Thread Number: 24495
two sorry looking hoovers
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Post# 274345   3/31/2014 at 14:58 (3,649 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        

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got these today from a well known on line store no one seemed to want them so as they were only up the road i went for it and got them for 6 pounds . the connie is totaly dead with a bust handle .the senior runs but needs a good clean i will have a closer look at them both at the weekend so look out for more photos

Post# 274427 , Reply# 1   4/1/2014 at 14:47 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
next instalment

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as it is such a nice evening i decided to make a start on the connie. when switching on there was nothing this was down to a break in the mains lead right where it enters the machine with a new lead it runs but is very noisy .it obviously got wet at some point in its life the front end bearing was rusty so time for a strip down

Post# 274429 , Reply# 2   4/1/2014 at 14:49 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
bearing out

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and cleaned plus lots of nice new grease just need to rivet it back together

Post# 274430 , Reply# 3   4/1/2014 at 14:50 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the armature

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just before cleaning

Post# 274431 , Reply# 4   4/1/2014 at 14:53 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the resembled motor

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the fans and housing have been washed in hot soapy water then dried in an atempt to get rid of the smell of DOG

Post# 274432 , Reply# 5   4/1/2014 at 14:55 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
another

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of the motor you can just see the cleaned up comutator

Post# 274433 , Reply# 6   4/1/2014 at 14:57 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
just thought

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i would have a quick look at the senior it runs but wont pick up anything heres why

Post# 274435 , Reply# 7   4/1/2014 at 15:00 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
i took the machine

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into the garden and switched on thinking it would clear the blockage no such luck i had to pull the rubish out with a pair of long nosed pliers it was completely compacted right into the fan chamber

Post# 274438 , Reply# 8   4/1/2014 at 15:03 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
new

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lamp visor needed god knows where i will get one of those ok guys thats it for tonight will do a bit more at the weekend

Post# 274440 , Reply# 9   4/1/2014 at 15:05 (3,648 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
one last pic

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nice

Post# 274446 , Reply# 10   4/1/2014 at 16:29 (3,648 days old) by beko1987 (Stokenchurch, United Kingdom)        

Ha lovely! Interesting to see the Connie's bearing stripped like that. That's something I need to do I think!

Can't wait for the afters!


Post# 274649 , Reply# 11   4/3/2014 at 15:38 (3,646 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
need a new bearing

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hi again guys i need a new front end bearing for the connie any one know where i can get one there seems to be plenty of the back end bearings around but i cant seem to find the other one any information would be most apreciated

Post# 274890 , Reply# 12   4/5/2014 at 15:00 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
green paint

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cant find anything remotely like this colour so its time for a change.I stripped all the insulation tape of the hose today by the time i was finished i was left with about a yard of good hose the end that fits into the machine is ok but the other end is quite badly damaged so as the machine only came with the hose i thought i might fit the hose [and tools ] from a henry and spray the base of the machine black to match it would be easy to convert it back if and when the corect tools turn up

Post# 274891 , Reply# 13   4/5/2014 at 15:02 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
senior

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also did a bit more to this today this machine must have done a lot of work in its time the back wheels are really worn out

Post# 274892 , Reply# 14   4/5/2014 at 15:04 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
other side

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Post# 274893 , Reply# 15   4/5/2014 at 15:11 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
all

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the usual scrapes and dirt inside and its still on ots origional flex

Post# 274894 , Reply# 16   4/5/2014 at 15:12 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
hood

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will probably be able to fix this

Post# 274895 , Reply# 17   4/5/2014 at 15:13 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
but

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this is past it will look out for another

Post# 274897 , Reply# 18   4/5/2014 at 15:17 (3,644 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        
Old motor

Anthony, that motor in your Constellation is much older than the cleaner you found it in. Hoover had taken to using a motor with a hard-plastic rear shroud several years before this colour was introduced, in fact I think the Hop Green & Jonquil colour was the last to have a motor like this. The Smoked Pine & Swedish Green which followed had the later metal & plastic motor, with a soft plastic filter cage, containing a rectangular sponge filter.

I would be very surprised if that motor in the photographs actually fitted the cleaner with the filter cage in place. If the cage is missing, it will leave a gaping hole in the base of this model, which compromises the safety of the user. The model which this motor was designed for had a grill over the blower hole, not unlike a plug-hole in a sink.


Post# 274900 , Reply# 19   4/5/2014 at 15:33 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
Hi vintagerepairer

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i am so glad you told me that i knew somthing was not right when i opened it up there is a plastic cage over the exhaust port the sponge filter is long gone .I havnt touched one of the younger connies for years when i opened this one i knew somthing was amiss because the suppressor was missing and i have vauge memories of the newer motor having a bakelite body .Heres a photo of what i found when i poened it

Post# 274901 , Reply# 20   4/5/2014 at 15:34 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
Hi vintagerepairer

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i am so glad you told me that i knew somthing was not right when i opened it up there is a plastic cage over the exhaust port the sponge filter is long gone .I havnt touched one of the younger connies for years when i opened this one i knew somthing was amiss because the suppressor was missing and i have vauge memories of the newer motor having a bakelite body .Heres a photo of what i found when i opened it

Post# 274908 , Reply# 21   4/5/2014 at 16:05 (3,644 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

Hello Anthony. You are most welcome. Looks like it's been replaced at some point and the wiring block is missing too. It is imperative that this is replaced like-for-like, what with this being a metal cased appliance as that terminal block -with it's screw-down cover- forms a vital part of the double-insulation properties of the machine, indeed as does that plastic mat you have there in the photograph.

