Thread Number: 17690
1979 Electrolux 502 "High Suction" |
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Post# 191496   7/26/2012 at 10:04 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Here she is! Bought her for £2.99 from eBay and she arrived today (5 days after dispatch - yeah, Parcelforce rocks...).
When I got her out of the box she looked a bit rough and ready, but I wouldn't say ugly. No vintage Electrolux looks ugly, no matter how beaten and battered! Not that she was beaten and battered, just general wear and tare to the bodywork. First of all I saw to the technical bits, lubricating the brush roll bearings, cleaning out the brush roll (when I slid the brush strips out I found the hollow inside of the roll was PACKED with dust), fitting a belt and bag (no filters were with it and I'm still waiting on ones arriving through the post but the bag is a good enough filter for now). Then I gave it a quick test to see it worked on the rug in the hall with the dust that came out of the brush roll and hey presto the 425W motor fired into life right as I turned the socket on, much to my surprise as I thought I had the switch at the off position, but it seems to be the opposite of my 502S power switch. Strange! Anyway, it ran well and picked up the dust no problem BUT I did notice the high pitched noise the seller mentioned. It happens every now and then. Sometimes it will sound nice and quiet then suddenly it will sound like finger nails scraping a black board! I'm thinking maybe the carbon brushes are hitting the commutator ? Since I determined it worked I turned it off and got to work making her look fantastic. Didn't take much work, just some water with Fairy Liquid and a cloth. Then after that I brought the paint up like new with some furniture polish. Bliss... Then I remembered I should have checked the plug before doing anything so I did that, to find a perfectly wired plug (that's rare!) but a 13 AMP fuse in it. Tut tut, not too safe. So I put a 3 AMP in and that was her mini-restoration complete. I then gave her a longer test by vacuuming the entire upstairs and although the high pitched noise reoccurred every now and then she picked up brilliantly (the "High Suction" is very true) and I could hear the beater bar grooming the carpet as the brushes swept it. It is a great mini Hoover! Ha ha. Anyway, here are the pictures and if you have any information on the noise, please let me know! |
Post# 191497 , Reply# 1   7/26/2012 at 10:06 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191504 , Reply# 2   7/26/2012 at 12:25 (4,263 days old) by rutger (England)   |   | |
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£2.99 for that, wow, bargain ! Really nice vacuum, the styling is fabulous. Dave |
Post# 191505 , Reply# 3   7/26/2012 at 12:27 (4,263 days old) by rutger (England)   |   | |
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I meant to add, what's the round plug type thing for on the back low down? Is that where tools attach? Dave |
Post# 191520 , Reply# 4   7/26/2012 at 13:43 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191521 , Reply# 5   7/26/2012 at 13:44 (4,263 days old) by singingrainbow (Texas)   |   | |
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Jamie, I just found this but you might have seen this already. CLICK HERE TO GO TO singingrainbow's LINK |
Post# 191526 , Reply# 6   7/26/2012 at 13:58 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191536 , Reply# 8   7/26/2012 at 14:28 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191538 , Reply# 9   7/26/2012 at 14:32 (4,263 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)   |   | |
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I forgot to tell you that the 500 and a good deal of the 502 cleaners had the mains switch upside down. This was how it was meant to be and was described as being like this in the booklet. A few late 502 cleaners had it the right way. |
Post# 191546 , Reply# 10   7/26/2012 at 15:08 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191547 , Reply# 11   7/26/2012 at 15:09 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191548 , Reply# 12   7/26/2012 at 15:10 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191553 , Reply# 14   7/26/2012 at 15:27 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191557 , Reply# 15   7/26/2012 at 15:34 (4,263 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)   |   | |
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It could be the belt if it has slipped off and worn through the cleaner. That happens a lot. |
Post# 191563 , Reply# 16   7/26/2012 at 15:37 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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I thought that too, but on inspection the motor housing wasn't worn through and it has a brand new belt.
Could be starting to wear through though. I would put some oil on the motor housing to stop the sound if I knew that was what it was, but then it could contaminate the belt and cause slipping. Can't win! |
Post# 191564 , Reply# 17   7/26/2012 at 15:40 (4,263 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)   |   | |
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Jamie turn the cleaner over, remove the sole plate from the hose and the roller from the cleaner. Put them on the floor and take a photo for us to see of the upturned cleaner and the parts. We may be able to see more. |
Post# 191566 , Reply# 18   7/26/2012 at 15:42 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191582 , Reply# 19   7/26/2012 at 17:16 (4,263 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh)   |   | |
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Jamie, firstly on getting such a great vacuum for a bargain price and secondly on the great clean up job!
