Very odd Defender brand Vacuum

[vacman1961]

I was over fellow member Chuck Chatham's vacuum store this past weekend and a customer had dropped off a very odd vacuum. It is called the Defender, it was manufactured in 2007 by Defender Vacuums in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The thing that makes this vacuum odd is that it is made out of PVC plumbing pipe. It is 5" in diameter and it has a Lamb 2 stage double ball bearing motor in it, as you can see the construction is very crude, you can almost tell that the person who designed it know very little about vacuum cleaners. The bag system seems to be all Airway, from the inner filter to the paper bag. The hose is permanently attached to the front cover, so if you want to remove the hose, you leave the dirty bag exposed. It has a generic electric hose on it, and according to Chuck it sounds like the description of the power head that the customer described it is a Douglas. I tool some pictures, I hope I can get them to post.

 

[s31463221]

Defender vacuums...

Charlie,

I believe it IS a hand built machine. Check out this article I found about the company and the owner:

http://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=14291

 

[stricklybojack]

Love that..

.
Yankee ingenuity!
What kind of motor does it use i wonder? The pic shows a Sebo nozzle.
No website that i could find.
Designed by a vacuum repairman..

 

[dysonman1]

It's a Lamb, double fan, double ball bearing motor. Made by Ametek.

 

[kirbylux77]

Looks nice, but just a bit on the rough side perhaps? Like where is the cord halo or cord winder? And why make the hose permanently mounted to the bag door? Also, the way the channel for the PN receptacle & cord is mounted & installed on the cleaner, on the side, makes it look cheap & homemade.

I did a Google search last night & it pulled up NOTHING on this cleaner. Plus, call the number & it is out of service. No surprise there, this isn't the only company making a basic tube-style canister....such as Metropolitan & Air Tec.

Rob

 

[man114]

Think it was vaguely based on something like the Electrolux Model XXX based on how it looks, just more crude.

 

[oreck_xl]

I was thinking more along the lines of an Electrolux Model T (thrift model) that too was kind of cobbled together with spare parts left over at Electrolux. Looks like a quality build. Too bad the help line is out of service.

 

[mikecap]

defender vacuum

Looking for any parts or used Defender Vacuum's any ever see any? or know where I could find one? thanks

 

[s31463221]

Mike

From what I can gather in my research, Mark O’Brien that owned North Country Vac and Sew in St. Johnsbury VT (creator of the Defender F-16 Vacuum) has retired and closed his business. BUT, thanks to the internet, I may have tracked him down to his new home in Danville VT! Here’s the phone number I found for him now, quite possibly me may still have some parts to these vacuums lying around, or maybe even an entire machine! Might be worth looking into at least! Good luck, and let us know if you do reach him!

Steve

 

[jade_angel]

It almost looks like a crude version of a Sani-Clean (which itself is somewhere between a cruder Royal Tank and a simplified Air-Way). That sounds bad, but the Sani-Clean performed pretty well, and there wasn't much that could go wrong with one. This seems much the same.

 

[ultralux88]

Mounting a large filter around the bag is a clever idea. And it would have looked better had the P/N cord channel run down the top under the handle, like a Royal.

 

[huskyvacs]

The styling looks like the 1960's. I'd imagine these are very rare, if not one of a kind. You would have to be completely mental to spend $450 on a homemade, hand-built vacuum that has 60 years outdated styling and is made of plumbing scraps and odds and ends surplus vacuum parts.

 

[jade_angel]

The only thing about it that's a real head-scratcher to me is the integrated hose. Just why? Ack. Other than that, despite the antiquated appearance (which Handy Way and Royal used into the 1990s, at least), it doesn't actually look terrible. But the price is high, I'll grant. Nothing like as high as Silver Kings were going for in their last year before they petered out, but still.