Thread Number: 30582
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Found a Lewyt Electronic |
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Post# 338701 , Reply# 1   12/6/2015 at 14:19 (3,035 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)   |   | |
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Chad, you are so lucky to find this!! Terrific score! That is one of my dream machines I want to find someday, even if you can't use the powerhead since you could risk getting shocked. Are you going to try & correct the wiring inside the vacuum & make it so the electric hose doesn't take power from the motor & try to hook it up the conventional way (like a Compact or Filter Queen) ?
Rob |
Post# 338712 , Reply# 2   12/6/2015 at 15:40 (3,035 days old) by cuffs054 (monticello, ga)   |   | |
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Or just wear a pair of Lineman's gloves. |
Post# 338719 , Reply# 3   12/6/2015 at 16:52 (3,034 days old) by funvacfan (Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 338720 , Reply# 4   12/6/2015 at 16:58 (3,034 days old) by FantomFan (Rochester, New York)   |   | |
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Post# 338732 , Reply# 5   12/6/2015 at 19:30 (3,034 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 338755 , Reply# 6   12/7/2015 at 01:06 (3,034 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)   |   | |
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Good find for you, and how sweet that the people at the auction felt SOMEONE would be interested in it.
My Great Grandmother had one of these, and when she passed, my Grandmother inherited it (1977). When she passed on, my parents inherited it (1982) and I think it went into storage from there. I haven't seen it since. I remember when it was at my grandmothers, I was always fascinated with the over sized wheels, but every time I went to investigate, my grandmother was like "don't play with that. It's not a toy." But it would be sitting in the bathroom, near the overfilled closet, and she'd have the hose hanging on the hook on the closet door. I don't know if there was a PN. Way back then (I was like 10), I didn't know what an electrified PN was. I don't think I'd ever seen one. It looks like you will need either a hose cord, vac receptacle, and hose cord straps OR a receptacle and electrified hose. It depends on how authentic you want to keep it. CLICK HERE TO GO TO delaneymeegan's LINK on eBay |
Post# 338760 , Reply# 7   12/7/2015 at 05:52 (3,034 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Using anything but the original setup! That power nozzle is 12 volt or 24 volt, I cant remember which, if you try to wire it up normally you will burn it up! I wouldn't be afraid of it. |
Post# 338778 , Reply# 9   12/7/2015 at 12:08 (3,034 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)   |   | |
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Post# 338779 , Reply# 10   12/7/2015 at 12:15 (3,034 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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There IS a transformer inside the Lewyt to bring 24 volts of power to the Power Nozzle. It's part of the motor's field coil. The rectifier would fail if the person using it became grounded (touched a sink) and it would send 120 volts of Alternating Current through your body. The lawsuits killed the Lewyt company under Alex Lewyt's ownership. Smith Corona Manufacturing (typewriter fame) bought the name Lewyt and put it on cheap vacuums that didn't last. By 1970, they were gone too.
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Post# 338781 , Reply# 11   12/7/2015 at 13:03 (3,034 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)   |   | |
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I think all of us who were interested in vacuum cleaners when we were kids heard "don't play with that, it's not a toy!" on a regular basis. In my case it was an Electrolux model LX, and it was the husband of my next door neighbor who said it to me. His wife simply laughed and said to her husband, "he knows that!"
