Holiday Gifts I've gotten for myself!

[durango159]

During my holiday break from classes I took a trip to upstate New York to meet up with vacuum collectors and shop owners whom I've met thanks to John Long's Mini Meets.

I haven't added anything to my collection in over a year! So with new life decisions and turning new chapters in my life, I decided it was time to do something to reward some good life decisions I've made lately.

Prior to pictures of the newbies, I'll first inform you that I've said Fair well to one of my Hoover Dimension 1000 canister vacuums, as I had 2, and also Fair well to my Rainbow E2. I was debating selling both of them but now they are proudly owned by fellow collectors in trade for much of what I got below.

Good bye Hoover Dimension 1000! Enjoy your new home with Chris!

Good bye Rainbow! Enjoy your new home with Greg!

 

[durango159]

Canister vacuums!!

So in total I have 8.5 new vacuum cleaner members to my household!! The .5 is a spare power nozzle for a Eureka. To me that's worth credit of half a vacuum. Plus I got a few attachments!


From Left:
Red Simplicity Verve
Purple Simplicity Snap
Navy Blue Eureka Rotomatic B bag cleaner
---- with original power nozzle and a similar navy blue World Vac power nozzle
Navy Blue Hoover Spectrum-- my first Hoover Spectrum!
Hoover Windtunnel Bagless- this will most likely be refurbed and sold

 

[durango159]

Uprights!

Yes, I am converting and like uprights too, but not as much as canisters. LOL!!

Prior to this trip there were only 2 upright vacuums in the house. One is for sale. It's a Dirt Devil Vision Turbo that is very very loud, it's bagless with filter in the dirt cup. I have a buyer lined up. The other upright is my rare Convertible Elite with the Decade hood. I've posted it before but would be more than happy to post another photo of it!

With only 1 upright in the house and my conversion I was really really wanting more upright selection in the house. My desires were a Hoover Widepath- Breathe Easy style machine and also a deep blue colored Convertible type machine with headlight.

So this is what came home!!

From left:
Red Hoover Widepath
Navy Blue Hoover Decade 800
Light Fuscia colored Hoover Elite 350

The Elite style is a first for me of this generation of Elite. It has a 5.0 Amp motor and definitely a different sound and style compared to the more modern Elite style uprights of the 1990's.

 

[durango159]

Hoover Widepath

The Widepath was a gift from Chris, owner of C.S. Vacuums in Oneida, NY! If anyone is seeking vintage parts or machines of any kind, don't hesitate to contact me and I'll gladly pass his information on. He has just about everything!

The vacuum was a token of Chris's appreciation for my helping in his store during my visit to help him do some vacuum repair orders.

Chris and I serviced this together at his shop and it is in great running order. Model number U5452-900 it has a 12Amp motor and was manufactured in September 2001.

This was the first of all the vacuums that recently came home to clean my house! It did a fantastic job and is more powerful than I remember from years ago of trying a Breathe Easy named machine in Sears.

For some reason, I've wanted one of these for a long time. Now here it is!

The red is gorgeous! Thank you Chris!

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Love the Verve! And the Rotormatic is also a great prize. I will be keeping my green one I think as long as I have any 'collectible' vacs in my possession.
You're keeping you collection under control and that is commendable, and impressive, given your apparent level of enthusiasm.
Happy New Year!

 

[durango159]

Hoover Elite

This Elite came from Greg, owner of Greg's Vac Shack. He is very very knowledgable and an authorized dealer for Simplicity, Meile and Sebo among others. If anyone is seeking a fabulous Simplicity vacuum- I love their canisters, Greg loves their uprights, I'd be more than happy to pass his information on!

Greg was thinning out his vacuum collection and giving away- literally- many machines. I took this Elite and also the Windtunnel Bagless from the canister post.

The Elite 350 is model: U4509 and was manufactured in March 1989 with a 5.0 Amp motor. It is fully cleaned up and in fantastic operating condition. Chris gave me instructions and from watching with the Widepath fix up, I greased the bearings on this Elite myself.

 

[durango159]

Hoover Spectrum

Prior to this trip I owned 7 power nozzle Hoover canister vacuums plus a spare PowerMax style power nozzle. I had no intention of acquiring another Hoover canister due to this. However, my friends know me well and know that I love Hoover canister vacuums. Also my favorite color is navy blue. Based on the facts that this machine is a gorgeous deep navy blue, I've never owned a Spectrum labeled machine before I was easily persuaded to not pass this machine up. This machine was a direct trade of the Dimension 1000.

The Hoover Spectrum Total Performance 950 is Model S3605 has an 11.4 Amp dual motor system and was manufactured in March 1992.

The power nozzle was loaded with carpet fuzz and dirt and didn't run too well in testing due to bad belt. Everything was removed from the base and the base took a trip through the dishwasher.

