Vodhin's Friendly Vacuum Cleaner Accessories

As you can see, the Power Nozzle has gone through some dramatic changes over the years (Yes, I know my PN6 is a bit dirty in this photo - I did clean it up for the other shots)

While I don't own a PN5, I have been lead to believe that it is nearly identical to the PN6, which I do own and can be seen here in this section.

The new nozzle, now made entirely from lightweight plastics, has a longer brush roll and, subsequently, a wider cleaning path.

The plastic housing, while having its own, somewhat ascetically pleasing shape, lacks any noise dampening features. While this nozzle really grabs the floor and digs deep down for cleaning, it can dig deep into your ears.

There are several major design changes to the PN5/6 nozzles, most notably the new "L" shape. The new shape allows for easy cleaning around table and chair legs, and affords a smaller footprint when storing. Since the newer vacuum design can be stored standing on end, the nozzle kind of tucks in next to it rather nicely.

Hidden in this new design is a new, faster motor and spring loaded rear wheels. As mentioned above, the setback wheels help to lift the front of the nozzle off the floor on a forward stroke, and this spring loaded version amplifies this effect.

To the designer's credit, I must say that an added stationary brush strip, behind the brush roll, does a great job on both bare floors, and helps in the forward stroke on carpets. This brush strip helps to make nice swaths in the nap of the carpet, even if you vacuum across or opposite the nap.

Opening this design we see that the nozzle housing is now completely plastic and is made with just two pieces instead of three or more as previous nozzles had been made.

A major change to this design besides the overall shape and size is the addition of a combination circuit breaker and on/off switch. next to the elbow.

Electrolux still uses the geared belt to drive the brush roll, which has again reverted to the earlier two rows of bristles. The design makes up for the fewer bristles with a faster rotation of the brush.

This new design is more aggressive and also much louder than previous designs, probably due to inferior sound absorbing qualities of the all plastic housing.

Newer Electrolux models finally include a head lamp while keeping the overall shape of the PN5. The head lamp is also a matter of some debate as to whether or not this extra feature actually helps in your regular cleaning.

I believe it was the Hoover Company that first added a head lamp to it's upright vacuum cleaner in the late 1920's or early 1930's, claiming that it helped you see the dirt. Since the Hoover had a beater bar on it's brush roll that vibrated the carpet as you vacuumed, this makes since: you could see the dirt bouncing on top of the nap.

But Hoover has been the only company to include the beater bar up until recently - Hoover and other manufacturers have added a brush stiffener to some designs that produces a similar effect. Kirby vacuums also vibrated across the carpets with another interesting design- their brush strips are off centered on the brush roll, causing the entire nozzle to gently tap the carpet.

As far as I know, Electrolux has never had a beater on any of their brush rolls, and should hardly vibrate at all since their bristles are not off balance. So here the idea of the headlamp seems more of a novelty than a useful improvement- unless you consider that it does help you see that lost shoelace hiding under the sofa.