Recent Electrolux Finds

[sireluxomatic]

I'm not hugely interested in newer (i.e. '80's and beyond) Electrolux vacuums, but in the last month or so I've been lucky enough to acquire 4 of them, all through local classified ad postings, and I must say I'm pleased with them all.

Here's the 1st, an AP280 with a brand X vinyl hose and PN6. The vacuum has issues; the bag chamber has dirt in it, and the motor, though sounding strong and exactly like its supposed to most of the time, will all of a sudden drop its pitch down, like its going to shut off, and then surge back up again. Not sure what this might be, or if/how it can be fixed, but the whole thing was worth it because of the hose and PN.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Here's #2, a 2100 Special Edition. I recall seeing these in shopping mall kiosks, hence the "Special Edition", I suppose. The only flaw is that the hose doesn't have much suction, but that doesn't matter as I have 2 new vinyl ones.

 

[sireluxomatic]

#3 is a Discovery III upright. I've never been a fan of uprights, and, upon finding out from the seller that the machine was an upright, was going to decline, but then figured, what the hell, its an Electrolux, and I don't have any Electrolux uprights.

No attachments with this; just the machine. The seller had a jam-packed style C bag in there when I tried it out. Seems to me Electrolux didn't go all out in designing their uprights; this is basically a canister mounted vertically on a power nozzle. That being said, I like it, and it works well.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Finally, an Ambassador. As far as I can remember, there were 3 or 4 different Ambassadors, and I'm going to guess this is one of the first ones. This hose is in surprisingly airtight condition, but ridiculously short, stiff, and unusable. What was Electrolux thinking throughout the 80's and 90's with their hoses?

 

[eurekastar]

Very nice finds!

 

[professorkiwi]

Indeed! Very nice finds!

 

[sireluxomatic]

Thanks, gentlemen. Forgot to mention that these machines have been put into regular rotational service, along with the rest of the collection.

 

[scvacuumguy]

Those are in great shape. My second favorite color scheme is the "Special Edition" color. They had the canister and upright in the Special Edition. I wish they used that color scheme on one of the 1500 series metal tanks. My favorite is the mauve colored Marquise tank (same color as your Disc.III).

 

[sireluxomatic]

I agree on the colors; the blue machines never caught my eye in the same way.

All the machines got the full treatment with detergent, magic eraser, disinfectant, and armor-all, but they were pretty clean to begin with, except for the AP280.

 

[andken23]

hey i like all the vacuums and i like special edition color scheme and nice vacuums.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Thanks Andrew. As far as I know, that 2100 Special Edition was the only one in dark red; all the others were brown or blue.

 

[goadie12]

wow those vinal hoses look brand new!

 

[sireluxomatic]

All of the hoses are cosmetically excellent, with no bends at the ends, and except for the 2100, airtight. The combo tools and floor brushes show almost no sign of use. Except for the AP280, all of these machines seem to have been used either rarely or carefully.

 

[electrolux~137]

What was Electrolux thinking throughout the 80's and 90's with their hoses?


EXACTLY!!

 

[sireluxomatic]

Hoses

I'm not sure when Electrolux switched to the vinyl hose; I'm guessing it was sometime in the mid '90's on the blue Epic 6500 with the new style wands (another complaint, for another time), but it was too long in coming. That short hose with the collar is a serious, almost disastrous flaw in an otherwise excellent product.

Most would agree that the woven hoses looked great. The thing, though, about all the woven hoses prior to the short one, is that they were significantly longer, and therefore more flexible and usable, even the electric ones. The company just really crapped out on that hose, as far as I'm concerned.

BTW, I'm not sure when that short hose was introduced on the U.S. models (Olympia? Silverado?), but I think it first appeared in Canada on the AP280 in the late '70's.

 

[bimmer740]

Every one of those Electrolux machines a beautiful! The Discovery III is a great machine, its still the same outgoing model after more than 20 years. If only Aerus would put a more powerful motor in the machine, then it would really be a great vac. They are very straight forward, idiot proof, well built vacs, but they arent the best at deep cleaning. As much as I'd love to see Electrolux produce a new upright from the ground up, I guess their thinking is, if its not broken, dont fix it. That Special Edition canister was initially the Hi-Tech 2100, then Diplomat, then Ambassador, and has continued to evolve into new models, with very few changes. Even though they are plastic, they can take a beating and keep on going. Now if only they could have a little more power.

PS -I thought that Electrolux introduced the first plastic hose at the end of the Epic 6000 production, just prior to changing the machine to the Epic 6500 and using the all plastic direct connect wands.

 

[sireluxomatic]

I have precious little experience with uprights; I was never a particular fan of them and only recall using one a few times over the years. An aunt had a Genesis which I used a few times, but I never paid any attention to its cleaning ability.

So far, I've done the living room carpet twice with the Discovery III, and I'd say any of the canisters I have, coupled with an airtight hose and good power nozzle, do a noticeably better job. I'll qualify that by saying that I've never done any sort of maintenance on any of my machines, other than changing bags and filters, and making sure the brush rolls are clean. If I restored all of my machines to peak efficiency, the results might change a bit.

All that said, I like the Discovery III. It's slim, trim, and simple, not difficult to use, has the easy-change bag system like the canisters...I'm glad to have it and it'll see regular use.