Post# 274916 , Reply# 22   4/5/2014 at 17:58 (3,644 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
i have

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the wiring block i removed it for respraying .This machine has got wet at some point in its life there are signs of rust all over it but nothing on the motor i wonder how it ended up having an older motor fitted into it ? the switch has also been removed at some time because it was upsidedown [up for on down for off

Post# 274928 , Reply# 23   4/5/2014 at 19:36 (3,644 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

Anthony, whilst I cannot of course tell you why this specific cleaner came to have an older motor fitted to it (and I know you were not expecting me to), I can forward some general information from my own long career spent repairing cleaners as a private business.

As you might expect, I saw all manner of cleaners in the 25 years or so I had the shop, and whilst a lot which required repair had never been touched with so much as a screwdriver before, a good deal more came in showing all sorts of evidence of repair, and indeed repairs attempted at various levels on the quality scale.

Hoover were wonderful cleaners to work on, as so many parts on these machines could be replaced piecemeal. This meant it was often cheap and very easy to get a Hoover cleaner up & running for a customer, especially if one had a back-stock of older cleaners, which I did. This was, of course, to the detriment of Hoover as a brand, and it never ceased to amaze me just how much assembly went into a Hoover cleaner. Not only would it have made the cleaner expensive to build on the production line, the fact it could be repaired so easily meant that sales of new cleaners could well be hampered.

I think the real turning point came with the Turbopower range, as these cleaners were designed to wear out much more quickly that their predecessors, and not only that, we are talking major parts of the cleaner, such as the chassis and main body. However, even these models had to be modified to stop them wearing out too early, such as the appearance of a washer behind the read wheel axle, as without it the chassis wore out fast. But then on the opposite side of the story, Hoover soon decided that only three clamps were needed to hold the fan cover to the motor, even though there had originally been four, and indeed the moulding was never altered to reflect this, it was just that on the assembly line only three clamps were attached. Also, the front wheels were redesigned so as to no longer need the two metal clamps to hold the axle in place.

At the same time, the U1036 junior became the U1104, and this -as I am sure we all know- was quite a departure from the previous models, as it had much more plastic in it and a whole lot less parts, thus assembly time was drastically reduced. So where am I going with this? Well, the Constellation was essentially a bullet-proof cleaner, and like a good deal of models before and after it, it was easy to take it apart and repair it. I never did find out why Hoover changed from the all-metal motor to the metal & plastic, however, I think it is safe to assume that those later motors with the hard-plastic casing would have been cheaper to make, would have been a little lighter in weight, and what I did notice for myself was that I saw more burnt-out Constellations with that type of motor than I did the older metal style. Therefore it was very much in Hoovers interest to use that type of motor, as it was more cost effective and possibly less reliable, meaning that -as I mentioned before- a sale of a new cleaner was potentially more likely.

But even so, for many years a good deal of people still sought a final professional verdict on their "dead" cleaner, from the likes of myself and so on. Now, tell a customer that the motor has failed in their cleaner, and you shoot yourself right in the foot, because as far as they are concerned, that's it, end of the story. Very few people would ever spend the money required to replace a motor, and quite honestly I could not blame them, not when it was often two-thirds of the cost of a whole new cleaner and when all the other wear & tear on their existing cleaner was taken into account. So, it was down to me to tell a few white-lies, if I may call them that, if I knew I had sufficient parts from another cleaner to get theirs working again. The customer did not need to know the whole story, the fact they could get their old cleaner back in full working order for the price of a standard service would be all that mattered.

Once, I even gave a customer an entirely different cleaner back. I'd taken a few pounds off a reconditioned cleaner in exchange for a customers old Electrolux 65. It worked perfectly, but as far as it's owner was concerned, was well past its best. That cleaner sat in my stock room for a number of years, until one day someone brought in a rather tatty model 65, with missing handle and burnt-out motor. I never told them the motor had failed, even though the customer suspected it had, and suggested they leave the cleaner with me. I then swapped the end caps and mains lead off their cleaner for the same on the one in my stockroom. When the "repair" had been completed, I telephoned the customer to say it was simply a case of a small adjustment to the motor and that I'd even managed to replace the handle. It still looked very much like their cleaner, and were delighted to get it back for a very small fee, given that they were not at all well off. Now, on the one hand it is arguably wrong to lie in business, on the other, I would never had been paid a penny for looking at that cleaner, would have been left to dispose of it as likely as not, and the customer either having to go into debt for a new machine or indeed go without a cleaner at all. So for me, it was win-win all round, and each customer & cleaner was taken on their own merit.

