Trash Find—Electrolux Diplomat

[jo]

Yes once you start getting so many it becomes easy to start parting with the worse condition ones and I’ve given quite a few away to friends and family over time especially any duplicates. I’d rather they be used than just stored in closets. Though I do have about half my collection stored in a closet and the intention is future use if we get a vacation home etc. or the motors go out in one of the daily drivers. At that point I wouldn’t bother to replace a motor, but rather part the machine out.

You may search By “for parts” or “not working” added to Electrolux or Aerus to see if anyone is parting out a similar machine on eBay so you can get the knob. Sometimes a nice Aerus dealer will give you one from parts they’ve salvaged to keep you coming back so maybe you can get the knob that way. It would be nice to have it all working correctly.

I usually don’t throw any old parts away until the new stuff has arrived just to make sure the replacement is identical and will work correctly. In case that cord reel doesn’t fit you could have compared but let’s hope it all works for you soon.

Jon

 

[human]

Parts Lots

Yes, I've seen those parts lots on eBay where somebody has stripped a canister down and buyers can choose the parts they need. Usually they're older metal canisters from the '60s or '70s. There isn't anything right now for a machine that new but I'll keep looking. The only thing I saw that might have a chance of working is a Lux7000 parts unit with no motor but I'm not about to shell out $80, including shipping, for it. However, I'm toying with the idea sending the seller a message to see if they might be willing to part the thing out.

There used to be an Aerus dealer a couple of miles from my house but they closed up a few years ago and there's a pizza place there now. The closest Areus dealer to me now is about 40 miles away.

You're right. I should have held onto that empty winder temporarily to compare it to the replacement but I'm reasonably certain they're the same. Oh well, what's done is done.

 

[suckolux]

I wish you the best of luck on this one buddy, I had a maroon-colored 1 years ago my first and only of the plastic bodies as it was just not any good or my vacuum shop who repaired it wasn't I will stick with my Silverado now

 

[human]

No-lose scenario...

Agreed. I am and always will be much more a fan of the metal bodied canisters. That said, I don't see that I have much to lose here. Worst case scenario, if I can't get it running or it doesn't work to my satisfaction, I can always part it out and make a tidy profit. This whole venture has only cost me $17 and change for the cord winder, including shipping, so I'm not in it too deep. Any way you slice it, I win. The only thing that really changes is the nature of the prize.

 

[suckolux]

I understand friend, makes sense! Mine was a couple of years old, I purchased it from newlyweds who moved in next door to me. it had aftermarket bags and it didn't sound too good but the price was right, the motor burned out in a few months. I took her to my local vacuum shop that has always handled everything and they replace the motor oh, it still didn't sound right to me being plastic so I gave it to a friend of mine with a three-story house and two kids that was desperately in need 3 years later that motor burned up and then the one that was after it. Probably just a cheap knockoff motor that the vacuum shop put in probably not the fault of the cleaner but it painted an ugly picture in my head that I didn't want any more of them us humans are weird

 

[jo]

