Worst condition or dirtiest vacuum you found?

[fan-of-fans]

What vacuum in your collection was in the worst condition or dirtiest when you got it?

I have not found anything particularly bad. But it would probably be between my Hoover Slimline or Penncrest-badged Hoover Constellation.

The Slimline was just dirty overall, the inside had dust inside that seemed it had at one time no bag. There was also some mildew inside the exhaust bellows. Cleaned it all out, scrubbed it down, polished with wax, washed the hose, made a new exhaust filter and it was fine.

The Constellation was in a similar condition - dirty and had probably spent years in the garage. Faded paint, smelly. First took it apart and scrubbed the vacuum down and washed the hose. Took off the bumper/seals and polished out the paint with rubbing compound. Looks much better.

I really enjoy taking a dirty, neglected vacuum and polishing out the scratches or scuffs in the plastic or paint, and getting it to nearly shiny new condition again. Something satisfying about it, especially if it's a vintage well made vacuum or a newer model that was once quite expensive. I also enjoy fitting a new bag and filters, especially if I can substitute something that makes it perform or filter the air better than it did originally.

It intrigues me how something someone once spent a lot of money on can get into a condition where it is undesirable, yet a deep clean and minor repairs can bring it right back were it was, and save a lot of money over new.

 

[gregvacs28]

Having collected over 200 canister vacuums in my collecting career, I've seen many vacuums that rated across the scale.


 


The worst had to be in Fall 2002 I went to a vac. store that would soon after go out of business.  Asked him if he had old vacuums.  He said he put extra vacs in a shed out back and I was welcome to look.


At that point I was just starting to get into collecting the Ultralux series of metal vacuums but was collecting anything metal bodied from the Olympia forward.  


 


In the shed he had several vacuums but there was leak from the roof.  Right where it leaked there was an Electrolux Grand Marquis.  He wanted $10.  I bought it as it was my first blue Ultra lux, though I didn't know the model lines as that point.  I figured I'd take it all apart, clean it, yahdda yahdda..... 


 


 


It was really rusty.  It was worse on the inside that it looked on the outside.  Sadly, it wasn't worth fixing I found.


 


Most older vacuums are just dirty and scuffed and need normal maintenance.  That's what I found.


 


But there were the unusual situations where there is a broken piece, or the motor is shot, or the hose is smashed or worn, that kind of thing.

 

[electrolux137]

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The time I opened an Electrolux XXX at a junk store and a gazillion fleas hopped out of the bag.

 

[huskyvacs]

I have a Dyson DC07 that's packed to the top with dirt. I fear what the cyclone looks like inside. I also have a Dirt Devil that was just made a year ago and chucked out from a broken belt. The bin is still full and it looks like it was left outdoors for months, a lot of the screws rusted and it has an odor of stale chips from 5 feet away - but it's brand new. The attachments are all there and have absolutely never been used. I also have a Kirby Sentria with the cloth hepa bag and it both looks and feels like there's a bowling ball in it! It's loaded as well.

They will all get cleaned up once I get working on them but for now they sit as they were received. I believe people just use them until they clog and then get rid of them because they don;t understand you have to change the bags, belts, dump the bin, and maintain it.

 

[hoover300]

I once had one of those older folding black and decker stick vacs that sat outside for a few years, that was shot.
BUT...
I got a Torrington late last year, and it looked and felt like it sat with the Titanic. It looked white in the pics as there was so much corrosion. The (replacement) bag was even ripped in two. Here are some pics with just a replaced bag, nothing else was done to it at that point. The third is when I got it running and cleaned up.

 

[huskyvacs]

Nice vac! I never heard of that brand before. Those old cast aluminum vacuums do corrode like that. I have a Birtman BeeVac that also has a chalky ashy texture to its surface. It sat out in a Amish barn in Wisconsin probably since it was new.

 

[human]

My worst out of the box was my Kirby G5. The aluminum looked more like lead, the bearing in the brush roll had burned up and melted, It looked like it had been used without a bag to pick up sheetrock dust and it had holes in it. Also, the plug had been replaced with what looked like one from a lamp, including about six inches of lamp cord, a couple of wire nuts and about a yard of black electrical tape. But somehow, I saw potential in it. I got a cheap deal on a G7 bag assembly that was in great shape, so that set me on the road to turning it into a frankenkirby.

Another bad one was my Filter Queen Majestic. It had all its tools and ran okay and it was only $5. The cord was chewed up and encased in electrical tape in several spots, the power nozzle had a smashed elbow, and the tank was full of smelly dog hair. I ended up scrubbing it out with toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush! I I fixed it all up but I never did completely get rid of the odor. That's why it's been living in my barn for four years.

