The Electrolux Model G!

[compactelectra]

Since I am isolating under California guidelines and have gone through my collection with Charles Lester I have renewed my interest in vintage Electroluxes. I have now owned every Lux since the XXX. BTW I did keep a pristine XXX for my collection. The last machine I bought new was a Renaissance which I still have also. I must say without reservation that one of my favorite machines of all time is the Electrolux Model G. My memories of this machine go back to the 60s when they opened a big mall near my home, Right near Sears was an Electrolux branch. On the way to Sears with Mom, I would press my nose up against the front window and drool over the beautiful Turquoise Gs. No way would Mom buy one.

In any event Charles’ visit caused me to pull out the rebuilt model G in Silver that would have been from the era of the Silverado. These machines came back from the factory brand new. It purrs like a kitten and does what it is supposed to do. I am in awe of a machine that still works like this and is over 50 years old. Parts are still available including high filtration bags, attachments and hoses. I remember Consumer Reports did a special on expensive door-to-door vacuums and only had good things to say about Electrolux. They generally rated very high. Designed to do a job well.

Here are two pictures of my Rebuilt G. One with the PN 4 and the one from today with the PN2 in the 1205 setup. Since this a rebuilt machine and they would have sold it with the new power nozzle at the time, I don’t feel bad about mixing and matching. Just like to keep the color scheme as close or complimentary as possible. If there is interest in this thread I’ll get out the all original Tan G (except the hose) and take some pictures. I just found out that the Tan G had a more powerful motor than the Turquoise G. You learn something new every day. Any comments on the Model G?

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Where did you find that vinyl hose for yours? Looks much nicer than the generic ones sold now...

 

[bikerray]

That's a genuine Electrolux hose

 

[compactelectra]

Andy

That’s an original Aerus/Electrolux hose. I’m going to check to see if they still sell them. They sold them until recently.

 

[compactelectra]

Here’s A Fun Thread

About rebuilt Lux’s.

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?986

 

[electrolux137]

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The sleek mid-century design of the Model G has always greatly appealed to me. It's right out of the Jetsons! It's the quietest-running of all American Electroluxes, bested in terms of quietness only by the Canadian Z-88 and Z-89, basically their equivalent of the Model G.

The tan G does have a more powerful motor. IIRC it was the same motor that the 1205 had. Then when the Golden Jubilee came out, it had an even more powerful motor.

Here's one of my turquoise Gs (I have three different versions). I do have the original hose for it but only use it for display.

 

[jo]

Very nice to share a beautiful machine....that first photo really shows off the beautiful polish on the aluminum, so hard to get by hand....what I wonder is...how did they change the color of rubber items like the bumpers and the rubber for the handle to the grey? I don’t think they are painted...maybe they just made new ones?

Love the recent genuine electric hose...dying for one just like it to put with my G that I painted a beep dark blue metallic hammerite paint with high gloss. Makes the polished aluminum ends stand out nicely. Makes for a properly working durable Model G that should run beautifully for years to come.

I notice this G has the power nozzle pigtail hose wire port on the top of the u it (like my AF does). I’ve seen G power nozzle ports usually either down by the front wheel or under the automatic control dial and yours is the second I’ve recently seen with it at the top. Is there any evidence it was previously in one of those two places but in the rebuild was relocated to the top? Mine is down by the front wheels. Growing up one of the ones we had picked up somewhere had it below the automatic control dial. Where does your tan G have it? We had a tan one too at one time...the outlet was by the front wheels.

I think it was perhaps Keither that showed a manual he has with one of his rebuilt units or maybe someone else...anyway...I saw the manual showed the rebuilt could have been either 1205’s, G’s or L’s. I guess people had the choice. Regardless...aside from the XXX, these may have been Electrolux’s largest selling and consequently....traded in units. Though from the number of Silverados I still see out on eBay, it must have been a big seller annually as well because it was only made for 2 years and they were even selling a lot of remanufactured machines in that period as well.

Does your renaissance still work? My friend had one and the electronic board went out in the hose. Too costly to replace the hose at $289.99 from Aerus back in 2008 so she gave it to me and I parted some of it out reusing the motor in a Marquise that needed it and converting the power nozzle to take the metal wand system for use with my G as I did not have any plastic wand machines at the time. I still have the collapsible crevice tool which is interesting. Not sure what I did with the dusting brush and the upholstery tool I reused the wings to replace some on a combo dusting brush tool that had broken upholstery tool wings. An Electrolux man showed me how to change them once a long time ago. Warm the base under very hot water then the thick rubber bends to remove the wing! I thought that was nifty. The shops keep the used wings from trade in machines for customers who come in with one or both of the wings broken. And here I thought I was going to have to buy a whole new tool! The sales and service guys at every store I’ve gone to are and have always been great to me.

