Hoover Dustette 100 - Made in Canada - Stripdown & Refurb

[beko1987]

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Hi!
I'm actually writing this because a non vacuum friend I know has just bought one of these, and fancies doing it up! Couldn't really think of a better way to explain it so, meh, may as well write the thread out and only have to do it once 

Des - Grab a cuppa, and pay attention!
(this is Charlie sat in Des's car...

And no more invacar talk, time to get to work!)

This was one of those projects that someone else bought on ebay and put my address in when they paid. I'd had it about 5 months before I even unboxed it, sorry David!)







Looking pretty much just like an old crappy Hoover Dustette. But then I posted on a facebook group and apparently it was made in Canada, before UK production. And was quite early, because of the switch (this is before the slider switch we know and love today, the same as on a Hooverette etc)





Wasn't fully mint though



And it's seen some official Hoover love in the VERY dim and distant past



That cable hurts my soul as well

[beko1987]

The bag comes off and goes in the wash (hand-wash only though!)



Not 100% sure if it is original TBH but it suits the machine really well so i wasn't risking it! Then we can take the top plate off



Undo the wires to the switch (Live goes to the switch, it's a switched live machine)



Then the switch unscrews from the top plate and the maybe_asbestos insulation card falls off too



Old



I did nod at the effectiveness of the tape, it did its job



The front bolt can be undone now, the handle pivots a bit and with the 2 other front screws removed the suction nozzle comes off





Gingerly, the nozzle plate pops out too

[beko1987]

The cord guide pulls out of the back of the handle (pulls/pushes 'into' the handle, bit of WD will help it!)



And here is why we are ultra extra careful with vintage vacuums



With the cord rubber out of the way we can get to the back handle bolt now



Which also releases the motor from the shell. Make sure to recover the 3 rubber (their rubber, not plastic) bungs



The carbons can come out now. Ooooh, short



Hoover - Who Better?



Remove the 3 shallow screws from the edge of the motor housing and pull the housing off the front



Then you can hold the armature in your hand (you get utterly filthy lol) and get a good sized socket on the nut. (You could at this point get some sprayable 3-in-1 oil and clean as best you can without removing the nut, then lubricate. It's a bronze busing anyway so just being clean and lubricated will be enough)

But that doesn't satisfy my desire to take things apart to as far as their component form as I can! So



Some packing washers too, observe their orientation but the service manual shows it fairly well

[beko1987]

The coil lifts out next (more black)



You can then dig the tiny grub screws out of the carbon dust and the brush holders and maybe_asbestos surrounds push out of the housing



With everything stripped, it was time to start cleaning. What happened first was I used a can of brake cleaner and a little rubbish brush to clean the coil and stain a paving slab black for several months as it dripped through my patio table (a metal mesh table is so handy!)



Motor housing too



The outer shell got stripped on the wire wheel



As did the top plate



Then primed, sanded, painted and sanded



And clear coated! Next was the excellent wiring. Found a pre existing join in both wires which was telling (or just how they were made, don't actually know lol)



Then using some new cable made up of stripping the white flex the machine came with down, extended the coil wires, heatshrunk and re-fitted the OEM mega safe m8 insulating shielding. Left the wires long for ease of re-assembly, you've got to thread it all through the handle etc, way easier when their long)

[beko1987]

With everything made safe, painted, cleaned, polished and ready for re-assembly



We can see into the bottom of the motor housing now, how exciting!



Assemble the carbon brush holders





Then fit the coil, and fit the wire spring clips over the carbon brush holders. The wires to these were Ok on this one, if not then you can thread heatshrink over the wire ends and make it safe, but you can also fit it so the wires never touch anything else, once it's screwed back together it wont move



Nice drop of oil over the armature and into the front bearing it goes



Fan on



Then back into the motor housing



The motor housing can be re-fitted with it's now rubbery bungs and slid into the outer shell. Then the wires threaded up through the handle

[beko1987]

The front nozzle has to go on next, then the handle can be fully fitted. I polished the front with a dremel and about 17 little polishing wheels and autosol



Brushbar back on



Polished grille back in



Time for wiring now and the neutrals just join together using this dead post. I added a small washer just to keep it all nice and tidy



Slap a cord back on and wire the lives to the switch



And fit the switch to the plate then the plate to the cleaner!
The bag sort of came up OK... Wasn't crunchy now at least



And once fitted puffed up nicely



Front would look mega good if you could sand and properly buff it, or chrome plate...



Some might say I've ruined it's antique-ness by basically replacing 97% of it's wiring with modern, even a (used) new black flex. But as it's something you hold in your hand and made of metal, I say it's a compromise you have to make. Bonus 1980's non insulated pins plug!

Hope this helps!