My $5 Dirt Devil broom vac

[happyjigg]

Today I found a broom vac at a garage sale for $5. It was a steal, except for the fact that it is missing the door on the front to cover the hose port. I cleaned it up and it runs fine, yet I noticed that it does not stick to the floor and make a seal like other vacs of it's kind. Is there any place to find a replacement door or plug like the 103, and do your broom vacs not stick to the floor like mine? I'll be able to post pics of it later.

 

[lesinutah]

Canvac

I scored a canvac 2 days ago for $5. I replaced bag and it has 11 amps. It's like 14x10x4. It has alot of power. I'd say hose is 3/4".
I looked them up they have power nozzle with the Platinum version.
It's smaller than oreck xl hand vac but power of a compact.
The older royal/ dirt devil vacs are beasts.
Les
PS don't mind the mess putting Hoover 913 back together and royal 145. I can't find the spindle I had last night for the Hoover.

 

[kirbyklekter]

HappyJigg

I believe as soon as you get that opening covered up with anything you'll notice a bit more suction. Until you locate the cover that goes to the machine, you can just cut out a piece of cardboard about as thick as a cereal box to fit over and just tape it with masking tape. It's just temporary so just go with what works for now!

 

[kloveland]

Those broom vacs are nice

My grandmother bought me one as a kid. Those can vacs are also very handy. You should be able to hook up a power nozzle if it has the port.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I've been after a Broom Vac, some have turned up at Habitat but they tend to want $15-20 for them, too much for me. I also saw one in the trash once, went back later and it was gone.

The Can Vacs are nice too. Remember Mr. Rogers bringing one on his show and vacuuming the couch with it. Then Mr. McFeely brought a tape showing them being assembled at the factory.

 

[happyjigg]

I used a plug from another dirt devil and it fits perfectly but I still wonder about the height from the floor. What could be the cause? Nice can vacs by the way.

 

[kirbyklekter]

I'd be curious to know

if you ever achieve a better carpet to nozzle seal, because mine is the same way. Thinking it's the nature of the little beast. Just raising or lowering the handle there's a lot of resistance. I sometimes have to put my left foot on the cleaner as I put the handle in to the upright locking position. So I've always attributed the poor nozzle seal to carpet to this stiffness of the handle. Is yours like that? I sometimes have to push the motor head down after lowering handle to vacuum for better contact with carpet. Thinking they are just so light as the reason. I wonder if putting a little extra weight on the front end would help, tape something weighing a pound or two on top.

 

[broomvac]

By design, Broom Vacs don’t seal well to the carpet. However, many people inadvertently enlarge the gap by incorrectly installing the sole plate. Make sure the rear of the sole plate engages the lip on the underside of the vacuum before pivoting it forward and securing it with the two screws.

Just a friendly word of caution to those of you who own these vacs: as someone who has had five Broom Vacs, I can attest to their fragility. Honestly, even though I’ve done it before, I do not recommend opening these up unless absolutely necessary. They are made of just about the most brittle ABS I’ve encountered. Tighten a screw too much and you will hear the dreaded crack of split ABS. Do this to just one of the two posts securing the motor in the chassis and the vacuum is hosed.

That said, OP, congrats on the find! Broom Vacs are very unique and getting quite hard to find. There is a charm and sentimentality about these little vacs.

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREADM.cgi?37585_13

 

[happyjigg]

broomvac unfortunately it started to make a loud noise just this evening. I'll investigate it soon to see the cause, but it looks like I will be forced to disassemble it.