My annual trip to North canton

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What was the  "Lewyt disaster"....please educate me? When I goggle Lewyt, I get a vacuum inventor. Did he patent a PN and then sue everyone for making their own version?


 


Kevin
 
I'm very glad to share all of this

with you every time I go there. I got home later than planned due to major roadwork on Route 80 East.... added about 45 minutes to the trip.
I opened the door of the house to find a bat flying around inside! I had to lock the two kitties in a safe room, open the front door and some windows, and try to persuade the bat to leave via the front door. I could have done without that last night. I wonder how long he/she was in the house.
At one time, The Hoover Company supplied all of the energy to the YMCA across the street. That Hoover Company was VERY generous...donating land for Hoover High School, The HOOVER Foundation, etc. It really was incredible.
 
Ahhh yes, as in electrocution! I dug a little deeper and found out that in developing the PN Lewyt made it possible for 115 volts to reach the handle under certain circumstances.


 


Hoover CO was a legend....no doubt that the town was better for them.


 


John, bats love to inhabit dead spaces like inside walls and above ceilings....could be just one random bat, but I would expect you have more.


 


 


Kevin
 
Kevin,
Yes the electrocution issues (actually just mild shocks, no electrocution)
Lewyt was the first canister vacuum to adapt a power nozzle in 1956-7. The first one had a long cord but they tried to improve that in 1958 and had the first of the wire free shockers. Their third power nozzle was no different and the company was bankrupt and sold by 1961 or 62ish. Had they stayed with their first power nozzle all would have been fine and I imagine everyone else would also have a power nozzle by early-mid 60s. But, after the shocking experience of the power nozzle a lot of people were afraid of the power nozzle and probably wouldn't have sold well. Electrolux, Kenmore/Whirlpool, and Compact got lucky and kept their versions of the early power nozzles.
 
Thanks for that, Phillip. Someone had said in something I was reading that the "improved" model started the shocking problem. I didn't realize the problem had continued and actually caused the co to go bankrupt.


 


I rented a steam cleaner once in the 70's and standing on the wet floor I got zapped hard holding their PN. I'm sure it was probably a bad ground on a very well used cleaner. 


 


Interesting on the 'first' PN. I was always told Electrolux had the first....maybe that should read the first continuous production PN...lol.


 


Kevin


 


 
 
I'm afraid there might be more bats

....possibly up in the very long attic. How might I get them out of there? The roof was completely replaced almost 5 yrs ago.. was a complete tear off, etc. There is a very long attic vent all along the point of the house. I hope I don't have a bat condo going on. There was a bat years a go. Murphy had it in his mouth... still very much alive. He met his demise at the business end of a corn broom. and met his final resting place outside.
I really could do without this.
 
A good way to see if there are bats (if you don't notice any by looking) is to put a bowl of watermelon in the area you think has a bat. Take note of how much is in it. If there is a noticeable amount gone after a day, or two, odds are there are bats. We do that when we're checking the barns for Bats.
 
Once in a space, bats are tough to get rid of...short of shooting and broom/net work. Maybe the animal removal people have their ways...dunno.


 


The big thing is to find their ingress....fix that...then do battle. They are HUGE carriers of rabies....so you really don't want your cats exposed even with shots.


 


Kevin


 


 
 
Funny bat story

 


My ex was in the Peace Corps stationed in Malaysia when she was young. She lived in this hut/cottage thing with roommates. The ceiling inside was sloped down to a peak. Curious about what was causing the peak, one evening while most were smoking pot, someone pushed up HARD on the ceiling with a broom handle. He was immediately rewarded with hundreds of pounds of bat guano raining down upon everyone!


 


Kevin
 

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