Hoover Turbopower U2332

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Once again you done a great job :D Looks like a nice machine too, never seen one of these in ages :/ Even a turbopower Junior in about a year
 
I have said this at least once before - I have seen chassis wear on this model more so than any other which came after the original five Turbopower models from 1983. Originally there was no washer behind the wheel, only in front. At some point around the time that the original models were discontinued, Hoover made a number of cost-cutting changes, including using 3 clips on the fan cowling instead of 4, and a new way of securing the front wheels to the cleaner.

In addition, a second washer was placed behind each of the rear wheels, to prevent them wearing into the chassis. This is a great example of managing "planned-obsolescence", because everything one buys has been designed to wear out or else the manufacturers would never sell anything new, yet if they get it wrong and parts wear out too quickly, it becomes problematic for all involved. In this instance, the Turbopower chassis were wearing out very quickly, so Hoover overcame this by simply adding the extra washers. It is more than fair to say the cleaner already contained enough weak-spots to allow it to eventually break-down, without the need for the chassis to fall apart too.

But for some reason, the green U2332 model will often be found without the extra washers, leading me to think that either someone who worked on that production line for a very long time was making a mistake by not fitting 2 washers to each wheel, or that a good deal of stock of the U2332 was manufactured long before any of the other colours. This was undoubtably Hoover's flagship model of the era - the one which probably cost the least to build (taking account of the fact that the Junior model had a lot more metal and similar assembly costs, and the autoflex had more parts and more assembly - the costs of all of this possibly never being reflected in the final selling price), and I know Hoover liked to keep plenty of stock, so I'd not be at all surprised if a good deal of them were built prior to the actual launch date.
 
Vacuumlover, if it had the washer behind the wheel (as well as one under the "C" clip) the chassis would never have worn away at the back like yours has. So with either it didn't have 2 washers per wheel, or else some retro fitted a washer after the damage was done - usually after the rear wheel became unclipped and fell off.
 
As I thought - a shiney new wheel. It looks almost black, I take it? These were sold as "spare parts" in a set that included two washers and a new clip. Usually what happened was the wheel bore into the chassis, which also widened the hole in the wheel, to the point that the "C" clip got pushed off, and thus the wheel went AWOL. If the chassis was still usuable, one could attempt to try just fitting a new wheel and two washers. But many times the damage to the chassis was too extreme for just that.
 
The fan looks new too. Incidently, the wiring arrangment on the motor of these models was often of the earlier style too. You pictures support this, as your motor has long external leads which connect the field coil to the brush holders. Later motors had this connection built into the inside of the motor. The bag-full lamp was also very different too, again as can be seen in your photos. Many aspects of the U2332 were different from the other cleaners of the same range. It's very odd.
 
What is interesting is the 13 amp plug. A very old MK plug, though far from the oldst. Has to be at least 40 years old. The point of me saying this is because it does not have part-insulated pins on the N & L pins. A new mains lead has clearly been fitted, but not to a new plug. At best there may have been a new plug which got damaged and was replaced by this old one. At worst someone put the old plug back on.

There is a lot of uncertainity about plugs without the part-sleeving, because since the later part of the 1980's such plugs were not allowed to be sold. Since 1995 no portable appliance was allowed to be sold without a plug attached, but fitted plugs can and do get damaged and require replacing. But there is nothing to stop these plugs being used as they are not illegal. It will be a good deal of years to come before they disappear for good, and for a fact not in my lifetime!

Since sleeved pins became standardised in the late 1980's, when servicing an appliance as a professional engineer and as a business, I was given to understand that one should always fit a new plug when making alterations to the mains lead of an appliance where the exisitng plug had no sleeving. I am not sure if this was a legal requirement, but many of us saw it as 1st class practice and did just that. Indeed when servicing ANY vacuum cleaner for any fault, I always fitted a new sleeved pin plug where none was supplied. That was my own rule.

I am intruiged as to why your cleaner has a new lead and a very old plug.
 

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