How did this happen?

[logan]

I am fixing a Hoover Shampooer for a nice lady I work with. When she gave it to me to take home I was shocked at how she damaged the cord and the plastic along the bottom, etc.

Here is my question....When I use a shampooer I move it back and forth slowly accross the carpet to maximize it's performance. But, by looking at this machine's damage, just exactly how hard was she pushing this thing accross the carpet? I have never see a Hoover shampooer with damage of this kind. How did the plastic get so scarred up and knicked?

Here is a picture (pardon my ugly foot that was propping the machine up).

 

[logan]

One more thing....

Sorry to rant about this one, but here is another question I have. When someone notices a part on their vacuum, shampooer, etc. is broken, why do they get it fixed immediately instead of trying to "rig up" the situation. Here is something else I found while taking this same machine apart. I honestly had to laugh at this one.

Bubble Wrap and Duct Tape!!!!

 

[mihi]

The first picture almost looks like it was dragged across concrete or something. Maybe by a kid, maybe caught on a car, who knows.

 

[hoover_elite_20]

It was probably used like a...

...Hoover flormate to scrub floors.

 

[elux89]

As one car mechanic I had a number of years ago told me, "some people could destroy a TANK if given the opportunity!".

 

[rugmaster37]

"Some people could destroy a TANK if given the opportun

Ain't that the truth...

I have seen such destruction over the years I can't even begin to name all the stuff that made me shudder. And that's not just limited to the "mass class" type of vacuum cleaners either.MassClass= i.e Hoover, Eureka, Dirt Devil, Bissell, Kenmore any brand that retails for under $299. Or big box store brands..

I've also seen $1000.00 Mieles with dangerous electrical cords that have masking tape covering a bare spot, people sucking up water or nails and screws with Kirby's, FilterQueens full of burn up hot ash from cleaning a fireplace, and the expensive old school Electrolux's full of wet sawdust.


My very favorite (quick) repair was actually one that happened in like 2001. A few days prior, I sold a fully rebuilt FilterQueen 31X. Beautiful machine. We sold it for I believe $449.95 w/ a two year warranty. Lady bought it after a demo, and called the next day to say she loved it.

Cut to about a week later. She comes in steaming. Now to fully understand she's a larger plus to the 5th power size woman. She also just had a weave done as well.Anyway, she has the machine in tow, draggig that freshly built machine across the parking lot and in thru our front doors. Drops it, calls out to me: "You sold me a lemon you F#%k&!g a@#h%$e". I of course stop what I'm doing and ask her what's wrong with it. Her answer was It "aint pickin up!@#$". So I say well lets see what's going on. Meanwhile she's going on and on and on about we suckered her our of her hard earned paper...so on and so forth...we can't be trusted and yadda yadda yadda.

I plug it in, and switch the machine on. I could feel just a slight drible of air going into the hose. It was clogged. So I figured that I would reverse the flow of air by connecting the hose to the blower outlet, point the hose away from me and see what comes out. On a FilterQueen that usually works every time. So I turn on the machine with the air backflowing, and as I pointed the wand end of the hose up and away from me. I heard this large POOOF!!! ANd out from the hose fly's the largest pair of ol' lady britches I've ever seen. It looked like a paratrooper was landing. Needless to say she was embarrassed, grabbed the machine and stormed out of the store. 99 times out of 100 it's always due to how poorly people treat thier things. Vacuum Cleaners seem to get the worst of the brunt of humans negative energy.

Looks like either your lady with the Steam-Vac either drug it across the ground on it's back wheels, or it could be a dog chewed the area. I see that happening alot, dogs chewing on vacuum cleaners. Mainly cords tho...The bubblewrap and duct-tape....LMAO Yeah usually people use duct-tape alone, or they will use Saran Wrap, plastic baggies, and I've even seen condoms used to seal off the cracks in the hose.

People are cheap....PERIOD. I know I can be cheap. (No funny thoughts here) We want to save money, by doing unhandywork, and try to accomplish some do-it-yourself, do-it-wrong. Those people will try anything and everything to save a buck. That is why when we who do repairs, see things like this,they usually have made it worse, like breaking the locking tab on the suction diverter on the Steam Vac. Had it just been brought in for correct service, they wouldn't have had to replace that too... And it would have cost far less...

I am always respectful when they sheepishly bring in somehting that they completly destroyed. I know I've tried to fix things that were beyond my league before. I can do most small and some major appliances. Put me behind a Radio, for example...and Im Johnny Allthumbs...

Chad

 

[gottahaveahoove]

so true.

I have an aunt who is very hard on things. her HOOVER 70 was banged up a lot. I wonder: what does the rest of their house look like if the cleaners are so trashed?
My 1076 is 33 yrs old, was used a lot, and looks like it just came out of the box.

 

[danemodsandy]

Wanna Be Cheap?

Then buy the right part and install it correctly.

I have seen more nice appliances damaged further by homemade repairs. Dryer fronts end up with the paint scratched off because someone "fixed" a broken $2 latch by wiring the door closed with a piece of coat hanger. Vacuum cleaners get their motor bearings trashed because someone's too cheap to buy the correct bags and uses something they made out of an old T-shirt. My next-door neighbour just had to toss a GE Americana - a very expensive reefer - because he'd "fixed" a broken jamb strip with duct tape, which bubbled up and allowed condensation into the insulation, which promptly made the cabinet rust through. Don't even get me started about a former employer's Volvo 240, which was a very nice, elegant-looking car (navy blue, Butterscotch interior) when he got it. After a year or so of his "ingenious" homemade repairs, it sounded like a piece of agricultural equipment and looked worse. The driver's-side mirror (available at most junk yards for $15) was held on with tape, and not even duct tape- he'd used clear packing tape so "it wouldn't show". Feh!

