Rainbow E2 Black Teardown and Restoration

[reo580]

40511.

Same here. Nobody borrows my Rainbow at anytime. Ever.
I once loaned a mint condition Eureka 1400 upright to a customer to use while I fixed her vacuum. When I picked it up a week later, it looked like it had been in a demolition derby! scratches, a dent, the machine stunk something awful. Lesson learned. No one borrows my vacuum cleaners, especially my Rainbows.

 

[floor-a-matic]

I use my Wessel Werk HEB160 instead of the RainbowMate

 

[tolivac]

"Pump"?You mean the motor and fancase,fan assembly?This could be more expensive than the fans alone.I have found just handle the stampted aluminum fans CAREFULLY and you shouldn't have any problems.Also when disassembling the fan-motor aseembly-note where any balance notches are on the fans-draw a pix or take a pix with your phone.then reassemble as in the picure aligning the balance notches.Then your motor and fans should be fine!Kinda like when balancing a ceiling fan.Usually on those the blades are marked as to where they go on the motor.Oh yes,the edges of the stampted fans can be knife sharp--so handle carefully so you don't get cut.

 

[vacerator]

Derek

Nice job! that one was a real mess.
I had a rainbow demo in my home last year by a friend of a friend strictly as a favor. I have a central vac, so will not make another large vac investment.
But I was impressed. My ten year old dense area rug made the water dirty. Although it has never been steam cleaned, I only have used Capture on it.
I restored the same friends old chrome dome he inherited. It only needed new brushes, oiling, and cleaning. The separator cleaned up nice with my roto tool.
The exterior is in fine shape. Polished up brilliantly.

 

[vacerator]

Vacuum abusers

The can slow down when they clean house. My own step daughter included.
I realize some have little ones to look after, but they manage not to beat them up, usually.

 

[reo580]

@ tolivac:

The motor assy is referred to as a "pump" in Rexair literature I have seen.
Balancing notches in the fans? This is new to me. Tell me more about it, I'm curious.

I have replaced countless fans in Lamb motors (FQ, Compact Royal pony etc) and Rainbow single speeds ( B through E2) and never had any problems like this before.

In this rainbow the fans were so funked up with layers of caked dust, I thought it best to replace them- they were loud. I handled these with great care.
I am curious to hear more about balancing notches.... I'm all about learning a newer, better way to do something. Get back to me on that.
Thanks again,
Derek.

 

[floor-a-matic]

Do U buy Rainbow parts thru RainVac.com or your nearest Rainbow distributor?


 


I cleaned up the blue E2 that my dad used to own & now it smells like new; gone away are the dirt (mostly nicotine from the air) & cigarette odor

 

[tolivac]

When the fans are matched to the motors often balance notches were cut in the edges of the fans.I noticed this on a central vac motor Me and Mike were working on.Before we took it apart-took pictures of how the fan notches were oriented to each other on the motor shaft.Then we we put the motor back together after cleaning the fans(the previous user used the NuTone vacuum without a bag)We put the fans on how the notches were oreiented.Motor works great!Before was very noisey from the dirt that got into the fans-had to wash them out and the motor fancase.
Never seen the Rainbow call a "pump"-guess will have to reread the book.Sometimes Kirby called their machine an air "pump" when the unit was set up as a blower-inflator.
Back to the fan for a moment-remember on the old Kirby fans when they had the circular areas cut into them for balance?For single fan-the fan can be put on any way-but for the dual fan motors-like the central one-we put the fans on as to how the balance notches were originally.Hence the taking pictures of the fans on the motor before taking apart the fans for cleaning.Used to do this years ago for "Lux" motors.But,yes its easier to get a new motor adn fan assembly-but this is more expensive-and what if a replacement is not available-then you have to take down the old motor and clean the fans.

