Something Intresting

[thehooverman]

The z700 was made in USA Believe it or not. but it probably has foreign components on it.

 

[gmerkt]

Maybe driving on dirt roads like that is part of what contributes to the filtration problem in those machines!

Since you seem to be a Hoover man, you may be aware of the following. I've selected this Hoover Model U5194-900 as having a most asinine name. Look closely at the decalomania on the floor nozzle. It says, "All Terrain." Look at it, I kid you not. Does that mean you can go out on the road and sweep up gravel with it? Can you run around the woods and vacuum up fir needles? I don't think so.

This is one of the many models of Mach 5 that Hoover has brought over from China in a great profusion of colors, model names, and to some extent, feature variations. They all have an indirect drive brush roll. The set-up is somewhat like the Hoover Windtunnels with self propulsion, without the drive mechanism. Instead of the drive, they have a dead pulley that takes power from the flat belt and transfers it from a sheave to the V belt which in turn runs the brush roll. The defect on every one of these that I've every worked on has been the material used in the pulley wheel. The WT SP's had a wheel made of PVC, very hard. The Mach 5's have a pulley made of softer material; carpet resistance to the brush roll is imparted to the V belt, which gradually wears the groove to oversize in the pulley wheel. You can get a new pulley assembly for about $12, but I repair them by taking the PVC wheels from dead WT drive mechanisms. There is some fiddling to do but it works.

 

[gmerkt]

In case you don't have the misfortune to know what the Mach 5 looks like, here is a full picture of one version, the "All Terrain." The attachments on the side are mis-matched.

 

[sebo_fan]

Yep, we had the same one in the UK about 6 years ago under the Vax Mach 7 model name and sat alongside Vax's other multicyclonic range, the "Zero" line. I can recall using one at work all the time - a real brute of a vacuum but at least it had an auto cord rewind and a long hose.

I think it was the start of the new Mach products by Vax around 2007/8 year. The UK don't usually have uprights with auto cord rewinds, so it was pleasing to see that at the time, though I recall it was also very heavy and very noisy.

 

[thehooverman]

gmerkt

LOL!