Yes guys, I think these plastic bodied machines have not so good motors in them. They make that loud high pitched noise all the vacuum cleaner motors make these days. Just doesn’t sound like a quality motor. Maybe Aerus is just importing motors from China for these models and hoping they last the period of the warranty. I have an Aerus Lux Classic and Lux Legacy both of which I obtained recently, before that I never had any experience with any plastic bodied machines except an Ambassador my Mother got free several years ago at the free exchange at the town trash transfer station (dump). They call it “the gift shop”. It’s a couple of sheds that you leave or take perfectly good things rather than throw them away. We have found so much good stuff there and at least 7 very good working Electrolux’s and an 8th that was on the fritz in the 29 years we have had our family vacation home there. Seeing that my parents don’t sit there at the dump waiting for stuff (some people actually do and they look creepy...like hoarders) and they got that many machines over the years in their weekly few minute visit there during the 3 months out of the year they live there...I’m intrigued to wonder just how many Electrolux’s pass through the place....good thing I don’t live there...just visit for a week once a year in the summer. I might have ended up with a heck of a LOT more Electrolux’s as I almost never pass up a completely free one. I did however, pass up an XXX there when I was visiting and we went to ”the gift shop”. I already have the one that was my Father’s Mom’s which is a complete set and didn’t need another and no one was in need of a suction only machine. My Mom actually tried to take the dusting brush and the lady manning the gift shop yelled at her telling her she couldn’t take the attachment. I told Mom she should have taken the entire machine, brought it home, kept what she wanted, and brought it back the rest on the next trip...but that’s ok...if so,some has it it’s got all the attachments. In that area, I rarely see other brands of vacuums passing through “the gift shop”...I think since there were a lack of big box stores in that more remote area but Electrolux had stores around and offered deliver and door to door service...Electrolux was the way to go. This is Cape Cod Massachusetts I’m talking about...and the further away from Hyannis one is where most of the bigger stores are the more hassle it is to get things like appliances but the Cape has somewhat improved over the 30 years we’ve had the family home there with more vendors and Home Depot coming there. Sears was there for a long time and most people were getting their washers and dryers there. There was an Electrolux store not far from my parents there but it has closed down, now I think there’s only one on all of Cape Cod which is much farther away from them as Cape Cod is a rather large area. Not sure why Aerus is closing down these stores, maybe the franchise owners are retiring and closing down the franchise and no one is opening a new one. I don’t ever see new Aerus franchise stores “popping up” anywhere.

I visited some friends who were renting a house for the week on Martha’s Vineyard...the house was equipped with an Electrolux...it was a reconditioned Automatic F, G, or Automatic E, I can’t remember for sure which one it was. But I thought...gee, getting parts and service all the way out here on the Island must be a hassle but I’m sure if there wasn’t a dealer on the island, he or she would surely get on the ferry and come out to you for service and I think they still will to this day but it’s a long and expensive trip especially if a car is needed on the island to get to the customer and bring a loaner.

 

[blknblu]

The 2100 series (Ambassador. LE, etc.)plastic canister vacs have dual stage motors in them, just like the older electrolux's.

That being said, I gave away to my SIL, one of mine that I upgraded to an Ametek Lamb motor (5.7"). I am currently working on another one that I am upgrading.
Here are some pics of when I was test fitting the Ametek Lamb motor.

the 2nd pic is a comparison of an original 2100 motor compared to the Super J motor. A 5.7" motor cannot fit in the Super J body, but will fit in the later metal canisters like a Silverado and later. (They made the hole larger in the metal body).

It is very easy to find the Ametek Lamb motors. The latest one I got was less than $20 (with shipping) and is only 2 years old.

 

[lesinutah]

Power

It looks like super j motor is a little bigger. I could be wrong but is it bigger.
Which motor is more powerful.
Les

 

[human]

Looks a little different from mine

The motor in my Diplomat looks a little different from the one pictured in reply #25 or maybe that one just has the plastic shroud removed. Another interesting thing I noticed is the case has two sets of mounting slots about a half inch apart (see second photo), perhaps to accommodate two different motor options or some other internal variation between the base model Diplomat and my Diplomat Lx.

 

[kirbyklekter]

I Googled your motor

Just for ducks as Mom would say. I guess it was the plastic shroud that threw me off because appearance wise, it didn't look like what I've seen in mine. Super J is my newest so... Anyway, the prices for a new 6500-234 run the gamut from about 65.00-89.00 new, of course you can do better with a little checking on the internet.I bet yours will be OK once you get power to it. They (?) say it's a good vacuum cleaner, the last of the metal shelled. I have a feeling that "new motor" isn't in the cards for this project, lol.

 

[human]

'Good' motor

Yes, I'm guardedly optimistic that the motor is okay. It turns freely and smoothly with no rough spots. And it's nice to know I might have one of the 'good' motors in mine. In the hopefully unlikely event the motor is bad, there will not be a replacement. I will cut my losses and part the unit out with members here getting first dibs.

