Thanks to Aeoliandave:

[danemodsandy]

Dave:

I just wanted to thank you for giving me the confidence to work on the cordwinder for my Model L. If everyone will recall, I asked for info on repairing it, since it would advance and retract, but not lock. Dave responded with some words of advice, and so today I got busy with it.

The problem seems to have been dried-up lubrication on forty-year-old parts. After disassembly and lubing everything, I had to make several tries before getting everything back together properly. I was especially dense when it came to understanding that the clockspring needed to be wound several turns around the little plastic takeup reel (there's nothing else to hold it in place), but I finally figured that out.

I lubed everything, using 10W40 on the spindles, lithium grease on the races for the ball bearings, and dielectric grease on the commutator (there were also bent commutator contacts, which I straightened). I also lubricated the cord itself, using talcum powder per the instructions in the Model L owner's manual.

What a freakin' difference! The cord advances and retracts very smoothly, without the "old" sound it had before; there used to be a lot of screech and protest. The cord locks properly whenever you want it to. And the vac runs stronger; evidently the commutator problems had caused a voltage drop to the motor.

Life is good. Dave, I am not sure I would have tackled this without your help, so thank you. Thangyaverrmuch.

 

[aeoliandave]

Devilishly clever devices, those cordwinders.

Once you've done one they're a mystery no more. Just variations on the theme & mechanical properties of tempered steel coils, the simplest being the tape measure. It's not easy to break items as well built as our beloved vacuum cleaners so I always look for any faint sign of life in a perplexing mechanism, take it apart methodically and ponder the parts and intent...until the light bulb goes on over my head. Truly, the Eureka moment.

Thanks for letting me know my long winded explanations are being read with the enthusiastic 'you can do it' spirit that is my intention. I've been taking things apart since tot-hood and learn something new every week. Same reason I posted about my travails getting the hydraulic boat pump fixed - it pays to know a good machinist.

Really like your thought out uses for the different greases available, Sandy. WD40 or something similar works well, too, in non-essential areas. And as you know my one caution to everyone is to banish 3 in 1 multi purpose oil from your workbench...your house, garage and life, in fact. Substitute pure Sewing Machine oil for those occasions requiring a toothpick tip's worth of lube.

Dave

 

[danemodsandy]

Lubricants:

Dave:

I've always been a fan of having a selection of oils and greases around for various jobs, because they're all different, and using the wrong one is sometimes worse than none at all. I use lithium grease a lot; it's great for slides, races, tracks, and latch points. I like 10-W-40 (motor oil) for most anything that rotates or pivots- it's nice and heavy and clingy, staying where it needs to be better than lighter oils. I am, like you, a fan of sewing machine oil, too.

I don't disdain WD-40 the way some people do, but it's better for freeing things up and for rust prevention than as a lubricant. It's especially good for preventing rust on garage door springs, which can corrode, fatigue, and snap with a velocity and force far exceeding that of most firearms.

That Model L cordwinder is an amazing piece of old tech. Not one non-essential part in it, yet built almost for the ages. There's more metal in it than you get in a Hyundai today, I think. The only problems it had after 40 years were related to dried lubricant. Nothing in it had broken.