A Couple of Useful Attachment Additions

I happened to spot these attachments in the Shop Vac section of Canadian Tire, and decided to pick them up, for use with the Shop Vac and the Aeruses (?) and Electroluxes: a flexible crevice tool and soft bristled dusting brush.

Out of the package. Naturally, these can fit onto the Style R hose with an adaptor. I can see tons of uses for these tools, especially with electronics.

I also decided to pick up a new hose for the Shop Vac, as the one that came with it didn't have a proper handle. This one is 8 feet long, with a handgrip and suction bleed valve.

Handle, with the suction bleed valve open:

And finally, the trusty old Shop Vac with new hose and tools:

The soft bristled dusting brush goes into service, on the Epic 8000, to clean off my computer desktop and all its assorted paraphernalia. It gets right into the grooves of everything, which is just why I wanted it.

Some Forgotten About Pictures

I was tooling through my 'Vacuums' picture folder on my external hard drive, and came across a few pictures that I thought looked nice, and a few oddities as well.

First, a blurry picture of the (later) 88. I like the perspective on this one.

The 89, with the PN III, cleaning the carpet. A very common sight during my younger days.

The Epic 8000 sits on the table. It isn't as elegant as the Renaissance C104A, but much more so than the C104H.

Yet another table picture, for the Guardian C154B.

This is the second of the vacuums I had when I was living in China, the Electrolux Ingenio. It was fairly powerful, had a variable speed motor, reusable cloth bag, and a telescopic wand. I regret not snagging this and bringing it back home.

The bronze Model G. Very elegant...in fact, the most elegant American Electrolux.

Another view of the bronze G:

The blue Model G, decked out with hose cord and power nozzle. I'm not sure if the original hose cord would have been in matching blue or not.

Black vacuums look better in the shade?

The first of the two vacuums I had when in China, the Electrolux 'Tabby'. This is the first, and to date only (thank heaven) machine that ever conked out on me. I was vacuuming with it one day, and it gave a dismal groan and blew up in a puff of smoke. Oh well. It did serve me well enough for a couple of years.

6500 Reasons to Buy an Electrolux

I really had to laugh when I looked at the stats of this blog yesterday. The page views had jumped by over 2000 in a few days. Not to be negative, but I think I'll hold off on congratulating myself over being a "popular blogger", as all of this is probably fake traffic anyway.

Anyway, back to the only reason I'm blogging...Electrolux and Aerus vacuums! Presented here today is the battleship grey Epic 6500, Model C102D, which I bought a year or so ago from an older lady who was moving into an assisted living home. Vacuums owned by "persons of a certain seniority", if I can put it as nicely as possible, tend to be in excellent condition, at least cosmetically, and this one is no exception. It looked like it had rarely touched or bumped against anything in its life.

Here is a picture of the machine the day I brought it home. You can see a couple of scuffs, but nothing that a cleaning wouldn't take care of.

Here is the Epic 6500 after a full-on cleaning. Shiny!

In looking at these pictures, I realized that I confused the floor brushes on the Epic and the Renaissance. The one that came with the Epic has no openings in the front row of bristles. I assume that this is the correct floor brush, and the openings were added later.

A couple of shots of the grey and white Epic 6500s together. There aren't many differences between these two models. The white power nozzle is a little more rounded off over the motor and headlight housing, and it also has an extra row of bristles. I'm not sure if and/or when the double row of brushes became standard on the power nozzles. In addition, the white floor brush has openings in the front row of bristles, but other than these, I can't see any differences.

I can understand why they eventually renamed this model "Legacy". It is, in many ways, a continuation of the tradition of simple, easy to use, hardworking, automatic, and dependable Electrolux vacuums. In fact, there's only one thing I don't like about this vacuum, and that's the suction valve on the hose handle. It can become loose and stay open after some time, and, even when open, it doesn't really reduce the suction enough for delicate cleaning. Other than that, I think the Epics are great vacuums.

