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Thread Number: 31973
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Spotted an old 1205 in my parents' attic |
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| Post# 352283 5/17/2016 at 10:35 (2,899 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
So I went down to visit my parents this weekend to help them clean stuff out of the attic in preparation for their move to a retirement facility later this summer. My dad is a serious hoarder, so this is no small feat. As Mom and I were digging through the attic, I came across an Electrolux 1205 that Dad had pulled off a neighbor's trash pile back in the early '80s and we had used at their previous house. I hadn't seen the thing in at least 20 years and thought they had gotten rid of it when they'd moved the last time.
It's not in all that bad shape, but not as good as the one I have. The lengthwise part of the T-shaped handle on top broke off years ago but the smaller crosswise part remains. Other than that, the canister itself appears intact. It has a non-electrified hose that leaks to the point that it has almost zero suction. but the wands and two-sided floor tool are in great shape. I didn't bring it home because my car was already full of other stuff but maybe I'll grab it on another trip this summer. If nothing else, I'll have a parts machine for my other 1205. | ||
| Post# 352287 , Reply# 1 5/17/2016 at 11:12 (2,899 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 352292 , Reply# 2 5/17/2016 at 13:49 (2,899 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here) | ||
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| Post# 352297 , Reply# 3 5/17/2016 at 15:08 (2,899 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Yeah, the hose is totally shot but I have a couple of newer vinyl hoses that work just fine. I really shouldn't have to spend any money on it unless I want to. But that's assuming everything else still works okay. It hasn't been plugged in and turned on since sometime in the first half of the '90s, maybe even back in the '80s. The good news is it's been continuously stored in a dry, protected, albeit not totally climate controlled environment so there shouldn't be any internal rust or corrosion to speak of.
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| Post# 352324 , Reply# 4 5/17/2016 at 20:53 (2,898 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here) | ||
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Well the mere passage of time doesn't make something suddenly not work. Being safely stored like that means it should be preserved. Good for you. Another toy, and it has family history.
It would be interesting to see pics of the front of it. I've read that the very first 1205 did not have an electrified port, instead had only a pn plug. The second version apparently had both. It would be interesting to see what version you have. Time will tell. | ||
| Post# 352339 , Reply# 5 5/18/2016 at 00:24 (2,898 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I don't think it has the pigtail plug. When I was vacuuming the house with it in high school, I didn't know about the electrified hoses and assumed the machine just wasn't equipped to handle a power nozzle.
I doubt there's been much deterioration over the past few years, except the extremes of temperature in the attic might have done a number on the little plastic vacuum lines but they're easy enough to replace. | ||
| Post# 352353 , Reply# 6 5/18/2016 at 08:59 (2,898 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN) | ||
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"electrified port" ALL 1205s should have been able to use the direct connect hose. | ||
| Post# 352356 , Reply# 7 5/18/2016 at 09:54 (2,898 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
All 1205 models, from the first one, had the electrified port. The first year of production, they also had the receptacle. The problem was, the pistol grip electric hose (made in Canada) was not UL approved yet. So they had to use the strap-on hose cord. The power nozzle also came with the single piece wand. Once the Electric Hose was ready, the Canadians also sent us the telescopic wand (which also had to have the UL approval). As we know, these items were soon discontinued in favor of the simple curved hose end and steel wand with sheath.
One way to tell a FIRST run 1205 is the following: NO dusting brush clip NO screen in the back of the bag compartment Receptacle for hose cord plug under suction opening on front door Automatic Control panel color - black (as opposed to the later blue) Smooth paint on body Serial number on rear bumper, underneath cleaner Bag lock-out plunger is round, not square Power Nozzle has single piece plastic wand, permanently connected Consolidated Foods didn't own Electrolux when the 1205 FIRST came out, but bought them very shortly afterwards. The very first 1205's don't have the Consolidated Foods name on the cleaner, or the bags. | ||
| Post# 352394 , Reply# 9 5/19/2016 at 01:47 (2,897 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here) | ||
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| Post# 353027 , Reply# 10 5/30/2016 at 22:28 (2,885 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I spent the holiday weekend down at Mom and Dad's, helping them clear more stuff out in preparation for their pending move and I made a point of grabbing that 1205 first thing. It's stashed in my barn for now.. Interestingly enough, it seems to be the same version as my other 1205--smooth metal, light teal front plate and no pigtail connector. I found a replacement for the broken handle on eBay for only $3.99. I'll probably pull it out and clean it up and fix that when things calm down a bit.
