Hoover Concept I/II info

[swiveltop]

Casey

Is the one you are bidding on a powerdrive model? if so the small button on the handle disengages the drive,and the larger button near the cord is the release for the cord rewind. Mark

 

[swiveltop]

Funny story about the red button

One day my dingy blonde Aunt went to vacuum for Grandma,she had never used or maybe never seen the concept before,she thought she had to keep that button on the handle pressed in to operate the vacuum,much to here suprise,it was more work than she thought,she said,I don't know how you use that thing,it almost broke my arm trying to keep that button pushed in and pushing that heavy thing at the same time. LOL

 

[cart1531]

yeah, I'm pretty sure that it is

 

[petek]

I think only the powerdrive models had the chrome handle the others were all painted metal, could be wrong tho.
The other thing you have to watch out for when you let someone use any Hoover or Eureka is the tendency for them to try and lift or pick it up by he sliding handgrip, not so good.

 

[cart1531]

the one I'm bidding on has a white painted handle.

 

[74simon]

Yes Pete, I think a C1 brochure pops up on here as POD from time to time, and mentions those big wheels <br
Mark, suprised your poor aunt didn't pull a muscle! I know my DAM Power Drive is hell to push with the drive disengaged, especially on maximum suction. Physiotherapy ahoy <br
I did see a C1 in the UK where the handgrip had snapped off, was that common with these? I know several European Hoover cleaners with moulded plastic handgrips suffered with them breaking off where they enter the handle shaft <br
I can't speak for the Concept Ones, but in 1977 the imported DAM Power Drive cost £121 new, while the UK Senior was £77 and the Junior (the bestselling cleaner in the UK at the time) was £57. I guess the Concept One would have been even more expensive with the added complexity of the cord rewind on some versions, plus all Concept Ones were imports from the USA, so presumably the shipping costs and import duties further upped the price <br
Incidentally, in the Which? report where I found those prices, one of the cheapest uprights at £37 was the McDonald Super, which is basically an Oreck. How times change <br
The Concept One was only sold for a very short period over here. A 1979 brochure I've seen still has DAMs, the C1 features in the 1981 brochure I posted the image from, but then they vanish by 1983, when the Turbopower (Sovereign) range was introduced. After that, the only large Hoover upright in the UK was the Powerplus (ie Decade 80 equivalent) until the introduction of the Turbomaster (Innovation) circa 1990 <br
Si

 

[hoover1060]

Concept One life

The Concept sold here from 1978-1992. The deluxe U3101 was the unofficial 70th anniversary cleaner, and was heavily advertised.
My own opinion is the first Concept series(1978-82 models U3103, U3103, U4201 and U4203) were the best of the bunch as far as quality is concerned.
My favorite Concept One is the U3305 in grey, always liked that model, even bought one brand new.
One thing I never liked though was the damn needle bearing on the belt side of the motor, that made the Concept very LOUD, and it only got worse with use. I don't know why they didn't do a ball bearing instead, it would have made them much smoother and quieter!

 

[ohio_tuec]

Concept One

I have two of the green power drive model with the striped bag, but somehow, I've always preferred the clean air design of the Dial-A-Matic. To me, they really cheapened the machine when they made the base of the Concept One out of plastic. Nothing would make me happier then to see Hoover revive the Dial-A-Matic, as they did with the Constellation. But with TTI at the helm, it's anyone's guess what they're gonna do. I agree with Petek, while it was one of the last U.S. made machines, the Windtunnel was a bomb.

 

[swingette]

Tuec

i do agree Hoover would have done best by refining the DAM design rather than introducing an all new fan first machine
but as it is, IMO, the DAM is just too flawed to compare favorably to the Concept. and considering that Hoover considered the cord reel an important feature of the Concept series, i think they had no choice but to use plastic in the nozzle. imagine the weight of a cord reel/power drive Concept with a metal nozzle <br
and about the Windtunnel, sure it is an inelegant machine. i never liked their look, but its very effective and is more durable than other machines. it may not compare favorably to vintage machines, but i would hardly consider the Windtunnel a poor machine.

 

[ohio_tuec]

Well, you're over 21, and certainly entitled to your opinion. I have a Windtunnel, and IMHO, it's heavy, clunky and doesn't clean any better than alot of other vacs out there. Not to mention the fact that they are a pain to service, especially with the dirt sensor.

 

[cart1531]

thanks for all the info everyone. just bumping to keep the thread going.

 

[petek]

I checked a website to convert those old 70's prices into 2006 prices and it's quite interesting
That $239 (1978) Concept would be the equivalant $738 (2006)

The 1977 UK Powerdrive DAM at 121 pounds = 519 pounds (2006)

 

[cart1531]

I was thinking that they would have been pretty expensive back then.

