Thread Number: 17915
Ugly Duckling |
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Post# 194954   8/14/2012 at 21:43 (4,272 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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This is my latest yard sale find: My Ugly Duckling!!
I was excited to see this for several reasons: 1) A vintage vacuum 2) An Electrolux 3) One of the only vacuums I had seen all day at yard sales However, this is definitely, at least in my opinion a very ugly vacuum. Bulky, heavy, I'm not a fan of the twin metal handle, not a fan of the beige color. The reality is that this is an Electrolux Automatic Model Number: 1451. 6.4 Amp motor. The vacuum is a clean air design with single motor which powers both agitator and suction fan. The motor is quite large and runs a 2 geared belt turbine which powers the agitator brush. All of the controls are on the back of the bag compartment door. Push On Switch, Push Off switch, Red indicator light for full bag, Push handle release button. Yes, the handle release function is a finger tip contol. Push once to release to normal operating position, and as with all uprights, push a second time to release handle to drop to the floor. Full bag sensor shut/ significant suction loss shuts off the machine and the "Bag full light" turns red. Height adjuster is on side of floor head. A 3 fingered operating device where the thumb pushed in the center to release the lock which allows it to slide and lock into another position. Actually hard to use. The wheel adjuster moves front and rear wheels. Machine is quite heavy, bulky for pushing on rug, but in upright position it rolls well from room to room. There is an archive thread of this machine from another user, I believe still in 2012 with some details as well. I believe this machine was supposed to come with attachments but I did not receive any, I also do not have a new bag for it yet or a manual. I have cleaned up most of the machine, it seems to run well but cleaning performance in my opinion is poor. I will be looking to sell this. With the limited space that I have, I'd rather pass this on to someone who would appreciate this one more than me and perhaps be thrilled with its appearance for a collector's piece. I will bring it to PA mini meet probably end of September. |
Post# 194955 , Reply# 1   8/14/2012 at 21:45 (4,272 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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Post# 194957 , Reply# 2   8/14/2012 at 21:46 (4,272 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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The agitator itself is wood, with long nylon tufts that are very soft. The turbine which runs both geared belts to power the agitator is adjustable for distance. So loosening the screws can be it slightly closer to the agitator or motor. I adjusted it when ensuring that the turbine moved freely. I originally thought I'd be replacing the belt but when I opened this up and checked out the whole system the geared belts look to be in excellent condition. The brushroll was stiff to rotate, I freed that by removing tons of hair in end caps and then adding a little oil. Very smooth now. The suction hose is accessible on the bottle plate of the machine. There is a finger hole, and you pull that cover off to clean out the hose connection to the agitator cavity. Suction does feel fairly strong. Any strain of feeling the suction shut the machine off twice on me.
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Post# 194973 , Reply# 4   8/14/2012 at 22:41 (4,272 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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Post# 194986 , Reply# 6   8/15/2012 at 00:02 (4,272 days old) by BrianKirbyClass (Eudora Kansas)   |   | |
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Whats sad is that the bags for these models of Electrolux Uprights are no longer avalible, and have not been for seveal yrs now.
The bags getting very hard to find now in this day and age and are practically non existant. Those that do have them are hoarding and not letting go for dear life! There are not even generic bags avalible. Nadda, Nothing, ZIP. If you are handy at doing crafts and things like that, you could make your own if you could find the collar from an old Lux upright bag, and make a new one, and glue a new bag to it. There was one of these Lux's in A1 excellent condition for sale on E-Bay awhile back, and no one even bid a dollar, sorry to say,,but what good is the machine if you cant even get bags for it?,,,unless someone just wants one to add to their collection and never actually use it for cleaning. |
Post# 194989 , Reply# 7   8/15/2012 at 00:12 (4,272 days old) by briguy (Wichita, Kansas)   |   | |
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Nice find Rob. I have always had a fondness for this machine. A friend of my grandma's had one when I was a little kid and I remember thinking how unique looking it was. What with the dual handle & push buttons.
I didn't know much about them until another collector posted about his recently. I have never seen another one of these in person in the last 30 or so years. They do look a bit heavy & unpractical for everyday use. But still a neat machine IMO nontheless. |
Post# 195041 , Reply# 9   8/15/2012 at 08:12 (4,272 days old) by Smith (North Carolina)   |   | |
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Actually you can still get generic bags for this one. Aerus no longer makes them but I just checked and they are available at ESSCO. |
Post# 195159 , Reply# 11   8/15/2012 at 15:26 (4,272 days old) by DURANGO159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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Post# 195189 , Reply# 12   8/15/2012 at 16:14 (4,272 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 195336 , Reply# 13   8/16/2012 at 02:24 (4,271 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)   |   | |
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I am not fond of plastic floor shoes,either.Please make them out of metal-esp the chrome plated or polished metal-they are easier to push across the carpet.That goes for uprights and canister power nozzles. |
Post# 195384 , Reply# 14   8/16/2012 at 08:47 (4,271 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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I wouldn't say the sole plate HAS to be metal, it just has to be good quality of whatever material it is.
Dysons use terrible quality plastic all round but it is most apparent after hard use on the sole plate due to the "floating head". My one hasn't worn down completely but it definitely shows signs of getting there. The plastic used on the sole plates of the Hoover Turbopower 2/1000/3s were of great quality. My 1994 Turbopower 1000 still has it's original sole plate and it shows NO signs of wear at all even after 18 years of use. This is partly due to being nice and thick but also due to the fact the Turbopowers have manual height adjustment so unless you set it too low it won't rub as much as a floating head will. My 1982 Electrolux 502S has an automatic adjusting head (not quite floating, but roughly the same idea) but to counteract the extra friction it has a metal piece along the length of the sole plate. |
Post# 195945 , Reply# 15   8/17/2012 at 22:31 (4,269 days old) by DURANGO159 (State College, PA)   |   | |
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All of my Hoover canisters over the years with exception of Celebrity power heads, have had plastic sole plates. The plastics sole plates will scratch but I have never seen one chip. With the price of assumed value by customers looking at Dyson, I think that is disgraceful. So not are their agitator bristles extremely hard and shred carpet but their soleplates break and that would shred carpet.
They should just rename Dyson to Carpetshredder. |