jadney
Member
I'm new to this forum, but I have an Electrolux Model XXX that I've owned for about 50 years. I believe it's about as old as I am, probably made around 1946. It works great and gets regular use around our house; I expect it to outlast me.
It's got the light vinyl top, dark gray painted bottom, chrome rear and alum front. The runners are attached to the body but are neither elliptical (early) nor round (late); they are sort of elliptical with a hump on top. The original handle was black rubber but I foolishly broke that years ago and had to replace it with a later gray one. Back in the '70s it was chewing thru brushes until I replaced the armature. Since then it's been trouble-free.
It came with a lot of original attachments, including an original hose, but the original hose eventually died and I had to replace it with an ugly vinyl one using the original end fittings. I have one more replacement vinyl hose, but would love to find an original. Anyone got an original to sell?
Lately it's been running much hotter than before. The switch used to get warm, but now the whole rear cover gets hot, so I've pulled it apart to see if I can find the cause of the overheating. The exhaust filter was at least 50 years old, but I have new ones. The old one looks pretty bad, so I'm wondering if that could be part of the problem, by making the motor work too hard.
The armature commutator still looks great. I've pulled the motor out and taken the blower apart so I could blow everything out. I don't have it all put back together yet, and I'm not sure I've found the cause of the overheating. I'll spread the prongs on the cord connector to make better contact with the cord. Should I also tweak the shape of the motor connectors to the switch? Or is it likely that the switch itself has developed poor internal contact? I haven't looked closely at the switch, so I wonder if it can be taken apart and serviced, or should I be looking for a new switch? Nothing I have seen so far shows any signs of burning or local overheating. I'd welcome other suggestions.
The motor brushes still have about 1/4 - 1/3 of their life left in them, but I've got a new set coming. I'd also like to find a replacement black handle so I could put this back to OE condition. Anyone got one to sell?
So here are my questions:
The rear cover is attached by 2 long hooked stud/bolt things that seem to have #6-32 threads. I was expecting metric from a Swedish company, but I now understand that the Model XXX was made in the US, so US threads are understandable. Was the design also done in the US? Those threads extend thru the rear cover and also attach the filter holder/outlet body. Between the rear cover and the outlet body there are tiny little brass nuts on those hooked bolts. Those seem small for what they do, and there's plenty of clearance under the outlet body for normal sized #6 nuts, so these tiny brass nuts seem like a poor choice.
Are the little brass nuts original? On my XXX they sit in concave recesses, like countersinks, in the rear cover, even though the nuts don't appear to be made to fit in a countersink. Are these recesses original or have they been caused by stress from the tiny nuts? Should there have been some sort of conical washer under those nuts?
Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.
It's got the light vinyl top, dark gray painted bottom, chrome rear and alum front. The runners are attached to the body but are neither elliptical (early) nor round (late); they are sort of elliptical with a hump on top. The original handle was black rubber but I foolishly broke that years ago and had to replace it with a later gray one. Back in the '70s it was chewing thru brushes until I replaced the armature. Since then it's been trouble-free.
It came with a lot of original attachments, including an original hose, but the original hose eventually died and I had to replace it with an ugly vinyl one using the original end fittings. I have one more replacement vinyl hose, but would love to find an original. Anyone got an original to sell?
Lately it's been running much hotter than before. The switch used to get warm, but now the whole rear cover gets hot, so I've pulled it apart to see if I can find the cause of the overheating. The exhaust filter was at least 50 years old, but I have new ones. The old one looks pretty bad, so I'm wondering if that could be part of the problem, by making the motor work too hard.
The armature commutator still looks great. I've pulled the motor out and taken the blower apart so I could blow everything out. I don't have it all put back together yet, and I'm not sure I've found the cause of the overheating. I'll spread the prongs on the cord connector to make better contact with the cord. Should I also tweak the shape of the motor connectors to the switch? Or is it likely that the switch itself has developed poor internal contact? I haven't looked closely at the switch, so I wonder if it can be taken apart and serviced, or should I be looking for a new switch? Nothing I have seen so far shows any signs of burning or local overheating. I'd welcome other suggestions.
The motor brushes still have about 1/4 - 1/3 of their life left in them, but I've got a new set coming. I'd also like to find a replacement black handle so I could put this back to OE condition. Anyone got one to sell?
So here are my questions:
The rear cover is attached by 2 long hooked stud/bolt things that seem to have #6-32 threads. I was expecting metric from a Swedish company, but I now understand that the Model XXX was made in the US, so US threads are understandable. Was the design also done in the US? Those threads extend thru the rear cover and also attach the filter holder/outlet body. Between the rear cover and the outlet body there are tiny little brass nuts on those hooked bolts. Those seem small for what they do, and there's plenty of clearance under the outlet body for normal sized #6 nuts, so these tiny brass nuts seem like a poor choice.
Are the little brass nuts original? On my XXX they sit in concave recesses, like countersinks, in the rear cover, even though the nuts don't appear to be made to fit in a countersink. Are these recesses original or have they been caused by stress from the tiny nuts? Should there have been some sort of conical washer under those nuts?
Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.
