My first of this era Electrolux!

[justjunque]

Well…I found one.
I don’t know if I overpaid for it. I was just kind of excited to find one within my driving distance comfort zone.
It’s a 1205, with the texture to the blue part. The motor sounds good, and it seems like someone took pretty good care of it for a lot of its life. The weirdest part, to me, is that the front swivel wheel is missing. Not broken off; someone took it off, and put the two screws back in the holes.
It came with the braided hose, (in decent condition, but I’m sure it’s leaky), two sets of aluminum wands, the flip floor tool, and the combination dusting brush.
The whole thing is pretty dirty. I’m hoping to be able to clean it up pretty nicely. I have no idea what will clean up and what won’t.
I paid $30 for it, off of Marketplace.
Anyone have a front wheel for one of these that they’d like to sell? And maybe a correct, turquoise crevice tool?
It will have to be straight suction only, for the time being. Eventually, I’ll get a vinyl hose, and hopefully find a wand and power nozzle. But, no real rush.
I’ll try to get some pictures of it in its current state, before attempting to clean anything.

 

[justjunque]

A few “as found” pictures.

 

[paul]

Congratulations, Barry!

I'm guessing that the textured 1205s signified something like the pairing of the PN-2 in 1973 or a motor upgrade. I typically see textured 1205 with PN-2s; and certain 1205s had issues like the terminal block on the side mounting melting (fixed with a repair kit), or some inner portions of carbon holders would slide out and eventually into the commutators. So textured 1205s would give techs a heads-up when they came in for service. My rationale is the Model G's color change that indicated its motor upgrade.

Anyway, you have one of Electrolux Corporation's iconic vacuum cleaners. Looking forward to seeing before and after photos.

 

[paul]

Yeah, you have some cleaning and polishing to do, but it'll be worth it.

The 'ZR' series is definitely among the last of the teal blue 1205s, because the 50th Golden Jubilee ones that succeeded them in 1974 also had the 'Z' prefix.

 

[justjunque]

I'm currently giving it a preliminary wipe-down with sanitizing wipes
And, I did the best I could with cleaning the fine dust out of the bag chamber. I like to hit that with a little lemon Pledge after I get it as clean as I can.
What I'm struggling with now, is whether to remove the sticker from the previous owner's local Electrolux store, or leave it on. I know it's not original to the vacuum. But, at the same time, it has the vintage Electrolux logo, which is now a thing of the past.

 

[human]

Nice 1205...

Congrats on your 1205. They're great machines. I'd say that was probably a fair price, although it is odd for the front caster to be missing. Maybe it suffered a similar fate to the one on my Silverado, where the wheel got damaged. Mine was worn flat to the point that it would not roll. Fortunately, I was able to source one off the shelf from Lowe's in a two-pack for about $5. The base plate was a slightly different shape, so the screw holes would only align when I turned it slightly catty-cornered, meaning the locator pins on the opposite corners would not align. Still, it worked and it was a far better solution than what was on there before and a small fraction of what sellers on eBay parting machines out wanted for them.

Amazingly, I just found the package. It was A Waxman Model #0066941 1-1/4" roller caster plate, Mobile Weight Rating 40lbs / 18kg.

 

[kirbyman65]

Great find!

Great find! I think you paid a very reasonable price! If you want you could clean the motor out. I was surprised how simple it is! Enjoy your new Electrolux.
-Jack

 

[rugsucker]

1205

Looks good! I should have original wheel and crevice tool if you don't find closer. If you have vac stores nearby they could be in a back room. You will find that the 3 Electrolux attachments will clean anything in a home that doesn't need a Power Nozzle.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, Jimmy.
We really have only one vacuum shop in the area, and he doesn't really keep older stuff around. I had asked, and he has a guy who takes his trade-ins and stuff.
If you have those parts, I'd be happy to buy them from you.

 

[rugsucker]

parts

Will find & set aside for you.

 

[justjunque]

Thank you, Jimmy!
Also, to anyone who knows:
If you look at the picture where you can see the hose, there's definitely a place for a cord to plug in, to run a power nozzle. But, it's not right at the end of the hose, like a quick connect type. Would this have been the type where the cord for the PN was clipped onto the outside of the hose?
Actually, as I'm writing this, I realize that there's no place on the vacuum itself to plug the other end of a cord. So, I'm guessing that the hose itself is wired internally.
Maybe there was a pigtail from the top of the wand to the receptacle on the hose handle?

 

[human]

Looking at your photos, you've got a powered hose with internal wiring. The electrical connections on the vacuum are built into the hose coupling on the front of the machine. The wand that came with it would most likely have had a pigtail connector at the top and a receptacle to attach at the base of the hose handle, and at the bottom for the power nozzle's pigtail connector. There was also a less common pistol grip version, that came with a telescoping wand and a detachable PN1. One of my 1205s came with this setup. My other one did not originally have a power nozzle, and thus shipped with a non-powered hose and metal wands only. Given that yours has the textured metal shell, it likely shipped with a PN2 power nozzle, rather than a PN1. That said, if you're not too hung up on authenticity, you could use just about any Electrolux power nozzle with it, so long as the pigtail connector is compatible with your wand. My personal favorite is the PN4 or 4A, preferably with a shiny aluminum top shell, as opposed to the painted variants, but it's possible you might find one of the later 'Ominflow' (PN5, PN6 or later) nozzles more to your liking. It's all a matter of taste.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, Edgar!
I think I'd like one of the bare metal power nozzles. I have no personal experience with them, but I just think it would look good with this vacuum.

 

[human]

Shiny metal...

All of the PN2s and the early PN4s had shiny metal covers. During the Olympia One's production run, beginning in the late '70s and running into the early '80s, Electrolux made the regrettable decision to start painting the the top covers of the PN4 chocolate brown to match the Olympia One and then gray to match the Silverado. I call this regrettable because the paint gets scratched up all too easily and they look horrible, especially the brown ones. The later PN4A only came painted but is otherwise identical to the PN4, except the motor hump only extends a little more than halfway across. I actually retrofitted a Silverado gray PN4A with a polished PN4 cover to greatly improve its appearance. Interestingly, the PN4 cover required shorter screws than what came with the PN4A, but those were available off the shelf from Home Depot.

 

[justjunque]

Second thoughts?

The next phase of the 1205 clean-up that I decided to attempt today, is the polishing of the aluminum top.
Man...it's the Kirby all over again! Without the right tools and skills, it is not a pleasant undertaking! My old elbows are definitely running low on grease! And, after all of the effort, I end up with results that are mediocre, at best.
So, it's causing me to rethink whether or not I'd want a PN that would be more of the same.

 

[human]

There are always possibilities...

You can put any Electrolux power nozzle you want with it, as long as the electrical connections fit together. One option, if you like the PN4 design, would be to get a painted one from an Olympia One or a Silverado and repaint the top to match or complement the 1205. Then again, the PN5 and later ones have plastic covers and would be a lot less work.

I redid a gray PN4A from a Silverado a few years ago, using Rustoleum Hammertone Paint and Primer in One. The color was called black, but it was more of a charcoal gray, somewhat darker than the original Silverado color. Because the paint was engineered to produce a textured finish, it covered a world of sins. Scratches and gouges magically disappeared with each coat I applied. I think I did three coats total.