chuffle
Well-known member
Yesterday, I needed to head to town for a few items, and decided to drop in at the Goodwill. I was surprised to see that they had a Convertible on the sales floor - a Deluxe U4009 (S.N. 016478). I hope that I don't anger anyone by saying this, but the full hood design has never done a thing for me. That having been said, I checked the machine out - it was terribly dusty, and I was expecting funk when I turned the machine over. I wasn't expecting to see such a clean machine underneath. Wheels nice and smooth, not looking as if the machine had been run on a gravel driveway, no hair wrapped around the brushroll, and no signs of the machine having been run through water, or something sticky.
Switching it on, the motor sounded as it should.
The vinyl snap-closure bag has no rips or tears, and best of all, no odors.
Not knowing a thing about this particular model, I was really amazed to find that under that plastic hood, it had a complete aluminum base. I was expecting to see plastic, and cracked, to boot.
While really dusty, and with a fair amount of surface scratches, it was obvious that the owner of the machine had taken good care of it, then for whatever reason, stored it away somewhere and forgot about it - for years.
For $3.99 (minus the Sunday 55+ 15% discount), I figured that I couldn't go wrong, and purchased it.
This morning, for fun, I tore it apart, and gave the machine a thorough cleaning, fitted a new belt and bag. While the brushes are still long enough, the bristles are soft, so at some point, brush strips will have to be ordered.
I have owned a few Convertibles in the past, all plastic bodied models, and was never quite taken by them. I ended up selling them. This machine, with its metal base, has a much better feel to it, and best of all, there are no buzzes or rattles.
So far, it does a decent job on my area rugs, but it just doesn't seem to have the oomph to lift the rug, like my daily use Eureka does. Perhaps I am being unfair by comparing apples and oranges. As for now, I am planning on keeping it, and using it - even the full hood is growing on me. Someday, I will polish the vinyl.
Just thought that I would share a before and after photo.
Joe
Switching it on, the motor sounded as it should.
The vinyl snap-closure bag has no rips or tears, and best of all, no odors.
Not knowing a thing about this particular model, I was really amazed to find that under that plastic hood, it had a complete aluminum base. I was expecting to see plastic, and cracked, to boot.
While really dusty, and with a fair amount of surface scratches, it was obvious that the owner of the machine had taken good care of it, then for whatever reason, stored it away somewhere and forgot about it - for years.
For $3.99 (minus the Sunday 55+ 15% discount), I figured that I couldn't go wrong, and purchased it.
This morning, for fun, I tore it apart, and gave the machine a thorough cleaning, fitted a new belt and bag. While the brushes are still long enough, the bristles are soft, so at some point, brush strips will have to be ordered.
I have owned a few Convertibles in the past, all plastic bodied models, and was never quite taken by them. I ended up selling them. This machine, with its metal base, has a much better feel to it, and best of all, there are no buzzes or rattles.
So far, it does a decent job on my area rugs, but it just doesn't seem to have the oomph to lift the rug, like my daily use Eureka does. Perhaps I am being unfair by comparing apples and oranges. As for now, I am planning on keeping it, and using it - even the full hood is growing on me. Someday, I will polish the vinyl.
Just thought that I would share a before and after photo.
Joe