My Style R Electrolux and Aerus Lineup

Just for the heck of it, I felt like taking some shots of all my Style R vacuums. I don't have all of them, of course*, but this is a good representation of machines from the beginning to the end of the run.

Back row, left to right: Aerus Lux 9000 C134F, Aerus Guardian C154B, Aerus Lux Guardian C154E .

Front row, left to right: Electrolux Guardian 75th Anniversary C134A, Electrolux Epic 8000 C133A, Electrolux Renaissance C104H, Electrolux Renaissance C104A.

Electrolux Style R models, clockwise from top (Guardian 75th C134A, Epic 8000 C133A, Renaissance C104A, Renaissance C104H). These are much better looking than their Aerus counterparts, partly because most are missing the HEPA filter and are thus much more streamlined, and partly because gray is a nicer color than pale blue:

Aerus Style R models (Guardian C154E, Guardian C154B, Lux 9000 C134F):

As an addendum, here is this week's cleaning team: the white, grey, and red Epic 8000 and Epic 3500. It's certainly a fetish with me, but I do like to use similarly colored and/or styled machines when I'm using them in pairs, not to mention the fact that I like to use all the original and/or matching attachments with a particular machine.

It's difficult to say whether one of these is my favourite. Certainly, the Renaissance C104A blows the others out of the water in terms of looks (and for that matter, it does the same for all other Electrolux and Aerus models, before or since), but the two newest machines, the C154B and C154E, have more power than the others. Like I said in another post, comparing machines is difficult. Each model or series of models has something distinctive and interesting about it. In short, there's good to be found in everything.

*Just to keep it straight, I don't have the Electrolux Guardian 75th Anniversary C134B, Electrolux Guardian Encore C134C, Electrolux Lux 9000 C134D, Electrolux Guardian C134E, and the Aerus Lux 9000 C154A (assuming this model exists). Funds permitting, and reasonable prices offered, I'd like to add these to the collection.

A New Year's Resolution?

I don't know how much of a conscious decision this was on my part, but for a month or so now, my vacuum usage habits have slightly changed.
 
Having more than one vacuum means you can, if you choose, use a different vacuum when you feel like it. When you have 40+ vacuums, you're positively spoiled for choice. My normal pattern was to use a different vacuum each day, or sometimes multiple vacuums in one cleaning session for different tasks.

Of late, however, I find myself using only two vacuums in a single week...an upright for the carpets, and a cylinder for the bare floors and dusting. Here is my current weekly 'set': the Renaissance and the Epic 3500. It may or may not be a coincidence that they have more or less matching colors.

One reason for this is that my vacuum storage/display room is in a bit of a state at the moment. I really need to properly organize and display my machines, but that's another story. This room is also in the basement* of the house, so I've found its easier to carry up the two machines at the beginning of the week and leave them upstairs for the duration, or until I want to change them.

Another thing I've found is that the Style R models and the uprights are really the only machines that get used anymore. They're just too damned convenient. Once in a blue moon, I'll bust out an older model, but this is becoming rather rare. I also have decided to not get any more machines, unless they're on my wish list, and all of those are newer and useful models. My vintage collecting days are done.

At any rate, I daresay the next weekly set will be the Aerus Lux Guardian C154E and the Epic 3000, but who knows? One of my resolutions this year is to organize both my collection and its storage space. The other is to (hopefully) complete my wish list, as seen here.

*For whatever reason, the vacuum I use most in the basement is:

Two Guardians Plus an Epic Prepare for Christmas

For both everyday, 'lightweight' cleaning and full-on, hardcore, use-every-single-attachment cleaning, I can't think of anything better than these two vacuums:

I had to do the sofas, living room furniture, bare floors, baseboards, counter tops, table tops, and bathroom, and figured that the (Aerus) Guardians could take care of it all very easily. Naturally, they did.

These are by far my most used, most effective, go-to cylinder vacuums, and when you have a (relatively) large selection to choose from, that's saying something.

The logo on the Lux Guardian almost looks like its lit up, but its just very shiny.

