Anyone know anything about this "rare vintage" HPPOS?

electrolux~137 · Aug 15, 2011

(HPPOS - Hideous Plastic Piece Of S#!t!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350485121759

henry200 · Aug 15, 2011

Isn't that made by the same company that makes the "pig" commercial vacuums? I seem to recall seeing one in a shop once that sells a lot of commercial type vacs.

piano_god · Aug 15, 2011

Yes, that's an NSS...

This particular vacuum was made in Italy by Tecnica, but labeled for NSS. While NSS now uses Karcher for their uprights, the design of the Tecnica product has evolved into even more of a Lindhaus look-a-like, as the following link shows.

http://en.tecnica-international.clikka.com/prodotti/linea_professionale/xt

red_october · Aug 15, 2011

I dunno, that thing has a certain Sci-Fi appeal, but it's ruined by that label and name. The graphic on it looks like a man going legs-first up a horse's ass. (Yes I know that it's supposed to be a racing carriage but you can't un-see it once you've seen it.) I wonder, is this a commercial thing, or was it some sort of high-end consumer vac from the 80s? I can see something like this being sold in a SkyMall catalogue or perhaps Hammacher-Schlemmer.

I've never used one of these twin-motor designs; how well do they work? What company made the first such cleaner?

electrolux~137 · Aug 16, 2011

The first company to make a twin-motor upright was Air-Way — in 1936 with the Air-Way Scout, and then a second model in 1940, the Chief.* 

Both of these Air-Ways have two motors — one for suction power and the other to drive the revolving brush. Unfortunately, neither machine was made for very long — not because they were not good vacuum cleaners, which they were, but because their motor-driven brush infringed on the Hoover’s patented beater-bar system and Hoover sued them.

The Air-Way uprights really are clever vacuum cleaners. They are easily converted for above-the-floor dusting by inserting a flexible cloth hose into the long handle which is hollow; then you simply turn the large dial in front to direct the suction up through the handle-tube and to the hose. They were also the FIRST vacuum cleaner to utilize disposable bags, made of cellulose fibers.

The photos below are of the 1936 Scout. The Chief is nearly identical except that the "power nozzle" housing is a bit more streamlined. These are not my photos; and I don't remember now whose they are. I've had them on my hard drive forever.

-------

*Between the Scout and the Chief came the gorgeous streamlined machine, the DirtMaster, among the rarest of all vacuum cleaners.

tolivac · Aug 16, 2011

That NSS upright is indeed homely-when you consider other NSS products are more professional looking.the neck on these machines that goes to the powernozzle were very vulnerable to breakage becuase of the weight of the upper part of the vacuum esp as the bag fills-more weight on the neck.And to think NSS always promotes the "pig" or "Designer" dry model vacuums over uprights.the power nozzle on that upright looks very simialr to the powernozzle offered by NSS for the "Pig" and "Designer Dry" canister vacuums.and of course NSS has the largest selection of suction only carpet nozzles.

air-waycharlie · Aug 16, 2011

To add to CRL post:

The DirtMaster used beater bars as well but only had 1 motor with twin fans. The hose for above floor cleaning, could be added via a tube that is near the motor. You slip the hose on in the same fashion as the twin motor models.

The twin fans, (two different types of belts are used), provide quite a bit of suction but the vacuum is more awkward to use than the twin motored models.

I have all 3 mentioned and I have posted pics of them in the past. They probably can be found using the search archives feature.

Charlie

red_october · Aug 16, 2011

Welp. I guess there really is nothing new under the sun. I do remember having a good laugh at Dyson and their horrendously gimmicky "Ball" -somebody came up with that thing to do what the pair of swivel casters on the back of my ancient Eureka does just fine. The all-metal Eureka seems to weight a pound or two less than the positively baroque Dyson, as well. The Air-Way also had the "Run the suction through the handle" thing going on long before anyone else thought of it, too, although I bet that fat handle makes it somewhat uncomfortable to use. Still seems head and shoulders above what anyone else had going on at the time, which more or less amounted to "Attachments? What Attachments" at worst or "Take off a plate and remove the belt and attach a coupler and so on and so forth" at best.

I imagine that those Air-Ways must have outperformed their competition at the time given the relatively weak motors available at the time. I wonder, though, how did anyone else have a rotating brush roll in those days, if Hoover had a patent on it? I'm pretty sure that other uprights at the time had one, did they all pay Hoover for it?

Perhaps to put a more finer point on my question, who made the first relatively modern twin-motor upright in the form-factor we see above? I mainly see them in commercial service, which makes sense given the fact that the twin-motor design seems to be good for performance and that the working part is replaceable as a unit.

electrolux~137 · Aug 16, 2011

It wasn't the revolving brush roll itself that Hoover had patents on; it was the metal agitator bars ON the brush roll. That was, at the time, a unique Hoover feature. Nowadays, of course, many makes have these with the Sanitaire being the most blatant copy of the original Hoover design.

goadie12 · Aug 16, 2011

ya thats what i thought when i saw it a commercial vacuum.Zach

Anyone know anything about this "rare vintage" HPPOS?

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