Given the physical damage to the upper cover around the suction control, my guess is that's the source of whatever problem landed this machine next to the dumpster. For that reason, its going back together with the vacuum line from the bag door to the suction control disconnected once the replacement cord winder arrives.

 

[lesinutah]

Motor

The motor looks like it's in good shape. The electrical connections look very good.
You may have cleaned it up but it looks healthy to me.
Les

 

[human]

Clean as a whistle...

Yes, it was that clean when I opened it up. All I did to it was give it a good wipe down with a paper towel and some 409. That's a big part of what motivated me to go ahead, replace the cord winder and try to get it running. It still remains to be seen if my instinct proved to be correct but I'm thinking the odds will be in my favor.

 

[human]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

The cord winder finally arrived about 45 minutes ago and I just got everything back together successfully. Getting everything lined up to slide those trim strips back into place is harder than it looks in the YouTube videos.

I put it back together with the suction control disconnected and when I turned it on, it ran perfectly—no bad noises or anything and plenty of suction. Doubtless that control was the problem so I'm just going to leave it disconnected and not worry about it. When I attached the hose, wand and power nozzle to the canister, the power nozzle didn't power up first try. It turns out I had the switches turned off on the hose and the power nozzle. That's just too many switches! Granted, the one on the generic hose wasn't Electrolux's idea.

I had hoped to have this done on Saturday but USPS had other plans. Online tracking showed it out for delivery Saturday but the carrier had other plans. By a little after 6:00 p.m., the message had changed to saying the package was being held at the post office "at the customer's request". Total BS!!! A short time after that, I took a little drive up my street and counted no less than seven mailboxes with their little red flags raised, indicating outgoing mail that wasn't picked up because the carrier never went up our street.

Things got even weirder when I went to the post office this morning to retrieve my package. After a little hemming and hawing, I was told it was back out for delivery and the attitude of the lady behind the counter indicated she resented my audacity at asking for my package and that it should be perfectly alright for the carrier not to do his or her job. I honestly had my doubts whether the package was going to be delivered today since online tracking was never updated and it showed it was being held at the post office until after it was actually delivered.

Oh well, at least it's all back together and working now, so the only thing left to do is order some after filters. Hopefully USPS can handle that delivery. I didn't need another vacuum at all, but I'm glad I spotted it and saved it from the landfill—or most of it, anyway.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Glad you got your pkg

from USPS! Not at all surprised at the runaround you were given. A friend of mine is retiring this summer from the postal service after 25 yrs. His mom retired 5 yrs. ago. He says management is a joke there. There's no cohesion and that everyone there is just counting the days to their retirement. There's no oversight to speak of. There are drivers who show up for work in the am, they go in to the office and stamp their time card and then head back out to their cars for a couple more hours of sleep.Management knows, they just don't really care enough to do anything about it. He says they don't carry insurance on the delivery trucks and that if there's an accident, they just pay cash, they don't contest most claims, just pay it. I don't know how they get away with that, but he says it's always been that way. If you or I wanted to drive without an insurance policy we'd have to post a rather large sum, of money up front, I don't know if DMV holds the money or what happens to it.Anyway he tells me they have a large area where all the lost mail eventually goes after they have repeated tried to find the sender or receiver. They don't open the envelopes they just put the mail in huge carts and at some point in time when there is just too much to store, it all goes out in either a freight car or tractor trailer to an undisclosed location where the containers are lowered into the water to go "swimming with the fishes." Another member here is toying with the idea of using his mothalator or crystalator on his model G as a secondary filter. Should be interesting, sounds like a neat idea as long as it doesn't labor the motor excessively. This last project went fairly fast for you it seems, glad you could save a worthy machine from the land fill!

