Not a New Machine, but...

...after dismantling, cleaning, disinfecting, and "refurbishing" it, I think the Guardian C154B deserves a new post.

(Not only that, but I'm going to "re-watermark" every picture on this blog. I happened upon an eBay auction for an Epic 8000 which used one of my pictures, and I'm not about to waste my time here so nitwits can steal my work to flog their junk on eBay. Yes, believe it or not, I do get pissed off when people steal other people's property. All that said, this blog and its contents represent a real labor of love for me, and I have no intention of stopping.)

Anyway, the first thing I did with the Guardian C154B was to paint the cord winder pedal white, to more or less match the body of the machine. I was utterly sick of looking at that horrible black pedal, and I think this paint job improves the look of the machine significantly (although its a somewhat rough paint job; painting is not my forte). One of these days, I might happen upon a replacement pale blue pedal, although I was told it was a discontinued item. Sounds odd to me, as most of the Style R machines are blue and white, but mine is not to reason why.

"New" cord winder pedal. As I said, the painting is a little rough, but it looks a hell of a lot better than black:

I also got rid of the two black wand latches I had (this machine came with two sets of wands) and replaced them with matching pale blue, and added a "new" crevice tool and dusting brush (the old ones were a little the worse for wear).

Then, I thought I'd actually have a go at dismantling this baby to see what was going on inside. I've dismantled some of the Style C cylinders before, but never a Style R, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The layout is actually not all that different from the older machines, with the only noticeable differences being:

• single stage (single fan) motor: I'm not sure when these first came in, or if they were used across the board in all of the subsequent Electrolux/Aerus models. All of the other models I've dismantled have the two stage (two fan) motor.
• plastic fan surround: most or all of the others I've dismantled were metal.
• wiring: the cord winder is not "directly" connected to the motor, like in the older models...in this one, a series of wires run from the motor housing back around to the cord winder. In the older models, a series of contacts on the cord winder housing "plug in" to the motor housing.
• circuit boards: There are two circuit boards; one near the bottom of the motor to control the main suction motor and power nozzle, and one at the top of the motor housing, near the exhaust port (to control the motor when the hose is connected to the blow port for blowing).

I gave the old boy a good scrubbing and disinfecting (except the fans and motor...they'll wait for another day, although I did blast them out with air to kick out some of the dirt), and then reassembled everything and put him right back into service. The assembly/reassembly is not radically different from the older models, except the two halves of the body are held together by six screws, and the bumper tucks in between the two halves (somewhat like the bumpers on the power nozzles).

Here he is, the Aerus Guardian C154B, "in all his splendor and power":

I can't resist adding a few comments and observations about this machine, which more or less apply to all of the other Style R machines:

1. Going by the "hand-over-the-end-of-the-hose" suction test, the C154B is the most powerful vacuum I own. The hose almost gets squashed when your hand completely covers the opening. It seems to have slightly more suction than its successor, the C154E.

2. When I use this machine, I get much more work (cleaning) done than I would otherwise. For example, every time I clean the kitchen, I dust off the counter top, table top, place mats, and stove top with the dusting brush on low speed, clean corners and edges with the crevice tool on medium speed, chair cushions with the upholstery tool or Sidekick on medium speed, and the floor with the floor brush on high speed. My house is definitely cleaner when I use this machine.

3. Because of the long(er) cord, on board attachments, and fingertip controls, cleaning takes less time (i.e. there is less time spent unplugging the cord and moving to a different outlet, finding attachments, and turning the machine on and off and/or adjusting the power). Whenever I use an older model now, I always ask myself "Where is the rest of the cord?" (after pulling it out to its extremity); "Where are the attachments"? "Why is the attachment falling off the end of the wand/hose?" and "Where is the power switch?" (i.e. its NOT on the hose handle, where I think it should be)

4. My house truly does smell better when I use this machine. Its not "as fresh as mountain air" or anything, but the atmosphere is definitely cleaner. The HEPA filter seems to do a good job for a longer time of trapping odors and small particles, even from a fairly full bag, and there is no air leakage anywhere else on the machine that I can find. Some of the older models leak (unfiltered) air through the cord winder opening and underneath the handle, and/or anywhere else there is a hole on the machine).

5. I believe the automatic bag-full shutoff function is preset to "normal" conditions. I wondered at first whether this might lead to the bag "declaring itself full" rather earlier than necessary, but I haven't found this to be the case so far. I've changed VERY full bags several times on this machine.

6. This applies to this machine in particular, because it came with two sets of wands, but I leave one wand set connected to the power nozzle, and another connected to the rug/floor tool, to save a little time, depending on my cleaning task. For example, if I'm only using this machine to do the bare floors and dusting, I don't have to disconnect the power nozzle from the wands.

7. This machine and all of the white and blue ones give me a vague "medical appliance" feeling, and not necessarily in a bad way. Its not only the HEPA filter sitting on top of the machine (which always reminds me of the little "houses" that sit on top of buildings to house the elevator machine room and other building controls), but the neutral white and pale blue wouldn't look out of place in a hospital. Perhaps this was the effect Aerus/Electrolux was going for, who knows...i.e. guarding your home and health from damaging dirt.

8. I have rather a soft spot for this model. It's the very first Aerus, Style R, Guardian, and HEPA filter equipped model in my collection, so it's a 'special fellow'.

The pity of it all is that there were (or perhaps still are) no less than 3 Guardian C154Bs for sale on eBay recently, at relatively decent prices, but the sellers only shipped to the U.S. :(