To the no-good rotten, rat-fink creepy, lousy EBay-er who done stole this Universal upright from me..

[crevicetool]

Looks great Stephen!

Is it hard to maneuver with just the one rear wheel? The terminals on top look frightening too! I don't think I've ever seen those before. Glad it got all the way there in good shape.

Rick

 

[luxg]

Very nice Stephen!!! I too am wondering about those terminals on the top. I sure have never seen anything like that before.

Terry

 

[hooverbaby]

Just finished my 3 day 12 hour work shift!

Rick, it doesn't seem difficult to manoeuvre the machine, though I've only tried it out briefly.

Terry, the terminals do look unusual; I'm wondering if these may have been added at a later date - perhaps there was originally some other type of connector linked in with the holes machined into the casing?

Obviously, it's important to make sure that no bare wires touch the casing when making connections!

Stephen

 

[crevicetool]

I didn't take a snapshot of your particular machine...

except for the bag. That picture as a matter of fact, was just a bonus as I was really trying to take a picture of the blue tank unit only. Below is a picture of a machine that I did concentrate on. You can see an "appliance" type of connector on it. Universals were often as if they were hand made. I think whenever they could, LF&C used parts from other appliances within the factory depending on what was available at time of manufacture.

My theory is, as the ad says above, it was shipped in two parts, they had to offer a means for the customer to complete the assembly. Yours appears to have "farenstock" (sp?) connectors. One wonders why they simply didn't go with some kind of plug-in type device if as you say, they weren't added later on.

Rick

 

[crevicetool]

didn't post the pic did I?

Yeah, it's time to hang up the guns and put myself out to pasture.......However, notice that the floor polisher has the same type of connectors you have......

 

[electrolux~137]

Those "frightening" looking terminals were used on several early brands of vacuum cleaners including the Ohio and the Franz-Premier (the forerunner to the Scott/Fetzer & Kirby).

This was in a different era when people were expected to have common sense instead of suing the manufacturer for millions of dollars when they were stupid enough to touch electrical terminals on a "live" electrical appliance...

"Warning: Coffee is hot and may burn your crotch if you spill it in your lap while driving and eating......."

 

[hooverbaby]

The reason that I suspected that the connectors might not be original was down to the black insulators looking slightly 'chiselled' and out of round - the sort of thing that you might do in your shed at home..so I suppose you could be right about Universal hand making parts and using what happened to be lying around in the factory at the time. I'm not refering to the knobs on top but the little washers underneath between the terminals and the metal case.

It's interesting how the front cover plates vary on these early Universals; mine has a round one, which clips on. Other models, such as one in your picture utilise thumb screws to secure the plate, hence the plate is shaped to suit.

My Renew 'Hotshots' catalogue shows this design, along with another similar one.

Stephen

 

[hooverbaby]

Drinking and driving?

Charles I don't drink coffee whilst driving, only water!

Stephen