 

[justjunque]

For me, it would have to be my 75th anniversary Electrolux Epic 6500.
I was driving by a house where there had been a yard sale. The unsold remnants were being set out on the tree belt. I almost slammed the brakes on right in the middle of the road when I saw an Electrolux!
The outside of it was filthy, and looked like it had been left outside in the elements.
The hose looked like part of it had been run over by a car.
When I got it home and checked the bag, it was stuffed to the point where debris was sticking out of the neck where the hose attaches. It was stuffed with dirt, leaves, small twigs, long pine needles, etc.
After giving it a thorough cosmetic cleaning, and replacing the bag and after filter, I attempted to plug it in to test the motor. It made a frightening electrical hum, and sparks shot out of the wall outlet.
I tracked down a used motor, but still haven't found the time or nerve to attempt the task.
Realistically, it doesn't work now. If I'm unsuccessful in my attempt at fixing it, it still won't work. I'd be no worse off.
Honestly, if the 75th anniversary Epic wasn't such a dream machine of mine, I probably would have just tossed it when I first realized how trashed it was.
If I ever do get it working again, it will be quite rewarding.

Barry

 

[gregvacs28]

Barry that motor may not be impossible to fix by simply cleaning it.  By that I mean removing it from the cleaner and with a vacuum, tooth brush and a few other small implements, cleaning out sand or whatever got into it.  


 


I bought a really nice Epic upright once that someone used without a bag so there was similar stones and sand in the motor.  I took the entire vac apart, soaked and washed the plastic parts.  The motor I carefully used a vacuum to remove gravel while turning the fan by hand and shaking it to get the loose pieces to fall out. Apply suction to the end and get the sand and grit out of the bearings.  


 


The only parts I bought was a new switch and the screw that held the handle in place.


 


When it was done, dried, and all put back together it worked great.  You'd never know it had been abused.  That was my fav. and preferred vacuum for a couple of years. 

 

[happyjigg]

I got a Kirby G6 a few years ago. It luckily had a paper bag, but said bag was filled with 11 pounds of dirt. There was no free space inside it. A sock had been sucked up through the power nozzle, causing the sock to melt on the belt shaft and stick to it. I had to use scissors and sandpaper to remove that. Lastly, the armature had some electrical fault, causing it to throw sparks whenever it was turned on. It was hell to repair, but it works and looks great now.

 

[gregvacs28]

That abused Kirby sounds severe. How in the world they got a sock in there?
It sounds like you've done all the right things to bring it back and make it whole.

It always amazes me that there are people like us who like to "fix" societies damaged things. From appliances to houses, to people, to furniture, you name it.

Because there are certainly the worlds share of those who either don't know how to care for things or who just don't care and ruin things.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

My 1984 Kirby Heritage II...

... belongs to this particular category... so full of dirt and lint! It also had a broken handle fork spring yoke.

The 2nd picture shows what it looked like after repairs were done.

~Ben

 

[bvac6]

Oh boy, a few in my time! A Kirby Legend 2 that had been used in a restaurant. The nozzle, fan chamber, and most of the fill tube had a thick (I mean like one inch thick) crust of greasy black dirt the consistency of black crayon wax that I had to chisel out! The next was a thrift store convertible that had a full bag that had gotten wet and then dried at some point so it solidified like Quikcrete. Oh, and it smelled like those Japanese imitation ladybugs. A Kirby Diamond Edition that had been abandoned in a rental property that was so full of dog hair it had completely backed up from the fan chamber to the top of the fill tube! YUCK!

Lastly, the worst restoration was a salvage from the great vac store cleanout in Fort Wayne. An 1930's Universal upright had been hanging from the ceiling for years right under a roof leak. It was a disaster! I managed to salvage the bag but the cord was of course shot, the metal looked like it had been painted chalky white, and the motor field coil wrapping was completely rotted. It took several days to bring it back to life.

 

[hooverah]

I just picked up a Hoover Anniversary windtunnel that took 1.5 hours to clean for $10. After I was finished it’s a nice vacuum. I also picked up a Sebo X1 this week. I took off the brush roll before I left the brush had so much hair and was worn, you couldn’t see the bristles. It also after further inspection needs a front bag door cover door and a new cord. It cost $20 and $125 in parts ordered from Sebo. So $145 for an X1. I replaced the brush, installing new cord, front cover bag door and I decided to put a new grey motor cover., it should be very nice when I’m done next week. No longer great deal, but it will be my daily Driver and look near new for $170. The x1 came with 20 Sebo bags so not too shabby. I will post a photo when I’m finished.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

$5.00 ???????????????

