Ugly Duckling

[durango159]

This is my latest yard sale find: My Ugly Duckling!!

I was excited to see this for several reasons:

1) A vintage vacuum
2) An Electrolux
3) One of the only vacuums I had seen all day at yard sales

However, this is definitely, at least in my opinion a very ugly vacuum. Bulky, heavy, I'm not a fan of the twin metal handle, not a fan of the beige color.

The reality is that this is an Electrolux Automatic Model Number: 1451. 6.4 Amp motor. The vacuum is a clean air design with single motor which powers both agitator and suction fan. The motor is quite large and runs a 2 geared belt turbine which powers the agitator brush.

All of the controls are on the back of the bag compartment door. Push On Switch, Push Off switch, Red indicator light for full bag, Push handle release button. Yes, the handle release function is a finger tip contol. Push once to release to normal operating position, and as with all uprights, push a second time to release handle to drop to the floor. Full bag sensor shut/ significant suction loss shuts off the machine and the "Bag full light" turns red. Height adjuster is on side of floor head. A 3 fingered operating device where the thumb pushed in the center to release the lock which allows it to slide and lock into another position. Actually hard to use. The wheel adjuster moves front and rear wheels. Machine is quite heavy, bulky for pushing on rug, but in upright position it rolls well from room to room.

There is an archive thread of this machine from another user, I believe still in 2012 with some details as well. I believe this machine was supposed to come with attachments but I did not receive any, I also do not have a new bag for it yet or a manual.

I have cleaned up most of the machine, it seems to run well but cleaning performance in my opinion is poor.

I will be looking to sell this. With the limited space that I have, I'd rather pass this on to someone who would appreciate this one more than me and perhaps be thrilled with its appearance for a collector's piece. I will bring it to PA mini meet probably end of September.

 

[durango159]

Rear

Rear view, Notice fold out stair cleaning handle just below bottom cord wrap. Carry handle on middle rear of machine.

 

[durango159]

Agitator cavity and suction clean out

The agitator itself is wood, with long nylon tufts that are very soft. The turbine which runs both geared belts to power the agitator is adjustable for distance. So loosening the screws can be it slightly closer to the agitator or motor. I adjusted it when ensuring that the turbine moved freely. I originally thought I'd be replacing the belt but when I opened this up and checked out the whole system the geared belts look to be in excellent condition. The brushroll was stiff to rotate, I freed that by removing tons of hair in end caps and then adding a little oil. Very smooth now. The suction hose is accessible on the bottle plate of the machine. There is a finger hole, and you pull that cover off to clean out the hose connection to the agitator cavity. Suction does feel fairly strong. Any strain of feeling the suction shut the machine off twice on me.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Shutting off the machine on bag full or clog should be something every cleaner should do to preserve the motor. So many Dysons over here suffer burnt out motors due to the user carrying on using the cleaner with a blocked filter or other airflow obstruction. That idea is used on the Sebo X series and I didnt realise that a cleaner as old as the one you show had the capability to shut off the motor for itself to avoid an overheat. It is all very well modern bypass cleaners having thermal cutouts on the motor housing, but quite often, the damage gets done to the armature before the cutout operates. More cleaners should have a good quality metal soleplate as well, you should see some of the Dyson soleplates I come across - this Ebay seller is selling this cleaner as refurbished - look at the state of the soleplate! Sometimes Dyson amaze me by making hard wear parts out of plastic instead of metal

 

[durango159]

Yes, that bottom plate looks like it was vacuuming over broken concrete. Without replacementr, that will do heavy damage to carpets or bare floors. It'll really tear those rugs up.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I agree, and the point I am making is that vintage cleaners were so much better made and built to a quality rather than a price. That old Electrolux looks about 40 years old, but look at the soleplate , its in mint condition. Its a very sad fact that you only find quality like that in a handful of cleaners now - Miele S7 and Sebo X4 have metal soleplates, both German made. I am surprised that the brushroll is just that rather than being a beater bar, that many of the vintage cleaners of that era had. Also, being for the US market, it doesnt have a headlamp which I am also surprised about, but then, UK electrolux models such as the 502 and 550 never had headlights either - seemed to be a Hoover and Kirby thing.

 

[briankirbyclass]

Whats sad is that the bags for these models of Electrolux Uprights are no longer avalible, and have not been for seveal yrs now.
The bags getting very hard to find now in this day and age and are practically non existant. Those that do have them are hoarding and not letting go for dear life!

There are not even generic bags avalible. Nadda, Nothing, ZIP.

If you are handy at doing crafts and things like that, you could make your own if you could find the collar from an old Lux upright bag, and make a new one, and glue a new bag to it.