I expect your Hoover Constellation came to the hands of someone equally as capable as myself, although I am still uncertain as to whether or not that motor is a good fit (I just cannot remember) and indeed the fitting of the switch upside down is a little lackadaisical in my opinion, though I admit they could be awkward to align and the installer may not have wished to turn it around once the mistake had been realised.



Post# 275024 , Reply# 24   4/6/2014 at 16:46 (3,643 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
Hi vintagerepairer

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everything you say above sounds so familiar .I myself worked for a company called HC Troldhal in Middlesbrough. Back in the early 1970s they were hoover dealers as well as a fiew other brands as a young apprentice i would often spend the day at the local COOP department store to work on guarantee return Hoover vacuums and washingmachines there would be a mountain of these machines my job would be to make up as many good machines as possible box them up and inform the manager they were ready for resale .there was also a mountain of vintage machines that had been traded in against a new cleaner no one wanted them and i was allowed to take as many as i liked if only i had known how rare some of those machines would become well need i say more ,Getting back to the connie if i remember corectly the newer style motor was consistent with most of the hoover cylinder machines i seem to remember fitting the motor from a smashed Hoover conquest into a connie just a mater of pulling off a couple of spade conectors the conquests weak point being the handle [still have a conquest somwhere in the garage with a busted handle] .i also told those white lies to customers swapping there broken machine for an identical working one [the Frigidaire spin dryers were like the Hoover junior everyone had one easy to swap a working on for a bust machine].your Electrolux 65 story is interesting i once got one of those to repair with a broken handle the customer had fitted a makeshift leather shopping bag handle to the machine with two dirty great self tapping screws one of them had gone right into the motor compartment and was touching the field coils.I have not been involved with that kind of work since the mid 80s its just a hobby these days gone are the days of having to repair machines quickly then on to the next one i can now take my time

Post# 275114 , Reply# 25   4/7/2014 at 14:44 (3,642 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
senior motor strip

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pulled the motor apart today all the usual dirt

Post# 275115 , Reply# 26   4/7/2014 at 14:45 (3,642 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
more

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dirt and fluff

Post# 275116 , Reply# 27   4/7/2014 at 14:47 (3,642 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
more

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fluff .ihave cleaned all of this away and forced as much grease into the bearing as i could

Post# 275117 , Reply# 28   4/7/2014 at 14:49 (3,642 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
brushes

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an old one against a new one

Post# 275118 , Reply# 29   4/7/2014 at 14:50 (3,642 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
all done

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ready to go back into the cleaner

Post# 275531 , Reply# 30   4/10/2014 at 13:36 (3,639 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the Senior

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is finished although i looks the same its running like new .its had new brushes belt flex and a new bag only one of those cheap things but its better than the one it came with

Post# 275534 , Reply# 31   4/10/2014 at 13:40 (3,639 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
this is it running

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when i switched on it lifted the worn out carpet in my shed off the floor the suction is so good its quite difficult to push and then theres that drone as the beater bars hit the carpet

Post# 275890 , Reply# 32   4/12/2014 at 12:13 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the Connie is finished

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all sprayed up handle repaired new flex its not perfect but ten times better than it was

Post# 275896 , Reply# 33   4/12/2014 at 12:43 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
inside

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it needs a felt filter

Post# 275897 , Reply# 34   4/12/2014 at 12:46 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
back

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new flex this metal body of this machine is now earthed the new flex was three core so i thought might as well use it . i also managed to repair the handle with lots of araldite adhesive

Post# 275898 , Reply# 35   4/12/2014 at 12:47 (3,637 days old) by beko1987 (Stokenchurch, United Kingdom)        

They look beautiful! Well done

Post# 275900 , Reply# 36   4/12/2014 at 12:51 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the rating plate

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i have sealed the flotation ring to the main body of the machine with some bathroom sealant as it was not a good fit now theres no air escaping it floats a lot better

Post# 275902 , Reply# 37   4/12/2014 at 12:56 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the hose

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not sure what im going to do with this the conection that fit into the machine os ok but the rest isnt worth saving

Post# 275909 , Reply# 38   4/12/2014 at 13:07 (3,637 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

Quite apart from my astonishment as to how well these cleaners now look after all your hard work and TLC, I am amazed that the rating plate of the Constellation is the type it is, as by the time of the emerald green colour was in use, I thought all the cleaners had the small, black, rectangular adhesive label. Certainly some (if not all) Junior and 417 cleaners did.

Post# 275947 , Reply# 39   4/12/2014 at 18:34 (3,637 days old) by anthony (leeds uk)        
the rating plate

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yes i expected to find the usual black label do you think maybe this was one of the last to have the round plate as you pointed out earlier vintagerepairer its got the wrong motor in it we will never know anyway its running nicely and is really quiet and now the ring is sealed it floats well im not sure what to do with it now as i already have a pink one

Post# 275954 , Reply# 40   4/12/2014 at 20:10 (3,637 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

It's got the wrong motor as the model before this had the new style already, however, the rating plate on yours does say 600 watts not 580, so clearly the plate is one of the latest of its kind.


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