I have finished the power nozzle and it runs gorgeous. The suction unit is started as the bag compartment is now gorgeous. Hopefully I will be able to finish the unit by cleaning the motor housing area of the suction unit throughout the week.

Really a neat machine as the Quadraflex power nozzle has a Power Surge similar to that of the Celebrity Electronic only the switch is on the hose handle and operates by holding the switch in that position similar to the operation of Power Surge on a Decade 800 upright.

 

[durango159]

The sad work in progress!

I was really excited about this Decade 800. Despite owning a Convertible Elite which has the same style machine, the Decade brings a cloth bag instead of vinyl, a different sounding and more powerful motor, in addition to the gorgeous blue!

The Hoover Decade 800 is model U4501 has a 6.5 Amp motor and was manufactured in November 1988.

In initial testing this machine didn't sound very good. I swapped a new brush roll in and traded belts with my Convertible and it sounded better but still not where it should be.

After hours of cleaning and repair of this unit, the fan motor rotates great with no extra play, no squeaks, no sticking points. A nail was found in the fan during cleanup process and it actually looks like 3 nail holes in the fan and a small gouge on one outside of one of the blades. So a new fan will be ordered.

The sad part:
In testing mode with no belt installed just to properly check motor, the on/off sadly caught fire after about 5 seconds of use. No cosmetic to damage was done to the machine, I think the issue is isolated to the On/Off switch. All 3 terminals of the handle connection cord to motor connection are silver. Motor was cool to touch still with great airflow moving through.

I was told that On/Off switches had a burning up issues in these? Please don't hesitate to post further input as this just happened yesterday on Sunday, January 10 and I'm still distraught over the Decade not working!! I was really upset when I saw the smoke. I really wanted to test out and run this unit!!

Here's some photos of the cleaning process. The hood and bag tube and bellows were run through the dishwasher. The Decade 800 and Elite cloth bags were both hand washed in Persil Laundry detergent and hung dry on a clothes drying rack over my bathtub. You'll see a couple sweaters are hanging dry above them. For now the machine is still partially unassembled with no belt, no bag and no hood until on/off switch and any other potential repair as a result of the burned up switch and fan are completed!

Persil Laundry detergent was recommended to me months back by Tom Gasko in a general post on a vacuum forum. Not only is it great for laundry but it also works quite well in carpet shampooers. It smells wonderful and did a great job on the vacuum bags too. The lettering is still there too which is fantastic!!

 

[durango159]

The Simplicity's!!

A few years back I moved in with a house cleaning client of mine. During that time she needed a new vacuum and I found her a refurbished Riccar 1700 canister vacuum for $200 from our local vacuum store. This fabulous vacuum has made me want a Riccar/ Simplicity for myself. Especially since I've moved away and no longer work for this client!

As I was already thinking of selling my Rainbow I found it quite interesting to learn that my buddy Greg was very interested in a new style Rainbow. I also learned that he had some Simplicity's he didn't mind parting with. I did some debating as I no longer use my Rainbow for its air cleaning purpose which was the main reason I bought it, I decided to go ahead. The Rainbow was a good machine. However, with bad history of how the distributor and myself parted ways, rumors I've heard about that distributor, some issues I've had with the HEPA filter during my ownership, etc., I'm very very happy to welcome the Simplicity's and let Greg enjoy the Rainbow!!

Both of these machines are still in progress but I'm working with Tacony and Greg and getting what is needed for them. The Verve machine has been fully cleaned and once a Tacony package arrives, we'll be in good shape!

Here is the Verve power nozzle. I upgraded the brush roll with the triple row that was gifted me a few years back by Tom Gasko when I lived with the family with the Riccar 1700. While I did try it in their 1700, with their low profile carpeting that their machine was primarily getting used on and this being a gift to me, I've held onto it for the occasion when I have my own Tacony unit! Thanks Tom, we'll see how it does in here!!

I also got this wonderful Micro tool set from Greg! It has a universal fit end that fits on the Eureka and other canisters. It also has an adapter that is a perfect fit for running in all of my Hoover canisters. It's first assignment was detailing my Hoover Dimension 1000 and Celebrity bag compartments. From there it was a big help with the Spectrum, Elite and Decade 800 cleanups.

 

[durango159]

StrictlyBojack

We have the same Eureka 1784B forest green model!! I got the navy blue one because of the navy blue!! It's one I've been admiring on websites and youtube videos for a while.

My friend Joel up in New York completely serviced the motor for the Eureka Rotomatic canister. It runs fantastic!! Joel, Chris and myself were all a little surprised to see that unlike the green Eureka that has a 2 stage motor, the blue Eureka is more streamlined and has a single fan motor. Both units are rated at 4.0 Peak Horsepower though. Thank you Joel and Chris!!!

I worked on the power nozzle for the navy blue Eureka. It works ok but sometime in the near future it will need a new motor as I can definitely hear screeching during its operation. The blue Eureka is Model 1779 and is 10.0 Amps. The suction and noise are slightly less than the green. I'll be curious down the road to a meter on it to see how much less it really is.

