Vintage 1970s / 1980s Nilfisk GS80 Vacuum Cleaner 

The one I bought brand new in the early 80's was called, "Tellus". I still use one.The Nilfisk name change arrived later. Mine is like a mini, pet 'Dalek'!! EEExterminate!!...(your dirt).

Your GS80 seem to be a quite good condition and it sounds also healthy in the motor. Three things I can add as info to you. 1) The Overtemp Protection Valve on top of the motor is pure mechanical. When overtemp is detected, it will as you explained pop up, but it won't cut the power to the motor. And it won't reset itself after the motor have been cooled down proberly. It need the have quite a firm press to be put into right place again. 2) Nice to see the original hose. However these are made of rubber inside with cloth weaved outside, in the beginning these hoses are almost just as smooth as a crush-proof hose, but due to aging the rubber hardens and the hose will become less agile maybe like yours. In the end of its lifespan, the rubber will break into pieces leaving the hose not airtight anymore. 3) The orientation of the motor unit itself serves two purposes. The one being the engineer who created it, wanted the cold air to first reach to motor to ensure the best cooling possible. The second reason was stability. It was tested, if the motor unit was turned around, the vacuum cleaner as a whole, due to its upright design, could have a tendency to tip over. Nice to see the info folder you got, I wasn't aware of the GTE motors availability to be used on the GS80. They were primarily sold on the larger Industrial two or three motor vacuums.

My mother got a GM80 for next to nothing in an industrial clearance when I was younger and then insisted I take it when I moved out and got a couple of cats. Twenty years of cleaning up hairballs and one minor flood later it is still going strong. Amazing machine!

One of my earliest memories are about this vacuum cleaner, and it's brother GS90. Remember being in kindergarden in 1994/1995, sometimes the teachers let me "use" it, I doubt the 3 year old me had any actual vacuum skills but, pressing that blue button and hear that sound and that warm smell from the exhaust, that's some memories.

I have had GS80 since before 1980 the original motor was 850W but i have swapped it out to a 12w motor. I am fortunate that the company i worked at used only Nilfisk cleaners but were to tight to buy the anti pull out plug lead adaptor. Hence after a while the power socket would burn out. They just threw the whole unit in the bin. My spare parts supply.

Thank you for another excellent video.l loved the constellation / Miele hybrid the other day. You are brilliant

Very nice!! Always have liked these old nilfisk machines. I once did have a ga70, which was ok but was in rather poor condition sadly so i sold it on. I do however have a newer gs90 on its way to me as of monday so i cant wait to see what thats like!

Nilfisks seem to have been particularly common over here in NI. GS90s were probably close in terms of popularity in the 80s to that of Henry’s now. That popularity followed through to the King series in the late 90s into the mid 2000s. Some of my absolute favourite machines!

That was a great vaccum. With powerhead is my favourite.

That did a pretty good job. I have always wanted one of these but just never have done it. Thanks for a great video mate.

I have one of the rotor heads which i bought from the Nilfisk factory shop in Bury St Edmunds (Not there anymore) The other head you have is a pattern one not original.

This were excellent cleaners (if not the best) at that time. This cleaner is still available with minor changes as GM 80 or GM 80 P

This strange looking floor tool (in broshure) introduced with first generation Nilfisk GS90 but it get broken very easily so it replaced new one (like 1980's Numatic Henry)

The leaflet in great condition

I remember a neighbor having a nifisk the switch was foot operated this was about 60 years ago

R2D2's Brother!

You can still buy these brand new I believe. I’m thinking about getting a second hand one to use as a work vac. Have you had any experience with the nilfisk king/gm200 models?

The shape reminds me of a Beer 🍺 Barrel

These machines were built in a time when Built in Obsolescence was not really in effect in the vacuum cleaner industry, they were simply too well built to produce reliable profits for Nilfisk and as such had to be killed off so that machines which do break down and are not repairable cheaply could be sold. The modern versions with the Ametek motors are not really anything like these GMD motors. They are more powerful in terms of wattage but are not repairable, the motors are just pull out and throw away. It is a shame and with the tide slowly turning to repairable and replaceable parts once again I have hopes that these machines or a modern variant may return. I have a red anodised GS80 myself with the 1000w GMD motor and I cherish it.

I have a GM90 that wont turn on, its 30 years old and has worked perfectly until last month ant ideas what might be the problem, i.e. brushes, solenoid or maybe even motor, please help

Hi mate. I have the same one but I am struggling to find exact motor carbon brushes. Do you know where to get new ones?

Me gustaría saber cómo cambiar o limpiar la Pere superior el filtro de la aspiradora el que está arriba tengo esta reliquia que me la regalaron pero me gustaría darle el mantenimiento que no le an dado en años