gmerkt
New member
Today was a scrounging day for the vac refurbishing program. I came home with three silver machines in my silver Ford Crown Vic. These all came from two of the local Goodwill Outlet stores, $4, $4, and $6.
From left to right. (1) Bissell Lift-Off, the only model of that make that I will refurb simply because people like them for their versatility. These aren't too bad of a machine but to do one properly, you have to completely disassemble it. I put all the plastic parts in one pile, all the electrical in another. I wash off the plastic parts outside with a high pressure nozzle. The electrical stuff I blow out with compressed air. They come apart and go back together pretty easily and quickly. Sometimes I find pinched wires that were done at the factory by the Koreans. One time a bare wire that'd been arcing off the motor housing.
I could tell right away why this silver machine was kicked to the curb. The dust container has two side baffles in it. Someone tried to put these in backwards (they only go in one way), even forcing the fit. As a result, the bin wouldn't seal and was blowing dirt out around the edges. The manufacturing date is 2008.
I've got one green Lift-Off that's in Purgatory right now. It stinks to high Heaven of curry. As yet, I haven't found a way to completely drive the smell out of the soft plastic, such as the hose. In time, in time. I may have to use a hose and some other parts from a donor machine.
(2) Hoover Windtunnel bagged upright. This is a fairly recently-made machine, dated 09 08. It appears to be in pretty good condition, but was missing the bottom plate and the agitator. My guess is someone started to change the belt, gave up, and decided to get a new machine. I've got the necessary parts to put it back together from donor machines.
(3) This last machine is one of the much-maligned Hoover Savvys. This example was in pretty good condition. The lower cord hook (part of a duct) is broken off so I will have to fabricate something for that -- already have a plan. I think this one was discarded because you can see one of the dual floor nozzle inlets is just packed with trash. As usual, the wand holders upper and lower were missing but I've got some of those on order at Hesco. The first thing I checked on this one was to see if the power switch worked, which is a weak link on these. These are fairly slow sellers, but I have sold a few so I took this one on. The build date on this one was 06.
So how about that license plate suffix, SHT? As my wife says, "Would you like to buy a vowel?" This 04 Ford is my regular driver car and I've found that you can transport up to ten dead vacs in it and still get the deck lid shut.
From left to right. (1) Bissell Lift-Off, the only model of that make that I will refurb simply because people like them for their versatility. These aren't too bad of a machine but to do one properly, you have to completely disassemble it. I put all the plastic parts in one pile, all the electrical in another. I wash off the plastic parts outside with a high pressure nozzle. The electrical stuff I blow out with compressed air. They come apart and go back together pretty easily and quickly. Sometimes I find pinched wires that were done at the factory by the Koreans. One time a bare wire that'd been arcing off the motor housing.
I could tell right away why this silver machine was kicked to the curb. The dust container has two side baffles in it. Someone tried to put these in backwards (they only go in one way), even forcing the fit. As a result, the bin wouldn't seal and was blowing dirt out around the edges. The manufacturing date is 2008.
I've got one green Lift-Off that's in Purgatory right now. It stinks to high Heaven of curry. As yet, I haven't found a way to completely drive the smell out of the soft plastic, such as the hose. In time, in time. I may have to use a hose and some other parts from a donor machine.
(2) Hoover Windtunnel bagged upright. This is a fairly recently-made machine, dated 09 08. It appears to be in pretty good condition, but was missing the bottom plate and the agitator. My guess is someone started to change the belt, gave up, and decided to get a new machine. I've got the necessary parts to put it back together from donor machines.
(3) This last machine is one of the much-maligned Hoover Savvys. This example was in pretty good condition. The lower cord hook (part of a duct) is broken off so I will have to fabricate something for that -- already have a plan. I think this one was discarded because you can see one of the dual floor nozzle inlets is just packed with trash. As usual, the wand holders upper and lower were missing but I've got some of those on order at Hesco. The first thing I checked on this one was to see if the power switch worked, which is a weak link on these. These are fairly slow sellers, but I have sold a few so I took this one on. The build date on this one was 06.
So how about that license plate suffix, SHT? As my wife says, "Would you like to buy a vowel?" This 04 Ford is my regular driver car and I've found that you can transport up to ten dead vacs in it and still get the deck lid shut.
