Hoover 425

[scoover]

Finally got one. Very busy at work so all my projects on the back burner but thought I would share this. Needs resto(eventually)but came with complete tool set and a near mint screwdriver.

 

[dysonman1]

Very cool. I enjoy my 425. It uses the same flat belt as a Hoover Elite.

 

[scoover]

Thanks

Great. It is the flat belt version. It came with an original flat belt which is stretched out(though it will be a while before it's running and needs a new belt!)

 

[electricutopia]

Great find! Model 425 doesn’t seem to come along very often compared to the scores of 750s out there. Nice to find a flat belt machine that hasn’t been converted, too - Hoover service engineers seem to have adapted many of them to take readily-available round belts over the years. I’ve had three 425s in total now, and only one still had the flat belt setup intact.

Glad you have the toolkit as well - the converter is unique to Model 425. The Hoover screwdriver is very cool, haven’t come across one of those yet!

 

[scoover]

Thanks2

There is something slightly odd about the belt set up and I wonder if this is a bitzer that's been cobbled together out of different machines to keep it running:

The serial number is around 55,000(motor number high 70000 - presumably as these motors were also used in the minor?) The belt cover has a serial number hand punched into it (around 25000). It also has a circle of holes drilled over the belt pulley and its been quite carefully hand beaten to give extra clearance to the belt pulley. Looking through the holes it doesn't look like it would have cleared without it.

I am not familiar enough with the machine (first and only) to know if there was an issue with belt clearance or what the belt cover looked like before it was punched down. It's got the correct flat belt brush roll so it would seem unlikely that some one converted a late model round belt backwards or maybe it was just an over enthusiastic owner with some panel beating skills. It doesn't have any service cerntre marks or stamps anywhere so this is the most likely explanation. I presume it was the same tinkerer who fashioned solid Copper brushes for it too...

 

[electricutopia]

Is this how yours looks?

If so, this is normal for Model 425 - at least, all of mine have looked this way. I would guess the small holes are there to allow additional, directed airflow to cool the pulley and belt - perhaps when a dense rug is sealed closely to the floor plate, putting extra load on the Agitator and reducing airflow - to help extend belt life. Makes me wonder if early production examples had issues with belt slippage or breakage. Guess we’ll never know unless someone out there has Hoover production mod notes for the early 30s!

As you’ve mentioned, the 425 motor was also used on Hoover Minor Model 200B. I don’t know how many of this variation were made but I’ve only ever spotted one come up for sale in the last 10 years or so. The original Model 200 seems to crop up slightly more often.

 

[scoover]

Wow

How odd. I assumed those were home made holes due to their random nature. Talk about field modifications. I still think my cover has been altered very slightly, maybe for a little extra clearance round the sides. Note the punched serial number too.

Thanks for comparison pic by the way, very helpful.

 

[madman]

As the holes look like an afterthought, I bet they were a field modification, or at least, a mod that Hoover servicemen were told to do if they serviced one of those machines. A recall repair, if you will.

idk

 

[scoover]

Totally

I think there were more than a few issues with the 425. If I get the chance I'll post a pic of the bottom of the 425 minus the plate next to a 450 minus its plate. The 425 has extra bits added presumably to sort out air/dirt flow to the fan. Not a great design by the looks of it.

 

[scoover]

425/450 body comparison

Check out the sequence;

1: Side by side 425/450

2: The add on pressed steel plate in the 425 to presumably improve airflow to the fan.

3: WAH! what had gotten in behind it over 75 years.

4: The plate detached

5: 425 minus plate

I wonder what happened at Hoover between 1926 (model 700)and 1929-31 (Duster 200 and 425)?

The 700 without doubt lived up to its "Greater Hoover" tag line, a significant improvement on previous machines but by the time the Duster came along they seemed to have lost it. The Duster is exactly the same sort of cobbled together nonsense as this. Neither the 200 or the 425 look like anyone made a prototype, tested it and realised it wasn't a commercial proposition. They clearly made the 425, started producing it and then had to come up with ways to make it actually work.

 

[watsonw]

425 find.

Hello Scoover,

Great find, An ex hoover salesman from the 50's and 60's and latterly hoover 119,1224,1334,612,652 range (i.e. metal bodied machines only) restorer found me my flat belt 425, it must be, oh, 30 plus years ago. Its 210 watts and a good little performer. Only last year I won an unused box of tools. For years after acquiring the 425 I thought it was from the 1920's

I use a genuine Electrolux 500 belt with reasonable success.

Regards, Walter.

 

[scoover]

Hi walter,

Thanks for that. Yes, I put together my original collection about 30 years ago. The finds were in much better condition then: Generally well looked after machines which had been in regular use. All of my recent pre-war finds have been languishing unused somewhere damp for about....30 years by the look of it.

Cheers