Modernizing Vintage Vacuums

i have 12 vacs, 10 of which function and have all been serviced by me. the other 2 haven't been restored yet. they range in years from 1958 - 1985, though most are from the 60's and 70's. unless you get into vacs in the 40's or older, if they were mass produced machines (convertibles, kirby's, luxes, eurekas etc) you can still find parts very easily for most machines on internet vacuum supply shops. only when you get into brands that havent been made in many years like singer, lewyt, air way etc do you run into parts supply issues.

except for kirby, most machines by the 50's had paper bag systems. i used a hepa felt liner fabric used to filter particulates out of bio diesel and sewed it into the one leaky kirby bag i have right now, for a classic omega. granted it needed industrial thread and a juki industrial sewing machine to put it together, it eliminated the leaky bag and allowed me to keep the original bag, but use it in heavy daily use. i plan to do this to my other two sanitronic kirby's as well. so i can use them in daily use.

except for kirby bags like that, there are generally 4 things that keep a vac from running well that is "old". bearings, belts, carbons and wiring. bad belts are easy to fix, whether for a pn or direct dirty air machine, and if its a rare belt, many collectors here make do with available belts to work on thier less common machines where belts arent made anymore. if its common, belts are still plentifully available, even on 50 year old machines.

bearings and carbons are 95% of the time what "kill" a vac. servicing your own vacs and knowing how they work helped me with this issue greatly and allows me to restore "worse shape" machines than most collectors want to deal with. when i aquire a new machine, i tear into the motor and inspect the carbons after a test fire. if they look ok, and the machine sounds normal, i usually don't do more than that. if they need replacing its very easy and even someone with not much experience can do it. seating carbons the way i do it, is just let the machine run for a while. seating stones speed up the process, but aren't necessary. bearing replacement can be challenging , and unless you are experienced in vacuum repair, should be best let to a shop to do. older vacs like convertibles can simply have oil or grease added and the original bearings last for many decades. kirby's have sealed bearings (post classic) and when the sound afoul, need to be replaced outright. most vacs made in the 1970's or later have sealed bearings which cannot be serviced. and must be replaced.

last is wiring. this is rare to go bad on most vacs internally. usually its a cord failure. which on most machines is very easy to replace. internal wiring gone bad usually means the motor is trash and the vac needs all new guts. sometimes it can just be a simple loose connection that needs to be re-connected or re wired-nutted. but actual bad wiring is quite rare.

to get to your question, modding vintage vacs isn't necessary to use them in daily use, unless its a kirby and you want to keep the original bag and use it daily, but servicing ones that have parts available is a must to keep them going strong. cosmetic restoration is for another thread.

i love my vintage vacs, they are simple to work on, and easy to repair. no circuitboard garbage or 15 filters you have to replace to get it to clean right again. i go by the K.I.S.S philosiphy , "keep it simple stupid". vacs all the way thru the early 90's ahered to this. when our society became disposable in the mid 90's, machines were designed to break "engineered obsolescence" so you have to buy a new one. vintage machines were designed to be repaired and last a lifetime, which is why im biased to them, among one of many reasons.

Will Hemb

Kirby / Hoover/ Lux guru


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Post# 190393 7/17/2012 at 21:14 (4,294 days old) by mieles7 (TX)
Checkrate/Likes I often hear about how well vintage vacuums clean. Unfortunately, the cloth bags may often be worn down, or the belt is stretched out and no longer in production. What are some ways vintage vacuums could be modified into regular use vacuums?

