My Awesome Find

[gusherb]

Nice to see your list of the Concept models, and perfect timing to post it with my having just gotten one and digging for every bit of info I can get. I guess my vacuum could be anywhere from 25-32 years old huh.

The more I play with and test my Concept the more I fall in love with it. I didn't think Concept's cleaned all that great just by watching people's video's of them. So I was quite surprised to see how good this thing is at cleaning when I first ran it. I ran it over some corn meal, and oat meal this evening and it picked it up completely in just one pass, better then a few of my vacuums.
The headlight on this machine is very nice and does a great job lighting the cleaning path, even several feet ahead.

Only two things driving me absolutely nuts at the moment are: The transmissions annoying grinding noise that makes me wonder if this thing is gonna hold up any longer. and I'm going on a mission tomorrow to find replacement bristles for the brushroll (one's on this one look brand new still, but i really don't want to be stuck with a useless vacuum years down the road cuz of no replacement bristles)

 

[kenmore81]

CONGRATULATIONS =)

I had 2 of the green ones like yours John, one was an 81 the other an 80. One I sold the other one I have no idea where it went. That happend to alot of my vacs as dad dint like "junk" lying around and even though I had my own vacuum room/workshop things still dissapeared when id go away for a weekend =(

Brian I love the blue one, but I also like the beige non p/d. I olny came across one beige non drive and I could not get the horrible smell out of it and it was pretty beat up so it got tossed.

 

[kenmore81]

BTW

My Concepts did make noise when the transmissions were at work. My Windtunnel and Pwermax PowerDrive does to, but I don't use the power drive.
I don't care for it but sis and mom did when they were my daily drivers. The w/t is at the BF's and his mom likes the power drive also, but she is also older.

 

[jayelux]

Concept One

At the convention, I won a blue Concept One Powerdrive in a raffle. It was my first experience with a Hoover upright, and I am very impressed. I love everything about it. The cord reel works well. The power drive is almost comical how fast it can go. And it really cleans well. I didn't know it was two speed at first, and I was impressed even on the lower setting! I plan to bring it back to the convention so that someone else might win it and have such a positive experience.
Jay

 

[hoovercelebrity]

If the transmission is making a grinding noise, that may be the reason it doesn't have a lot of use on it. If the transmission went bad, that could have put it out of commission early on. It happened. I would definitely keep your eyes open for a Concept that could give you a 'donor' transmission. The transmissions were still available from Hoover in 2007, but they were close to $100, if I recall correctly. I kind of doubt they're still available. Again, though, older vac stores may still have one floating around.

I also wouldn't really worry about the brush strips. They only wear down after years and years of use... I would be sure that they're still out there somewhere... you'll find a set eventually. Your brushroll/brush strips look almost factory-fresh.

~Fred

 

[vintagecanister]

@Philip:

Thank you for that detailed list! I'm sure MANY will appreciate that. I just happened to find a U3105 today here by Chicago as well. However, it's in good shape, but I still think Johnathon's will take the cake! =0)

 

[gusherb]

Fred

It only makes that noise if I run full speed across the carpet, if I keep it slow it stays quiet. I can't really complain too much though, i got the machine for 5 dollars. and if this transmission craps out completely I'll just do what you said and find a donor machine. I already had the entire machine disassembled and the transmission will be easy to replace if need be.
When I make my video of it for YT I will point out and demonstrate the noise it makes, might be normal for all I know (which is kinda what I'm hoping)

Getting my first Concept has really sparked a love for this machine, I really do now get what everyone says about it, and so far has proven to be my favorite Hoover. I look forward to eventually picking up some more Concepts

 

[gusherb]

Ok I got my video of my vacuum up: here it is


<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

 

[hoovercelebrity]

It's kind of hard to hear over the roar of the cleaner. I would say if it only makes that noise when you push it sort of fast and hard, then.. don't push it fast and hard. That's now how those were meant to be used, and the faster a cleaner gets pushed across a carpet, the less effective it becomes at removing the dirt from the carpet. Granted, that cleaner probably shouldn't make that noise at all ... so be on the lookout for a new transmission... In the meantime, it seems like you won't really have much of a problem with regular vacuuming. But otherwise, it sounds good!

Nice video!

 

[gusherb]

I took it over to my grandma's house to give it a good workout and see how it holds up vacuuming a whole house full of carpet (we have barely any carpet in our own house) in order to keep it from making that noise I had to pace myself fairly slow, if I let the vacuum take off it starts making that irritating noise. So I'll just wait and see. I do love the strong solid feel of this machine, especially the way it sounds, powerful growly, like I'd think of a Hoover would sound (too bad they made them all screechy now)

 

[Klectrolux]

What a beautiful machine! I really like the brush roll hahah and the red brushes. Sounds nice too! Great find!

 

[vintagevaclover]

I have the U3341

I just got it out of storage to play with a bit. I'd love to know a little more about it if anyone has any input. One thing that's interesting is it does not have a Quadraflex Agitator, the one it has looks similar but only has 2 rows instead of 4. Also, it does not have cord hooks on the side of the handle, it has one at the top near the strain-relief for the cord and the other is at the bottom under the bag. Also interesting that it says "Self-Propelled" instead of "POWER DRIVE". I'd love any info that anyone has about it. Thanks!

 

[vintagevaclover]

This is the agitator

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Vintagevaclover I think it was one of the last Concept I models produced.

I love Concepts and buy them pretty much whenever they turn up.
I started vac collecting a few years ago and i have noticed how great vacs like these are fewer and futher between each year.

Concerning the Concept I that started the thread, it may just be a wheel making the noise. It's a very old thread so no doubt he worked it out.

 

[vacerator]

Nice Hoover, and dog

Gusher, I like your dog too. We lost our ten year old Rottie to bone cancer last may.