Hoover Steam Vac hose question....

[vacuumfreeeke]

Hey guys..... I got new furniture today (feels so good after years of using ghetto hand me downs... and a guy is coming over later to make and put up a shelf for me to keep some of my uprights on and under.... such a great day!)... and when I moved the old stuff to take it to the dumpster, I noticed a brown spot on the rug.... I'd spilled a glass of tea a few months ago and didn't realize it went under the furniture.... so I got my steam vac out and it did a fine job on the carpet. Then I thought I'd use the hose to "steam clean" the bag of my blue Eureka ESP Self-propelled since it was "marked" by a cat I tried to adopt years ago and I'd never gotten around to cleaning it. This is when I realized there was a problem. The hose will not spray at all! Now, this is probably my fault.... A few weeks ago, I shampooed for relatives that had a lot of dogs and really nasty carpet (they both their own steam vac that night at my insistence so I don't have to mess mine up again... a few nights ago I went over and assembled it for them and showed them how to use it... I'm glad they got it now, it seems like Hoover is discontinuing the old tried and true Hoover Steam vac that we all know and love, which is really sad). Anyway, I was lazy and tired and busy and did not take the steam vac out of my trunk until today, so it sat in there for all these weeks after having used it in such a nasty environment....

I cleaned it up today and got all the muck and dog hair off the bottom and tired to get rid of the smell in the tank and all that good stuff, but the hose just will not spray. Water trickles out when I first turn it on, but then it stops and nothing else happens. This perplexes me because the floor part sprays just fine and I thought they were on the same pump. Or is the floor part just gravity feed? I use the attachments pretty regularly so this is something I will need to get fixed or I'm afraid I'll be looking for a new steam cleaner or at least hose assembly. I have the hose soaking in a sink of hot dishwater right now just to loosen up any thing that might be stuck in the solution hose, but if the problem is the pump, that's not going to help. Is there a way I can test to see where the problem is?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

 

[suckolux]

Yikes, I have had the valve on the hand unit stick open! I always drain and rinse all that hardware before I put it away, and never leave the clean water tank on to relieve the pressure on the 2 valves on the bottom. Might pull the valve out and rinse it out good, have had to stretch that spring a couple times when it wants to stick open. Good luck. Great machine!

 

[Webmaster]

Hoover Steam Vacs have always had issues with that hose sprayer being finicky... it could just be the white spray tip. You can disassemble the handle and try taking a paperclip to it, clean any gunk out that might be clogging it. Just be careful taking it apart and re-assembling it... those tiny pieces can fly everywhere if you're not careful. And there's a spring.

You may have to apply some vaseline around the O-rings, too, to prevent it from leaking.

If that doesn't solve it, it could be the pump. If something was used that left a residue, that may have gummed the pump up. Those pumps are relatively inexpensive (certainly less than a new machine) and pretty easy to replace.

You are correct, the hose is pump-fed, and the brushes are gravity-fed.

Let me know if you have any questions.. Although it's been a few years since I've worked on one, I should be able to help you through it.

Fred

 

[suckolux]

All these years Fred, I had no idea the brushes were gravity feed! Have had 4 units, and almost twins now, bought spare before they changed too much. Love em.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

The very very first ones without the revolving brushes (these are still on the market as the super cheap models) used a pump... and then the ones that have the rotating brushes that were still the first generation of design are gravity feed -- that's why water runs out of them if you squeeze the trigger when it's not running. When they launched the V2/Dual-V models, those now have pumps in them.. I'm not familiar with any of the newest designs.

 

[suckolux]

Wow, had 1 straight suction when they came out, then upgraded to the spin brush, and now have 2 dual Vs, all makes sense.My latest does use a lot more soap per clean than the 3 year old one though, strange. PS, Love that pic of yours there!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Thanks guys.... I appreciate that. Fred, thanks for your offer to help me through the process if I need it.... I would have no clue how to put in a pump. I will investigate those other things first though... I did see the screws in the hand grip and was tempted to open it, but I don't do well with things with springs and small parts.... I completely annihilated a Rainbow Aquamate hand grip several years ago trying to find the leak at the trigger, and it would not go back together for anything.

I had another thought.... if I can't fix this easily, I may look for a Bissell Spot Bot instead.... I've been curious about them anyway and it would probably be easier and cheaper than buying a whole new steam vac.... then I could just have the Hoover as an upright for carpet and a Bissell "canister" for everything else. I've never liked having to "hook" the stupid hose up anyway on the steam vac, and much prefer the older ones with the clear, permanently attached hoses. Of course I'd rather just have the machine work how it should and not have to buy something else.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it. It'll be a little while before I can play with it.... it's in my kitchen which is filled with vacuums right now in anticipation of the "shelf guy" coming.... he's running late!

 

[kirbylux77]

Fred, you're wrong about the BOL Hoover Steamvacs....

ALL of the original Hoover Steamvacs- Including the BOL models- were gravity-feed at the floor nozzle. I know this as I have a Hoover Steamvac F5914 back from 1994, BOL model without the hose, and it is gravity-feed at the nozzle.

Rob

 

[hoovercelebrity]

You're right...

Yep... I am incorrect... but the model F5914 is a more of a recent model number, with rotating brushes, not one of the first.

The first three SteamVacs were Models F5805 (coral color), F5815 (blue), F5825 (sand color). They did debut in 1994... Yes, they were gravity feed -- for taking the water to the floor, for carpet cleaning. I was recalling the model I was given by Hoover when I appeared on the Jon Stewart show -- it was a model F5825, and I got the tools with it... mine had a pump on it, but it was to pump the water through the hose for attachment use, not the floor (the blue had this, too--the coral one did not). That's what I think I meant to say, but didn't complete the thought. Any time there's a hose or attachments, there was a pump.

~Fred

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

hey

Fred, I took the hand grip apart and now I'm in trouble.... could I call you sometime to ask you what you think? I think it would be easier than explaining here! I'm pretty sure the pump is OK.