?????
Lewyt 1947 - 1960
- Thread starter dysonman1
- Start date
One of the last Lewyts from around 2001 - This was the top of the line. Smith Marchand Corona still owns the rights to the name and had this series made in China for sale here under the Lewyt name. (Picture is from my web page - part of my collection)
Thank you. You have an amazing collection.
Wow, didn't know they were around that long! I always thought the Shetland-Lewyt canisters in the 60's were the last of the run!
Jeff
Hi Jeff - nope they put out this style in the 1970s
Then in the 1980s they changed to this style. They were out of the market entirely in the 1990s but then tried to make a comeback with the Chinese made machines in 2000 but that didnt last long
That looks like something from the 1960s. No wonder they died.
It would seem that they sort of started not making top of the range, standout machines, anymore.
In case you're wondering about that little boy, I think I found him. Not sure if it's the right guy but the education accreditation and everything lines up as well as his age. This guy would have been 17 at the time and a 1956 article mentions he would be going to Cornell that year. Scroll down and click on his pic to get the bio. About Us - Broward Medical & Urgent Care If it's the right guy, safe to say he did get his dream of becoming a doctor!
Mrs. Lewt's obituary and family history (Babette Lewyt, rescuer who rescued the North Shore Animal League – ANIMAL PEOPLE NEWS) gave insight that he was a grocery store delivery boy and it was a grocery scooter. So must have been on something like this;
Interesting. Thank you.
The one from the 70's kind of looks like a modernization of the Shetland-Lewyt models from the 60's, but this one looks more like cannisters from the late 50's & 60's, somewhat similar to Apex or Westinghouse models of that time. I'm assuming the motor is on the bottom?
Jeff
I hear the 70s model has the motor turning with the cord reel.
No its this one that had the motor turning with the cord reel (1961). The crank is on the front.
question why are some lewyt called the zapper im confused
Their second gen power nozzle equipped version of the Big Wheel sent power through the wands and hose. Literally through the outside of the wand. The power was supposed to be only 24 volts and I am honestly not sure how it was grounded. The 24 volt power came from a secondary winding in the motor. Over time the lacquer on the wire would degrade and and the 24 volt circuit could end up carrying 120 volts. If the user grounded themselves while using one of these vacuums ( touched a metal sink for example ) with degraded lacquer it was possible, and indeed happened several times, the user can be electrocuted. I believe seven users died this way and others were injured.
There are others here who can give a fuller description. I have stared at the drawings for hours and still do not understand how the power nozzle circuit was grounded.
oh wow could they habe run a cord from power head to hose then hose to canister like normal vacuum
That is how their first gen power nozzle was powered. That version is safe.
i wonder why they changed it seems veryyyy unsafe
The same way this happened I think is how that Circuit City worker died using that Panasonic upright in the 90s. He touched a metal shelf with his shoulder while using the vacuum and that grounded him and he died.
https://vacuumland.org/threads/spur-of-the-moment-vacquisiton.46913/page-2#post-486765
So strange to me because I have gotten a handful or 120 volts / 60 Hz twice in my life and while uncomfortable it didn't kill me.
Some people are more sensitive to it.
The 24V powernozzle circuit wasnt grounded. It was designed to be an isolated circuit (aka you would have to touch both connections to get a shock (a single wire ran down the inside of the wands and the wand itself was the other pole for the circuit). When the primary and secondary windings shorted together though the wand became the hot connection for the 120 volts so touching anything that would ground you and the wand completed the 120 volt circuit. As the user was holding the wand in one hand, if they touched something grounded with the opposite hand that would complete the 120 volt circuit through the user and across the heart. Painful at the very least and possibly deadly.
A very bad design.
