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Thread Number: 45271
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Revisiting the Eureka 2010 |
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Post# 468919 1/24/2024 at 15:41 by JustJunque  (Western MA) |
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After getting discouraged, and setting it on a back burner months ago, I finally pulled the Eureka out to take another shot at replacing the melted rear wheels. Thankfully, the one solitary Phillips screw that was holding me up, decided to let go! So, the wheels are replaced, and I finally got to feel the vacuum roll on all four wheels for the first time since I got it, about a year ago. I don't know if anyone remembers, but I was able to find a pair of "pie slice" wheels, like the originals, except a different color. Since they don't really show, I'll deal with it until such time as I stumble upon an identical pair.
I have some aftermarket HEPA F&G bags ordered. I hope I didn't jump the gun by ordering wheels, belts, and bags for it. Believe it or not, after owning it for around a year, I've still never plugged it in and tested the motor. When I tilt the machine on its side, or turn it over to work on the underside, I can hear something loose rolling around inside it. I don't want to risk jamming something into the fan or motor. So, I really don't want to run it until I find out what's in there. That brings me to a question. Can someone tell me how the "hood" comes off one of these? Remember, I'm not at all mechanically inclined, I have a knack for messing up the simplest of tasks, and I'm nearly paralyzed by fear that I will mess something up. If there's anything even remotely tricky about it, I'll most likely get discouraged again, and set it aside for another several months or so. It's really such a pretty vacuum, and I kind of can't believe what good cosmetic condition it's in. It would be heartbreaking if it turns out to be shot mechanically. | ||
| Post# 468921 , Reply# 1 1/24/2024 at 17:02 by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
Hi Barry,
Congrats on sourcing some Eureka “pie cut” wheels. I’m sure there are plenty of broken classic Eureka Williams uprights out there from which you could “harvest” some wheels in the correct colour. I am not a technical repair expert either, but from what I have seen on YouTube, I think you first turn the vacuum over with the hood facing down, and use some pliers to disconnect two springs which are holding down the hood on either side of the base. Put the two springs aside so you don’t lose them. Then turn the hood right side up and remove the screw holding the Dial-a-Nap knob in place and remove the knob. After you do this, you should be able to just lift up the top of the motor hood. You may not be able to move it completely off as the power push button is wired to the motor underneath. Just search for classic Eureka Williams upright repair on YouTube…hope this helps! | ||
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Post# 468922 , Reply# 2 1/24/2024 at 17:20 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Thank you, Brian!
I did see the little springs on the underside, and wondered if that was what held the hood. I didn't see screws, like on a Hoover Convertible. I'm hoping I don't even need to fully remove the hood. I just want to find out what's rolling around inside there. I'm hoping it's just a foreign item that found its way in there, and I can just dump it out. | ||
| Post# 468923 , Reply# 3 1/24/2024 at 17:51 by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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You are welcome! You may want to carefully clean out the dust around the motor with another vacuum once you have the hood off…maybe on gentle suction with a dusting brush. Most pics/videos I have seen showing the insides of an old used upright seem to show lots of dust accumulated under the hood.
Let us know how it goes! | ||
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Post# 468924 , Reply# 4 1/24/2024 at 17:59 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Thank you.
When/if I get the hood open, I'll definitely take the opportunity to vacuum in there. This vacuum looks extremely low mileage. I'm just hoping it's not because someone killed it when it was practically new. For example, I still don't have a clue how the original rear wheels got melted. I'm hoping, not from a severely overheated motor. | ||
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Post# 468928 , Reply# 6 1/24/2024 at 18:59 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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| Post# 468947 , Reply# 7 1/25/2024 at 07:12 by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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You’re like me! Worried about losing pieces…
Best thing to do is lay out a large white plastic garbage bag on the floor to work on…that way if any piece falls off or out of the vacuum, it will be easy to see. Also: use an ashtray or dish or little plastic container to collect the springs and screws and other little bits as you take apart the cleaner. | ||
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Post# 468952 , Reply# 8 1/25/2024 at 10:39 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Before going into anything else, I decided to finally remove the bag that’s been in it since I bought it.
I had partially unzipped the outer bag, but not fully. All I knew, was that there was duct tape on the inner bag. Taking a better look at it, I’m guessing that the previous, and probably original owner, cut the top open on the paper bag, and would dump it out and reuse it. Part of my attraction to anything vintage, is that I feel they have “stories”. I think I just uncovered one of this vacuum’s stories. Was the person a tightwad? Just a frugal yankee? Maybe their previous vacuum had a shake-out bag, and it struck them as wasteful to throw away the paper bag every time it got full. I’ll attach a couple of pictures. You’re seeing the inner bag for the first time, right along with me. Also; check out the text on the bag. It struck me as looking pretty old. Does anyone have a guess, based on the type of writing on it? It’s a genuine Eureka! Could it be the one that came with the vacuum in the early 1970s? It looks like a low mileage machine. Maybe they never even replaced the bag; just emptied and reused it! | ||
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Post# 468955 , Reply# 9 1/25/2024 at 11:27 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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And, on a related note; what's the best and safest way to clean the outer bag?