Anyway, when my friends renaissance died I loaned her my G and everyone who came into her house and saw it thought it was just great she told me as she had it out as she was getting ready to move. They all wanted to know where she got such a cool vacuum that really looked like it was a quality machine.

 

[huskyvacs]

Oh wow, does the tan G have a bigger motor? I have a Electrolux G that was tan but has been repainted in red, and then has a teal back housing. Inspecting the inside of the vacuum reveals it was formerly tan. I bought it from a Seattle Goodwill store operating on eBay and I loved the color combo on it and planned to use it as a "vacuum cleaner cleaner".

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?35948

 

[compactelectra]

Jon

The grey trim and cord was brand new so they made it specifically for these rebuilds. The original power nozzle port must have been down by the front wheel because it wasn’t on the door. In the rebuild they moved it to the top for some reason. Could be because they retrofitted the older rebuild machines with the ports for selling power nozzles with them and had the parts. The tan G has the port by the front wheel.

Since I got the Renaissance new and my housekeeper didn’t use it, it still works. The electronic controls for that hose were problematic. It was worse if you left the machine plugged in while not using it. I understand they replaced a lot of them under warranty although I never got a recall notice. It’s actually a pretty good machine.

 

[luxflairguy]

Lux model L's always had the PN port down on the side of the front wheels. This also includes the R's. G

 

[compactelectra]

Here Is

The tan G

 

[electrolux137]

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The first Electrolux to have a power nozzle was the later-style Model F (see link below for details). The power nozzle port was placed in the chrome metal strip on top of the machine near the front cover. Wiring ran inside the chrome strip back to the switch.


 


The next Electrolux to have a power nozzle was the Model R. The power nozzle port was put into the right side of the front wheel housing. The wiring was contained in a narrow strip of metal along the underside of the motor body and, similarly, connected to the switch.


 


The next Electrolux to have a power nozzle was the Model G. The power nozzle port was placed in the bottom of the front cover. This proved to be a problem as the plug frequently came undone. With the next version of the Model G, the front wheels were moved back about  2 inches and a power nozzle port was added in a rectangular housing in front of the wheels with a return to the metal strip along the underside of the housing.


 


When Electrolux started offering reconditioned Models E-A, F and G, the location of the power nozzle was the chrome trim again, probably for consistency's sake and also to avoid the problem with the early G's front-cover location.



http://1377731.com/zlux/luxfg.html

 

[compactelectra]

Here’s The Rebuilt Line Up

Not sure of the year. The Rebuilt G shows the port on top. I assume that they put the power nozzle port on the top because it was less expensive than rewiring under the machine and would fit all Gs whether they were originally outfitted with the port on the door or underneath.

 

[electrolux137]

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They also sold rebuilt Models F and E-A. I have an instruction brochure depicting those models. AND, they at some point also rebuilt Model Es. I have one in mint condition.

 

[jo]

Rebuilt E,E automatic and AF’s

That seems logical, and likely during the era when the G’s and L’s and 1205’s were current new models. But perhaps it was whatever was getting sent back in to the factories. Though I would think they would have instructed only certain models be sent in. Haven’t seen an S or R as a rebuilt. Though I have seen an XXX as rebuilt...but maybe that was through metropolitan in those old Speigel catalogs.

 

[jo]

Rebuilt Electrolux

I’m guessing Electrolux got out of the rebuilding process once they merged with the Canadian company and the Lexan models came out. They are probably cheaper to just manufacture fresh so no point in bothering to have rebuilt units anymore. Plus once they merged, they began having more then just 2 versions of canisters I believe.

 

[compactelectra]

Genuine Pigtail Hose

Just called the nearest Aerus dealer (50 miles away) to see if they had an original pigtail hose. He thought he might have one and will check and get back to me. Sounds like Aerus doesn’t manufacture them anymore so if you want one you may have to scour Aerus dealers for new old stock. I’ll update you one the search as it progresses.

The aftermarket hoses just don’t make it.

 

[compactelectra]

Rebuilt Electroluxes

I have heard many stories of the Electrolux salespeople developing good relationships with their customers and talking them into upgrading their older machines to the new ones. The trade-ins would have been a good selling point for a new machine as well as a great source of machines for rebuilding. Brilliant marketing. The interesting thing is that these machines were built like Sherman tanks and given the service level Electrolux provided, there was no real reason to trade them in unless you really trashed the machine which wouldn’t have been easy to do. Folks tended to take better care of their appliances back in those days since it was a large investment.

 

[compactelectra]

Just heard back

From the Aerus guy. He’s an old timer. Told me about selling a machine to a sports star in 1950. He also asked me if I was interested in a new machine. Not! They don’t make these hoses anymore so grab any you find while you can. He had 2. I got one. I’ll post pictures when I get it. He offered me a deal on a Super J hose so I'll see what this one looks like before I get it.