The interesting thing is that when she died in 1986 he husband sent that Electrolux to me. |
Post# 338785 , Reply# 13   12/7/2015 at 13:38 (3,034 days old) by CoffeeCanMan (Ferndale, MI)   |   | |
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Post# 338819 , Reply# 14   12/7/2015 at 21:23 (3,033 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)   |   | |
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Robert-
I know that situation: ".... it was the husband of my next door neighbor who said it to me. His wife simply laughed and said to her husband, "he knows that!"" Our neighbors, in the 1970s, had a M.Wards "suitcase" vac (Eureka), with vibra-groomer, a woven hose, and all the attachments (which btw, I did also end up getting from them in about 1981). I thought it was cool and wanted to play with it. I think I just helped myself to it one day when over at their house, where it was standing in the closet, and proceeded to take it out, but that didn't go over so well. They also had a Hoover constellation he kept in his neat garage for cleaning the car, which didn't do anything for me. A relative had an green 60s Airway vac, which, when I was really small, used as a go-cart. The handle at the back was perfect for a 3 year old to push. Later they moved to a new (1973) house with a Nutone Central Vac.... There were other friends who had kids my age and they had an Electrolux 1205. It was cool and I got possessive. It had a cord winder and it looked cool. lol. I remember getting into petty arguments with the kids on how to correctly plug it in. lol It had a neat round plug which was gray and had a unigue groove in it. I think they traded that for a Silverado in 1983. When they came to visit, they tried the same possessiveness routine with our crappy Silver King vac. I was like, whatever. You can have it. lol. The memories. lol. As for the Lewyt: what an interesting concept with the low voltage PN. And what an interesting situation with the motor and it's potential lawsuit credentials. I think I would get the hose cord set up as I suggested, alter the canister motor, or change it if it's a safety hazard, and put in a 120 volt motor in the PN. Unless, of course, one wants to relive the WHOLE Lewyt experience making sure their vac is plugged into a GFI outlet and they don't touch anything metal. And yeah, there is certainly nothing on it that makes it "electronic". Back then, most people didn't know what electronic was. I remember now, turning the knob on the top and thinking 'it doesn't do anything' and how our Silver King didn't have a dial like that. Apparently Lewyt is still made? A couple of vacs, one of which looks like brand new plastic style? |
Post# 338835 , Reply# 15   12/8/2015 at 00:10 (3,033 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)   |   | |
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The Lewyt name was resurrected for a short time, from 1997 to 2002. SMC Corporation (NOT Smith Corona Corp), which is a maker of ceiling fans, resurrected the brand for a short time, but the brand didn't sell very well as it was very cheaply made. From what I understand the company was deluged with warranty claims as the motors in particular weren't very durable. I have also heard that the new Lewyt vacuums were so cheaply made that when vacuum distribution companies were shown the vacuums, they refused to carry them.
Tom - Lewyt may have went out of business in America in the early 70's, but here in Canada the Lewyt name carried on all the way to the early 90's, I think 1992 or 1993 was the year they went under. Rob |
Post# 338857 , Reply# 16   12/8/2015 at 10:02 (3,033 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Post# 338867 , Reply# 17   12/8/2015 at 12:44 (3,033 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)   |   | |
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What model was this Lewyt that Doug Smith gave you? Was it a LV60 perhaps? Post a pic for all of us to see, you have me intrigued. To my knowledge, here in Canada the only PN's that Lewyt used were the Douglas PN & Broan PN.
I just bought a Lewyt Big Wheel myself, & am working on restoring it & adding a PN receptacle, electric hose & PN to it, make it modern. That Lewyt PN the Big Wheel used looks nice, but would be rather wimpy by today's standards. Rob |
Post# 339387 , Reply# 18   12/15/2015 at 16:34 (3,025 days old) by Collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Hey Guys
Finally had some time to get back on here. Great find!!!! First off, if memory serves, it wasn't the rectifier that was shorting it was the coils. What caused this was overfilling the bag so that the motor overheated and the laquer on the wires started to melt, allowing them to short together. Before you even think of destroying such a nice example of an Electronic with useless cords test it and see if there is any need. Take an ohm meter, place one connection on a spot of bear metal and the other, in turn, on each prong of the plug with the switch in the on position. If you don't get a reading in any of these positions its safe. Also, even when they were shorted out, the person was safe using it as long as they were holding the rubber handle and not one of the metal parts. The model you have is the model 121 which was the last Electronic Lewyt produced. It was out in 1960-61 and featured a window in the bag which allowed you to see how full it was. Did you get the parts with it. The machine should have a floor brush, dusting brush, small nozzle and crevice tool as well. Doug |
Post# 351735 , Reply# 19   5/7/2016 at 06:13 (2,882 days old) by andreamorris (Pennsylvania)   |   | |
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Was my grandmother's. Still works, but no attachments or box. Please respond if you can use it. |