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| Post# 353088 , Reply# 12 6/1/2016 at 11:02 (2,884 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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It works!
Having a little down time today, I went out to the barn and plugged the old 1205 in and turned it on for the first time in at least 25 years. It ran fine with no squeals, squeaks or grinding, and then for probably the first time in its entire existence, I attached an electrified hose and a power nozzle (a SideKick) and fired it up. That worked as well. Interestingly, the machine had been stored with an almost empty bag in it.
While it does function, the motor sounds kind of muffled and suction isn't as strong as my other 1205. I'm not really sure what the problem is or how much effort I will expend on fixing it, but maybe I'll look into it when I take it apart to replace the carrying handle. Speaking of which, is there a procedure somewhere I can look at to see how to install that part? | ||
Post# 353109 , Reply# 13 6/1/2016 at 19:03 (2,883 days old) by vacuumlad1650  (Wauponsee, IL) |
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| Post# 353121 , Reply# 15 6/2/2016 at 01:22 (2,883 days old) by mchmike (West palm beach fl) | ||
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Just a flathead and Phillips head screwdriver. And 30 min. | ||
| Post# 353122 , Reply# 16 6/2/2016 at 01:29 (2,883 days old) by mchmike (West palm beach fl) | ||
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Now as for the muffled sound my guess is the fan stages and motor need to be cleaned out and bearing replaced. That's a little more in depth but their are instructions for that on here. Under Super J motor , I think. | ||
| Post# 353123 , Reply# 17 6/2/2016 at 01:33 (2,883 days old) by mchmike (West palm beach fl) | ||
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Yep here it is. CLICK HERE TO GO TO mchmike's LINK | ||
| Post# 353140 , Reply# 18 6/2/2016 at 13:51 (2,883 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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| Post# 353167 , Reply# 19 6/2/2016 at 23:37 (2,882 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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After a lot of looking, I finally found this teardown tutorial for a Diamond Jubilee. It's a considerably newer model but looks like there are enough similarities to make it at least somewhat useful.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO human's LINK | ||
| Post# 353376 , Reply# 20 6/6/2016 at 23:51 (2,878 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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The handle arrived
The replacement handle came in today's mail. It's new, unused and ready for installation. I was rather stoked to find it for just $4 plus shipping, considering they usually go in the $20-30 range, which I would not have paid. I'm not sure when I will have time to tear into it. Possibly this weekend unless I go back to my parents' to help them some more.
I'm hoping I can find an easy solution to the muffled motor sound and corresponding lack of suction. | ||
| Post# 353859 , Reply# 21 6/15/2016 at 15:39 (2,870 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Handle installed!
So I finally had time today to install the new handle on that old 1205. I also took a little time to clean 20-odd years of grunge off the outside of it and half-ass polish the aluminum top panel so it doesn't look quite as much like a candidate for the scrap heap. I wanted to get further inside it to see if there was any debris obstructing the airway around the motor but one of the screws holding the cord winder in place had a stripped head--a sure sign it had been worked on before. I also discovered why the original handle broke. The long set screw that holds the tail end in place wouldn't go all the way in because its hole hadn't been drilled completely through the plastic top panel, an oversight that was easily corrected. Why the engineers at Electrolux chose a machine screw for that location instead of a self-tapping one is a mystery to me. Anyway, I drilled it out, the screw went all the way in, and it's all back together and working. And even though I couldn't get all the way into the motor compartment, the thing seems to have better suction than it did when I tested it before so I must have done something right. I still think the 1205 I've had and used for the past 12 years is the better of the two, but I think the one from my parents' attic has definitely risen above its previous parts donor status. Be that as it may, it's still residing in the barn with a couple of old shop vacs for the time being and there may be a few more machines joining it before too long. I've just got way too many in the house.
