I am a new arrival to this forum and this is an old thread, but i would like to add a few helpful hints as my first 'proper' job was as a service engineer for a cleaning company who were official Nilfisk agents. Indeed, my boss, Tony, once worked for the Nilfisk head office in Cookstown, Tallaght, Dublin. Two of his Nilfisk colleagues also branched out on their own - Clarence O'Flaherty, who ran a cleaning supplies firm in my native Galway, and Des Kavanagh, who also ran a successful domestic appliance sales/repair business, also in Galway. The very first pic here shows a GA70 with a green rubber hose - this would have been the commercial version - the domestic version had a white braided hose. The exhaust port cap design suggests mid 1960s/early 70's as the design changed again in the 70's to a moulded grey plastic one-piece cap. The main filter was replaced at one stage because the second pic shows it having a blue plastic ring that was used as a handle to shake it - the original filter had a silvery metal ring. The second and third pics also show the optional 'micro filter' - a sock that was an optional extra - it was pulled over the white motor base and gave extra filtration. It was not a standard fitment. I would say this vac spent time in a premises like a medical facility or a cleanroom in its past life. Nilfisk also supplied HEPA filters for the exhaust, never saw them for the GAE/GAD motors but I fitted them to the GSD/GST motors used in the Verbatim floppy disk factory in Limerick. Another factory in Limerick, called INFO LAB, based at the old Ferenka factory, had a fleet of Nilfisks - they manufactured copier toner and fibre optic cable filler. These machines had a tough time, as the toner chemicals attacked PVC and made it sticky and gooey - I hated seeing these motors coming in for a service as I would be black and filthy afterwards and I also had to replace every one of the internal PVC cables inside the motor housing. The first pic also shows the legendary Nilfisk '3-way-nozzle as we called it. From this pic, it is clear that the rubber edge around this floor nozzle has taken a beating. I don't know how many of these rubber 'bumpers' I have replaced in my two years working for that repair firm. Yes, we were able to obtain the individual items to refurbish those floor nozzles - bumpers, latching mechanisms, brush strips and the swivelly plastic piece that slipped onto the steel tube. The fourth pic, showing the 'baby blue' accessories, is unusual, as the European accessories were grey. The white braided hose is the standard domestic hose for the period, the exhaust port is missing its cap but it would have been the aforementioned one-piece grey cap from the mid 70's. The fifth pic shows the comprehensive accessory set and caddy which was the same as the one my Mum purchased new in 1976. The last pic shows the oval-bodied GS81 - there was also a GA71, same motors as the domestic vacs but bigger bodies, more filtration area and more robust rubber hoses, there were a popular vac for offices and contract cleaning firms. The hose coupling to the machine was a clever design, a ring of 'teeth' latched on to the forward groove between the hose coupling and a sliding plastic ring. To remove, the coupling was pushed in fully, causing the teeth to 'ride over' the plastic ring, a quick pull then withdrew the coupling. I replaced many a set of teeth on these. Good design. The rubber coupling between the hose and the curved steel tube was called a 'muff' in our shop - the originals were grey or green with grey rings, the rings then changed to blue, today, the 'muffs' are still available albeit in black. All in all, these were great vacs, two fans (10mm thick) ensured a good airflow, despite the apparent low motor power (350/500w for the GA, 800w for the GS) - modern vacs advertise powers of 1000 to 2000W but they often just have one thin fan spinning at a crazy speed). The Nilfisk motors were a bit more relaxed so bearing and brush life were very good.
