michvacguy
Active member
Hello everyone!
I recently purchased a Hoover Dial-a-Matic 1120 in very good condition from Ebay. Just wanting to share my thoughts and impressions with all of you and certainly welcome your 2 cents you're willing to share
Background Info:
I first came across a Dial-a-Matic in the early 1980s when my grandpa owned own (the light green and brown model with height adjustment). My impressions as a kid (around age of 7) were:
1. It was very hard to push on grandpa's higher pile carpeting
2. It seemed to spit out debris at times that had to travel from one end of
nozzle trying to make it down to the other end where the suction hose was
located (even as I kid I made sure the bag wasn't full and there were no
clogs in an attempt to remedy this)
3. I remember the genuine Hoover dust bags in the bag chamber but also remember
how dirty the chamber itself always seemed and how worthless the red pre-
motor filter seemed to be
4. I was still in awe at this machine, though, as it was completely different
than the direct-air, soft-bagged machines we had in my own home and what
I saw in the local vac shop and big-box stores
Model 1120 from Ebay cleanup work:
I tried my best to disassemble certain areas of the vac to give it a lookover and a cleaning:
1. A refurbished beater bar brush roll had been installed by the vac shop that
sold it to me, so there is plenty of bristle contact left with carpets
2. I completely cleaned out the bag chamber and coated it with some tan
plastic-friendly spray paint (this very much helped mask any old odors)
3. I got rid of the old red filter and got some cut-to-fit pre-motor filter
material from my local vac shop.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to build a filter support,
though, as it tends to get sucked down into the chamber leading to the
motor?
4. Per Tom Gasko's suggestion, I wrapped a few rounds of electrical tape
around the tube where the dust bag gets attached and am using a Simplicity
Symmetry HEPA bag.
4. I managed to remove the front cover, of which the inside was filthy with
dust, lint, etc from who knows how long ago (the pre-motor filter didn't
trap much LOL). I removed the old noise baffles and replaced them with
new thick foam weather stripping. I replaced the foam diffuser as well as
the old one had literally dry rotted into nothing. I also coated inside
with the spray paint.
Firing the Vac Up:
1. Absolutely LOVE the sound/hum of the motor and the beater bar brush roll
2. I love the love profile of the nozzle and the narrowness of it (makes
vacuuming the smaller rooms in my tri-level easier)
3. It seems, though, just as I remember as a kid, that if debris enters the far
side of the power nozzle it takes forever to get sucked up finally into
the nozzle hose and also some gets spit back out in front of vac (I have
berber carpet throughout) and I know nothing is blocked and the bag is new
Closing thoughts:
I'm very happy to have a piece of vac history in my own home now. I just had to get one after the childhood memories. The vac definitely has its plusses, but also minuses.
1. I'm assuming this was Hoover's most expensive vac back in the day?
2. Any thoughts on if, upon purchasing and trying in their own home, house-
wives (or men) were perhaps disappointed in some of the shortcomings of
the vac after shelling out all that money?
Thanks for allowing me to share! All-in-all I enjoy this vac!!!!
I recently purchased a Hoover Dial-a-Matic 1120 in very good condition from Ebay. Just wanting to share my thoughts and impressions with all of you and certainly welcome your 2 cents you're willing to share
Background Info:
I first came across a Dial-a-Matic in the early 1980s when my grandpa owned own (the light green and brown model with height adjustment). My impressions as a kid (around age of 7) were:
1. It was very hard to push on grandpa's higher pile carpeting
2. It seemed to spit out debris at times that had to travel from one end of
nozzle trying to make it down to the other end where the suction hose was
located (even as I kid I made sure the bag wasn't full and there were no
clogs in an attempt to remedy this)
3. I remember the genuine Hoover dust bags in the bag chamber but also remember
how dirty the chamber itself always seemed and how worthless the red pre-
motor filter seemed to be
4. I was still in awe at this machine, though, as it was completely different
than the direct-air, soft-bagged machines we had in my own home and what
I saw in the local vac shop and big-box stores
Model 1120 from Ebay cleanup work:
I tried my best to disassemble certain areas of the vac to give it a lookover and a cleaning:
1. A refurbished beater bar brush roll had been installed by the vac shop that
sold it to me, so there is plenty of bristle contact left with carpets
2. I completely cleaned out the bag chamber and coated it with some tan
plastic-friendly spray paint (this very much helped mask any old odors)
3. I got rid of the old red filter and got some cut-to-fit pre-motor filter
material from my local vac shop.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to build a filter support,
though, as it tends to get sucked down into the chamber leading to the
motor?
4. Per Tom Gasko's suggestion, I wrapped a few rounds of electrical tape
around the tube where the dust bag gets attached and am using a Simplicity
Symmetry HEPA bag.
4. I managed to remove the front cover, of which the inside was filthy with
dust, lint, etc from who knows how long ago (the pre-motor filter didn't
trap much LOL). I removed the old noise baffles and replaced them with
new thick foam weather stripping. I replaced the foam diffuser as well as
the old one had literally dry rotted into nothing. I also coated inside
with the spray paint.
Firing the Vac Up:
1. Absolutely LOVE the sound/hum of the motor and the beater bar brush roll
2. I love the love profile of the nozzle and the narrowness of it (makes
vacuuming the smaller rooms in my tri-level easier)
3. It seems, though, just as I remember as a kid, that if debris enters the far
side of the power nozzle it takes forever to get sucked up finally into
the nozzle hose and also some gets spit back out in front of vac (I have
berber carpet throughout) and I know nothing is blocked and the bag is new
Closing thoughts:
I'm very happy to have a piece of vac history in my own home now. I just had to get one after the childhood memories. The vac definitely has its plusses, but also minuses.
1. I'm assuming this was Hoover's most expensive vac back in the day?
2. Any thoughts on if, upon purchasing and trying in their own home, house-
wives (or men) were perhaps disappointed in some of the shortcomings of
the vac after shelling out all that money?
Thanks for allowing me to share! All-in-all I enjoy this vac!!!!
