Dean Hoffman wrote:
I've gotten in the habit of checking Ebay for odds and ends:
http://tinyurl.com/3mn5kbu


Yeah, I've been doing that. CL too. That's where I came across a guy not
too far away with two canister types and two uprights like mine for sale...
$100 total. I gave him $25 for an upright with a siezed pump hoping I
could repair it but it was too far gone. It's going to the curb for next
garbage pickup minus everything useful I could possibly remove from it.
Maybe I should have investigated the canister types further but they are
outside my experience so I have no idea what kind of pump they have. The
pump on the other upright he had didn't even hum when power was fed
directly too it so likely siezed and allowed to burn out.

I'm starting to guess that the pump is probably the main point of terminal
failure on these. Seal starts to break down and the bearing(s) sieze. In
retrospect it was taking a big chance when I bought the one I have at a
flea market in the early nineties without testing it. It's lasted although
it doesn't get used heavily and there was probably a period of time when it
didn't get used at all.