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.

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.

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.