Tristar came today!

[danemodsandy]

vintagehoover:

I forgot to mention: the black plastic part the filter mounts to is called a "filter basket." It is pop-riveted into place through holes in the top half of the canister shell. I had to replace mine (broken filter-mounting tabs), and it was not much fun. But I did get it done in the end.

The filter basket also serves as the exhaust port, if you should ever need to use the vacuum as a blower; it includes a little tab that engages that spiral slot on the end of the hose, just as the vacuum port in the bag door has.

 

[danemodsandy]

Bill:

Check your email - I found your email to me, and I have a TriStar part I think you might be able to use.

 

[crevicetool]

Hey!

Any one want to tell me what that little "c e" stands for in the corner of that Tristar sticker? I've seen that on so many things but haven't a clue what it is.

Rick

 

[lux1521]

CE mark:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE_mark

 

[danemodsandy]

Yurrupeen Conformity:

The "CE" stands for "Conformité Européenne", meaning that the vac conforms to applicable standards for the European market. It's a bit like our UL mark.

 

[crevicetool]

Nifty....

Thanks, I Wondered' de Always'

Rick

 

[methodistbill]

Cleaning Machine!

Well, this is my day off, so I spent the day disassembling my new Tristar, deodorizing and shining it up. It came with only the old cloth bag, so I hand washed it and the motor filter. My thanks to Sandy for giving me tips on taking it apart. Very simple design and engineering for a novice like me. Since the Tristar bags I have on order haven't come yet, I cut a Hoover Type A bag in half and used it to line the cloth bag. It looks rather "ghetto" sticking out of the cover! LOL! But it works. Then I vacuumed away with an old Electrolux rug nozzle. I still have the power nozzle apart, cleaning it. Anywhooo...I was shocked at the amount of dirt and grime it got out of the carpet with just the very limited vacuuming I did AND with only a non-powered rug nozzle! The one drawback to the Tristair hose is no suction control, which made pushing the rug nozzle kind of hard. A very impressive machine indeed!

Bill

 

[danemodsandy]

Bill:

Since I haven't yet seen a photo of your new baby, I don't know if you're using a TriStar rug nozzle with it, or something else from your collection/stash.

A TriStar rug nozzle moves pretty easily, because of the air intake slots on the bottom surface that contacts the rug. If you don't have one, perhaps someone here has one they can sell or trade you, or maybe one will turn up on eBay. TotalVac.com has them new, but they're fairly pricey at $65.95 (don't gasp - the floor tool is $30 more than that!). The new ones are not the polished aluminium finish that TriStar used to use; they're now powdercoated in spattertone silver and black. But they're still cast aluminium, and of a quality greatly superior to anything else I know of on today's market. The 1954 Compact C-2 my mom had for thirty years had exactly the same tool, except for the little slot for the wand's lock button; C-2s had friction-fit wands.

That PN is something of a tricky little beast to clean; it seems the hollows and crevices on the underside of the housing go on forever, LOL. Patience and perseverance do the trick.

P.S.: One of the projects on my "roundtoit" list is going to be stripping the powdercoat off my rug nozzle and buffing it to the old-style polished finish. I can understand that powdercoating keeps TriStar's costs down vs. the cost of buffing, but I like the classic Compact/TriStar look of the polished finish.

 

[danemodsandy]

Oops!

I really should read the material, shouldn't I, Bill? You clearly said you were using a Lux rug tool.

I've tried that combination and it doesn't work well; keep your eyes open for a TriStar tool and everything will be all better.

 

[methodistbill]

Electrolux Model XXX Nozzle

Unfortunately, the Tristar didn't come with any attachments. But for $31, I can't complain! It only came with the Turbo Brush. I was using the rug nozzle from an Electrolux Model XXX. It doesn't allow for as much airflow so it's harder to push on the short looped berber style carpeting I have in my den. I used a cheap floor brush that I vacuum the kitchen with. You can tell the Tristar has a lot of airflow by the way it starts drawing debris from a good distance before you ever vacuum over it. I'll see about posting a photo or two!

Bill

 

[danemodsandy]

Tools:

Bill:

The best thing I can tell you regarding tools is to be patient and keep your eyes open. I was impatient to get a rug tool for my CXL, and it cost me dearly. I'm sure that the two expensive ones - the floor tool and rug tool - will turn up for you eventually. The dusting brush, crevice tool, and drapery/upholstery tool (all of which are plastique) are not any more expensive than those for any other brand, and they do turn up on eBay. There is a neat little clip-on tool caddy that fastens to the wands for storage of the plastic tools; you can see one in vintagehoover's pic of his U.K.-spec DXL, earlier in this thread.

There is one nice, money-saving thing about the floor and rug tools; their brush strips are easily replaced, like those in Lux tools. The insert for the dusting brush is, too.

 

[methodistbill]

I will keep my eye out!

I just looked at the OEM tools at Total Vac. Yikes! I can't help but think that someone got rid of a perfectly good vacuum because all it really needed was a new brush roll and filter so it would have good agitation and suction/airflow again. The vac is really clean (other than the cigarette smoke) and in excellent cosmetic shape. Oh, well. My gain!

 

[danemodsandy]

As Soon As...

...I can get my digital camera's battery charged, I'll post some tool pics. Shouldn't take too long.

Every single tool is based on the ones that came with Mom's C-2 way back there in '54. Plastic colours are different today, and there are now little slots to accommodate the wand buttons, but aside from those differences, they're the ones I remember so well.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tool Pic 1 of 4:

This shows all the tools that came with a TriStar. Clockwise from upper left, they are:

- Floor tool
- Rug tool
- Dusting brush
- Upholstery/drapery tool with snap-out grille
- Crevice tool

In the centre is the beige plastic tool caddy that clips onto the wands; it holds all three of the plastic tools.

The snap-out grille for the upholstery/drapery tool is used when you want to vacuum something like curtains; it decreases the suction and also makes it impossible for the curtain to get sucked into the tool. For upholstery, the tool is used without the grille.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tool Pic 2 of 4:

This one shows the underside of the rug tool; you can see the large air intake slots that allow it to glide over carpeting.

 

[xraytech]

there is a lot of tristar attachments on ebay now,
it is only the dusting brush, crevice tool and the rug shoe, all in clear glitter for $24.99

 

[danemodsandy]

Tool Pic 3 of 4:

This shows the tool caddy loaded with the plastic tools and snapped onto the wands:

 

[danemodsandy]

Tool Pic 4 of 4:

And this one shows the tool caddy in the user position; you can leave it clipped onto the wands while you vacuum. All the tools are right at hand that way!

P.S.: xraytech: I have a rug shoe as a collectible, but I don't recommend using it. It loves to come off the floor tool while it's being used, and it damages the bristles of the floor tool. For anyone who doesn't know what the rug shoe is, it's a plastic piece that clips to the bottom of the floor tool, converting it to a rug tool. Better to have the real rug tool, I think. The rug shoe came standard with late Compact-based TriStars like the CXL, DXL, and EX-20; you had to buy the real rug tool separately. I have a rug shoe only for display purposes; I used it one time and that was way more than enough for me!

 

[methodistbill]

Thanks for the pics!

That rug tool looks similar to the old Electrolux style but with air channels! I really like that little tool caddy. I was kind of wondering if the rug tool and floor brush came standard too. Thanks!

Bill

 

[luxg]

IMHO, the Compact or Tristar floor tool is one of the very best!! I use it on most all of my machines including the Beam Central Vac.