Altogether in my house is currently 20 units this includes:
1 Steamvac Widepath extractor- Hoover
2 corded brush roll hand vacs-- Both Royal
5 Uprights-- 4 Dirt Devil, 1 Dirt Devil
12 power nozzle canister vacuums- 2 Eureka, 2 Simplicity, 8 Hoover
---Plus 3 extra canister power nozzles - 2 Eureka and 1 Hoover

This number will decrease soon as the Dirt Devil Vision Turbo gets sold, and the Windtunnel Bagless.

My favorite part of a vacuum cleaner is the brush roll so every single vacuum in my collection has an electric motor powered brush roll, with exception of the Steamvac but that has the 6 air turbine powered brushes. I do not own a Shop Vac. For construction dirt my Hoover Celebrity Elite IV or Dimension 1000 are more than capable. For wet spills I have the Hoover Steamvac, rags, and a sponge mop. The Rainbow was a very neat tool for the wet pick up spills but that's now in the past!! All of my vacuums are/ will be in proper running order and get used for cleaning my home and also homes of cleaning clients as I run my own house cleaning/ and lawn care service business on the side.

Here's some photos of both of my B bag canister units!

 

[fantomfan57]

Congratulations..........

On your new vacuums. I have not use my dishwasher for part cleaning yet, but plan to.

Thanks for sharing the details and pictures too.

 

[suckolux]

Thanks for the fun tour! Nice

 

[eurekaprince]

I love those Eureka Power Teams! Do you have a method of bringing back the pure white colour of the attachments that have yellowed?

Enjoy you new toys!

 

[sitop]

Thanks!

For sharing your stories! I feel as if I was there cleaning the vacuums with you!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

nice group of vacuums, Rob.... "Zippy"

Sounds like your minimeet was very nice indeed.  Hope to see you soon.  Having our 1st snowstorm RIGHT NOW.

 

[ctvacman]

Rob

I'm looking for a brushroll for my power drive dirt finder and a set of tools and tool caddy for my Sears best canister as well as some other items. If you could put me in contact with him that'd be great

Colby

 

[durango159]

Thank you all very much!

EurekaPrince- someone a while back posted about removing yellowing from tools and vacuums. I've never gotten into the process myself. My advice would be to try searching the archives for something along the lines of "Plastic Yellowing Restoration or discoloration remedies."

John, we're having our first snow here as well in central Pennsylvania. Only about an inch today but it's been very very windy and coming down at random points throughout the day. I believe we're getting more throughout the night and end of the week!

 

[kirbylux77]

Aww, poor John. I guess you're getting the effect from the snowstorm we had yesterday in Ontario. Stay warm down there in Pennsylvania now.

Rob, that's a good idea to upgrade the brushroll in your Simplicity Verve. Don't get me wrong, it is a good powerhead....but when you compare the 2 row metal brushroll in the Verve to the 3 row brushroll you have that comes in the Simplicity Gusto, NO CONTEST! The 3 row brushroll is much better. They should have stuck with the wood brushroll that was used before replacing it with the 2 row metal brushroll....it was a better groomer overall, & the only reason it was pitched was because of the plastic endcap covers. If they made those endcap covers of metal instead of plastic, that would have solved the problem & not have to replace or redesign the wood brushroll.

Also, one little tip for you regarding the bags....it's probably best to substitute the Type H bag in the Simplicity Verve for the Type Z bag used in the Simplicity Snap. The Type Z bag doesn't have the closure system & therefore has a solid cardboard collar, & the opening fits the bag door tube more snugly than the Type H bag allows, enhancing the bag's filtration efficiency so the HEPA Filter doesn't soil & require replacement as often. It is also possible the bag for the new Simplicity Wonder could be modified slightly & made to work, it does appear close enough in dimensions, but the main problem there is since the cleaner is still rather new, I highly doubt a generic Envirocare version is available yet.

Have fun with your new cleaners, knowing you Rob you will get lots of use from them!

Rob

 

[durango159]

Hi Rob!

Thank you for the advice!!
I've always been so curious of the former wooden chevron brush roller. I would have thought that with the chevron design it would do better than the metal one. Greg said that the bristles on the metal roller are stiffer than the former wood roller too.

One thing that shocks me and I don't remember this from the Riccar 1700 I used to work with, but the brushes seem very short and to not extend much beyond the baseplate. Perhaps I am just so used to Hoovers and Hoover tends to extend their bristles further below baseplates from many other brands!

Thanks for the wishes! Chris is working to send me a fan and switch to get the Decade working. Greg, Tom and I are working to get parts for the Verve from Tacony. In the meantime I still have the Spectrum to work on. Hopefully soon there I'll be done the Spectrum the parts will get here and lots of fun will be had!!! I still need to rotate all of the vacs that I have somehow. But I really can't wait to run the Verve and Decade 800!!