A3260 Manual plea (!)

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Hope that the above pages prove useful to you Mark.

Be great if you could keep us updated with how the rebuild goes.
Happy tinkering!
Paul
 
That is absolutely fantastic, Paul. Thank you very much. I have saved all the images.

I am now ready to rebuild having bought new main bearings, motor brushes, tub gasket and metallic putty to repair the pitting on the tub backplate. I also got my dad to make some new castors on his lathe from nylon bar and some industry-standard o-rings. I'll post pictures over the weekend to explain.

I note that yours is/was even older (Jan 1984) than mine (Sep 1984)

Mark.
 
Mark

I'd suggest that Programmes 'E' and 'F' are going to be the most used.

 

Given this machine does 5 high level rinses with an interim spin after 3 followed by 2 more and then the final spin....and most modern machines only do 3 rinses with interim spins inbetween each and all with low water levels.....

 

...consider engaging the half load button and see if you're happy with the results...especially if you are on a water meter. The machine will still do 5 rinses, but they will be at a lower level.

 

Also, ignore the detergent dosing in the instruction book and follow the guide on whichever box you have in the cupboard....the last thing you need is to put a cup of detergent in that should have had 100ml....

 

 

 

 
 
Hi Mark.

Hope they will be of use to you.

I have also photographed the official servicing instructions, diagrams and charts for you, to add to your portfolio of A3260 information - see below.

Re the instruction manual - unfortunately I doubt that the A3260 it arrived inside of, probably purchased in the January sales in 1984, still survives.
I think I bought the manual off ebay earlier this year.

Here is to your machine having a still longer life.
Paul
p.s backplate pitting - my dad replaced the backplate on a my folks' Hoover 3236H Automatic De Luxe (of early 1970s vintage).
It was part of its final service, with the machine subjected to a total strip down, back around 1984. The machines innards were carefully laid out on the garage floor, with an empty cabinet left sitting in the kitchen.
Though the machine was replaced in 1986 (kitchen refurbishment), it wasn't scrapped, but was given to an Aunt of mine and saw service there before finally giving up around 1990.

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WORDS OF WARNING

The achillies heel of Hoover Electrons were the powder drawer push and door release buttons.

Re the powder drawer push button - a bit of a pointless feature, with a tendency to not work very well anyway, especially when combined with escaped washing powder grains, grease and build up of dust.
Keep this mechanism clean, for it to work satisfactorily.

Re the door release button - over years, the plastic tends to get brittle and rough button pressing will quickly see cracks develop.
One day you will come to the machine, push the door release button, hear two cracking noises and see the door release button enter the fascia without opening the door.
The various bits of door release related plastics, which are either moulded parts of the fascia or parts of the actual mechanism, will have snapped and render the door release button inoperable.
The only way in, from that point onwards, is to use a end of a teaspoon handle and slide it between the door and cabinet and manually push the door latch inside the machine to open the door.

Basically, only ever apply enough force to the door release button to open the door and apply it gently.
Shoving the button in, till it hits the stops at the back of the fascia will see them crack one day.

Apart from these weaknesses, the Hoover Electron ranges are very solid machines...

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