Little thrift store find

[justjunque]

Kind of a neat little find at my closest thrift store today. Well, I think so.
Amongst the new batch of bagless uprights, there sat a little light blue canister vacuum. Closer inspection revealed it to be a Hoover Tempo 350, model S1335. It looks complete, except that two of the tools are black, and I think they're supposed to be light grey, like the crevice tool and upholstery tool.
It has a damaged, sort of plasticky hose, and two aluminum wands. There's a bare floor tool, and a dusting brush, which are the two that are black.
I've barely even looked it over yet. But, I checked the bag compartment, and it has a permanent cloth bag, which may open at one end to shake out. It may be permanently attached to the door. If so, I guess there's no disposable bag option. Cosmetically, it definitely looks used, but not too abused.
Then, there's the damaged hose. It's right where the hose meets the plastic handle that the wands attach to. I imagine there's probably no way to fix it. And, I'm guessing I'm not likely to find a replacement hose for the vacuum.
The motor sounds fairly good; maybe a little growly on wind down.
If I'm reading the serial number correctly, it's from September of 1989.
For $3, I couldn't pass it up. I'll post a couple of pictures when I'm on my other device.

Edit:
Now that I got a better look at the tag, I see that it uses Type R bags. So, maybe there’s a choice of disposable bags, or the cloth one that’s in it now.[this post was last edited: 1/10/2025-17:27]

 

[wstonehockertv]

Made in September 1989.

 

[kirbyman65]

Nice find

Barry
I’ve never had one of these, but I do want one. Great find! Enjoy
Jack

 

[fan-of-fans]

That’s a nice little machine! I like how the attachments store at the back and the fact that it has a cord reel. Not a lot of small American canisters seemed to have a retracting cord. The colors are nice, too.

 

[justjunque]

I thought so too.
It seems like they made the Tempo canisters in different "trim levels".
I think there's a 150, I believe that one doesn't have a cord reel. I don't know about tool storage.
This is a 350. Then, I saw a video of a 450, and that one had a motorized power nozzle.
I actually wish I could pop the tool caddy off to clean around it more thoroughly. But, I don't want to risk breaking it, since I really don't know how it's held on.

 

[justjunque]

What’s everyone’s thoughts on what kind of bag would offer better filtration; the disposable paper bags, or the cloth shake-out bag that came with it?

Edit:
I just took the bag all the way out for the first time, to clean it, and discovered that there are one or two small holes in it. One of them almost looks like a cigarette burn. So, in light of that, I guess I'll be using paper bags.[this post was last edited: 1/11/2025-16:00]

 

[kirbyman65]

I would personally

use the paper bags. Some say they clog easily, but since it will probably be picking up some light dirt it shouldn't be a problem. I wonder if you'll find a cigarette bud or ash in the motor!

 

[justjunque]

I gave it its first run today, in the laundry room.
I got the Type R bags that I ordered. They're smaller than I expected, and shaped odd. I was expecting something more like an Electrolux C bag
It seems to have halfway decent power/airflow.
I see why there was a problem with the hose, near where it meets the handle. It wants to kink right there when you're using it.
And, like I noticed when I just test fired the motor, it sounds fine while it's running, but kind of growly on wind-down.
I would imagine it's kind of like the Hoover version of the Eureka Mighty Mite. I'm not saying they're the same machine. I just mean similar. Probably aimed at the same market.
The nice thing about the Eureka though, is that I can get HEPA bags for it. Every little bit helps.
Generally speaking, I like the little Hoover. They definitely seem less common than the Mighty Mite, which I believe is still in production.