Just grabbed a Eureka upright

[human]

I really did try to resist it. I saw this early '80s vintage Eureka ESP model 2091 upright at the Habitat ReStore the other day and I managed to be strong long enough to walk away but like an alcoholic wandering into a bar, I found myself back there today and it was still there so of course it just had to come home with me, right? It's got a few scuffs and needs a new headlight bulb but other than that, it's in really nice shape and just needs a good cleaning. It even came with a fresh F&G bag installed. In terms of power, it's right in line with my two Sanitaires at 6.5 amps. My SC686 has a 6 amp motor and my S645 has 7 amps. I totally didn't need it but now I've got it.

Enjoy the photos:

 

[huskyvacs]

Great find! The ESP series was a very good line of vacuums.

 

[human]

Yes, given that it shares a significant amount of DNA with the Sanitaire line, I think it's safe to characterize it as 'professional grade' even though it was marketed as a consumer machine. I do appreciate some of the refinements it has over either of my Sanitaires. I'll enjoy giving it a good shake-down run after I clean it up some. Maybe tomorrow

 

[suckolux]

Nice! I love the rugulators, love their motor sound

 

[fan-of-fans]

I like the colors. And it had the owner's manual to boot even, wow!

 

[lesinutah]

Nice

I have the eureka imperial upright with the green camo bag. It has the 7 amp motor.
I had a newer made in Mexico TOL blue line. The imperial with ESP pulled higher cfms than my sanitaire.
That's a great vacuum.

 

[human]

Cleanup and First Impressions...

So I spent a little 'quality time' with my new Eureka this afternoon, first giving it a superficial cleaning with Tub-O-Towels wipes, then giving it a run in my bedroom, which has both standard 'realtor beige' carpeting and a Persian rug. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by its performance. It has far better 'rug manners' than either of my Sanitaires, which share almost identical architecture with it. By that, I mean it's equally easy to push on both carpet and rug with the Rugulator adjusted to the middle position. This is always a challenge with the Sanitaires. I have to stop and readjust the Dial-A-Nap knob on either of them to keep them from trying to suck up the Persian rug. That's not a problem with the Eureka. Just for fun, I used the ESP power setting on the carpet and the normal setting on the Persian rug but I had a hard time hearing much of a difference in the motor pitch between the two settings. Maybe tomorrow I'll give it a little more aggressive cleaning to get rid of at least some of the scuff marks. I had pretty good success using 409 and a ScotchBrite pad on my Sanitaire S645 last winter so I'm hopeful of similar results on this one using the same method.

 

[human]

Ready for a close-up, CB....

So the early evening temperature had cooled down to where it was pleasant to be on the deck so I decided to do a little more in-depth cleaning with a ScotchBrite pad and some 409. I was able to get virtually all of the paint scuffs off of the plastic areas—chassis and bumper—and most of them off of the painted metal surfaces, which turned out to be a little larger than I at first thought. I had assumed the green motor cover was plastic but it turned out to be painted metal! So after about 45 minutes of meticulous work, I felt like I had it about as good as I could reasonably expect so I gave it a wipe-down with a damp paper towel and took one more step that I seldom, if ever, do. I hit it with some Armor-All for a little extra shine. The only thing left is to replace the headlight bulb and I can put the 'DONE' stamp on this one. All in all, I'm pretty well pleased.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Looks good! One (unsolicited) tip I like to use car wax on my vacuums after I get the scuffs off to help protect them during use. I use it on both plastic and metal parts.

I've also learned on here that Mother's Aluminum Mag Wheel Polish shines up plastic parts to a mirror shine. I use it on vacuum headlight lenses too and it gets them crystal clear. Of course test it on a less noticeable area first.

I will have to try a Scotch Brite pad.

 

[human]

Thanks...

I'm happy with how it turned out, even though it wasn't really all that bad to begin with. I've never thought of using Mother's on plastic or painted metal. I'll have to give that a try.

The ScotchBrite pad works well if you just keep the surface wet with spray cleaner although in the spirit of full disclosure, I did have to do a little light scraping on the bumper with my pocket knife, holding the blade perpendicular to the bumper and applying only light pressure to avoid gouging it.

 

[lesinutah]

Try

Try meguiars quick interior cleaner. I use it on all everything non metal. You don't lose color and as with most interior car cleaners there will be a glossy shine.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Best of luck on

your new find.

 

[kloveland]

While my collection mainly consists of Hoovrahs and I do love them. I have a few Eurekas as well. The above ESP is built just as good (if not better) than the plastic based convertibles at the time (Hoover Decade for example). I've seen so many plastic based Hoovers with warped agitator housings.

The Eurekas clean a little better because the height adjustment is in the front (where the business end is located) as others have mentioned in the past. I've also seen my share of bent rear wheels on the convertibles. Especially, the plastic based ones.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Kenny!!!!!

Hoovrah? Are you kidding me? lololol You're slipping. No spelling bee winning trophy for you! your speling z ver e badd. Ecstra homwerk 4 u!

 

[kloveland]

John,

Hooverah wasn't meant to be derogatory toward you. I say Hooverah to myself sometimes when I see a Hoover at a thrift store or an estate sale. It's just one of those things that I like and can laugh about internally at the same time.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Yes, I know. Although, some others use it very differently

You know I've been called the grammar nazi in certain circles, among other things, lol. We mustn't add fuel to an already burning fire.

 

[bvac6]

Very nice find! I have one in green as well and also a Brandywine. They are very good uprights!

 

[human]

Brandywine...

I had a brandywine one for a brief time about 25 years ago. It was a dumpster find and was missing the sole plate. I wasn't as vacuum obsessed back then and after I cleaned it up, I checked with a local vacuum shop and found they wanted like $25 for the sole plate and I was not prepared to spend that much. I had been thinking more in terms of half that. Ironically, I later found a loose Eureka motor unit for $22 at a local discount store that was going out of business and I briefly considered buying it just for the sole plate but decided against it and donated the machine instead. I sometimes wish I were more like that today.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Mother's Mag Polish, just a warning I'm not so sure I'd use it on actual painted surfaces, as I think it may actually remove paint. But yes, for plastic and unpainted metal such as aluminum, it works great.