Trying To Repair a Thrashed/Abused Rainbow D2

[bluecube448]

Like all my stupid vacuum endeavors I got this thing on goodwill auctions for probably too much money. It was un-tested, without the basin but it was also a "Buy It Now" offer I didn't want to pass up. I've wanted a D2 ever since I knew what a rainbow was, something about that chrome pod shape was so cool to me.

To my disappointment, the motor was completely ceased it looked like the previous owner stored it with water in the tank. There was a thick layer of oxidation on literally everything metal and lots of pieces were incredibly brittle (screws especially).

Managed to get the motor unstuck and spinning as it should but as you can see from the pics the rust is pretty extensive. Took everything apart and gave it a thorough cleaning as the fan assembly was full of (what I think was) plaster dust.

Just as a note this wasn't a refurb, just a repair. It works as it should now but the outside has a few dings and rust marks on it and the inside is the same cosmetically as well.

Curious if anyone has had a similar situation buying old untested vacs online, I'd love to hear it!

 

[lesinutah]

Older

I recently acquired a royal 18", kirby 562, kirby omega. The royal I just cleaned up and it runs perfect. The 562 had water that leaked behind the fan. The bearing was seized and wouldn't spin. I was about to Chuck the bearing. My wife said let me see that I'll fix it. She would the bearing with ammonia and after a half hour it would spin. I got it to spin like it was brand new. I installed everything and installed a new fan. When I installed the fan I realized it was a ds50 armature not the 562 motor. The coil was fried as they ran the 5 amp motor on a 4 amp coil.
The omega had a broken fan and a 562 emtor. I put a new lexan fan and an omega emtor and bag. It runs like a top now.
Rust comes off and can be repaired. The coil usually gets ruined in most cases.
Nice job on the refurbishment. I'd check the coil and carbon brushes. If those check out your probably good.

 

[huskyvacs]

All the vacs I buy are usually junkers, because I am not rich. I can't afford a museum piece. I've got a Eureka that was thrown outdoors abandoned in the Arizona desert, a Kirby G5 that was left in a basement flood, a Bee-Vac that spent its entire life in a chicken coop on an Amish farm in Wisconsin...I get them from everywhere and places you wouldn't imagine. I also do my best to never spend over $50 for any single vacuum - that includes shipping. I make exceptions if it's a dream vac, or something really really unique or rare.

I am waiting to build my workshop, so they are on ice for now, but waiting patiently to be restored. I plan to do a full teardown to the last screw and clean and lube everything and rebuild from the ground up. I also plan to do extensive testing before and after restoration to see how big of a difference a total restoration does. Just like rotisserieing an antique car pretty much, and doing dyno testing before and after a rebuild (makes all the work put into the build so satisfying when you see such a huge difference in results)

I have alot of great ideas and plans, just a matter of selling extra stuff I don't need from my garage (not vacuum related) and then making a big area to work on them and do videos with them (I have a 400sqft. 2 car garage)

I have got a Rainbow D3 I believe, myself. It's in worse shape than your D2 and missing almost everything. The guy had it up for auction for 1 penny and like $15 shipping so I could not pass that up! It came from a go-kart racing garage in North Carolina and it reeks of nitrous oxide or racing fuel.I had to leave it in my garage because I was getting a bad headache from the fumes. I have no idea if they tried sucking up gasoline with it and it exploded the bottom tank or what. It's got a big crack down the side and both the tank and caddy are gone, but I am confident I can plasti-weld it if a new housing cannot be obtained.

Good luck with your project! I would give the motor a full teardown and re-grease and oil and all that stuff while it's open since it was sitting full of water and it likely was never done since the original factory assembly.....60 years ago.

It also looks like you got a great organized workbench there, that's the goal I am shooting for myself.

 

[dysonman1]

That Rainbow was most likely a 1978 model. Note the cooling fins on the aluminum housing. In 1979 the machine was changed in color to chocolate brown. Not bad for 43 years old.

 

[huskyvacs]

Thanks for clarifying, Tom. I just took a guess. It looks so similar to the 1960s models.