New Toy - Tuec Stationary Cleaner

Moving it was nothing that a fridge mover and 4 friends didnt handle :) I think I've actually moved fridges that weighed less.

Just realized that I didnt answer Daves question about where it came from. Kind of a long story. I first saw this about 20 years ago sitting, unused, in the basement of a building a friend took me to to pick up some stuff. On contacting the owner of the building he said he bought it several years before that at an auction but couldnt remember where. He didnt want to sell it as he had ideas of making it into a dust collector for his workshop.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. They are now cleaning out that building for some reason or other. I approached the owner again to ask if it was still there. He said he would check next time he was over there as he never got around to using it. About a week later he called to say it was still there. After some haggling we settled on a price of $75. I had to wait till today to get it though when some friends were free to help.

Now, just to jump back again. When I first saw it I took a couple of pictures of it. In doing some research I had previously found out that the Grayson Hall (A 36 room mansion), which was empty at that time had had a central vac when it was built in 1912. When it was converted into a restaurant in the early 1980's they removed the machine to make room for a walk in freezer. The machine itself was put on display, along with other antiques, in the Restaurant. When the restaurant closed it was sold in a closing out auction (suddenly 2+2 starts to equal 4). I showed the picture to one of the former restuarant owners and he was quite certain it was the same machine so I can say with a fair degree of certainty that it came from the Grayson Hall here in Moose Jaw.

I wish I could have gotten some of the outlets but, in the 90's when the house was renovated to become the head office of the Fifth Avenue Collection the contractor removed and disposed of them (against his instruction I might add) The new owner was not very pleased. Apparently the dumb contractor thought they were capped pipes from the old boiler, not vacuum connections.

I've included a picture of the Grayson Hall below that I took last summer.

Doug


Forum Topics & Rules Manuals & Literature	New users Click-here to sign-up

Post# 127447 3/13/2011 at 13:13 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Just got a new toy that I have been after for years. A Tuec Stationary Cleaner. I'm thinking the date would be 1912 as that was when the house was built that it was in and it was surposed to be original to the house. Anyone have pictures of what the attachments would have been like? Doug

Post# 127448 , Reply# 1 3/13/2011 at 13:14 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Close up of the art work

Post# 127449 , Reply# 2 3/13/2011 at 13:14 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Side view

Post# 127450 , Reply# 3 3/13/2011 at 13:15 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Information Plate

Post# 127458 , Reply# 4 3/13/2011 at 15:23 (4,786 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)
Checkrate/Likes What a lovely monster, Doug. From a Moose Jaw home? Stunning Art Nouveau graphic decal. Made in Canton,Ohio, like just south of Hooverland. Can't help but notice but is that a decommissioned red-bumpered cream Electrolux PN1 hanging in the background of first picture? Dave

Post# 127459 , Reply# 5 3/13/2011 at 15:38 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes LOL Dave - Thats a good PN in the background and the rest of the machine (as well as the rest of my collection) are in the boxes behind the machine.

Post# 127460 , Reply# 6 3/13/2011 at 15:39 (4,786 days old) by whirlpolf ()
Checkrate/Likes *wow...* this looks interesting! Does it work? 3300 rpm., does it have an induction motor? The spiraling airway reminds me of "Heugebl�se" (hay blowers? no idea what the English word for that is). Wonder what it sounds like. How is the suction? Videos? And what are these two hatches good for, on top and on the bottom? Sorry, but it really gets me even more curious! Joe

Post# 127463 , Reply# 7 3/13/2011 at 17:03 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Hi Joe: The top hatch is to clean off the separator screen and the bottom one is to shovel the dirt out of the machine. I have no idea if it works as I havnt had time to hook up power to it yet. Originally it would have been wired in directly. From what I understand they had quite a powerful suction. The pipe at the back that it draws through is about a 4" diameter. As you can see there was a hose outlet on the front of the machine so that you could use it in the basement as well. Unfortunately the plug for it is missing. I've emailed United Electric to see if they still have any information about it. Doug

Post# 127464 , Reply# 8 3/13/2011 at 17:05 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes I also just found out that TUEC stands for The United Electric Company.