 

[eurka1457]

Swiveltop, I have that exact same Concept One, a U3105. AWESOME machine, 2 speeds, Power Drive, and cord reel. Runs beautifully and cleans great of course. The funny thing is I also have a BOL U3109 from September of '91 (judging by the serial #), 1 speed, no headlight or cord reel, and it's LOUD! Noisy and vibrates just like a plastic-base Convertible, far cry from the U3105. <br
Si, I find that the Power Drive Concepts weigh slightly less than the equivalent DAMs. <br
I agree with Karl on the WindTunnels. Well intentioned, but came out as crap to the 10th power, IMO. Very cheaply made and noisy. The $49 Nano Lite is better than those. I have yet to see a WindTunnel 2, but it looks like a kludgy monstrosity. That and the fact that the bagless WT2 has that damn "self-cleaning" filter that clogs FAST...why couldn't they put the cyclonic Fusion/Mach 5/etc. guts in that one?

 

[seamusuk]

Pete

Any chance of a link to the conversion site?? : <br
Seamus

 

[petek]

Yes, it's called Measuring Worth and it works as you'll see for UK and US dollars up to 2006, you can choose various methods, consumer price indexes, Values etc.

http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

 

[seamusuk]

Blimey!!!!!

In 1963 the 1334A Hoover Junior was advertised at £27/17/6(£27.87 <br
In todays £s thats £403.15- or $800 odd!! <br
No wonder they dont make em like they used to !! <br
Seamus

 

[seamusuk]

And...

In 1977 My U6033 Powerdrive was £109.9 <br
Thats £472.19 or $940is <br
Could Hoover sell a TOL model for that now? <br
LOL!!

 

[seamusuk]

Now heres the killer!!

Its not vac related but as a lot of ppl here have a crossover interest in washers its kinda relevant. <br
In 1961 a 3224 Hoover Keymatic was £120 give or take..... <br
Thats- wait for it!!!!! <br
£1845.10!!!! <br
So about $3600!!! <br
Can you guess why you had to be rolling in it to have one lol! <br
Seamus

 

[swiveltop]

eurka 1457

Hi, Does the wintunnel have the same motor as the twin chamber bagless?,these bagless vacuums are really messy,I took the motor out of mine and put it in my Elite that had a bad motor,the twin chamber bagless was one someone put out to the curb,it was all clogged up and dirty,but the motor was still good,I didn't want to clean it either,so I decided to part it,and when I took the handle off I noticed it had the same motor as the Elite,but was 12 amps.,here's the the twin chamber base and the old Elite motor.

 

[swiveltop]

sorry to get off topic

Heres the Elite all fixed up exept I lost the headlight lens,it's in the garage somewhere, anyway I got this one several years ago and thought it was a really cheap disposable vacuum,so when my brother needed a vacuum this was the only one I would part with,well recently it came back with a broken fan and housing and the same bag that was in it,solid as a brick,so now it has 12 amps instead of 5 and it pulls the carpet up and really grooms it.I think these are still better than any of the new Hoover uprights. Ok back to the Concept topic. Mark

 

[ohio_tuec]

That's a nice early Elite. Never seen one quite like it. As a matter of fact, now that I'm actually looking for them at yard sales and flea markets, I don't see many of the early Elites at all. Speaking of Elites and Type "A" bags, did the type "A" bag originate in 1978 for the Concept series? I've seen lots of later Convertibles that take Type "A" bags, and was wondering if any pre-dated the Concept 1?

 

[cart1531]

well, I just found one at the junk store this weekend. if someone else here is interested, theres one one ebay
item # 160169097298

 

[ohio_tuec]

Okay, but that's a Concept I. In fact, I see a few of them on eBay now. How about some early Elites?

 

[swingette]

early Elites are not too common on eBay. i see them kinda often at thrift stores <br
btw, the type A MAY have debuted one or two years before the Concept. remember, the first type A Converibles (the "Elite" models) had a slide on bag holder. think the Concepts all had a push-on fill-tube. didnt the "Convertible Elite" appear in 77? 76?

 

[ohio_tuec]

Concept I info.

All this talk about Concept I's has prompted me to bring my green and white U3105 out of storage, and put it back into use. Having sat for 11 years, it needs new belts, new bulbs, and one of the power drive wheels is loose. Can anyone tell me the production dates of this cleaner? Mine is serial number 00127733. Thanks.

 

[tolivac]

I just obtained a Hoover Concept One from a vac dealer out my way-it was traded in towards a new Meile canister.I bought it for 20 bucks-was a TOL model-burgandy in color-the machine didn't run and had a broken roller brush belt.I took the machine aprt reconnected the inner power connectors-now it runs-will have to get a belt for it.the power drive works OK.The machine also has a "power Surge" button along with the power switch on the handle.for my 20 bucks the motor runs smoothly and the Power surge works.I feel these were the last of the good machines Hoover built.I do like the Convertibles better.when I get a new brush belt-will comment more.

 

[cart1531]

Does anyone have that picture from when the concept was the vacuum of the day here? It was just a few days ago and I forgot to save it.

 

[constellation86]

pod

 

[petek]

I just noticed. The brown one is less deluxe, minus the chrome handle and cord reel. It has hooks on the handle for the cord which is conventiently missing for the photo op.