The Lewyt Electronic, Hans Craig, and Mike Hays

[dysonman1]

This past weekend, I had the bittersweet task of going to South Carolina to help the late Clay Floyd's sister clean out his house. We had to distribute his entire vacuum collection. My husband Donnie, and I, met up with Hans and his husband Donald, as well as Evan Rogers and Adam Mercer. Two new vacuum collectors also drove 13 hours to be there.

Hans and I had arranged a trade, a few vacuums from the Museum's collection traded for a few EXTREMELY rare machines. First up is a machine from the late Mike Hays' collection - the Lewyt model 121 in Chrome.

I also traded Hans for a Lewyt Electronic in green, a Haley's Comet in butt ugly Kmart spray paint gold, and the "World's Most Powerful Home Cleaner" - the Apex Strato Cleaner. More on these in another thread.

And YES, the Lewyt does run, and NO, I did not get a shock.

 

[dysonman1]

nameplate

I just love the logo and the copper background finish.

 

[dysonman1]

Lewyt called the power nozzle the "Beater Sweeper" as well as the "Electric Upright".

 

[dysonman1]

Works like a charm

 

[dysonman1]

The Electronic can now take its place of honor at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum in St. James where it's on display for our thousands of guests who come all during the year for a fun stop along Route 66.

Thanks again Hans for facilitating this trade and for making sure the Vacuum Museum has the world's best cleaners on display.

 

[kenkart]

As most know

I don't really get into power nozzles that much, and these are rare and should be seen by everyone, I'm glad that my friend Tom has them now, As a tribute to Mike Hays now everyone will know about them.

 

[vacuumdevil]

That is by far the sexiest thing I've seen posted on here in a long time.

 

[compactc9guy]

question

are the wires for the power head in the hose i dont see a pigtail.?

 

[dysonman1]

The wires for the power nozzle begin with the motor. Two turn of the field coil are used for low voltage direct current power. This is transmitted to the hose, which has wires in it. From the hose, it's transmitted through the hose handle, down the bare copper tubes, to the wand receptacle on the power nozzle. It's all done with low voltage, which the user cannot feel. Until they touch a metal sink while not wearing shoes - plus the bag has to be full and the motor quite hot. Then, under the right circumstances, the user will get 120 volts AC through their body. Hence the lawsuits which are the reason there is no more Lewyt company today.

 

[dysonman1]

I also got the model 111 from Hans, which also used to be Mike Hays' machine. It runs perfectly. It's in the process of a spa treatment, but I thought I'd share some 'pre cleaning' pics.

 

[dysonman1]

The Lewyt Electronic Upright

Logo on top of machine. So cool.

 

[frostyvac]

WOW!

Those are awesome! I can't wait to stop back by the museum to see!

 

[dysonman1]

Here are all three of the power nozzle Lewyt machines. The green one as well as the chrome one are "zapper" models.

 

[2011hoover700]

@dysonman1 while you're at it can I have some information on the approximate era the lawsuit that got lewyt out of business took place?
Hopefully I'll be getting things that I happen to have that you want.
Damien

 

[dysonman1]

I'm betting most of the lawsuits were filed either in 1961 or 1962. Certain things had to happen first before anyone got a shock, like the field coil windings fusing together through the melting of the varnish from a full bag causing excessive motor heat, the user being grounded at the same time, etc.

 

[kenkart]

What I want

Is the very last real Lewyt that looked totally different and had a gE style hose connector on the very top!

 

[suckolux]

Interesting machines, they don't melt my butter, but fascinated!

 

[fantomfan]

I used to have that Lewyt Electronic

It too is all chrome. Mine is now in the hands of Greg Palmer. It’s a little rough and there is no power nozzle for it.

 

[collector2]

Hey Hans - Like this one? (my model 210) If I remember correctly there were also two other models of this style.