 

[vacerator]

tolivac;

True about balance. The size of the fan determines the amount of out of balance. I've seen small weights clipped to squirrel cage fans for that same reason.
Bearings also come into play, as do the fan diameter, length, and weight.
A jet engine has giant blades, so the bearings which keep it on it's shaft need to be very beefy, because the diameter of the blades is so much greater than the shaft length. If the shaft terminated externally or in front of the fan intake on a super structure, a second set of bearings could be added. This would put the fan in the center of the shrouding. This would however, defeat it's purpose, as their would be no air available for thrust.

 

[tolivac]

Bearings in gas turbine-jet engines.If the engine is a dual spool or dual rotor hy bypass fan type engine-most in use today on airliners.The bearings in these get rather complex-its like two bearings inside each other to accomidate the 2nd rotor driven by the hot gases coming from the pirary rotor.The secondary rotor turns that big fan that provides the engines thrust.Now if we took the fan off adn just used the second rotors shaft we could then have a power turbine-you could have it power whatever you need that needs to be spun with high HP-28,000-50,000HP.Electric generators(most common use)natural gas compressors-pumps-the engine runs off the gas-water pumps,ship propellors and so on.And the balances of these are critical,too.More so than a vacuum cleaner motor adn fans becuase the gas turbine parts are bigger and bad things will happen if they fail!There are double sets of bearings in dual spool-rotor engines.One set for the primary rotor-other for the secondary.And their support are high grade steel,the heaviest part in the engine.Think of them as like the engine block in a reciprocating piston engine.

 

[vacerator]

tolivac;

Sure, it makes sense to me. Either the bearing must be larger, or there must be several to carry the load.
I guess what I was trying to parallel to begin with is that I've heard some low priced vacuum cleaners sound bad after they are only a couple of years old.
Cheezy bearings and parts.
When I can plug in an 40 year old Eureka canister with an old ball bearing two stage motor and it sounds almost like new.
Most motors today use only press fit sleeve bearings.
I replaced the blower motor in my car last fall at a parts cost of $80. A German brand part made in China, and it is already noisy.

 

[marks_here]

I had no problem taking mine apart & putting it back together but what I did was take a sharpee & mark one side (like when you do the timing on a car) even the bolts so that way I knew where it would line up & also wouldn't over-tighten the bolts.

 

[tolivac]

Yes,in the older days bearings were made here in the US-Do know a freind of mine that works in one of the few bearing factories left in the US-he and the site are in Erwin,Tenn.The high quality bearings last for a longer time than cheaper grade ones as most makers are using now-after all they want you to buy a new device than fix the old one.Got to fill up those landfills!And the bearings that can be lubed or greased are better than cheap sealed ones that fail.Beleive the factory in Tenn is NTN Ball&Roller or something like that.The man used to work at the transmitter with me.

 

[vacerator]

bearings, cont.

True tolivac. Timken bearings were also very good. Remember oilite bearings?
They secreted oil as they became warmer. Whirlpool used them on the spin tubes in the old wig wag clutch style belt drive washing machines.

 

[tolivac]

Yes,remember those bearings-The oilite bearings can explain why a large number of WP,KN BD washers are still in use today.Better than the new dreck made today!

 

[vacerator]

tolivac,

Are they still available? I remember my dad showing me how they bleed oil on his bench grinder. He actually did need to replace them on a few rebuilds he did.
If the worn ones were left in, too much latteral play between the spin tube and agitator shaft. The bearings were cheaper than a new spin tube.
Now that was a well engineered machine. My dad serviced them for Sears for 33 years. He told me the old belt drive was sold to Canada. I don't think Inglis/Whirlpool kept it very long.
Braestemp in Brazil also used it. I remember also the beefy clutch. If they did wear out, they were in households with large families, or too often overloaded.
Most repairs were mix valves, timers, belts, or pumps, maybe a bad relay or solenoid here or there on the wig wag.
My moms '63 turquoise model 70 lasted about 26 years.

