The Electrolux 560 rides again!

[madabouthoovers]

Well, this was one of the lot of 11 I bought the other day, and on first plugging in, did not sound very happy - in fact pretty sad, the motor was noisy and appeared to slow down and speed up, accompanied by a squeeling sound.
She got pulled apart today and serviced. Took the motor apart and oiled the front and rear bearings with a good clean. The front bearing has worn a bit but it was so dusty and dry. I love the fact that the twin fan motor on this vac can be split in 2 by removing two clips on either side of the motor housing, and the armature pulls out of the rear bearing - makes getting to the front bearing for cleaning a lot easier.
So anyway with a little TLC and a clean up, she roared into life, with none of the motor problems she had before - so seemed it was just dry bearings.

She's really very nice for 29 years old - manufactured June 1983 according to the sticker on the motor, and I'm glad she could be saved.
Heres some pictures of her:

 

[madabouthoovers]

Front view:

 

[madabouthoovers]

rear view:

 

[madabouthoovers]

Underside:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The Vario power control:

 

[madabouthoovers]

Neon Switch:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The Bag door open:

 

[collector2]

Nice - dont surpose you got the accessory kit with it?

 

[madabouthoovers]

Yeah, I got the hose and the pipe extension, but it didnt have any tools - uses standard 32mm I think though so any tools would fit

 

[jmurray01]

Steve, what noise was it making exactly?

A rubber squealing kind of noise?

I'm beginning to wonder if my old 1979 Electrolux 502 may just need lubricated bearings now...

 

[madabouthoovers]

Jamie - the motor bearings were very dry and caked with dust - the front bearing was the guilty culprit - a bit of play there but so dry with no lube - you need to remove the side clamps from the motor and seperate the two halves - but the carbon brushes should be removed first or they will spring out when the commutator and armature is pulled out of the rear bearing housing.
The belt does slightly rub in the plastic due to it riding on the end of the motor spindle, but this does not make the noise - the noise was purely bearing oriented.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Jamie- my 502S has a lot of work needing doing - its very sorry for itself, and has no internal filters, a knackered brushroll (worn brushes), brushroll base retainer screw missing, no belt, totally perished furniture guard rubber, cracked rear carry handle and its very dirty underneath. Will be done eventually, but not right now. I dont believe in throwing a cleaner out, or breaking it down unless it is TOTALLY unsalvageable. Non of the 11 cleaners I got the other day will be thrown out - they will ALL be saved as there are none that are beyond repair. Its just that some will require more work and money spending on them.
If you truly love vacuum cleaners - you will always try to rescue them, no matter what ills they have, or else, thats one less of a rare cleaner in the world once you junk it.
I have only junked a couple of cleaners - and they were Dyson DC07s where the spines were shot, but I used their good bits for transplant to other machines.

You want to ideally keep your 502S, as they are getting rare now, and a great example of a cleaner before its time when released. In the early 70's, what else was like the 502 series? Hoover's rival was the 652 - compare the 2 - which was more advanced? The 500 series was a very early example of a clean air upright plastivac - very ahead of its time! It survived for over 20 years in its relatively unchanged form. How many do you see now? Keep it Jamie and restore it.

 

[jmurray01]

If you are talking about my 502S then it needs no restoration - it runs like brand new and looks it too.

If you're talking about my 502 then that probably needs a new motor or lubricated bearings as you said. I still have it but it needs a lot more work even if the motor could be fixed so I'm putting it on the back burner for now.

I do love my 502S and the best part was I got it for free from a very kind old lady who had bought a new vacuum and listed the Lux on Gumtree.

30 years old earlier this year, would you know it?

 

[jmurray01]

Made in Britain, don't see that these days...

 

[madabouthoovers]

I hadnt realised you had 2 of them Jamie - and very nice the 502S is as well - indeed, for that design is now 40 years old, introduced in the early 70's. I have the 500 model and the 502S now in addition to the 560, and like I said, they are worth preserving as although they were 2 a penny in the 80's and 90's, there aint that many of them left now. I'd say the same about the Dyson DC01 and DC04 - very common in their day, but rapidly dissapearing now, with the DC01 being 20 years old next year (the oldest models that is)
I can bet in 20 years time, the DC07 will be rare too!

As for made in britain, there is not much that is these days - but the Henry is!
Everything else is made in China or Germany, or US for Kirbys.

 

[jmurray01]

Says a lot doesn't it?

The Electrolux 500 series which are mostly over 30 years old are just becoming rare now and Dysons which aren't even 20 years old yet are getting rare.

Hmm... Just thought I'd point that out (yes, I hate Dysons).

The design really was before its time though being from the same era as my 1977... Yes, you know the one.

Back in the 70s you had two kinds of upright vacuum - the traditional dirty fan with poor above floor cleaning and the Electrolux 500.

If only Electrolux would bring that vacuum back with the good old 500 watt motor which was as quiet as a whisper and as powerful as a V8, if only...

Anyway, enough reminiscing!

 

[jmurray01]

Forgot to mention, the only flaw with them is the inner tube which takes the dirt from the cleaning head to the main suction channel - that often splits after about 30 years of use and they are very hard to acquire unfortunately.

Luckily for me I managed to get one from eBay for about £7 for my 502S and it is brilliant however that was the only one the seller had so for anybody else requiring a replacement - better go to the dentist for hens because that's the only place you'll find 'em.

I do believe that new hose will outlast the original however and I will know, because when that Lux is 60 years old (in which time it will still be working like brand new - I guarantee it) we'll see if I have the dreaded task of finding another hose or not.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Gentlemen, the alternative to the Electrolux 500 series was the Hoover Starlight or the Hoover Convertible. The Starlight was smaller and far less convenient when attaching tools, and the Convertible was very heavy and very expensive. Electrolux found a niche market to say the very least. Their cleaners were not cheap - one could pay a good deal less for many other cleaners - but clearly consumers noted the quality and additional value which an Electrolux offered.

The original duct hose for these cleaners is long obsolete, but one can still obtain non-genuine replacements which consists of both end fittings and the hose, all moulded into one. Alternatively, if anyone has a length of the narrow plastic hose from the tool kit of a Hotpoint Universal upright, this can be cut to size and used to replace the original duct hose, using the existing end fittings. The 500 hose was fatter and flattened out in places, but had to be changed for the 502 as this hose was easy to block up, due to the change in shape which allowed certain debris to enter the hose at the flattest point and then get stuck as the hose returned to circular.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Gentlemem if you would like to examine this webpage you will see both types of duct hose are still on sale.

http://www.vacuumcleanersparesuk.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_ELECTROLUX.html