I've washed a few cloth outer bags recently. But, it's been so long since I did a vinyl one, I don't remember. It does have a few areas, where there are sharp creases in the bag, that it looks like it wants to tear. The two bottom corners, and one spot up near the top, in particular. So, I want to be very gentle with it. I have a product called VLR, that's supposed to be good on vinyl, leather, and rubber. (Hence, VLR) Maybe I should skip the actual washing, and just give it a going over, inside and out, with that cleaner? I was also surprised to see the cloth fill tube, or whatever it's called. I've only encountered plastic ones, prior to this. | ||
| Post# 468960 , Reply# 12 1/25/2024 at 13:13 by Paul (USA) | ||
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As for washing the outer bag, I did so in the washing machine on the gentle cycle with regular laundry detergent and then let it air dry. | ||
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Post# 468961 , Reply# 13 1/25/2024 at 13:31 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Hey Paul.
Thanks again! I'm not sure how it came through in the pictures, but the bag I took out is definitely a sort of yellowish or buff/manila color in person. To me, it looks like the ones in your picture #5, from the 1970s. I'm still too chicken to wash a vacuum bag in the washing machine. If I'm going to wash it in water and detergent, I'd do it by hand. This one, specifically, I'm extra hesitant about, because of the few areas where it appears compromised; like it wants to tear there. It may actually have small tears in those areas. Where I've been told this was basically Eureka's "economy" model, I've read that the vinyl used on the outer bag isn't as thick or durable as what they used on the higher priced models. The vacuum still presents so nicely, I'm just afraid to do anything that would cause damage. | ||
| Post# 468969 , Reply# 16 1/25/2024 at 17:23 by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Hi guys,
Just from my deeply embedded (pardon the pun) memories of my childhood obsession with Eureka vacuums, I don’t think I ever saw a genuine Eureka dustbag in the 1960’s that was not yellow. I also think that the “Sanitized” word was actually a copyrighted name for a certain sanitizing treatment that EW used. Indeed, I also remember that stylized word on the F & G bags we bought in the 1960’s. The flexible cloth throat at the bottom of the dust bag continued at least until 1974 - that’s the year we bought our deluxe gold Rugulator Cordaway Power Touch upright model 2083. The white plastic bellows neck seemed to show up in Eureka’s uprights a few years later….. | ||
| Post# 468988 , Reply# 18 1/26/2024 at 14:05 by Paul (USA) | ||
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Here's some info. I located about the 'Sanitized' trademark (source opencorporates.com). Sanitized, Inc., was headquartered in New York and is now defunct.
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Post# 469006 , Reply# 20 1/27/2024 at 16:04 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Name that chunk o' plastic
Billy,
Thank you for the suggestions! However, I have an update. My Eureka doesn't have a headlight, and all of the hood springs are in place. See the following. Well, since my needle nose pliers are nowhere to be found, I haven't been able to look "under the hood" yet. However, I was holding the vacuum upside down, and rotating it in every possible direction. Eventually, a piece of plastic or possibly Bakelite fell out. That has to be the foreign object that was rattling around. Now, all that's left is for someone who knows their Eurekas to identify it, and inform me that the vacuum is trash, now that this piece is broken. Or, unrealistic best case scenario, there's nothing under the hood that looks like this, and it must have come from somewhere else and just got stuck inside there. I'll attach a picture of the object. On a positive note, having evicted the loose object, I finally plugged the vacuum in and hit the switch. To my untrained ear, the motor sounds fantastic. I don't even hear any grindy, growly sounds on wind-down. But, on a negative note, while the brushroll spins freely, its bearings sound horrible. Would it do any good to try to get some blue can 3-in-1 oil in there, or do I have to take it to a vacuum shop and have actual grease put in there? On another negative note, one side of the bag's zipper came off the track, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get it back on. Is the bag done for now? I swear, I thought this vacuum was in such great shape when I bought it. But, it just seems like it doesn't want me to get it up and running. I don't know what I'm doing, and it just seems to fight me at every turn.
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Post# 469054 , Reply# 21 1/29/2024 at 12:13 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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And, another rookie question:
Can anyone tell me what the black cloth strap is, that's attached to the inside top of the outer bag?
At the bottom of it, it looks like there's some old adhesive of some sort. Was it originally attached somewhere at the bottom too?
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| Post# 469057 , Reply# 22 1/29/2024 at 17:11 by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Post# 469058 , Reply# 23 1/29/2024 at 17:19 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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That sounds like as good a guess as any!
The last time I laid hands on a Eureka upright, I was probably in grade school. So, I don’t remember it. I’ll try to look on the inside of the bag, and see if I can find anything that looks like the strip may have been attached. There seems to be some sort of old adhesive residue on the bottom of the strip. But, that doesn’t tell me anything. 🤔 | ||
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Post# 469435 , Reply# 25 2/9/2024 at 19:52 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Hey Billy,
Sorry. I haven't made any further progress with that one. I got to a point where I have too many irons in the fire at the same time. I shifted my focus to some of the easier stuff first. I kind of thought about a dry cleaner for the zipper. I'd just be concerned that they're not used to working with somewhat delicate, fifty year old vinyl. Barry | ||
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