Newest Find

[hoover300]

Found this at a junk shop today. It had an ENORMOUS 6" clog made of dog hair and brown pine needles. After clearing it out, it works fine. I am very impressed by the build quality and suction, it kind of reminds me of the early SP Windtunnels. Was this sold at specialty stores? It says 2013 on the date code but I don't remember Walmart having these. Also, does someone have a pic of the bagless version? Thanks!
~K

 

[huskyvacs]

This might have been a model that fell under the radar. I have never heard of one either and can't find much photos online either.

 

[henrydreyfuss]

These were sold in big box stores as well as shops

These were originally called the Hoover Spirit, which had a more robust attachment hose, and I believe better standard filters. This blue model, the Hoover Preferred, came out after the Spirit, and for the price, they were good machines. They had a Windtunnel-style very aggressive agitator, and good suction, but less airflow than a Windtunnel. They were quieter than the Windtunnel vacuums of the time too, thanks to a different (and presumably cheaper) motor. We sold a ton of both bagged versions (the Spirit and then the Preferred), as Hoover sold them to dealers for very low bulk prices. We sold it for $119.99, and at the time (we probably started carrying these around 2006 or 2007), we found it to be one of the best options for the price.

The most common thing we saw fail on these were the attachment hose, which tore easily at the grip end. The Preferred had a shorter and more delicate hose than the Spirit, and it turned out to be an on-going issue.

If I saw one at a thrift store today, I'd probably pick it up. They were good budget vacuums.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Nice machine!

It always amazes me how people will discard an vacuum due to a blockage, broken belt, dirty filter, "(There's a filter"?)
And, I'm amazed, not just with my beloved Hoovers, but, with other species as well. Terrible waste. But, smart collectors!!

 

[tseg]

That is a nice find!

"It always amazes me how people will discard an vacuum due to a blockage, broken belt, dirty filter, "(There's a filter"?)
And, I'm amazed, not just with my beloved Hoovers, but, with other species as well. Terrible waste. But, smart collectors!! "

For past month I had not used my Miele U1, but my wife was using. I saw her using the wand a lot in the kitchen. She then asked me to finish the dining room. I started vacuuming and realized nothing was getting picked up. I could see right behind the roller was a big plug of debris. Only because I was geeky doing research before my purchase that I bought the 2 different sized torx screw drivers to open the metal plate. Apparently my wife had tried to suck up some cardboard a while back and things quickly went downhill from there. Now all is back to new. I never said anything to the Mrs. as I'm sure she would criticize the vacuum and then me for buying it. All's well that ends well.

 

[fan-of-fans]

That's a very interesting vacuum. I don't think I've ever seen one either. Odd to me it doesn't have the red Hoover circular logo, but instead HOOVER is spelled out in bold letters. Almost reminds a little of one of the UK Hoovers such as the Purepower or Enigma.

 

[hoover300]

Cool

The hose on mine is in good shape but has a dent near the elbow (thats where the clog was). I am very impressed by it, it really doesn't seem like a budget machine. It doesn't really seem quiet though, I will have to oil it in the future.
~K