 

[vacerator]

P.S. tolivac,

I tried replying to your Roomba thread on autowasher, but it would not let me do it for another 1/2 hour.
About the Miele roomaba? I bet Roomba makes it for them, since the Miele C1 is from China as well.
I also wanted to tell the other poster that the filter is not a hepa. Hepa filters are pleated. A pleated hepa filter on a Roomba would block all airflow from that tiny fan.

 

[tolivac]

My Mom has an older KN BD washer.She has had it rebuilt under a service contract.Don't know if she still has it-assuming not since she is moving to a retirement home.I am betting my sister has the machine now.Don't know offhand if oilite is still around-will have to look it up-or "Google" it.The vac dealer near me has the Meile "RoomBa" in stock-haven't seen it work nor looked at it.I don't have much interest in that kind of "vacuum"Would think their tiny fans wouldn't have any more suction than someone inhaling.Remember one Roomba brought into the sew&vac place for service-it was draining its batteries quickly.Turned out its beater brush was entangled in long people and dog hair.Same with its whisker brushes.Cleaned them out-machine was better.I have seen some filters rated HEPA that aren't pleated.Used in some Riccar-Simplicity vacuums.Same with Meile.The filter relies on the size of the particles it can filter rather than pleating.And for the filter to be effective-it must have airtight gasketed seals.I laughed at a Sears vacuum that had a "HEPA" filter in an ungasketed compartment-and you could see the dirt blasted by it!Was in the Sew&vac place the vac place uses this vacuum to show how ineffective unsealed "HEPA" filters are.And the dust counter confirms it.

 

[vacerator]

tolivac,

absolutely, there is a huge difference between a sealed air system, and just a "hepa" media filter.
Miele prides there selves on this, as does Electrolux. I doubt a Panasonic or aka Kenmore progressive will ever have this, as it increases the cost a lot.
Not even the budget priced Miele C1 Delphi, etc. canisters have it.
In fact, some later European Electroluxes have two hepa filters. One before the motor in the bag or suction chamber, and one below the motor for exhaust.
Unfortunately, these require cooling hoses for the motor by drawing in air from the suction chamber from back pressure. Their electronics are also junk. Up to four pressure transducers, and rectifier, control boards.
I dub them electrojunx.
As for a robot vac, no thanks for me either.

 

[tolivac]

I haven't seen or tried the new Aerus -Lux machines-some people on here really like them.It seems to be another "Euro" styled canister vacuum.Forgot about the double HEPA filters in the new 'Lux machines-and yes-the problematic circuit boards.Machine being made too complicated-but folks want the "cool" digital displays and readouts and variable speeds.Like in washers and dishwashers circuit boards and moisture don't mix-same with vacuums-circuit boards and dust don't mix.Dust can be electrically conductive-causing problems on the boards unless they put in an airtight space-then there is the problem of cooling the boards-since they do have to dissapate heat.I would like to try the 'lux machine-but would have to have their salesman to to the house.Not ready for that yet!And I think my MD Silentmaster vacuum is the ULTIMATE canister machine.My NSS M1 is the other!

 

[vacerator]

tolivac,

yes, they are in fact European spin off's. American Luxes always have been in fact.
However, today, the only European ones which compare to an Aerus are the direct door to door sold models. Aerus kept the quality and integrity.
Store marketed Electrolux products across the pond are bagless cheaply made plastic 3 to 5 year life throw aways now.

 

[tolivac]

Yes,don't like the Big Box store "electrolux" machines except the Sanitaire uprights.The uprights are actually nice machines.Good performance at a lower price.And easy to maintian.Best selling commercial upright vacuum.

 

[chicagomike]

reo580 (Holland, Michigan)

reo580 (Holland, Michigan) - how do you take the wands apart on the Black Edition? Is there a manual or anything available showing how to take the motor apart? I have taken apart the floor nozzle/shells both top and bottom but never have messed with the canister portion other than cleaning it and the seperator.