One thing though, you will need to get a bumper for it. On the 500 series the bumper seals the gap between the hood and the sole plate. If no bumper you do loose suction. I hope you manage to get the strange noise sorted. Does it look like someone has broken the seal on the motor at the fan end? If I remember correctly there is some kind of spring between the two fans, if someone has fiddled about with that then that may be causing the noise. In any case, hope it's an easy fix, PaulC |
Post# 191586 , Reply# 20   7/26/2012 at 17:25 (4,263 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191607 , Reply# 21   7/26/2012 at 21:35 (4,262 days old) by vacu-finder ()   |   | |
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I heard through the grapevine that the 502S had Motor problems. |
Post# 191639 , Reply# 23   7/27/2012 at 05:12 (4,262 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)   |   | |
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Post# 191652 , Reply# 24   7/27/2012 at 09:08 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Here are the pictures you requested Benny. I didn't take one of the brush roll because I looked at it myself and didn't see anything different from the brush roll in my 502S (apart from the beater).
One thing I did notice (that you'll hopefully see in the pictures) is that there is a circle of rubber or something around the motor pulley... Oh and when the brush roll is turned by hand with the belt fitted it feels slightly rough and makes a dull noise like a worn wheel bearing in a car, but apart from that it also makes a squeaking noise like rubber against rubber although I can see no such rubbing. |
Post# 191653 , Reply# 25   7/27/2012 at 09:10 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191654 , Reply# 26   7/27/2012 at 09:11 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191655 , Reply# 27   7/27/2012 at 09:12 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191680 , Reply# 29   7/27/2012 at 11:00 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191684 , Reply# 30   7/27/2012 at 11:22 (4,262 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)   |   | |
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Benny, my comment was not directly to do with the dates of the cleaner and more to do with the price. Jamie implied that the 500 and 502 were significantly cheaper than the 550 and 560, but there was a good 10 year gap between the launch of the 502 and the 550. Once inflation is taken into consideration, they were more than likely about the same
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Post# 191718 , Reply# 31   7/27/2012 at 15:21 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191725 , Reply# 33   7/27/2012 at 15:46 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Nope, it doesn't...
I wasn't actually meaning the squeaking noise though, I meant the really loud sound like finger nails being scraped over a black board that is happening intermittently. I am desperate to get it resolved as I love the 502 and want it in tip top mechanical condition, something I fear it is not in at the moment. |
Post# 191727 , Reply# 34   7/27/2012 at 16:00 (4,262 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)   |   | |
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Jamie if you can make a video of it, I might be able to hear and tell. Could be air escaping from one of many places. |
Post# 191730 , Reply# 35   7/27/2012 at 16:03 (4,262 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 191874 , Reply# 37   7/28/2012 at 09:23 (4,261 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Thank you for that Ric, but wait a second... You shouldn't oil brush roll bearings!?
That goes against everything I've been told so far... I always oil my bearings with every belt change and have had no issues. When I bought the 502 it said on the eBay listing that it made the noise and in the same sentence that it didn't have a belt, so that would signify to me it makes the noise with the belt off too. From what you said it is easy to lubricate the motor bearing, but I thought it was nigh on impossible ? Or maybe the 425W motor and 500W motors are different. Lastly about the fuses, I've had a 3AMP fuse in my 502S for a year now and it hasn't blown yet. My Hoover Junior which came today has a 5AMP fuse in it though despite being only 300 watts, so I'm not sure if that should be lower or not... |
Post# 192047 , Reply# 39   7/29/2012 at 09:29 (4,260 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Well quite frankly we don't get many surges here in Scotland, in fact the last one was over a year ago, so if the fuse blew because of the occasional power surge but was fine under normal conditions, I'd still use the lowest possible.
On the brush roll bearing subject, can you correlate what Ric said about not oiling them Benny ? |
Post# 192048 , Reply# 40   7/29/2012 at 09:30 (4,260 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 192052 , Reply# 42   7/29/2012 at 09:52 (4,260 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 192054 , Reply# 43   7/29/2012 at 10:00 (4,260 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)   |   | |
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AS you wish Jamie. They shouldn't need much attention if you don't use the heavily. |
Post# 192056 , Reply# 44   7/29/2012 at 10:03 (4,260 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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Post# 192740 , Reply# 45   8/2/2012 at 04:01 (4,256 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)   |   | |
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OK, the Electrolux 502 is now removed from my list of Vacuum Cleaners for a reason I shall explain...
A couple of days ago (which leads me onto apologising for my absence) I decided to have another look at the 502. So I did and what did I discover ? The noise WAS the belt rubbing against some plastic! I'd never have thought that could make such a noise. I then realised that could be down to one of two things. The brush roll belt guide or the motor pulley. To check the brush roll I took the original one out and put the one from my 502S in. Guess what ? No change. Upon closer inspection, the motor pulley is very worn and is most certainly what caused the belt to drift into the plastic. So, the 502 would need a new motor. But, I'm not too disappointed as there are plenty parts on the 502 which I will be able to use at some point on my 502S, plus the beater brush roll which I have already swapped over (my 502S had a Twin Turbo brush roll prior to this). For £2.99, it wasn't bad even for parts. |