Took a chance on an Electrolux PN-2

[human]

So I was noodling around on eBay yesterday (always a dangerous pastime) when I spotted a nice, shiny Electrolux PN-2 with a cheap 'buy it now' price and free shipping. To further sweeten the deal, I had enough eBay bucks to more than cut the price in half.

Buying this thing was a bit of a gamble because the seller had been unable to test it since it lacks the little power cord that runs from the nozzle to the wand. I had to order one of those but if that's all it needs, I'm still into it pretty cheap

As you can see from the photos (I took them from the eBay listing, but seeing as I now own the item, I figure that's okay), it's clean, shiny and doesn't appear to have been abused. The brush roll seems to be in reasonably good shape but experience has shown me that appearances can be deceiving. Of course, the belt and the motor are the wild cards in the equation. The thing is supposed to arrive Friday, so we'll see. If it works okay or it's easily fixable, I'll be putting my PN-5 up for sale on eBay to help defray the cost of this one.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Nice? What machine do you plan to run it on?

 

[human]

I'm going to run it on my Super J. I think that's what would have come with it from the factory.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

It wold have come with either the 1205 (late) or the Super J. Id love to have another Electrolux with a powernozzle, but i just missed a great one on Ebay

 

[bnsd60m9200]

super j came with the pn4 unless it was a VERY early model. pn2 was late 1205 and golden j

 

[bikerray]

PN2 would have been late 1205, Golden J, some Model L's and early Super J.
There was also a fix for the PN2 where the cord would come unplugged fron the power nozzel, they came up with a clip that would hold the cord in.

Some of the PN2s had a ground as the third pin in the plug.

 

[kirbylux77]

Canadian Electrolux PN's

BikerRay & Human, you might be interested to know we got that PN2 here in Canada in the 70's, on the AP100, AP200 & AP280 models. This PN was used from 1973 to 1982, when the E2000 was introduced & the RugSaver PN that was used in America was used for 2 years before the PN5 was introduced on the 2100 in 1984. Our PN2 was slightly different, though....there was a metal plate attached with 2 rivets that said "Electrolux" on it in handwriting style lettering, there was no strap holding the cord in place on the PN, & the PN's were painted....light brown for AP100 (1973-1976), yellow for AP200 (1977-1978), & dark brown for AP280 (1979-1982). Our wands & sheath were also identical, too.

Here is a picture of my Mom's AP280. Note that this particular model has the distinction of being the only 2-speed model that Electrolux ever produced anywhere in the world. Also note that 4 attachments were standard, the combo dusting/upholstery tool wasn't introduced until the 2100 was introduced in 1984.

Rob

 

[human]

Thanks

BikerRay,
Thanks for the info about the lock-down strap. I can see how that wide, shallow receptacle on the top of the nozzle might not hold the plug securely. That appears to be one of the things they changed with the PN-4. If I have a problem with mine coming loose, I'll have to look for one of those straps. I bet they're hard as hens' teeth to find now, some 40-odd years later. Looking at the photos, mine doesn't appear to have a ground pin. There is a third pin in the middle, offset from the other two that appears to be the same color plastic as that surrounding the other two pins. You can see it pretty clearly in photo 4. I think it's just there to make sure the plug is connected the right way. This corresponds with a little dimple between the contacts on the plug of the cord I ordered.

 

[human]

It arrived today

The postman dropped off a not terribly large, but rather heavy for its size package a little while ago. I was amazed to find it contained my PN-2! Two days from Nevada to North Carolina! Ironically, the power cord was shipped the same day and is still en route from Delaware so I can't yet fully test it.

What I have been able to determine so far is it looks every bit as good as the pictures, it's not caked with crud and the motor isn't totally frozen up. Everything seems to move smoothly when I rotate the brush roll with my fingers; so barring any burned up wiring, it should be okay. I look forward to putting power to it in the next day or so and finding out for sure.

 

[rugsucker]

PN-2

Two things to look for that are unique to PN-2--
-To remove metal bottom plate look for a snap fastener inside at the rear edge and 'unsnap'with flat screwdriver.
-Bearing blocks can be rotated from 'new' to 'used' to readjust brush(similar to later Orecks).

 

[human]

Thanks!

I was wondering how to open that thing up if I needed to, since removing the sole plate seems only to provide enough access to be able to clean out debris.

 

[human]

I went ahead and opened it up...

...and everything looks fine inside. The belt seems to be in great shape, there are no burnt wires and the motor spins smoothly. I went ahead and set the brush roll to the "used" position while I was in there since it's obviously not new, although it's still in fairly decent shape. The whole thing was nice and clean inside. It's really a very clever design the way the motor is isolated from the path of the dirt. After that little teardown, I'm reasonably confident it will work fine once the cord arrives.

 

[human]

The gamble paid off...

The power cord arrived in today's mail and when I plugged everything up and the brush roll in the 'used' position, the PN-2 works great--quite a bit better than the PN-5 it's replacing--and for about the price of a new brush roll for the PN-5. And it was sold as 'for parts or not working'.

While I had it apart last night, I went ahead and hit the aluminum top with Mother's and it really gleams.

The PN-2 may be a 'downgrade' in terms of age and model number, but to me, it's a significant upgrade in terms of appearance and performance. I'll go with the important stuff.