Re: plastic. I think its proved its durability for sure, considering there are AP machines from the early 70's still intact and in use, although I still do prefer the metal canisters.

Thanks for that info on the vinyl hoses; I thought it was around that time, but wasn't sure.

 

[countryguy]

The AP280 was the first brand new vac that I ever owned. I have to agree that the hose on it was awful to use. The only good thing about it was the trigger switch for the power nozzle.

Gary

 

[sireluxomatic]

I can think of a couple of uses for that short hose:

1. block off the ends and use it as a plumber's snake

2. cut off the ends and slip it on a cane/walking stick as a decorative cover

P.S. the other thing I like about the Canadian handles is the sliding suction reducer; I find that knob difficult to use.

 

[countryguy]

I agree! The suction reducer knob was a pain in the a**

Gary

 

[Klectrolux]

Nice finds! I have a soft spot for 80s, plastic tank, Electroluxes. Very nice looking machines! Especially that 2100 SE.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Soft Spot

Agreed, as the 1st Electrolux in my family was a Diplomat (still in use today with my sister). They only have a few drawbacks, namely:

1. hoses (for the birds)
2. noise; seems like a lot of heat and energy are being expended to do a relatively simple job
3. cord winders seem a bit cheap-ish and tend to get sluggish after a while on some of them

The 2100 SE does stand out in an otherwise sort of dull color series.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Electrolux Post-1982 Lineup?

Since adding these machines to the collection, I got curious about the head-spinning number of variations of this type, which began, more or less, with the E2000 (well, technically, they began with the AP series, but they're different looking enough to be classed on their own). So, having a dull moment, I made up this list. Those with more knowledge than me, feel free to chime in/add/correct, etc.

I'm not totally sure of the order of this list, and you can see other uncertainties from all the question marks, but at least its an attempt. It also only includes Electrolux machines, not Aerus.

1. E2000

2. E Special (?)

3. 2100 (dark blue top)

4. LE (dark blue top)

5. System 90 (brown top)

6. LE (brown top)

7. 2100 Special Edition (dark red top)

8. Model 90 (blue top)

9. Diplomat (blue top)

10. Ambassador (blue top)

11. Diplomat LX (?) (dark blue top, white switch)

12. Ambassador (dark blue top, white switch)

13. Epic 6000 (blue with white trim)

14. Ambassador III (blue with white trim)

15. Epic 6500 (blue with white trim)

16. Epic 6500 (gray)

17. Ambassador III (?) (gray)

18. Epic 6500 (white with gray and red trim)

19. Ambassador III (?) (white with gray and red trim)

20. 2100 (very dark blue or black top?)

21. Ultralux (?) (very dark blue or black top?)

22. Lux 5500 (?) (white with light blue trim?) (this might be an Aerus model)

23. Ambassador III (white with light blue trim?)

24. LE (?) Special Edition (dark red top)

25. Advantage (dark brown top?)

That's all I can think of right now without my head exploding, and I didn't even bother with the upright, Renaissance/Guardian, and Aerus variation lists...Holy crap!
[this post was last edited: 3/6/2011-15:32]

 

[sireluxomatic]

For Someone Who Doesn't Like Newer "Electroli"..

Had another very nice find today via classified seller. Its an Ambassador II, with all the attachments minus the crevice tool, and, best of all, a leather storage chest (have wanted one of these for ages). Everything is dirty, but of course will shortly be getting the full treatment to make it new again.

Here's everything inside the storage chest:

 

[sireluxomatic]

#2

Here's the entire ensemble. The machine has an ugly replacement plug, the accessory clip on the filter grill is cracked off, and its dirty, but otherwise in good working order. The hose has a little tape around the handle end, but appears to have full suction. For some reason, there are two old (Canadian) style tool caddies, badly cracked around the handles, and two sheath wands. It's also great to have the Sidekick (didn't have one before) in the original box, and the instruction manual. After a little TLC, everything will be back to (hopefully) almost showroom condition. Now to find some space...

 

[Klectrolux]

Holy! That's my childhood vacuum! We used to have one like this, but with no Sidekick. This is exactly like the one I used to have! I must find one like this. Excellent find!

PS I do like newer Luxes just as much as I like the old ones.

 

[sireluxomatic]

New Lux, Old Lux

Oh, I agree completely. Inasmuch as its an Electrolux, its automatically good I can't think of a single model that I dislike, but am more partial to the 80s and APs because I grew up with them.

The manual lists the Sidekick as optional, so I guess it was only offered as standard with the top-of-the-line, fully automatic models. The Diplomat my folks got in 1990 or 91 came with the Sidekick. Not sure how much it would have been to buy separately with the machine, but it must have added a fair bit to the purchase price.

I'll have to put up more piccies when I'm through with the scrubbing, magic eraser-ing, disinfecting, and armor-all-ing.

 

[sireluxomatic]

The Ambassador (II) is Now on Important (Diplomat)ic Busines

For Klectrolux, thought you might like to see a few shots of the Ambassador II on its first day of service (for me, anyway). The old boy has been cleaned up a bit, and all seems to be in working order, except for the power nozzle, which keeps cutting out. I'll have to take it apart to see what's going on.

 

[sireluxomatic]

Dusting

The hall really is that narrow, believe it or not. The tape is covering a small slit in the hose (and that could be the possible cause of the PN problem). More investigation (and cleaning) is necessary.