Vacuum Motors with Adjustable Wattage

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AHHHH!

I guess I was a little dense!! LOL, I think the very first truly variable speed machine was the Bison.
 
My 1919 hoover 102 has an adjustable motor.


I dont know if it is adjusting the wattage or what, but I can make the vacuum run at literally just a whisper. It is practically inaudible unless you raise the machine front off the carpet.


When at full speed, it is a little more noisy. More air "woosh" and some motor sound.


I need to take a video of it on low speed. It is so smooth, and quiet.

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Wow Brandon! Thanks for posting that! 1919! Who would have thought? And on a Hoover upright, no less!

Very interesting....thanks for these posts everyone. :-)
 
Hey Brandon:

What the motor name plate "For any electric current 110V" means is that the motor will run either on DC 110 V or any cycles (25 to 60 cycles)

Doug
 
The only reason that some vacuums have a "soft start" is to prolong the motor's life. My old 1990's Electrolux 1600 watt endurotronic canister has a soft start whereas my comparatively similar Hoover Telios 1700 watt canister does not.

I recall my Hoover Senior had that 2 motor speed, but only when the pan tool convertor was pushed in at the back. Much better suction compared to the low power.

Variable suction on an upright vacuum isn't really something I'm bothered about - but on a cylinder/canister, worth it's weight in gold, especially if doing curtains, delicate upholstery and fabrics that you don't want ripped to shreds.
 
Hi Sebo fan. Sorry to beg to differ as I like so much of what you say, but prolonging the life of the motor is not the only reason for soft-start. Sure, it probably helps and would explain why it is there on cleaners rated at less that 2kw or so, but like I said, to start up a motor rated at these wattages would cause a surge which could easily take out a 13amp fuse or trip a breaker at the fuse box.
 
Thanks Doug!

Yep. What I do is remove the motor cap and unscrew the screws on top of the motor, and you twist the entire outer assembly to adjust the speed of the motor.
 
VR - I beg to differ too but I take your point.

However, if it was the case that all vacuums under 2000 watts tripped electric boxes, you can be sure Which would have looked into that by now as well as BSI! That's a danger - and an issue that all brands would become aware of. However, as I take your point about machines not being fitted with a 13 amp plug, the vacuums I have that have the soft start functions do have 13 amps but my Felix and X uprights that don't have a soft start also have 13 amps. Same with Miele 1200w S6. But! Not only that, some brands have a double insulation method built in, so that the power usage does not break out/cause surges.

If you have the more traditional fuse box in your home, then it can be a worry for ALL kind of appliances that lack the extra earthed 13 amps. If however like me you have a circuit breaker box in the home, it only takes a flip of a button to restore any outage. I haven't suffered any outage in 15 years - since the circuit box was fitted.
 
Hi Sebo fan. I think we are at cross purposes here, maybe. What I am referring to is the surge on start-up, not a surge from any sort of fault. Have you ever wondered why large commercial floor buffing machines have 1.25mm flex on them, even though the wattage of the motor is relatively low? It's because they have a massive surge on start-up and in this instance the flex needs to be capable of dealing with it.

On a 2000 watt vacuum cleaner motor, the surge on start up could be enough to trip a breaker, especially if other appliances were being used on the circuit. I've known a perfectly safe 1400w Dyson DC07 trip a 16a breaker before now, because of other loading on that circuit. Anyway, when I switched on, everything went off. I reset the breaker and all was well after that.
 
electrolux

i can remember my mum pluging our old electrolux into the light socket my dad was always having to refit the bayonet plug affair it had .the lux was the red loaf type cylinder with cream ends and a cream handle think it was a z 60 somthing along those lines it had its own built in safety device if you pulled it to far the plug came out of the back of the cleaner rather than ripping the ceiling rose off the ceiling later we got a senior 625a but the electrolux was kept for the stairs and the car it was also used regularly to blow air into the livingroom heater [parkray] to get it going on a morning after it had been slumbering all night .The Hoover senior 625a was the first of its kind to have the two speed motor the earlier pink one didnt not that it made much diference its suction was useless when the tools were fitted thinking back now my parents must have liked Hoover stuff because most of our apps were Hoover
 

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