Model 1205 has a day at the spa

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electrolux137

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Jun 30, 2022
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Los Angeles
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I had a quiet Sunday afternoon today, so I decided to give my "new-to-me" Model 1205 a trip to the Sweeper Spa. This mostly involved just cleaning it up real good -- it didn't require any mechanical servicing at all.

A problem I ran into that I've run into with other 1205s is that the aluminum top trim piece and the power nozzle cover were very tarnished and discolored. I knew before I went in that there was only so much I was going to be able to. I gave these pieces a good what-for with Mother's Mag Polish and #0000 steel wool with some improvement but hardly showroom new.

As I said, the hose was shot so I went down to my workshop to see what I had. Well, Lordy Be! I had a beautiful, nearly mint original 1205 woven straight suction hose (that passed the Roger Proehl Hose Test with flying colors) AND a beautiful (granted, bojack) off-white electric hose that really looks great with the machine.

I retained the XXX upholstery nozzle that had come with it. I figured, if the nice lady kept and used it all these years it deserved to stay with the machine.

I'd forgotten how relatively quiet the 1205 is -- not the gentle purr of a Model G, but not the roaring jetlike sound of the Super J and later models.

(Funny, the first time I used a 1205, back in the day when it was the current model, I thought it sounded harsh and way too loud. It does kinda sound like a shop vac. I also thought it looked ugly, all squared off and boxy unlike the softer lines and forms of earlier models. It wasn't until many years later that I came to appreciate its sleek 1960s-era Swedish-inspired styling.)

A "Customer's Exclusive Serial Number" sticker remained on the bottom and I wanted to keep it. I placed a piece of clear adhesive laminating plastic over it and carefully lifted it off of the machine. Luckily it all came off one one piece. (Some of it had already been worn off.) I trimmed the laminated sheet around it and affixed it back to the motor housing with spray adhesive.

This is one of those rare finds that was well taken care of and lightly used. It runs beautifully and smoothly and with the new hoses has great suction. I vacuumed the entire apartment with it today and it was a real pleasure to use. It really is a gem!

Funny thing is ... I had been watching eBay for a 1205 for quite some time with which to surprize Arlee: As I said, that was the model that his parents used in their home in Palm Springs. His dad had bought it from a door-to-door Electrolux salesman. He did not get the power nozzle because their home didn't have any carpeting.

Some time after Arlee discovered I collect vintage vacuum cleaners, he mentioned that his dad had "an old Electrolux." I bugged him about it enough times that finally one time when he went out there to visit them he brought it back with him. We had it for a while but I don't remember what eventually happened to it. I think he might have given it to one of his other relatives.

And So It Goes.

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Thanks Charles...

for the pictures, it is inspiring me to have another look at my 1205 I was given months ago. It is already in great cosmetic shape, so it should not need too much work.

Well written post, by the way.
 
Very nice!
I've owned 5 or 6 of the 1205 machines. Some were sold of as duplicates, and a few others were pats machines. I currently have 2, one with a bad Junction Block, and the other needs a motor and some handiwork on its junction block.
I have a spare Super J body...may be I can adapt the 1205 cordwinder to work in it, and paint it...The gears in my head are always turning...
Lovely machine!
 
Andy.....

I know what you mean about "gears".....I have come up with some nice ideas for repairs having thought about the issue off and on over a couple of days.

Keep exercising those "little gray cells".
 
To lubricate your "gears".....

use the old celebrated deluxe can of Anything-That-Keeps-Your-Mind-Alert.

You can buy it online or at your neighborhood store.
 
I have a soft spot for the 1205, but not for its performance.....its styling kinda grows on ya for being so period retro these days and I like the historical significance of the internal electric hose....that was HUGE back in the day. But be wary of just snatching it up with its handle and failure with those junction blocks. I had one fully melt down. I gave my son one and I still have two. The metal on his and my old one is outstanding. The metal on my last aquisistion is fair from a long service life. Metal isn't chromed on the 1205 to any great degree like on the G....its predecessor. Later models just had metal 'stickers', little real chrome work. 


 


Kevin
 

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