 

[human]

Yes, almost as soon as I got home with that machine, I made the decision that this was going to be a limited project, into which I was not going to dump a lot of resources. I guess I got off lucky that there was nothing more wrong with it than what I found. It kind of amazes me that people toss nice machines like that with so little wrong with them. I'm just glad to be able to see the potential and bring such gems back from the brink.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Edgar are you still short a turn knob for the automatic control? If I recall right, I have a parts 2100 up in the attic with the knob on it still. You are welcome to it providing i have it

 

[human]

That would be splendid. Thank you.

 

[human]

Diplomat test run...Success!

So I decided the only thing left to do on this little project was give the Diplomat a test run and all I can say is it was anything but 'diplomatic'. It's an all-out dirt-hungry beast! I ran it for about 10-15 minutes with no problems of overheating or anything else. If a previously undetected problem was going to manifest itself, I think it would have in that amount of time. Also, no bad odors, which is always a plus on an unfamiliar machine. The vacuum itself is very quiet, like an Electrolux canister should be, but the power nozzle is LOUD! Scared the hell out of my cats, who have yet to come out of hiding. I don't think there's anything wrong with the nozzle's motor; let's just say it has a fairly aggressive tone—with performance to back it up. Like other L-shaped nozzles I've tried, this one is a little cumbersome in tight quarters. For my needs, the square PN2 and PN4 are better bets. Maybe one day when I'm kind of bored, I'll pull out a couple of different power nozzles and compare their sound. But for now, I'm calling this little project a success and a good save.

 

[paul]

Good save ... "non-diplomatic" comment in reply #37 - funny! Here's some Electrolux Corp. background regarding its two longtime tank designs:

1) The Automatic Model 2100s with 8-amp motors (Hi-Tech, Special Edition, & Regency Series 2000) were the first of the plastic-bodied Electrolux tanks in the U.S. While the U.S. company bought the majority of the Canadian company's majority shares in 1961, the passing of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) made it more cost-effective to merge production in 1985. So the Canadian plants were closed, and all manufacturing was moved to Bristol, VA, They were an update of the E-2000, which was launched in Canada in 1982. The biggest cosmetic change was the addition of the tool holder with the Epic 6000SR in 1992. Followed by the Epic 6500SR in 1993, the Lux 7000 in 2002, and the Lux Legacy in 2004 (current model name). Those sold in stores since c.2000 were made without the holder, including the greige & black 2100 (C141A & C141F), Lux 5000 (C141C & C141E) with electric wands, Lux 5500 with standard wands, and the 80th anniversay Ultralux (C152E & C152F) with preset airflow sensor rather than dial-controlled. Eureka motors were used in models from 2002-2009, and JEI motors since then.

2) The Non-Automatic 8-amp motor Model 1623s (L-E, Special Edition, & Regency Series 1000) were updates of the 1982-85 Canadian E-Special. Other U.S. model names (some with different model numbers based on upgrades) have been: Model 90, Ambassador, Ambassador Plus, Ambassador II, Ambassador III, Lux 5000 (C101K), Lux 2000, & Ultralux 2000. The current version's model name is Lux Classic (C151H). Again, Eureka motors were used from 2002-2009 and JEI motors since that time.

3) The original Diplomat, Model 1677, in light sand gray and regatta blue originated in 1989 with the new HP (High Peformance) 9-amp motor and most often included the Model 1751 pn. In 1991 Electrolux introduced its lighted pn, so 'LX', the abbreviation for 'Lux' (meaning 'illumination'), was added to the model name (see the silver coronet on your cleaner's label). The pn model most typically paired with the Diplomat LX was the 1750. The model name ended in 1993. The tank's model number and other specifications are listed on the inner bag door. Both Diplomats were sold with the classic braided vinyl white & blue hose, Sidekick 1562, 2 metal tool wands; textured light sand gray floor brush w/metal brush holder; small combo tool; and standard long crevice tool.

Glad that your test run was a success. Hopefully, it will give you long-lasting service. Enjoy!