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Recharging Ni-MH batteries

Charging Ni-Mh batteries properly needs more sophisticated electronics than just running voltage across the batteries. Somewhere there needs the be a controller. Either the controller is in the wall wart or the vacuum. Either way what you are measuring and what you get may be two different things.
One other note about Ni-MH batteries they are supposed to be charge alone not in series. The batteries for my RC plane have two plugs. One wired in series for the output and one with wiring to each battery for charging. Internally that may be how your vacuum is wired.
 
Wow - that's quite a contraption. Do you have any photos of the front, or any instructions or history? Interesting photo of the "petite young lady" doing her own refill.

Tom M.
That was, I believe, a fairly standard charging station sold by GE around 1914-1916. There are similar units in the Nethercutt (Los Angeles) and Ford (Detroit) museums. Sorry I don't have any photos, my photos from the Nethercutt got lost and I forgot to take a camera when we went to the Ford museum in Detroit. However, here's a couple of links that might be interesting:
https://ctgpublishing.com/electric-car-charging-station-general-electric-images-ad-1914-1916/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2G9Frxyi4
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mercuryarcrectifier.jpg
 
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