My name is Human and I'm a vacu-holic...
I just couldn't help myself, but now it's mine. I didn't realize it when I looked it earlier, but the machine is actually a three-speed Quik Broom Supreme model S-2155 with a four-amp motor, definitely a step or two up from the one I got in the mid-'80s and got rid of in the late '90s. The cord is perfect and when I plugged it in at the store, turned it on and the motor ran smoothly through all three speeds. I initially thought it was a pukey olive green but when I got it out in the daylight and away from the store's weird lighting it's actually a nice hunter green.
But what a strange design with a permanent cloth bag above a hard plastic dirt cup. I still don't like dirt cups and I have to confess that I was a bad citizen as I was leaving the store. The dirt cup was about a quarter full, so I dumped it out under the store's shrubs before I put the thing in the back of the car. Of course, fate had the last laugh when I got the thing home. I tried it out in the hallway and there was zero suction; it just pushed the dirt around. I ended up taking the entire nozzle foot apart and pulled out easily five times as much crud as had been in the dirt cup. Whoever had owned it previously must have never, ever cleaned it. Don't get me started...just don't...
De-crudding the machine was a nasty job but that turned out to be the easy part. Getting it back together was the real challenge. It took several tries to get the rear wheels, the red rocker that extends and retracts the bristles, the little plastic bar that connects the red rocker to the bristle bar, add the little tiny rollers on the front to all line correctly at the same time so I could snap it back together and put in the screws. It reminded me of what I hate most about plastivacs and why I now have a deep appreciation for my metal monsters. At least this one is old enough that even though it's made of plastic it's not made in China. The tag on the back says it was assembled in Mexico from U.S. made components. I guess that dates it to maybe the early-to-mid-'90s, before NAFTA sent everything to China.
I'm still trying to decide whether it was worth $20, but I've got 10 days to make up my mind. One thing's for sure. If I return it for a store credit, I'll definitely be taking it back in better shape than how I found it.
