Picked up a Discovery II

[human]

Well, I just fell off the wagon. After about 14 months without acquiring any vacuum cleaners, I was at Goodwill this evening when an Electrolux Discovery II upright caught my eye. It was kind of dirty, and when I plugged it in and turned it on, only the straight suction motor came on, not the brush roll motor. But for a mere $8, I decided to take a gamble that I could fix it, and 20 minutes after I got it home, the gamble had paid off. Since the brush roll motor wasn't coming on when the switch was in the 'carpets' position, I surmised the problem was in the switch, so I took the handle off and tested the switch with an ohmmeter. Not surprisingly, I found I had continuity on only one switch position, so I took the handle grip apart to get to the switch, flooded it with contact cleaner, and worked it back and forth about six or seven times, then tested it again. This time, I had continuity in both 'on' positions, and once everything was reassembled, both motors worked as they should. It always gives me a sense of satisfaction when things work out that way. Well, I guess I need to go find that Vacuholics Anonymous meeting and pick up a white chip.

 

[thevacomaticiec]

Nice score those are good machines.

 

[human]

Indeed they are good. I've had several of them with various model names--Discovery II, Discovery Plus, Genesis LXe, Epic 3500R--and they are probably my favorite uprights. They're simple yet versatile. I had a house cleaner for a while who absolutely fell in love with my Discovery II. She couldn't believe it wasn't a new machine. If I were still in touch with her, I'd put a big bow on this one and gift to her.

 

[human]

So, here are a couple of photos of my latest Discovery II. As you can see, it's got a little wear and tear on it, but not too bad. Other than fix the switch, the only other things I've done to it is give it a wipe-down with a Tub-O-Towels wipe and put some electrical tape on the cord where there was a small tear in the outer jacket. The leads inside appear undamaged, so I'll probably just leave it for now. One thing the photos don't show is the little tension clips that hold the handle in the upright position aren't catching. I tried taking them off and bending them with pliers but that wasn't successful. Any other ideas of how to address that?

 

[human]

Not sure what happened with the photos. Trying a second time.

 

[human]

Well, I've played with those spring clip detentes (official name for the part) a little bit more, and I actually got the upper part of the machine to lock into the upright position so that the lower part doesn't drop straight down when I lift the machine. I don't know how long it will last, so I've got a set of replacements saved on my eBay watch list. Ironically, those would cost me more than I paid for the whole machine. The replacements are for a ProTeam machine, but the photos look to be identical to their Electrolux counterparts. I'm hoping I won't have to find out if they're compatible, but if I need to, I will.

 

[human]

So, I got hold of a better cord for the Discovery II and just completed the swap. I have now corrected all three of the problems it had when I bought it. This was the only one that cost me any money, and it didn't cost me all that much, so I'm calling this one done.

Of course, there has been a small amount of 'mission creep', in that fixing the switch on this machine prompted me to address a switch problem on another of my Electrolux uprights. But that's a story for another thread. Tune in next week, hopefully.

 

[kirbyman65]

Great find

Great find! And only $8! I’ve never used a discovery 2 until I helped one of my family members vacuum, turns out he had one. I was blown away how pleasant it was to use.

 

[human]

I love those twin-motor uprights. I've got four of them at home right now, and one loaned out to a friend. All but one of them were super inexpensive.

My other Discovery II was a trash find on the curb in front of a retirement facility, laying on top of a discarded mattress. It had its hose but no other accessories, and it had a brand new, unused bag. Seriously, who puts a new bag in a vacuum before throwing it away?

My Genesis LXe cost me a whopping $8 from a now-defunct thrift shop, and came with an electric hose for a Sidekick. It had the safety-recalled handle and cord design that put the cord on the very end of the handle. I got that replaced for free at the nearest Electrolux dealer about 40 miles away, a decision I have since come to regret.

My Epic 3500SR only cost me $3 from Goodwill. It managed to get out on the floor without a price tag, and when I asked an employee about it, he went and got a manager from the stock room, She had a pricing gun in her hand and without even looking at it or resetting it, she randomly slapped a $3 price tag on it. Needless to say, I headed for the checkout before she could change her mind.

The only one I paid 'full price' for was the first one I got, a Discovery Plus, which was a Discovery II with holders for onboard tool storage. The idea was a little ahead of its time, and the arrangement was more than a little awkward. I always took the hose and wands off before using it. That machine cost me $25 and is now, more or less on 'permanent loan' to a friend of mine.

I just did the math, and my average cost for those five machines, including the one I paid nothing for and the one I really paid up for, is $8.80 each, so that Discovery II I just picked up hits pretty close to an average price point, which is amazingly inexpensive, compared with just about any other type of vacuum cleaner I own.