Dear God !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jo]

Hmmm

Well I’ve seen a fair share of abused and poor condition vacuums...two of which come to mind right away....one was a dirt devil small upright I got off a trash pile. It worked but had no suction and the belt was broken. The filter had never been cleaned and was stopped up with dirt. The brush roll was so heavily covered in hair all you could see was a roller of hair and lint, no bristles were visible but they were indeed under there! It had been used to pickup Sheetrock dust which completely clogged the filter upon further examination of the filter and dirt in the bin which cut off the suction. A thorough disassembly, and cleaning of all the parts, hose, brushroll, a new belt and filter and it’s running almost like new again, though because it’s an early bagless version, it’s filter does tend to clog quickly due to the less than adequate bagless design. I also don’t like that it has this hard rubber strip immediately behind the brush roll opening to prevent the brushroll from flinging dirt out the back when using it on hard floors...it makes it very hard to push on carpet...I thought the wheels were binding up or something, once I realized it might be the strip that is the culprit and removed it, it now is much easier to push on carpet. While it is working now, I’ll likely send it off to Habitat for humanity...now that it works fine. Not enough room in my house for a sub par bagless upright, but it was fun to fix it up.

The second bad one was a Eureka Commercial upright vacuum I got from the neighbor behind us, she had put it out by her trash cans, it looked like new in fact so I couldn’t believe I had scored such a nice vacuum...or so I thought.....
...as soon as I went to pick it up it was obvious the handle screw was gone as the cord wrapped around the cleats was holding the handle together...also the rubber handle grip was missing leaving a very sharp open end. Upon further investigation when I got it home and plugged it in, I discovered the belt was broken, roller was full of hair, and the light didn’t work, so knowing I had several small issues I decided I would start my rehab by taking out the bag and when I unzipped the nice, clean from the outside outer bag...it revealed a nice disaster... a paper bag that had split long ago and the entire fabric bag was now filled with dirt. There were very few scratches or scuffs or dirt on the outside of the vacuum so I thought it was in great shape at first...boy, those looks can be deceiving. Anyway, once I got it all cleaned up, ordered a new handle grip and handle screw, and cleaned the brush roll, changed the bulb, and put a new belt on, I realized this vacuum was indeed practically new, it had been hardly used and had very little wear on its underside....seems like it just fell apart right from the beginning for this lady....funny thing is I had gotten a Kenmore canister vacuum from her trash several months earlier that had a faulty cordwinder causing it to only work if you had the cord in certain positions and I bet this was the replacement vacuum for the Kenmore! I think Sam’s Club was selling these Eureka Commercial vacs at the time. Once rehabbed, it really did a wonderful job on the carpet in the house I was living in at the time. Had a nice stainless steel brush roll. I got a pretty good price for it at my garage sale when I was moving as our new house has all hardwood or tile throughout and this carpet only machine would be useless to me. It took the usual F&G bags and both those and the belts were at my local dollar store. The lady and her husband who shopped at the garage sale who bought it didn’t speak much English but I could tell she seemed to like it as if she already knew of its quality.

I put a lock washer in the handle screw so it wouldn’t come loose as is common on these...also gave them the bags and belts and I glued on the rubber grip on so hopefully all the issues the machine had initially, wouldn’t happen again.

Jon

 

[edog192]

I once trash picked an Oreck that had ice frozen all over the brush roll area. It appeared to have pumpkin seeds frozen in the ice. After I let it thaw, I inspected it further and found the dirt passage tube clogged with dust and debris. After I cleaned that out, I plugged it in and it didn’t turn on. So I threw it back out in the trash. But it wasn’t a completely useless trash find. Another Oreck I had needed a new switch cover. The switch cover on the Oreck I trashed picked was in good enough condition so I used that one.

 

[huskyvacs]

@ edog192

Never plug in a wet electrical appliance, that's how you risk electrocution. Same happened to me after I washed a Toastmaster box fan and left it dry in the sun all afternoon, still had a tiny puddle in the bottom of the frame and when I touched the fan - zap!

If that happened in winter, let it dry out for several days under a heater or open it up and go over it with a hair dryer and make sure it's all dry before plugging it in. It was probably in a flood or left sitting out in the snow or rain at the time for trash day and it had water in it.

 

[gregvacs28]

Yes, if you do happen to get water in or on electrical parts, in addition to letting the appliance dry for several days with good air flow around it, one should also occasionally shake the appliance to knock out those areas where water pooled.
It's also a good idea to lay the appliance in different ways, perhaps even upside down so any water that may have pooled can run out.

If there is any sealed or partially sealed wiring compartments its a good idea to open them up so air can get at them.