vacuumfreeke

U shouldn't have thrown out the PN! I NEVER throw anything out, ever. I don't care about the condition or anything; I just keep it.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

If you have a mansion that's OK.... a one bedroom apartment not so much!

 

[danemodsandy]

Clear/Glitter Tools

Yes, the tools are clear/glitter; a pic of them is below. The tool caddy that clips to the wands is also pictured. These tools are not too bad to find or replace; the floor and rug tools are the expensive ones at around $100 each. They're solid cast aluminum, with natural horsehair bristles, so that's why they're so spendy.

The effort I put into making the machine complete and correct was because this TriStar was intended to be a "memory machine"; it is the closest modern machine to the Compact C-2 we had when I was a kid. That C-2 was horribly mistreated (and eventually killed) by my mom, something I always regretted. This CXL gets treated with the respect it deserves.

I hear you about the "gas pump" hose; I prefer the pistol grip of the original myself.

 

[danemodsandy]

And Here's.....

....A pic of the tool caddy clipped in place on the wands, with the tools on their holders. The dusting brush and upholstery tool are on the top holders; the crevice tool (which isn't clearly visible here) hangs down from the bottom holder:

 

[suckolux]

my cord has been wrapped around the switch cover since '59, seems ok still.

 

[twocvbloke]

I haven't got the clip thing for the tools to sit on the tubes, it has a hard enough time staying stood up on the PN as it is without adding extra weight (with the demo-tool/bag saver fitted, it's even worse!!)...

As for Eureka-type PNs, yes you can use them, but, they do not lock onto the Tristar or Compact tubes so would not be secure, they used to have an adaptor for Eureka PNs before they designed & supplied their own. The easiest way to get them to stay put though is to wrap some electrical tape round the end of the bottom tube in order to make it friction-fitting, it's not perfect, but it makes use of a PN that isn't 100% compatible...

 

[floor-a-matic]

I also live in a 2-BR apt; but I still have plenty of room for all. However, it's NOT really safe when the kids are there & so is the 'pile' of parts due to entrapment, choking & laceration hazards.

btw, I attach the tool holder onto the handle of the vac & not the wand.

 

[Sanifan]

Do the old Eureka PNs fit on the Tristar wands as-is, or do you need an adapter? I have a Rotomatic and a 50th Anniversary CXL. It would be cool if it just fits.

Lucky find, that new and spiffy Tristar for $15. Congrats! That's very lucky!

 

[djkain2007]

if anybody is interested... i have an extra tristar hose from the cxl/c80 that i'm not using. i have the 'gas pump' style and the other one. if anybody's interested email me.

 

[Sanifan]

re: Eureka PN

Doh! I just saw your post re: the Eureka PN, twocvbloke. It answers my question that I posted afterward. I missed your comment about the Eureka PN until just now.

 

[danemodsandy]

David:

The best investment I made for my TriStar was an extra set of wands, for use with the floor and rug tools and the dusting brush. What that means is that I don't have to disassemble the wands from the PN when I have other jobs. It also means that the tool caddy can sit on the second set of wands, causing no difficulty whatever.

And in my old house back in Atlanta, it meant I had four wands for use on those occasions when spiders had built webs on the ceiling over the stairs. That ceiling was nearly sixteen feet off the floor, and having four wands made it possible to reach those webs.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Flooramatic.... I'm not trying to qualify for an episode of hoarders here now!


I already have a bare floor tool that someone gave me years ago so that's covered.... I would want the glittered attachments though.... and the original power nozzle....

 

[twocvbloke]

"The best investment I made for my TriStar was an extra

Kind of difficult to do that here in the UK, proper 240V Tristars (CXL, DXL, EXL, MG1/2 etc.) are hard to come by, so parts like wands isn't an easy find cos they'd have to come from the states, and as I'm now paying the energy bills in this house, I'm short on free cash now...

Anyway, I gave the tristar a run around the house today, damned fin vacuum, and I glanced at my wattmeter when it was running, and with the washing machine going too, the thing was reading 860 Watts (about 70 for laptops, 200 for the washer's motor (wasn't heating), so about 590 was used by the CXL!!), which was pretty low for a vac with a 1000 Watt motor AND a 150 Watt PN motor running...

As for cobwebs, I just dig out a spare Kirby tube and shove it on the end for the tall ceilings (about 10 feet high in this house), it's worked great before now...

 

[danemodsandy]

David:

If you need spares for your TriStar, I heartily recommend TriStar Canada over any U.S. source. I've ordered from them several times, and have always been pleased with the service, even if it does take a bit of extra time for things to be checked through border security nowadays.

Is there a special postage rate from Commonwealth countries to Britain?

At any rate, TriStar Canada is in Woodbridge, ONT and they're very nice people - much more efficient than the TriStar people here in the States. Here's a link to their Website, which has extremely helpful parts diagrams. My CXL's PN was noisy when I got it, and careful study of the parts diagrams revealed the problem; two little felt dust seals were missing from the brushroll bearing assemblies, allowing dirt to enter and cause problems. Big help!:



http://https//www.tristarvacuumscanada.com/

 

[twocvbloke]

I don't think Canada has any special treatment when sending stuff over, but even so it'll cost more money than I have, plus I know a guy who knows where to get parts...

 

[Sanifan]

Generic wands...

For end users like myself who don't need genuine replacement parts, do you have any suggestions for generic wands for use with a generic dusting brush or unpowered bare floor tool? I have a bunch of random plastic wands lying around. Haven't had the time to try it out, though. Any thoughts before I dig out the parts box? Will cheap generic plastic wands fit on the handle OK?

I'm totally in agreement that having a dedicated set of wands for attachments is a good idea. Saves wear on the cord from pulling it in and out of the guide channel.

 

[danemodsandy]

And....

"Saves wear on the cord from pulling it in and out of the guide channel."

Well, even more importantly, it saves wear on the guide channel. Because if you break one, the only cure I know of is a new wand. Until then, the cord hangs loose and flops about, which is annoying. I've come upon wands with broken guide channels more than once.

 

[floor-a-matic]

"I'm not trying to qualify for an episode of hoarders here now!"

btw, I'm hoping me neither! If that was to happen to me, the kids would get taken away.

I'll have to get rid of some things, too.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Id get it, they are one of the easiest vacs to use and repair. Very powerful a durable. Will last forever and around here we had an office selling them for 2999.99!! I think that's crazy but it is a great vac.
( p.s ) our TRistar dealer is now gone lol hmmm I wonder why