I do not know what it is about people who figure they know more about appliance design and safety than someone paid a fortune to design things properly, but the woods are full of them. Their only value, so far as I'm concerned, is that they sometimes give up on their abused appliances too soon, and that's when I can swoop down on them, repair them correctly, and get some good out of them.

 

[filterqueen83]

I say

that machine is a lost cause lol. Forgive me if I am wrong if it needs new parts and such it may not be worth repairing. It certainly is not something rare.

 

[petek]

I was gonna say as well it actually looks like a dog chewed away at it, perhaps a puppy, they'll chew away on anything

 

[rugmaster37]

Not worth repairing....

Yes, you're right. Many times people bring in their old jalopies to the store, and after parts, labor and so forth....many cases when it comes to the cheaper stuff; the item is "beyond repair". I usually try to be an informative source for those who get to this point, and my saying is "if it's half the cost of new, a repair isn't good for you".

I do like sometimes that people give up on their vacuums too early. This one customer of mine with WAAY too much money to burn...just came in with her old, and glided away in her Jag with a new Simplicity Synergy. Her machine that she left? A almost mint Simpliciity 7 series 7350. What was wrong? She had sucked up a hankerchief, which broke the belt and clogged the hose. She did NOT want to repair it...Just wanted new...Okay lady well here you go.

I have that machine as a backup to my Panasonic Jet-Flo Electronic Upright. Becasue of these type of people, I have given away SEVERAL vacuum's to people who may need them i.e.(freinds and family), all becasue the sucked up a sock, or more beautifully just a broken or stretched belt. Or a bag that weighed more than most newborn infants.

It's all in your perception of what's important. In my world durable white goods should be of quality and service. I could care less about a $3000.00 stereo or flat screen TV. Course I've found that it's mainly the people who care more about their "toys", than their majorly used appliances that own garbage, and treat it as such.

Chad

AnnArbor Michigan

 

[clarkecombi]

LoL...Old ladys Underwear...LMAO

actually i had a funny Repair once...My grandmas friend Sherry had a Neighbor who had a Nice Hoover PowerDrive..the Brown Colored one and she herd that i worked on vacuums so she brought it to me and said that the self-propelled wouldnt turn off so i took the machine home and pluged it in i turned it on and as soon as i did the cleaner shot out of my hand and ran across the room and rammed into the wall..well i checked the handle and it wouldnt move....well i tried to pry it loose figurin it was stuck and thats why the powerdrive wouldnt turn off but no luck i was afraid id break the handle cause it was so tight.. well i called and told her the handle was stuck causing the self propelled to be constatly engaged and did she ever have any problems with it and her response was this. "Oh when i first got it, it was real loose so i glued the handle together......DUHHHH..its supposed to be loose so u can control the self propelld feature....Some people are real IDIOTS!

 

[xraytech]

I agree that people's homade repairs end up costing moe in the end, just the other day i saw a new Pontiac Grand prix in a beige color fully loaded with the front bumper held together and onto the car with blue painters tape not even anything worth using like duct tape. People also don't seem to like to spend money on things that they use freguently they would rather buy new toys. I would rather have my new cars and TOL vacuums and kenmore Appliances and my old 1984 montgomery Ward Console Tv than a brand new 52 inch plasma tv and a beat up old car a 45 dollar bissel and shitty appliances. But there migth be something wrong with me that I want good stuff that is worth having and will last than cheap disposable garbage.

 

[filterqueen83]

there is a joke here

My friends and I move out of the way when we see a corolla the people who drive them here are deadly and are mostly not from this country, Mostly hatian. Well long story short. I have never seen a toyota corolla without some sort of damage new or old its amazing. Take a look in your area and see if it is true for you. I am going to take my camera with me today to prove my point lol.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

hmmm

What funny stories! Chad, I read a similar story to that one on the old ivacuumcleaners.com forum a few years ago when it was still alive... very funny! I'm sure that lady didn't apologize or even feel remorse. She's probably ruined the Filter Queen by now.

Glued the handle still on a S/P Hoover? I've heard eveything now! What did you end up doing with it? Did you attempt to get it "unstuck"?

What is this with dogs chewing on vacuums? My doggy smelling Dyson that I've had for less that a week had been chewed on by a dog a well. It wasn't bad, but the handle and the carpet to bare floor knob both have teeth marks! The lady I bought it from was the original owner... I don't think I'd leave my 500 dollar vacuum were an animal could chew on it... but given all the hair (dog and human) and stuffed animal stuffing that was engulfing the brushroll, she didn't care about the machine at all. I feel like I rescued it... too bad the adoption fee was 100 bucks!

I quite agree... electronics mean nothing to me. But, I'll take a Kirby over a Dirt Devil any day!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

people are cheap

I've paid more for a used vacuum (the most I've ever paid was 200 bucks for a Kirby G5) than many people pay new for their Wal-mart specials.

 

[clarkecombi]

LOOK AT THIS

Read the last comment about the Windsor Sensor S15..This Guy this is so great because it does this....(Hint:It Involves Chili!)

http://www.uclean.com/catalog/productInfo/equipment/vacuums/windsor_sensor_s_upright_vacuum_15.html

 

[clarkecombi]

oops typo

i mean he thinks its so great because it does this

 

[xraytech]

I too have also paid more for a used vacuum that most people pay new I spent $250 for a Kirby G6 2000 edition with shampooer and zip brush and everyone I know buys the $50 dollar bagless Bissel vacuums or the dirtdevils that are under $100.