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Old 27th Apr 2017, 10:38 pm   #1
Ryan_1993
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Default 1930's Electrolux Z25

Got a pretty good deal on this stunning looking cylinder vacuum cleaner. Looks pretty much complete too.

Just wondering if anyone has any information on this model? All I have found out is it was made between 1934 and 1939. Does anyone have a manual for this or similar model?

Thanks

Ryan
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Old 28th Apr 2017, 6:46 pm   #2
emeritus
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

No personal experience with this model, but it resembles the generic one shown in the classic book published by Odhams: "Radio Television and Electrical Repairs", with editions published in 1948, 1952 and 1956. I would think the section relating to vacs in my 1956 edition was carried over from the 1948 edition and almost certainly reflects pre-war technology. Copies often come up on ebay at sensible prices, and it is a must for anyone who repairs vintage electrical appliances.

Yours is certainly a nice machine, and, unlike current models, probably blows as well as sucks. I find the "Blow" facility on these older cylinder vacs very useful for blowing out dust, drying out anything delicate, as well as inflating air beds etc.
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Old 28th Apr 2017, 7:24 pm   #3
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

(I sprayed a van with one of these on 'blow' and a special spray gun attachment, once. The finish was...3D! )
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Old 28th Apr 2017, 8:33 pm   #4
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I had forgotten about the spray attachment: In the depths of the garage I must still have one from my mother's mid-1950's Electrolux. I did use it in the early 1970's to spray a replacement panel for my Hillman Imp, and it actually worked quite well, once I had got the proportion of spraying cellulose thinners right.
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Old 28th Apr 2017, 10:58 pm   #5
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Quote:
Originally Posted by mark_in_manc View Post
(I sprayed a van with one of these on 'blow' and a special spray gun attachment, once. The finish was...3D!)
I had no idea it blew. I will have to try and get the spray attachment. The only issue with mine is, is the Electrolux metal badge sign is missing a stud to hold it down. Anyone have any idea of a replacement I can use to fix it back down?
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Old 29th Apr 2017, 1:08 am   #6
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I perhaps should have mentioned that using it on "Blow" is an excellent way of rapidly defrosting your fridge or freezer and getting it really dry: the blast is not strong enough to damage anything, but strong enough to blow water droplets out of crevices in the heat exchanger matrix. I used to take my late 1970's Electrolux into work when the kitchen fridge got too bad and defrost it in the lunch hour: defrosted and bone dry in 10 - 15 mins.

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Old 1st May 2017, 7:26 am   #7
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I used one of the spray extras to spray my Lambretta with fairly good results.
Seem to remember the spray gun had a glass container and that the cellulose had to be pretty thin to climb out of the pot. I graduated to a Burgess Sprayit,(I think that was the name), which was much better.
Mike.

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Old 2nd May 2017, 10:53 pm   #8
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkymike View Post
Seem to remember the spray gun had a glass container...
It does indeed, and a black bakelite top. Here's mine where it currently lives, on a not very accessible cobwebby shelf together with a half full, or half empty, bottle of Electrolux carpet shampoo.

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Old 2nd May 2017, 11:00 pm   #9
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Gosh I sprayed our garden shed with ours, even emulsion paint had to be watered down. Isn't that the one where you block 2 holes with your finger to make it work?
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Old 5th May 2017, 6:43 pm   #10
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I seem to recall my late Mother once mentioning a type of vacuum cleaner that somehow could also be used as a small washing machine, that would probably be the late 40's or early 50's. Does anybody remember such a thing?
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Old 11th May 2017, 10:14 pm   #11
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

The Electrolux arrived this evening. (I put a delay on it) as was working weird hours for passed two weeks. Its a great little cleaner. However, just wondering how to make it blow, do I attach the hose to the opposite end?
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Old 12th May 2017, 12:23 am   #12
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I don't know this model, but for older cylinder vacs, you do normally just screw or click the hose into the socket at the opposite end. For some post-war models such as the late 1970's Electrolux 345, the connector is on the top, and you have click off the cover of the air vent and remove the filter to find it. It is advisable to empty the dust bag, point the hose out of the window, turn it on, and give the hose a few knocks to dislodge the dust it contains before using it in blow mode.
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Old 12th May 2017, 7:08 am   #13
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Quote:
Originally Posted by D.Finney View Post
I seem to recall my late Mother once mentioning a type of vacuum cleaner that somehow could also be used as a small washing machine, that would probably be the late 40's or early 50's. Does anybody remember such a thing?
I don't know about a vacuum cleaner, but I believe an accessory basket was available for Hoover washing machines to enable use as a dishwasher.
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Old 12th May 2017, 8:15 am   #14
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Still have and use a late 40s early 50s Electrolux that my grandmother bought second hand in the early 70s. I clean out the fans periodically, other than that it gets no maintenance. At least one can unscrew the fans on it; later ones are pressed together and cannot be serviced.

Certainly on this one the hose fits on the back to blow, as it did on the Electrolux my parents bought new in the early 60s. That died when one of the motor bearings gave up, and the fans rubbed things they shouldn't; dad didn't reckon it was worth fixing, but the Electrolux that replaced it didn't last long before the armature failed. A new motor was fitted that cost nearly as much as a new complete machine, and that too failed rather too quickly. A Panasonic replaced it which outlasted them both
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Old 12th May 2017, 8:43 pm   #15
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Hi all,

yeah the hose screws on the opposite end for blow.

One thing to ask though. What is the air filter at the back of the motor made from? To me it looks like a composite of cloth like material, but I was concerned it might be made from asbestos or something so didn't really want to handle it. I know they did use asbestos filters in certain early electrical things.
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Old 15th May 2017, 9:22 pm   #16
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

i have a z65 and regularly use it to spray my garden fence .It works a treat and beats using a brush
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Old 16th May 2017, 8:09 pm   #17
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Can you still get motor brushes for this model?
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Old 16th May 2017, 8:52 pm   #18
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

Does anyone know if these brushes https://www.amazon.co.uk/CNBTR-Elect...Carbon+Brushes would be compatible?

I have measured and they seem to be 8mmx5mm in size on the remaining ones
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Old 16th May 2017, 9:16 pm   #19
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I just filed up (well, I used a belt linisher but a file would be fine, they're dead soft) the closest brushes I could find for a small, old Stuart-Turner electric water pump. I'd buy the closest you can find and then just make them fit. Careful how you hold them - they'll crush in a vice - easier to lay the file on the bench and rub the brushes over it. I cut the wire tails off mine (didn't need them) - you might need to ensure any you buy have tails long enough, and you might need to snip bits off the brass plate the tail terminates on, too.
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Old 16th May 2017, 10:27 pm   #20
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Default Re: 1930's Electrolux Z25

I had to cut some brushes down to size for the motor of my elderly lawnmower, which did have wire tails. I couldn't find any to fit on the web, so looked through the selection of brushes stocked by our local repair shop (fortunately we still have one only half a mile away), and found some for a Dyson that also had tails and were larger in all dimensions than the old ones. As Mark says, carbon is relatively soft, and I did have to re-fit the old terminations to the tails, which fortunately were longer than the old ones. Because I needed to remove a substantial amount, after scribing cutting lines for the final size, I used a metal blade in a junior hacksaw to cut to slightly oversize and then finished to size by rubbing the brushes on a piece of emery paper laid on a board. For sawing, I did hold them in a small vice using pieces of rubber on both sides ( it was a few years ago and I think I may have used some wide rubber bands) to prevent damage.

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