I did the carpet with one of the battleship gray Epic 3500s. This one is in rather better cosmetic condition than the other, especially with the replacement handle:

Funnily enough, I've never gotten a vacuum or anything vacuum related for Christmas.

The Rug Doctor is On Call

I recently rented a Rug Doctor carpet cleaner to clean the living/dining room, as well as my sister's sofas. I must say, I'm impressed by the performance of these machines, and their ease of use. They really do make carpet and upholstery look almost new again, and the amount of brown water poured out from the recovery tank is astonishing, not to mention disgusting. Imagine spending all that time with that amount of dirt in your carpet and upholstery!

After giving the carpets a good working over, I connected an old Electrolux floor brush to the end of two wands, and ran it over the carpet, as if I was vacuuming it, to fluff it up a bit, and finally, after several hours of drying, I used the floor brush on the Shop Vac to pick up any leftover residue and/or surface moisture. As a final step, the morning after the cleaning, I gave the carpet a full-on Epic 3500-ing.

The Shop Vac. Not an Electrolux, but still a vital member of the household cleaning team. I've used this fellow for every dirty job imaginable, from unclogging sinks and vacuuming wet front porches in the winter, to clearing the front steps (in summer) from rocks and gardening debris. Oddly enough, I never use it in the car, unless the floors and/or mats happen to be wet. I always use one or another of the Aerus/Electroluxes.

Epic 3500. Possibly my favorite among the uprights I have, due to its near flawless, all-original cosmetic condition and excellent running condition.

Mind you, the results after all of this labor are not perfect. The carpet is a relatively old one, and has had and will continue to have a lot of traffic and spills, but it does look fresher and "fluffier".

Really, the Rug Doctor does such an impressive job that I'm half tempted to buy one.

A Surprising (To Me) Addition

I shouldn't be at all surprised by this, but I am. I bought what I thought, according to the description, was an Epic 2500 upright from eBay. All well and good, until the machine arrived today, bearing the name "Epic 3000".

Epic 3000?

This is the first time I've ever even heard that such a model existed. I thought the next model after the 2500 in the Epic upright series was the 3500, but I've been proved wrong. As soon as I unboxed the machine and saw the logo, I really did do a double-take, and I had to look hard at the logo to make sure it was "real".

Close-up of the "real" logo:

After this, I googled "Epic 3000" and found out that it did indeed exist as a real model (Model 1717, by the way). Who knew? Its hard to pin down the year of production, but I'm going to guess that the Epic 3000 is the companion upright to the Epic 6000 (which had the same blue power nozzle with beige bumper) and blue/white Ambassador III.

The blue boy makes his debut. I still need to give this a cleaning treatment, but its in pretty good shape as is.

As can be seen in the pictures, this model has an original blue handle with slider switch, although the cord is a replacement. I gave this "blue boy" a brief test run today, and he sounds just fine. As mentioned elsewhere, I've totally fallen in love with the Electrolux/Aerus uprights, and love using them, so I'm happy to have another perfectly functioning model in my collection.

The blue power nozzle gives the Epic 3000 a little extra dash of color and style versus the other beige and blue machines (such as the Genesis, which has the beige power nozzle):

The top cord hook on this model seems to be a little higher up on the steering handle than the successor models. It was around this time that Electrolux uprights with the "ponytail" cord coming out of the top of the handle were recalled, and if memory serves, the Epic 2500 was one of those, so its a good guess that this Epic 3000 was the first model to have the cord coming out of the bottom of the handle, as all subsequent models did:

Assuming everything on this model is original (except the cord, as noted), and I have to admit it certainly looks so, then some of my upright suppositions need re-working. All well and good...as I pointed out elsewhere, I love the endless questioning and re-questioning of Electrolux and Aerus minutiae. Everyone needs a hobby, to be sure. One point...I saw an Epic 3000 for sale on eBay, and it had a beige cord and carrying handle, so perhaps this was the first model to include the carrying handle?

