E, E-A
Tom, the plain cord winders certainly could have been left-over from the LXI but if that's the case, they sure had a lot of them left over! I've seen far more of the plain one over the years than the one with the aluminum band. (The band does have a purposeful function btw, as you probably know -- it makes it much easier to fit the two sides of the cord winder together.)
I've also seen -- and in fact have two of them -- Model Es with cord winders. One of them is as you described, with the cord hard-wired inside the machine. One of the neighbor ladies in Virginia had that version. She had an XXX hose with it. I didn't understand that until one day I was playing with her two little girls and we went out to their grandparents' barn which was next door. (NO, we were not going to play doctor hahaha!) In the barn I saw a rusty old Model XXX ... with a Model E hose attached to it! What had happened was that the E hose gave out, so the lady took the hose from the XXX for it which was still in good shape.
The other version I have is where there's a one-inch cord coming out of the back of the machine with a male Belden plug on it, which plugs into the female plug of the cord winder. Looks more jerry-rigged than the hard-wired version but it did make it easier to remove the cord winder.
Paul, if you want to see the Model E to compare it to the E-Automatic, see the link.
(btw, when the Automatic model first came out, Electrolux designated it as E-Automatic [see scan below of inside-front cover of the instruction manual]. In later literature etc. the name was changed to Automatic E, although I don't know if that was ever "official" or not. Technically, the F and G were also automatic models but were never, to my knowledge, called "Automatic F" or "Automatic G" since there were no non-automatic versions of those models. So because that model was called the E-Automatic first, that's how I like referring to it.)
Following are all the differences between the two models, keeping in mind that the Model E came first (1954).
-- Model E front cover comes off when unlatched; E-A is hinged at the bottom and swings open.
-- Model E front-cover release latch is a long chrome-plated "finger" on top; Model E-A is a small ridged plastic button in the front cover.
-- Model E-A front cover has a yellow dial to adjust when the cover pops open to indicate full bag. This is a "vestigial version" of the bag-ejection mechanism of the LX and LXI. The Model E has no suction control. Model E-A front cover also has the word "Automatic" in yellow lettering.
-- Model E plastic handle strip is flat against the top of the motor housing all the way back; Model E-A has a raised area at the back end that contains the switch and plug assembly.
-- Model E switch has a small black rubber tip inset into the top of the machine inside a chrome cover plate that pushes from side to side. Model E-A switch has a large silver plastic switch cover that rocks from front to back. It sticks up from the top of the machine so it's easier to turn the machine on and off, especially with your big toe which many people did. And often broke the plastic switch cover!
-- Model E has very dense black plastic wheels that almost look like wood (and there were two versions -- see web page). Model E-A has dark blue plastic wheels that are larger in diameter.
-- Both models came with a chrome halo for cord storage; an automatic cord winder was optional extra-cost equipment.
-- Model E rear wheels were secured to the axle with cotter pins; Model E-A wheels were, as noted above, peened at the ends. That makes it impossible to remove the wheels without wrecking the axle, a somewhat more costly repair job. The black wheels of the E are much more durable - they're of denser material and are thicker in cross-section. I have never seen a broken one. The blue wheels of the E-A (which btw were the same wheels used for the F, R, L and G [the G has chrome hubcaps but it's the same wheel] are rather brittle and will easily break if the machine is dropped on the wheels.
-- Both models had the same front swiveling caster wheel (same as used up through the Epic). However, it was soon found that the machine tended to topple over when pulled sharply to one side. So Electrolux added a plastic "stabilizing foot" somewhere along the way of the Model E to help prevent it from toppling over, and that foot was continued into the E-A.
-- Hmmmmmm... what else.... OH, the hose! The E had a woven cloth hose, gray with blue chevron pattern. The first E hoses had a hammertone-blue machine-end coupler, the only model to ever have other than a chrome coupler. The E-A had a woven vinyl hose, same color scheme as the E but it looked different since the vinyl material was shiny instead of matte like the cloth hose. The E-A was the first model to have a woven-vinyl hose. [I have an experimental prototype Electrolux hose that has the gray-colored weaving done in cloth, and the blue-colored chevron pattern in blue! The E-A hose is also slightly longer: The E is 6.5 ft. long and the E-A hose is 7 ft.]
-- The E hose handle did not have a suction-relief valve; the E-A did (the first appearance of this feature).
-- The combination floor/rug tool was the same for both models. However, the E version (first appearance of this attachment) had a friction-fit neck like all the older Lux attachments had. The floor tool tended to come loose and fall off. When the E-A came out, they added a spring-loaded locking mechanism to hold the tool in place, and that tool has a wide collar around the top of the neck where the wand is inserted.
-- The dusting brush and (optional!) crevice tool were the same for both models.
-- The polisher was the same for the E and early E-A (as well as for the XXX & LX). During the latter run of the E-A, the all-new "Turb-O-Tool" (as it was called back then) was introduced. It was a more versatile attachment and could do a lot of things including operate a circular saw and hedge-clippers! (But the version with the rug shampoo setup did not come out until the Model F.)
-- Both models had the same cord, black Belden. However, the Model E cord was "hard-wired" inside the machine and could not be removed. The cord-storage hook on the E is a small somewhat triangular shaped "lip" just behind the handle; the E-A cord hook is integrated into the rear raised portion of the handle itself.
-- The E-A is =slightly= heavier than the E but not much. The early E had the same motor as the E (which was the same as the LX and late XXX), then somewhere during the run of the E-A a somewhat more powerful motor was used.
-- The E came with a pair of chrome-plated steel wands (same wands used since the Model XII); as did the early E-A. However, during the run of the E-A, lighter-weight aluminum wands were introduced (and were used for all models through the 1993 Renaissance, when plastic wands with electrical connections were introduced).
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Tom, did I miss anything??!
[this post was last edited: 6/7/2013-01:42]
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