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| Post# 353950 , Reply# 22 6/17/2016 at 13:44 (2,868 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I just got through moving a couple of vacs I wasn't using down to the barn to get them out of the way and while I was out there, I decided to bring the 1205 I got from my parents' attic up to the house to do a side-by-side comparison with the one I've had and used for the past dozen years. As I said before, they're almost identical--both are from early in the Consolidated Foods era, likely 1969-1970, with the light teal door panels and no pigtail plug-in, but there are a couple of minor differences: the one from the attic does not have a tool clip and the arrows on the sliding blower covers are different. The arrow on the attic machine's cover is a raised red outline, while the one on the machine I've had for several years is a solid, raised red triangle, meaning the two covers are even from different molds. I have no idea which is the earlier style or if the two styles ran concurrently.
I think it's very likely that that the attic machine came with a tool clip from the factory and it was later removed as that machine has a much higher serial number (Y93663R) than my other one that does have the clip (Y12112M). Had the attic machine had a lower number, I would have assumed it came out earlier in the run, after the pigtail plug-in was deleted but before the tool clip was added to the 1205 line. I have no idea what the different letters at the end of the serial numbers signify, production facility perhaps? The idea that the attic machine originally had a tool clip is further supported by my previous observation that the machine had been taken apart before yesterday's handle replacement, as evidenced by a stripped screw head on the cord winder assembly. There are also a few scratches on the aluminum top plate where that clip would have made contact with the metal plate, just behind the handle. The clip could easily have been lost during that earlier disassembly or perhaps even have fallen off sometime after the tail end of the handle pulled loose. The handle was intact when we found it except for the two little pins that kept it in place at the back. I have no idea when the tail end of the handle actually broke. While I had the two machines together, I also decided to plug them in and do a rudimentary side-by-side suction test, placing my hand over the opening. The one from the attic is indeed slightly quieter and has just a little less suction. I tested both with the bags they had in place, which could account for at least some of the difference. Having both machines running at the same time while plugged into the same outlet seriously dimmed the overhead lights. I only kept them running like that for about 30 seconds for fear of overloading the circuit. For your enjoyment, I've included some photos of the two machines. The one from the attic is on the left in each photo: | ||
| Post# 353952 , Reply# 23 6/17/2016 at 14:03 (2,868 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Reversed switches
Looking at the photo above, I just noticed another odd difference between the two machines. The power switches are reversed! Both are in their respective 'off' positions, but opposite sides of the switches are raised. I know I didn't put the switch on backwards when I reassembled the attic machine the other day because it only goes on one way. The only explanation is the switches were installed on their brackets facing opposite directions. As sort of a tie breaker, I checked the switch on my Super J and it appears to be oriented the same as the attic machine (the one on the left in the photos) so if that's the standard configuration, my other 1205 appears to have the switch mounted backwards. Of course, there is also the possibility that the switches on all of those machines could have been mounted on the brackets randomly in either direction, but that seems a little sloppy to me. One would think the production specs would call for the switch to be oriented a certain way. I'm not losing any sleep over it but it's a curious variation.
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| Post# 353954 , Reply# 24 6/17/2016 at 14:41 (2,868 days old) by blknblu (CT) | ||
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Here is my 1205 - (S/N: Z60914K), as found condition (I have not serviced it)
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| Post# 353973 , Reply# 25 6/18/2016 at 00:35 (2,867 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here) | ||
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This is the first Electrolux model I was impressed with
When I was growing up, in the 70s, we had a family friend who had this model. They used to take very good care of it, storing it in the closet in the bathroom with the hose stored neatly hung on the wall.
In the early 80s, they got gold shag carpet and a new Silverado with power nozzle, to make cleaning easier. Was so impressed. | ||
| Post# 354007 , Reply# 27 6/18/2016 at 11:14 (2,867 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Paul,
Thanks for that detailed information. The low serial number on the machine I've had for several years would suggestI it's likely a very early '69-'70 model and thus got one of the last of the solid arrow exhaust covers before they ran out and switched to the outline style. The higher serial number on the attic machine would suggest it's a later example of the '69-'70 model and the tool clip probably just went missing when things were apart sometime in the past. I think you may be onto something regarding the gasket. The one on the attic machine doesn't feel as supple as the one on the other machine, which would stand to reason since it's spent the past 20 years enduring the temperature extremes of an attic. | ||
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