Post# 127514 , Reply# 12 3/14/2011 at 16:46 (4,785 days old) by goadie12 ()
Checkrate/Likes wow doug that is an awesome vacuum.

Post# 128914 , Reply# 13 3/26/2011 at 09:25 (4,773 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Just an update: Got an email back from the United Electric Co. stating that they were no longer the same company that made those vacuums and they hadnt kept any records of them. I did fire it up last weekend and it works like a charm. Sounds kind of like a jet warming up but really its surprisingly quiet. The sealed suction is pretty poor (only about 14" on a water lift gauge but it has very good air flow. Wish I had a way to measure that. All in all not bad for a machine thats almost 100 years old. Now if I could only find the attachments. Doug

Post# 129032 , Reply# 14 3/26/2011 at 22:16 (4,773 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR)
Checkrate/Likes Hi Doug - I just found a 1932 Ohio TUEC ad that appeared in the Electrical Merchandising magazine, showing a picture of the TUEC Stationary Cleaner. I am traveling right now, but when I get settled on Monday, I will scan the ad and post it here. The 1932 version looks similar to that one. Unfortunately, no pictures of tools...

Post# 129559 , Reply# 16 3/28/2011 at 21:43 (4,771 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR)
Checkrate/Likes Doug - I have tried 3 times to scan the ad, but it just wants to only grab the Stationary machine in the ad. Anyway...at least you can see the schematic....

Post# 127470 , Reply# 9 3/13/2011 at 19:18 (4,786 days old) by electrolux~137 ()
Checkrate/Likes Wow!! What a MONSTER is right!!! How much does this beast weigh? I'll be you had a great time getting it into your house!!

Post# 127473 , Reply# 10 3/13/2011 at 19:48 (4,786 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Moving it was nothing that a fridge mover and 4 friends didnt handle :) I think I've actually moved fridges that weighed less. Just realized that I didnt answer Daves question about where it came from. Kind of a long story. I first saw this about 20 years ago sitting, unused, in the basement of a building a friend took me to to pick up some stuff. On contacting the owner of the building he said he bought it several years before that at an auction but couldnt remember where. He didnt want to sell it as he had ideas of making it into a dust collector for his workshop. Fast forward to two weeks ago. They are now cleaning out that building for some reason or other. I approached the owner again to ask if it was still there. He said he would check next time he was over there as he never got around to using it. About a week later he called to say it was still there. After some haggling we settled on a price of $75. I had to wait till today to get it though when some friends were free to help. Now, just to jump back again. When I first saw it I took a couple of pictures of it. In doing some research I had previously found out that the Grayson Hall (A 36 room mansion), which was empty at that time had had a central vac when it was built in 1912. When it was converted into a restaurant in the early 1980's they removed the machine to make room for a walk in freezer. The machine itself was put on display, along with other antiques, in the Restaurant. When the restaurant closed it was sold in a closing out auction (suddenly 2+2 starts to equal 4). I showed the picture to one of the former restuarant owners and he was quite certain it was the same machine so I can say with a fair degree of certainty that it came from the Grayson Hall here in Moose Jaw. I wish I could have gotten some of the outlets but, in the 90's when the house was renovated to become the head office of the Fifth Avenue Collection the contractor removed and disposed of them (against his instruction I might add) The new owner was not very pleased. Apparently the dumb contractor thought they were capped pipes from the old boiler, not vacuum connections. I've included a picture of the Grayson Hall below that I took last summer. Doug

Post# 127476 , Reply# 11 3/13/2011 at 21:21 (4,786 days old) by vac_whisperer ()
Checkrate/Likes Nice- Id love to have an old central/stationary vacuum systems. VW

Post# 129116 , Reply# 15 3/27/2011 at 10:40 (4,772 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Hi John: Thank you very much. I look forward to seeing it. I dont think they changed the design of the vacuum very much for a long time. Just the name plate. Doug

Post# 129680 , Reply# 17 3/29/2011 at 09:56 (4,770 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)
Checkrate/Likes Nice one - thank you

Post# 129686 , Reply# 18 3/29/2011 at 10:23 (4,770 days old) by Oreck_XL (Brooklyn, New York 11211)
Checkrate/Likes Does anyone know when Ohio stopped making portable vacuum cleaners? - Hershel