Re: the surprise of receiving a different model. eBay titles and descriptions tend to be, I won't say misleading, but certainly confusing to anyone who is familiar with the different models and their names. If, for example, I do a search for "Electrolux Guardian", I wouldn't be at all surprised to come up with something like this: "Aerus Lux Epic 9000 Guardian Electrolux 8000 Renaissance Vacuum Cleaner". 

More Epic-ness

There are many joys in collecting Electrolux and Aerus vacuum cleaners. One of them is undoubtedly having models from different eras of the company's history, and another is owing a complete "set" of a particular model line. Electrolux and Aerus, throughout the years, always made a top of the line and bottom of the line model, and, sometimes, a middle of the line model as well, not to mention a corresponding upright in later years.

Today, with the arrival of my latest purchase, I now have a complete, all-original set of the Epic series in white with gray and red trim (manufactured between 1997-9*), namely the top of the line Epic 8000 cylinder, the middle of the line Epic 6500 cylinder, and the Epic 3500 upright**. All of these machines are in near-flawless cosmetic and running condition, and everything on them is original and intact. To say I'm happy would be a huge understatement...I'm ecstatic.

Epic 8000 

I've wanted an Epic 8000 for a long time. Its arguably one of the nicest looking Style R models, and when I look at it and the other models, I find myself wishing Aerus had continued with this style for its high-end model***.

The full ensemble. Absolutely gorgeous, if you ask me. I'm not sure if the 8000 came with the combination flip-over rug and floor nozzle, or the dedicated floor brush, but in any case I don't care, because this one matches and works perfectly.

The Epic 8000 is an attractive model, and a great performer. Even though its hard to compare two vacuums with different usage histories, I would put the cleaning performance of the Epic 8000 on par with its "younger brother", the Guardian 75th anniversary. The 8000, however, is slightly quieter, and, even though I'm now used to the looks of the box HEPA filter on the Guardian, the absence of it on the 8000 creates a more streamlined effect.

A shot of "the two companions at their reunion". They make a rather nice matching set:

Attachment compartment. I think this is the best set of standard attachments Electrolux/Aerus ever made, and this set is in great condition. One thing I've noticed: because the machine exhausts out of the attachment compartment, the attachments get quite warm after the machine has been running for a while!

Ratings plate. I'm not sure what "BL4" stands for.

One strange thing about the Epic 8000 (and presumably the Renaissance) is that it exhausts out of the tool compartment, rather than through the blow port. The blow port has a plug that redirects the exhaust air down through the tool compartment, and when the hose is inserted for blowing, the plug gets pushed down and redirects the air through the hose. Clearly they changed this configuration when they added the HEPA filter to the Guardian. I do know that the blow from the Guardian, even on low speed, is almost enough to blow your head off your shoulders, so perhaps there is a good reason for the exhaust redirection on the Epic 8000, and this also gives the machine a quieter running sound versus those that exhaust upward. In fact, I'd be willing to bet the Epic 8000 is one of the quietest Electroluxes since the 80 series (the quietest vacuum cleaners of all time, perhaps?)

Name badge (with a little scarring) + side bumper logo:

The Epic 8000 is so good, even my little nephew has given it his seal of approval:

Presenting the white, gray, and red Epic Series of vacuum cleaners. Call me strange, but I really feel a thrill at seeing this beautiful set. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, but they all work perfectly and give excellent service.

*The official Aerus model history chart gives the date of the 8000 as 1997-8, and that sounds right, as the 75th Anniversary Guardian came next, in 1999. I'm betting the production dates of the 6500 and 3500 would be 1998-9.

**If I REALLY wanted to have a complete set, I'd add the matching Ambassador III cylinder plus the Floor Pro shampooer/polisher, but unless I can find them at a near free price, that won't be happening.

***I've heard it said that the Guardian Ultra has more power and airflow than the R Guardians, but of course the long cord, variable speed motor, hose handle controls, and adjustable, on-board attachments have disappeared on the Ultra.