Hoover Convertible - assorted issues

[CW]

I recently bought a model U4053 (orange, no headlight, one speed, rear conversion) Hoover Convertible. I disassembled and cleaned it, lubricated the brushroll and motor bearings, put on a new bag and belt, and replaced the old vinyl bag with a new cloth one. I've been using it, and it works well except belts keep snapping, and I had the bag blow off of the fill tube once, causing the outer bag to fill up with junk. I bought some new bag rings (a pack of Hoover Lark belts) to try out, any idea why the belts keep snapping? The brushroll and motor both spin freely, and I can't find any burrs or obstructions in the belt path. The belts aren't 'wearing' in the way I'm used to vacuum cleaner belts failing (burning smell, evidence of burnt rubber on belt and brushroll/motor shaft) but just plain snapping.

Also, as a random observation: it's possible to use the front-conversion tools on a machine with rear conversion, the front converter fits onto the brushroll cover just fine.

 

[twocvbloke]

Try buying genuine Hoover belts if you're using generic belts, cos some generics can be pretty weak and snap easily when used...

As for the bag rings, get the sort that they use on Eurekas and Sanitaires, they're a metal spring which works better than any belts in my experience, my two Juniors use them spring rings (taken from my Baird dirt meters for my Kirbys) and they've not popped a bag, not that they have the power to do so though...

 

[CW]

So, here's a picture of the machine in question all cleaned up. I'm still having the belt breakage issue, I tried raising the height setting and that didn't help (not to mention the belt snapped while I was using the rear tool converter with a crevice tool, so brushroll friction shouldn't have been it anyhow). Does anyone here know of a good source for genuine Hoover belts? I bought the generic ones off ebay, you can't find Convertible belts or type C bags in stores here these days. I'm not shocked about the C bags, but the belts are a bit surprising since Hoover made machines that used this belt until very recently (Commercial Guardsman, IIRC).

 

[bnsd60m9200]

you can find genuine hoover belts on ebay.. they will be advertised as such in the description. also hoover.com itself sells convertible belts for $2 a piece, which is standard price. c bags are PLENTIFUL on ebay and local vac shops stock them as regular stock items. at least vac shops that service machines, not just sell them. guardsmans use dump bags, like any commercial cleaner, aka sanitaire, comvac, etc.

Will Hemb

 

[kloveland]

You were asking about the front conversion tools

I use the front conversion power seal attachments with my 65 all the time, without any problems. It has the same suction if not a little more with the newer tools. Plus, the convertible is not as noisy and I believe it puts less wear on motor. Make sure your gasket around the converter is in good condition. Weather stripping will make a good seal if your original gasket is in poor condition.

The convertible was not designed to have the best suction for above the floor cleaning. But for me it is adequate for most cleaning jobs. I'm not a power hungry type of guy.

Kirby has better airflow when using the tools, but the convertible seems to be easier.

 

[kloveland]

Non genuine belts

I recently bought fifteen non genuine belts from Hesco. Not a good purchase! They were beyond bad. I could barely get them on the cleaner they were so stiff. Once I got one on it broke within seconds after using the cleaner.

Make sure the pulley is free from hair and dirt build up. You might try a different agitator If you have one. Is it spinning freely, do you hear scrapping nosies? If so you might not have the agitator assembled correctly. The bearings may also need to be greased.

I've had convertible belts snap frequently myself in the past and could not explain the cause. It may just be a cheap belt to begin with. If you are using the CWP brush roll the belts snap rather quickly espically on thicker carpets. This is just from my experience and not a set in stone fact.

 

[CW]

Nope, no scraping noise. No hair on the brushroll belt track or the motor pulley either, I cut all that off when I cleaned the machine. The brushroll is a factory Convertible one (2 brushes, 2 beater bars) that I cleaned and regreased the bearings on. It spins freely, and the fact that the belts are snapping, rather than burning up leads me to believe the belts themselves are to blame, especially since the last one broke while I was using the tools.

 

[guardsman69]

you may want to try the hoover 44783 belt .....it has more streach and works better with the 1970s convertibles.....they are still available from hoover and i always have them in stock.....i service hoover convertibles from all decades and decades too every day thankfully parts at hoover are still available as long as the guardsman and professional lines are still in production

 

[kloveland]

Thanks for the tip!




Thanks John,

I will order some. Kenny

 

[jfalberti]

Seems to me I've heard before

of a problem with a cleaner snapping belts like that, and it turned out to be the pulley was worn down. It wasn't rough or scarred, just worn and when replaced, it stopped the problem. Just my .02.

 

[CW]

The pulley looks OK to me. Anything in particular I'd be looking for? By the way, thanks everyone for all the helpful advice.

 

[CW]

More detail...

I probably should have been more descriptive. To me, the belt pulley looks like it's plated with some kind of bright metal. I don't see any plating worn off in the belt groove, so I'm guessing the pulley isn't worn very much.