My $50 New Eureka 1934B With Upgrades

[scooby214]

While browsing Amazon last weekend, I happened upon a new Eureka 1934B, with a damaged box, for $50 with free 2-day Prime shipping. We have a Prime account, so I bought it on the spot. It arrived two days later in new, unblemished condition. I was quite excited, and quickly assembled the vacuum for a successful test run. It's amazing how much of a vacuum you can get for $50!

Since a new 1934B usually costs between $80 and $100 online, I figured I could do some upgrades to the vacuum. I ordered and installed an ST overmold/dirt tube for $17, including shipping. I also ordered a ball bearing vg-II brushroll for $24, including shipping. I purchased a 20 foot appliance extension cord for $9. Now I have a lightweight, effective vacuum that is set up just how I want it, and I spent only $100.

I plan to use this vacuum at my school which has glue down carpet. In addition to teaching elementary students, I am the school liaison for a church group that rents our building each Sunday. As the school liaison, the district pays me to be on site while the church group is at school each Sunday. I also vacuum, empty trash, and clean the bathrooms. I seem to be quite a bit faster when vacuuming with the 1934B than with the custodian's suction only backpack vacuum.

In addition to the new vg-II brushroll, I also have a nearly new vg-I brushroll that I'm trying out in the vacuum. With glue down carpet, I anticipated that the all bristle vg-I would outperform the vg-II. So far, they seem to give similar performance. The bristles on the vg-I sweep the carpet nicely, while the bristles on the vg-2 seem to be slightly stiffer and sweep the carpet little bit more aggressively. There are 4 brush strips on the vg-1, so it seems to do just about as well as 2 stiffer brush strips in the vg-II. The beater bars in the vg-2 do not contact our carpet, as they are recessed about 1/8" above the rug plate on the vacuum.

I haven't decided just yet, but I may leave the vg-I in the 1934B, and put the new vg-II in my Sanitaire S675 that I have at home.

 

[scooby214]

After trying out both brush rolls during today's cleanup time, I decided to metro the vgII in the 1934. It handled ground in crumbs better. I wonder if my vgI needs new brush strips. They bristles stick out past the rug plate, though not quite as far as the bristles on the vgII.

 

[scooby214]

I should say that the bag on the 1934 held much more dirt than the bag on the backpack vac usually has in it when I finish cleaning the rooms. Perhaps having a brush roll helped things out, even with the low pile glue down carpet.

 

[suckolux]

Nice simple, good working, lightweight machine, hard to beat

 

[computerman768]

Nice! I had the same vac in college myself and made similar modifications. My carpet was so hard and basically felt like cement, so cleaning it was a challenge sometimes.


I switched to ST bags as well, got tired of the F&Gs clogging quickly and filtering poorly.

I had better luck with height adjustment with the 8-position knob. There were issues with 2 being too high and 1 being too low with the standard 6-position knob.

In my experience, the VGI with all bristles was the best for that type of carpeting. Plus, the unique design of the VGI allows for more airflow than the round VGII. I started off with the VGII, but later tried the VGI and was sold. Beater bars are great for carpeting with a pad underneath or rugs, but there's nothing to really "beat" out of the glued-down stuff, just needs to be swept with brushes.


Overall, I think you have a great machine that will handle whatever is thrown at it. Mine went through unimaginable abuse for 2 years from roommates (they picked up coins, bolts, rocks, phone chargers =) ) and still runs great!

 

[scooby214]

New Brush Strips

I stopped by my local shop today for some new brush strips for my vgI brushroll. My old ones did show a little wear when compared to the new ones. I will try the vgI again when I do the cleaning job next weekend.