Hoover U4901 tools

[fan-of-fans]

There seemed to be several revisions to this front conversion tool set.

On eBay right now there are two U4901 sets. Both have the plastic hose end and plastic wand with ring locks. But one has a vinyl hose, whereas the other is ribbed plastic.

The vinyl hose set also has a vinyl combination brush and the crevice tool has the grooves in it. The other has an all-plastic combination brush and no grooves in the crevice tool.

Older iterations I believe used an aluminum hose end and curved aluminum wand.

I've been thinking about getting a Convertible and I like looking at the different tool sets Hoover offered.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Also something I've noticed recently but never realized before. My mom's Concept One attachment converter had a wheel on it. The ones I've seen lately for the Convertible and Decade 80 do not. They have a piece of felt instead.

Anyone know why the wheel is only on the Concept One/Two converter.

Will a converter for a Concept One/Two fit on a Convertible/Decade 80 or vice versa?

 

[gregvacs28]

The wheel was basically to work in conjunction with the other wheels on the upright to turn it into a canister vacuum with the hose.

In practical terms, people who put these hoses on are using them for stationary things like cleaning a car and really don't need to move the vacuum.

It was also probably a budget thing. Eliminating the wheel saves money and manufacturing time.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, was it was to save cost vs having the wheel. Plus by the time the front converters came out, the Convertible was usually all plastic and pretty light. The Concept One/Two was heavier, thus maybe needing the wheel more so.

I used to pull my mom's Concept One around by the hose too, in the few times I used the attachments. I was always kinda worried it would tip over though. She never used them.

Eureka/probably Montgomery Ward and Singer/Kenmore also had the wheels on their converters as well.

 

[gregvacs28]

My mother bought a eureka upright around 1980 and it had a separate parts piece you could put on the bottom to use the hose. I don't remember it having a wheel.