DesertTortoise
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2014
- Messages
- 1,189
So I put the motor back into the Avocado Bomber last week. You might recall the high/low speed switch was lost, so I had to make an equivalent switch from a DPDT ON/ON switch. I did that tonight, installed it in the vac and wired it together. I was so stoked, thinking I would finally screw the bottom halves together after all this time being apart and hear the old war horse run again. The stinking axle has to go through supports in the upper half and the wheels have to fit through holes in the lower half. The cord and wiring have to be routed just so, and the order of assembly is critical. Lots of two steps forward, one and a half back, action.
Well I got half my wish. She runs on both speeds and sounds absolutely wonderful. But the switch I chose creates interference with the axle that runs across the rear of the vac to carry the two rear wheels. The arrangement back there is pretty ridiculous as the photos reveal. It looks like it should fit,just barely, but it should fit, but no matter how I route wires off the back of that switch they interfere with the axle (or maybe something else, hard to see in there) and I cannot get the two halves to close nicely. I don't want to force anything, that is just inviting future arc welding.
But I was that far, with the motor all wired in, I had to hear it run. I laid a piece of wood on the patio, laid it on the wood upside down, plugged it in, the dogs wisely decided to go to the other side of the patio, I had the fire extinguisher in hand and I pushed in the plunger of the on/off switch. Glorious healthy vacuum noises! Both speeds work too. I thought about letting it run on low speed for a half hour to burn the brushes in, but it was just too late in the evening and I had to get this report out.
Other dramas, the black wire to one brush fell out of it's connector and wasted a half hour refitting it so it would not fall out. With the brush back in, now the whole spade connector fell out of the brush housing. Out with the brush again so I could bend a bow in the spade to make it stay put. Like I said, this vac is making me work hard for everything.
Tomorrow the saga will continue, but I really need the proper switch to get the clearance I need. The lid hinge is still a temporary kludge, but folks, the Avocado Bomber makes nice sweet vacuum noises again. I despaired I would never figure out how to wire it together right. But I did! And it runs. It's progress and I'll take it.
Well I got half my wish. She runs on both speeds and sounds absolutely wonderful. But the switch I chose creates interference with the axle that runs across the rear of the vac to carry the two rear wheels. The arrangement back there is pretty ridiculous as the photos reveal. It looks like it should fit,just barely, but it should fit, but no matter how I route wires off the back of that switch they interfere with the axle (or maybe something else, hard to see in there) and I cannot get the two halves to close nicely. I don't want to force anything, that is just inviting future arc welding.
But I was that far, with the motor all wired in, I had to hear it run. I laid a piece of wood on the patio, laid it on the wood upside down, plugged it in, the dogs wisely decided to go to the other side of the patio, I had the fire extinguisher in hand and I pushed in the plunger of the on/off switch. Glorious healthy vacuum noises! Both speeds work too. I thought about letting it run on low speed for a half hour to burn the brushes in, but it was just too late in the evening and I had to get this report out.
Other dramas, the black wire to one brush fell out of it's connector and wasted a half hour refitting it so it would not fall out. With the brush back in, now the whole spade connector fell out of the brush housing. Out with the brush again so I could bend a bow in the spade to make it stay put. Like I said, this vac is making me work hard for everything.
Tomorrow the saga will continue, but I really need the proper switch to get the clearance I need. The lid hinge is still a temporary kludge, but folks, the Avocado Bomber makes nice sweet vacuum noises again. I despaired I would never figure out how to wire it together right. But I did! And it runs. It's progress and I'll take it.
