To many of you, this might be very ho-hum, but this is the first time I've ever dared to dismantle a vacuum and see what was going on inside. I was using the Ambassador II yesterday, and suddenly decided, come what might of it, to take it apart and give it an interior cleaning. Here's the old boy "cracked" in half.

The entire interior was coated with dirt and dust, the plastic motor surround the worst of all, as you can see.

I cleaned out the entire interior casing, including the bag chamber, cord winder cover, and wires, cleaned off the motor and fan as best as I could (I didn't actually dismantle the motor), before reassembly. It's not perfect, but a great deal better.

I'm presently tearing into my sister's (technically my) Diplomat. This machine still runs, and has decent suction, but the bearings sound very dry (it's very rough sounding when shut off). Bearing in mind that I know nothing about bearings, or wiring, or doo-dads, I'm actually going to attempt to dismantle the entire motor and lubricate the bearings. Wish me luck, and, if anyone out there has any experience with such things, I'd love some advice and support via email.

As can be seen from the picture, this machine must have sucked up a deal of water at one point; the motor surround is very rusty, and I'm going to try to sand/remove as much of this as possible. Obviously, this one is somewhat more complicated than the Ambassador, what with the wires for the "control panel" lights and the automatic system hoses, but I'll try my best. As I'm dismantling this machine, I'm taking pictures and labeling the wires so I remember what goes where for reassembly.

P.S. I apologize in advance if this thread should be in the Off-Topic forum.

If that's the case, I'll just stick to cleaning things up as best as I can; I did warn my sister that the machine might come back in no better shape than before

You're right, Zach, that's what this is all about...trial and error, learning, etc. I have more than a few of the newer Electroluxes, and its good to know how they're put together and how they work. At the very least, I'm not afraid to tear into things anymore.

P.S. Super-sweeper: That's a good idea, which I didn't take advantage of this time around , but I did separate the screws for the different parts, so I hope my memory doesn't fail me.

As far as I can remember, the Diplomat did pick up water a very long time ago, when it was my folks' vacuum, and its been with my sister now for 4-5 years, so its had a fairly good life and seen lots of service. As I say, it still goes, but I agree with you, gmerkt, that it'll possibly be more problematic in the future. I might suggest to my sister that she'd be better off with another vacuum (she mentioned possibly buying a Dyson), or I could give her one of mine, whichever she chooses, and keep the Diplomat as a project/parts vacuum. I could always get a brand new motor and put it in sometime in the future.

In the meantime, just tearing the thing apart has been fun and educational, so nothing is lost.

I "accidentally" snapped off one of the Diplomat motor wires at the connector (more like in a fit of frustration in trying to remove it). At any rate, the contacts had significant corrosion, and the motor, as far as I'm concerned, is really not worth the trouble of saving. My sister and I talked this morning; I'm going to keep the Diplomat as a "project vacuum", and find a new motor for it in the future, when my financial situation permits, and she, at least for the time being, can use one of my machines until she decides what she wants for the future. She likes Electroluxes, and as I'm constantly on the lookout for used machines, I'm sure I can find something good at a reasonable price. For that matter, she could keep the borrowed machine; its not like I don't have any other vacuums.