Premier Vac-Kit

[otterpop]

I recently picked up a Premier Vac-Kit at a yard sale (it was free!). Unfortunately, the motor needs to be rewound. Is there anyone out there who still does this? I live in Worcester, MA, so local would be awesome, but I'd be willing to ship it somewhere for the service if need be.

 

[hoover1]

do you have a picture of it?

 

[otterpop]

Re: Picture

Not yet. It's in pieces right now. I've got a couple of leads on people who rewind electric motors and I don't want to reassemble the whole thing just to tear it apart again to get at the motor. I'll admit, it's a little rough. The canister has a small dent, and some of the clasp hardware is rusty, as are the skids. The hose has some kinks in it. The power cord has some rough spots and the plug itself is a disaster waiting to happen, so that will need to be replaced. Last but not least, all I have is the vacuum canister and the hose, no attachments at all. At least the bag is present and intact.

I'd be willing to bet I could purchase a brand new small canister vac for less than the cost of getting this motor rewound (I'll find out tomorrow I hope), but the fact is it just sorta fits me. I love old things in general, and this little canister vac would be perfect for what I want it to do. I've got a couple of roombas and a scooba for the bulk of the work, I just need something to get at the places robots can't get to, and to vacuum out the car from time to time.

 

[aeoliandave]

Otterpop, I certainly admire your dedication in getting this sweet little vacuum up & running again.
At only 13.5" long it marries the portability of a lightweight with the capability of a pull-around cylinder on skids for whole house (more likely small apartment) cleaning.
Premier became a General Electric subsidiary (when?) with it's own line of slightly less stylish vacuums...uprights, cylinders and these sweet little vacs that could be slung over the shoulder on a strap. It's my guess that GE borrowed the concept of Premier's PR-70 VAC-KIT to produce their own version, the famous square-ish brown loaf GE AVT-160 TIDY.
I have one of each - in shredded boxes - with the full compliment of hose, wands & tools and Owners Manual.
The manual makes it clear that the powerful little VAC-KIT (and the TIDY) was as versatile as it's bigger cylinder brothers, for those living in smaller domestic accommodations such as say, a workin' gal's coldwater 3 room apartment.

Good that you have the hose with its couplers. Maybe your hose has already been replaced but the original is a green woven cloth over rubber coil and probably leaks like a sieve at this stage. The coupler and swivel wand end are riveted through the hose so the rivets need to be drilled out to put a newer vinyl hose on. But then you'd have the full suction and airflow this beast can churn out for "places robots can't get to, and to vacuum out the car from time to time."

Dave

 

[aeoliandave]

Owners Manual:

 

[aeoliandave]

Pg 1-2

 

[aeoliandave]

Pg 3-4

 

[aeoliandave]

pg 5-6

 

[aeoliandave]

pg 7-8

 

[aeoliandave]

pg 9-10

 

[vac_whisperer]

Dave, could I see a picture of the GE? I saw one at an antique store a couple weeks ago and I have a couple of questions:

1) How old is it. (Just out of curiosity)

and 2) What do you think would be a reasonable price for it? It has the hose and attachments and as far as I know it runs. I certainly dont want to overpay for it if its not worth it, so thats why I ask.

 

[red_october]

There's a shop in Lowell, which might be a bit of a drive for you, called "Sun Electric" that's a motor speciality shop. I went there looking for mounts for my A/C motor and while they didn't have those they were the greasy looking sort of place where you'd quite expect motors to be rewound. However the guy I talked to was a bit of a dick, so don't expect any miracles, especially if/when they discover what the motor's for. I'd definitely call in advance before I drove out there, though.

 

[aeoliandave]

I can not commend the Dirt Finder Search-a-lator highly enou

Embedded in the upper right corner of each Forum's opening page listing the most recent active threads is an extremely useful Search Tool called the Dirt Finder Search-a-lator. This feature is available to everyone who visits the site including non-member guests.

Type in your keyword and like magic Fred and Robert and every conscious member of the VCCC will immediately stop whatever they are doing and compile a comprehensive list of every thread post in which your keyword appears. OK, not really...you will get a list but Fred & Robert have lives to live and have already done the programming for our convenience.

Clicking on the Blue 'Thread #' of any of the posts that are generated as a list will take you to the complete archived thread from which it originates.

However, copying and pasting the search results page will not automatically produce a viable link to the results (as Google does or I'd be posting the link) - you'll have to do the search yourself. Couldn't be simpler.

Using the Dirt Finder to mine the extensive Forum Archives in advance will get you 99% of the answers and photos to both general and specific questions you have.

Here is the link to one of the 12 posts produced when I typed 'GE TIDY', in which a picture of the GE TIDY ensemble appears, and a screen shot showing the location of this most invaluable research tool.

Dave

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?5449

 

[otterpop]

may be in luck

Thanks to Dave for all the info! I tried a search, but didn't see too much on the topic in my area. I have a couple of leads I'll be checking up on today and will let everyone know how they pan out. Seems like this work is a bit of a lost art at the small appliance level. If my two leads don't pan out, I'll check on Red October's suggestion of Sun Electric up in Lowell.

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[vac_whisperer]

Thank you, Dave! I never even thought of the archives!

Thats the exact same one that I saw.

Ill have to go back and pick it up if I can get it for a reasonable price.