Battle of the Eureka Brush Rolls: Disturbulator, VG-I, VG-II, VG-III

[kirbyclassiciii]

Which of the four Eureka brush rolls from the '70s-early '90s do you think is the best performer on average?

Disturbulator, single-row
Vibra-Groomer I, double-row
Vibra-Groomer II, double-row
Vibra-Groomer III, double-row

All of the top-dollar Sanitaire uprights (from the 1986 Sanitaire brochure I've uploaded recently) use the VG-I brush roll rather than the VG-II.

But, would I think that many of the Roto-Matic Power Team nozzles that Eureka had made for its high-end competition like Fairfax, Rexair (Rainbow) and Interstate Engineering (TriStar and Compact) used the Disturbulator single-row brush roll only and not the VG-I brush roll? Furthermore, I would assume all of these non-Eureka-branded RMPT nozzles to have ended production after 1980-84.

~Ben

 

[kenkart]

DISTURBULATOR!

Absolutely NO CONTEST, VG1 would be second!..The Disturbulator actually has more than one row of bristles, it has one row of short very stiff bristles and a second row of softer bristles, I think it was done away with in the early to mid 60s on the 260 cleaner.

 

[kenkart]

OOPS..

I now see the 70s date, read that one too fast!! The VG1 in those years...but the old Disturbulator will beat it I think!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

@kenkart

The Disturbulator would actually have dated from around the '50s, but the reason that I started from the '70s was because of the RMPT power nozzle appearing in 1972, that Rainbow also used (their model #R-1024) between 1974-80.

~Ben

 

[normvac]

Have o Agree, KenKart !

I had a good Commerical business in my Vac Shop in the 80's. Saw a lot of worn out VG II's that needed to be completely replaced. VG I's that got beat up on hitting thresholds and uneven hard suffaces.
I really liked the way the Distrubulators cleaned. Plus the hum of them doing the job of grooming and cleaning the carpet. They all had the old square ends on them and Clipped into the base. The negitive there was the Clips would get broken. But could be replaced.
Norm

 

[dualsanitronic]

Beats! Shakes! Sweeps! Combs! Suction Cleans!

The original Disturbulator with 3 rows of brushes was unbeatable in cleaning with the one and only exception being the early 50s Apex upright slightly outcleaning it. In the 6os, the Disturbulator became a traditional beater bar brush with plastic red beater bars and a row of nylon brushes 180 degrees opposite each beater. This was not as good, yet still effective. The VG I debuted in the late 60s and was a bit more effective than the beater-bar Disturbulator.Later, the VG II appeared,and was not as good as the VG I,who's flattened shape allowed better airflow. The VG III debued,and was better than I or II.So the 1st Disturbulater was the best, then the VG III, then the VG I,after that, the VG II,and lastly, the beter bar Disturbulator. If you slide out the beater bars from the VG I and put an extra row of brushes to replace it, then the VG I jumps to 2nd place.

 

[twocvbloke]

Aren't VGIII brushrolls 4-row? mine that I fitted in my Rotomatic PN certainly is... :&#92

Personally I'd say that the Generic 4-row VGII in my Tristar PN is tops, being kitted out as though it were a VGIII, with VGIII strips with the bristle stiffeners, not recommended for use in uprights as it'll eat belts. I've yet to try my actual-VGIII properly, the one I almost blinded myself in one eye while fitting it into my Rotomatic PN, but I'm positive it'll be a superb brusroll...

And for the proper 2-row VGII, it's a pretty good brushroll, even better with, yep, you guessed it, VGIII strips fitted, does what hoover always said they could do, but better...

 

[trebor]

Performance loss...

Any bristle wears with use. The purpose of the beater bar is to preserve the life of the bristles. A Hoover with the old fashioned beater bar, or a VGI will maintain its performance, more of a straight line on a graph rather than a downhill slide.

 

[baglessball]

Does anybody hve pictures of all these brush rolls?

I have no idea what they look like and I'm really interested to see..

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

I wonder what the Eureka equivalent part numbers for the non-Eureka-specific Disturbulator and Vibra-Groomer II brush rolls would be?

RAINBOW
(model R-1024 PN)
R-1368 "Disturbulator"
R-1781 "Disturbulator"

INTERSTATE ENGINEERING (COMPACT, TRI-STAR)
(model 2-51, 2-54, 2-101 and 2-102 PNs)
C-1037
CO-1120ES

If I am missing any part numbers, please follow up on this, thank you.

~Ben

 

[hoover719]

Which brushroll is most commonly mated to a blender motor upright?

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Re: Which Brushroll Is Commonly Mated

@hoover719
Usually, for the low-buck models it would be the maple-wood Disturbulator, while step-up models would have the Vibra-Groomer II.

~Ben

 

[powermate1970]

re....which brushroll

not always a VG. I have a beautiful 1974 eureka "vanguard" cordaway, original "squaretop" bag, and original "rugulator" brushroll. This machine was TOL for eureka uprights in 74, and, I believe the vibragroomer came along in 72, I think. At least the VG1 did.

 

[venson]

Patents . . .

Am I right in assuming the Disturbulator was Eureka's way of emulating Hoover's very popular beater-bar without patent infringement?

 

[1926700]

actually.....

the vibra gorrmer I came out in 1969. and i was on the vangurd....

but here some back story on brush rolld period. in the very earley days of Hoovers rain, i dont know exactley when this begun....but i know that until 1926, Hoover held the atuall brush roll patent.....as in a revolving brush its self......thats why any other upright was suction only. until 1926 Hoover then held the patent for the beater bar only...so other machines could finally have brush rolls, but they could only have brushed and not beater bars....but Eureka did push the envolope with the TOL distribulater, wich had one row of stiff stubby close brush tuffs, and a row of sweeping mid soft brushes on each sind of the brush roll, the stiff stubby acting as a beater bar, and the regualr bruses for sweeping....then when Hoovers beater bar patent finally ran out in 1969, the beater bar was then of corase fair game.....and then eureka created the VGI (in uprights only at that time), and then the disribulater was redesinged with one row of brushes and red plastic beater bars.....and that was used for the frst power teams in 1973, but then in 1975 or 1976 the powerteams the actually had Vibragroomer I brush rools finally after the upright having them for 7 years almost....