Finally got a Celebrity!

[justjunque]

Hey all,

I haven't posted for a while. I check in once in a while, but health and other issues have been kind of keeping me down lately. But, let's focus on the positive.

Even though I'm not buying any more vacuums, I do still like to check Craigslist for what's out there.
About a half an hour's drive from home, someone posted a Hoover Celebrity. I've wanted one for a long time. And, for the price, I couldn't pass it up.
It has a few problems, but it's a little charmer!
I don't know if it works this way, but; if I post the model and serial numbers, can someone tell when it was made?
I posted it in '80s/'90s vacuums, because I suspect it's probably early '80s. But, I honestly don't know.
It's a Celebrity IV Custom, beige top half, brown bottom half.
It has a tool caddy on top, with all the tools, and a Powermatic power nozzle with no headlight.
It's a model S3137. Serial number is 00033211.
It was very dirty when I got it. It will be a multi-day cleaning project. Then, I'll try to post some pictures.
Fortunately, no weird or offensive smells. Just lots of dirt and grime!
The motor sounds great! I haven't tested the power nozzle yet, but I opened it up and cleaned it inside and out.
I'm sure I'm going to have several questions as I go along, but I'll stop now, so this post doesn't get any longer.

Thanks in advance, everyone!
Barry

 

[fan-of-fans]

Good to hear from you! Nice find!

In general, Hoover Celebrities all pre-date the time that Hoover started encoding the date into the serial numbers, which was 1987 so can't be dated that way.

You may find a date stamped on the power nozzle motor. I did a quick search for that model and I believe it's late 70s/early 80s era.

There are some brochures with that models in the thread linked below:
https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?21515

 

[justjunque]

Hey, Cole!

Thank you for that!
In post #240815 in the thread that you linked, that's my exact machine...the 3137!
I'll have to open up the power nozzle again and look for a date stamp.
Despite having a few small dents and battle scars, I think mine was a once well cared for, one-owner machine. Just based on its completeness, down to the original owner's manual; in which the original owner dutifully recorded the model and serial numbers.

Barry

 

[suckolux]

Sounds like you found a treasure excellent!

 

[justjunque]

I opened up the power nozzle again.
The motor does have a stamp on it, but it's kind of smudged. Like it was made that way.
The last part looks like an "80" though.
One thing that I noticed; most of the power nozzle motors I've seen are black. This one is white. Or, a light beige or light grey. I'd say white.

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Oh. And here's the first of what will probably be several questions about Celebrities.
I read in a comment thread somewhere that a foam sleeve filter from a wet/dry vac can be cut down to make three pre-motor filters for the Celebrity.
Has anyone done this?
If so, can you recommend a particular filter to use?
It seems like the wet/dry vac filter would be too big to fit snugly around the Celebrity motor.

Barry

 

[fan-of-fans]

filter

That was probably me. LOL

I bought a foam wet dry vac sleeve filter at Walmart, whichever brand they sell (other brands probably work too). And found I could get exactly 3 filters by cutting across it into 3 equal rings.

It does fit a little loosely. So what I did, was get the white allergen filter material at Home Depot that you cut to put in your floor heat/ac vents. I cut a piece into two strips, and layered that under the foam filter. So you get allergen filtration, and it fits more snugly.

Some people take that vent filter material, and layer a cut up HEPA bag under it. But I didn't have any HEPA bags I wanted to cut up.

I'll try to find a picture of what I did.

1980 sounds about right to me. I noticed on mine the date was hard to read too, mine both seemed to be 1983. I haven't noticed a date on any of the vacuum motors itself.

 

[justjunque]

Update time

Well, the cleaning process continues. I'm far from a pro. Stuff takes me forever, and I'm never sure if I'm using the best product for the job.
That being said; yesterday, it was time to address the very grimy hose. I believe this is the "Tufflex" hose.
Once the layer of grime was removed, I could see the previously unnoticed hairline cracks in much of the hose.
Since I'm still nowhere near ready to fire the thing up, I'll pose the question.
Is the hose junk? Will these cracks cause loss of suction like an old cloth hose on an Electrolux or something?
If this hose is no good; what options are out there? Does someone offer a replacement that, while not correct in appearance, would work?
I think I'm starting to understand why I was able to "score" this vacuum for free.

Barry

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Barry..............

Tuflex was one of the best hoses ever made.  Tiny cracks shouldn't hurt performance.


  Oh,  and, I got your email.  Thanks.