 

[bisonian]

Cord Recall

Edgar, I have a Genesis LXe with the safety recall cord. May I ask why you regret having the recall work done?

 

[human]

I regret getting it fixed for two reasons, one aesthetic and one functional. The aesthetic reason is the repair was done by replacing the entire handle and cord assembly, and the one they used is a medium gray that didn't match the machine. The functional reason is the three-position rocker switch is defective. Moving it from the 'off' position to the first 'on' position for straight suction doesn't work unless I move the switch all the way to the brush roll position and then back it up to the straight suction position. I could have taken it back to the Aerus/Electrolux dealer, but that would have meant another 80+ mile round trip, so I've just lived with it--until now. I've ordered a replacement switch, which will be here early next week. It's actually for a Shark, instead of an Electrolux. They appear to be identical, except the rocker is red instead of black, and the markings are embossed into the rocker instead of being screen printed on and almost illegible. Also, it cost just over half as much. We'll see.

 

[human]

Shark Switch is Installed...

The Shark switch is now mounted in the replacement Genesis handle, and the machine now functions like it's supposed to. One click turns on the suction motor and the second one turns on the brush roll. I will call the switch a near-perfect fit, in that it was ever so slightly too large for the opening in the handle, a millimeter or so in height and width. Fixing that took about three seconds with my Dremel. It may not be exactly OEM, but I do like the look of the red switch, even if I still don't like the mismatched gray of the handle. And at $9 shipped, versus $18-20 for an OEM switch. I think I can live with something borderline bojack, especially since it looks correct; no duct tape needed.

As much as I prefer the earlier slider style switch, I can see why Electrolux ditched it in favor of an off-the-shelf switch. When I took the handle of the Discovery II apart to spray contact cleaner on the switch, there were a couple of additional pieces of plastic inside to make up that bespoke switch assembly. I'm sure it saved not only cost, but time on the assembly line to simply poke that switch into a hole in the handle.

 

[kirbylux77]

OMG Edgar you made a Franken Electrolux-Shark vacuum LOL!

But seriously though, congrats on the repair! I would have done the same, who cares if it's a different colour and you had to make the hole the switch goes in slightly larger with a Dremel? The vacuum was already non-original anyways with the replacement handle and cord. Who cares if the switch isn't original if you can make it fit, it works the same, and it cost half as much?

I do like these older Electrolux uprights. Much better than the 1st model they came out with that was big, clunky, and just plain was overcomplicated and didn't clean well at all. Whoever the engineer was that designed that monstrosity ought to be taken out to a pasture in the middle of nowhere and shot! However, I only recommend the Aerus uprights - the motors in these are too old now and will need replacing soon if they were put into regular service in a home, and the upgraded motor in the Aerus models produces quite a bit more suction and airflow, so they would clean carpets a bit better too.

One little tip - To keep the suction and airflow strong, after each use, take the bag outside and give it a good vigorous shake to loosen the dust off the walls of the bag, then blow the dust off the top of the cardboard bag top and reinstall. Doing that will immediately restore the suction and airflow of your vacuum, till it's about 3/4 full.

 

[human]

Yeah, maybe I should start calling this machine the ElectroSharx! I agree with you though, Aerus bojacked the thing; I just made it work right. The Dremel work was so minor, the edge of the switch body completely covers it. I've never used an Aerus upright, or one of the seemingly myriad knockoffs like the ProTeam, but I've always found the Electroluxes I've had to be excellent performers. I haven't put my latest Discovery II through its paces yet, but that will happen in the next day or so. It's not destined to be a daily driver, so I'm not too worried about wearing its motor out. I'll definitely keep that bag trick in mind, though.

 

[camelotshadow]

Cool

I have that discovery 2. Just had it out for a spin the other day. It really grooms the carpet but is hard to push.

I also have it in a commercial model that needs the hose underneath replaced. I bought the part many years ago but never installed it. Really not sure how to take that machine apart & not looking for big projects.

 

[human]

Finally, a test run...

I can't believe I've had that machine for almost a month and hadn't really tried it out until today. I will freely admit that I get much more enjoyment out of working on vacuum cleaners than I do from actually running them and cleaning house, but today was the day. I finally made time to give the Discovery II I picked up a few weeks ago a proper shake-down. It's the first time I've actually run the machine for more than 15 or 20 seconds, and it performed exactly as it should. It's no noisier than any of my other machines of that design, and it picks up dirt just as well as the others. It may look a little rough, but it's still got it where it counts.