Post# 190419 , Reply# 1 7/18/2012 at 01:45 (4,294 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)
Checkrate/Likes *depends on your definition of "vintage"* i have 12 vacs, 10 of which function and have all been serviced by me. the other 2 haven't been restored yet. they range in years from 1958 - 1985, though most are from the 60's and 70's. unless you get into vacs in the 40's or older, if they were mass produced machines (convertibles, kirby's, luxes, eurekas etc) you can still find parts very easily for most machines on internet vacuum supply shops. only when you get into brands that havent been made in many years like singer, lewyt, air way etc do you run into parts supply issues. except for kirby, most machines by the 50's had paper bag systems. i used a hepa felt liner fabric used to filter particulates out of bio diesel and sewed it into the one leaky kirby bag i have right now, for a classic omega. granted it needed industrial thread and a juki industrial sewing machine to put it together, it eliminated the leaky bag and allowed me to keep the original bag, but use it in heavy daily use. i plan to do this to my other two sanitronic kirby's as well. so i can use them in daily use. except for kirby bags like that, there are generally 4 things that keep a vac from running well that is "old". bearings, belts, carbons and wiring. bad belts are easy to fix, whether for a pn or direct dirty air machine, and if its a rare belt, many collectors here make do with available belts to work on thier less common machines where belts arent made anymore. if its common, belts are still plentifully available, even on 50 year old machines. bearings and carbons are 95% of the time what "kill" a vac. servicing your own vacs and knowing how they work helped me with this issue greatly and allows me to restore "worse shape" machines than most collectors want to deal with. when i aquire a new machine, i tear into the motor and inspect the carbons after a test fire. if they look ok, and the machine sounds normal, i usually don't do more than that. if they need replacing its very easy and even someone with not much experience can do it. seating carbons the way i do it, is just let the machine run for a while. seating stones speed up the process, but aren't necessary. bearing replacement can be challenging , and unless you are experienced in vacuum repair, should be best let to a shop to do. older vacs like convertibles can simply have oil or grease added and the original bearings last for many decades. kirby's have sealed bearings (post classic) and when the sound afoul, need to be replaced outright. most vacs made in the 1970's or later have sealed bearings which cannot be serviced. and must be replaced. last is wiring. this is rare to go bad on most vacs internally. usually its a cord failure. which on most machines is very easy to replace. internal wiring gone bad usually means the motor is trash and the vac needs all new guts. sometimes it can just be a simple loose connection that needs to be re-connected or re wired-nutted. but actual bad wiring is quite rare. to get to your question, modding vintage vacs isn't necessary to use them in daily use, unless its a kirby and you want to keep the original bag and use it daily, but servicing ones that have parts available is a must to keep them going strong. cosmetic restoration is for another thread. i love my vintage vacs, they are simple to work on, and easy to repair. no circuitboard garbage or 15 filters you have to replace to get it to clean right again. i go by the K.I.S.S philosiphy , "keep it simple stupid". vacs all the way thru the early 90's ahered to this. when our society became disposable in the mid 90's, machines were designed to break "engineered obsolescence" so you have to buy a new one. vintage machines were designed to be repaired and last a lifetime, which is why im biased to them, among one of many reasons. Will Hemb Kirby / Hoover/ Lux guru

Post# 190421 , Reply# 2 7/18/2012 at 02:59 (4,294 days old) by beerad (Beautiful Vancouver BC)
Checkrate/Likes *Will, very well written.* I do the same as you, and I am always learning. I was wondering if you could possibly help me re assemble my super j Lux motor? I disassembled the motor and had a new bearing installed. I am a little stuck at how to properly reassemble the motor, as this is the first Lux motor that I am doing this to? Do you skype? If you do, and you would be willing to help me, then perhaps a skyping session would help me. Thanks Brad,

Post# 190460 , Reply# 3 7/18/2012 at 11:12 (4,293 days old) by Super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)
Checkrate/Likes *As for bags...* Bags are VERY easy to modify, Take singer style SUB-1 or Royal Style A,Both are discontinued,But both are the EXACT same thing as a eureka F&G! The solution:Use an F&G instead! Others.....Say Hoover just stopped making style C for convertible...(Which i doubt they will,But even then,Non-manufacturer brands,Like DVC,Will continue to make them)...Anyways,Just say there's no more style C anywhere... Use a oreck style CC!Just cut of the bottom,Seal the opening, And bingo! (One member did that a while ago). You can even make your own to custom-fit!Just take card-board,Some filter-paper,Some glue,And bingo!You have yourself a eureka style Q47/94JJK In no time! Hope this is of use, -Alex.

Post# 190926 , Reply# 4 7/22/2012 at 03:42 (4,290 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)
Checkrate/Likes brad, i looked at super j motor images online and it looks similar enough to a golden j motor to walk you thru it. let me know what days work best for you. Will Hemb

Post# 190951 , Reply# 5 7/22/2012 at 09:30 (4,290 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)
Checkrate/Likes I have learned a thing or two since collecting Vacuum Cleaners - If you know where to look, nothing is obsolete :) Well, that isn't strictly true, things ARE obsolete, but there are replacements (original and non-original) out there. If on the occasion there aren't, then I'm not near experienced in the subject enough to advise further, sorry.