There was one of these Lux's in A1 excellent condition for sale on E-Bay awhile back, and no one even bid a dollar, sorry to say,,but what good is the machine if you cant even get bags for it?,,,unless someone just wants one to add to their collection and never actually use it for cleaning.

 

[briguy]

Nice find Rob. I have always had a fondness for this machine. A friend of my grandma's had one when I was a little kid and I remember thinking how unique looking it was. What with the dual handle & push buttons.

I didn't know much about them until another collector posted about his recently. I have never seen another one of these in person in the last 30 or so years.

They do look a bit heavy & unpractical for everyday use. But still a neat machine IMO nontheless.

 

[tolivac]

I have seen two Electrolux uprights like the one shown--at all places-church yard sales.The machines were too busted up to consider.Guess the church used it after it was donated to them by a church memeber?-Like the church member bought a new vac-and of course gave the "old" one to the church to use.

 

[smith]

Actually you can still get generic bags for this one. Aerus no longer makes them but I just checked and they are available at ESSCO.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Like so many products, they are only ever really tested in rigid and mock test situations in the factory. They may be tested thousands of times, but it is only when used for any length of time in the real world that the problems come to light.

All products like vacuum cleaners have to have failure built into them as standard, otherwise no one would ever really need to buy new products. However, things like the sole plate on Dyson cleaners have always been too thin and too soft right from the start. I have seen many, many vacuum cleaners with plastic sole plates, none of which could be said to be equal in quality to that of one made from metal, but most of which could be said to be durable enough to have lasted the life of the cleaner.

The Dyson sole plates do not fit into that category. Yet for years now Dyson have continued to keeping sending new plates out to people who need one during the guarantee period, never changing the design or never seeming to question why the plates wear out. Dyson cleaners have a good deal of new and useful features, but there seems to be no desire for them to look at older machines and examine which parts and designs worked well, and why, and then use this experience on their own cleaners. One weakness which Dyson cleaners have suffered with, mainly on the DC01 and earlier DC04 cleaners, is the mains lead snapping where it enters the cleaner. If they had looked at cleaners through history, they would have been able to identify how to ensure their cleaners did not have such faults.

Going back to the Electrolux in the first message here, I am wondering if there was a model which had a looped handle like a lawnmower or a trolley, seeing how there are two poles which terminate into a single handle on this model.

 

[durango159]

I have found a few eBay auction for bags that will fit this machine, I just haven't bid yet. Wasn't sure if I should get bags or leave that up to whoever I sell it too.

 

[jmurray01]

Wow, I've never seen that before Rob!

 

[tolivac]

I am not fond of plastic floor shoes,either.Please make them out of metal-esp the chrome plated or polished metal-they are easier to push across the carpet.That goes for uprights and canister power nozzles.

 

[jmurray01]

I wouldn't say the sole plate HAS to be metal, it just has to be good quality of whatever material it is.

Dysons use terrible quality plastic all round but it is most apparent after hard use on the sole plate due to the "floating head".

My one hasn't worn down completely but it definitely shows signs of getting there.

The plastic used on the sole plates of the Hoover Turbopower 2/1000/3s were of great quality. My 1994 Turbopower 1000 still has it's original sole plate and it shows NO signs of wear at all even after 18 years of use. This is partly due to being nice and thick but also due to the fact the Turbopowers have manual height adjustment so unless you set it too low it won't rub as much as a floating head will.

My 1982 Electrolux 502S has an automatic adjusting head (not quite floating, but roughly the same idea) but to counteract the extra friction it has a metal piece along the length of the sole plate.

 

[durango159]

All of my Hoover canisters over the years with exception of Celebrity power heads, have had plastic sole plates. The plastics sole plates will scratch but I have never seen one chip. With the price of assumed value by customers looking at Dyson, I think that is disgraceful. So not are their agitator bristles extremely hard and shred carpet but their soleplates break and that would shred carpet.

They should just rename Dyson to Carpetshredder.

 

[madabouthoovers]

The reason that Dyson I pictures had a damaged soleplate is that the brushroll had obviously been overloaded with hair and other debris, which as the brushroll was spinning, was constantly hitting the rear edge of the soleplate aperture, eventually wearing it away into slits, which merged together to form the damage you see. A metal soleplate would resist this damage a lot better than the thin plastic used on that Dyson. I remember my parents 1977 Hoover Senior Ranger had a really thick metal soleplate that combined with the belt cover - that is an example of good quality - but manufacturers design things deliberately to wear out now (Built in obsolescence), in order to guarantee further sales.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Actually, I must suggest that even most looked after Dyson cleaner could have a ruined sole plate. Even just one incident of a carpet thread or shoe-lace being pulled into the cleaner is enough to burn lines into the plate. I have seen it a good deal of times and am ashamed to tell you I accidentally did it myself to a customers cleaner whilst testing it out.