Tons of questions to ask about Hoover in the 2000's.

[royalfan103]

Did the Fold away and Empower use a Maytag vacuum motor? Or did those models use a TTI motor? What makes the TTi and Maytag motors sound different? Did the fan design cause a difference in the sound? I have so many questions to ask about Hoover's 2000's era. Especially about the Fold away and Empowers.

 

[lesinutah]

Hoover

It most definitely wasn't a tti motor. It was probably a lamb motor. I'm not sure but Maytag and Kenmore I'm guessing are close to if not the same as a Hoover.
The foldaway is sister vac to Kenmore. I want to say Kenmore (I just had a brain fert).
If tti made any it would be in last few years. You won't find it in early 2000s.
Fan of fans is Kenmore and Maytag guru and could explain much better than I can.
Les

 

[rainbowd4]

Not similar to kenmore....

Kenmore in that period was made by Panasonic, and were much different than any Hoover vacs. They aren't even barely similar, and Hoover didn't use lamb motors either. Not to be rude, but lots of misinformation in that last comment.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

sadly, there's a lot of

misinformation out there.
It's great to read correct info, about everything.
If/when I'm not sure, I go to the right places and ask the right people.
I appreciate reading all of the stuff in this thread, and, many others as well.
[this post was last edited: 9/29/2019-11:58]

 

[lesinutah]

Wrong

I was wrong. Panasonic is like Riccar. I have a Kenmore elite and it's very similar to Panasonic.
My phone's permissions are blocking internet search. I would usually look up info and post it.
Les

 

[kloveland]

The first bagless style Hoover was interesting. It was a fan first Elite with a twin bagless chamber. Pretty dusty! Then Hoover did a better job with the Windtunnel bagless with what was available at the time. Those Empowers required a lot just to change the belt. The agitator wasn't easily accessible.

 

[royalfan103]

Here's 2 different vacs made my Maytag Hoover.

One's a Self propelled Windtunnel Ultra, the other's a Fold Away. Credits to Panasonic vac and Richard David Jordan. Just skip to the parts where they turn on.

 

[ultralux88]

The Foldaway and Empower use the non self propelled Windtunnel motor. I gone no hones idea who made those motors. In the pic, the one on the left is the one, self propelled one is on the right. I’d guess these were made by Johnson by the looks of it, but it could have been Ametek.

 

[royalfan103]

I looked at an ebay listing for a Hoover Fold Away Motor. It was an ametek motor. I think during the production run of the Fold aways, the dirt got in the motor. This caused the consumers to take the Fold Away to a repair shop to get the motor replaced. And the replacements were Ametek Motors. I think you're lucky to have a Fold Away with the original Maytag motor. Then for the empowers I think they used Maytag motors in 2004 when they first came out, but then the year after that (2005) they got cheap and started using Ameteks.

 

[kirbyklekter]

RoyalFan103

Are you familiar with the model nos. as they apply to production dates. Just curious. I rescued a very used black Fold Away at curbside. It's called TurboPower3100 and the model number is U-5178-900 and it was made in Mexico. I haven't worked on it yet, but it really works great for the condition that it's in. So just curious about it's age if you knew. Thanks! Billy

 

[royalfan103]

I'm not familiar with model numbers, but I do want to see your Turbopower 3100 running and some pictures of it. I would know how old it is by reading and knowing what the first four digits are on the Serial number. Fold Aways came out in 2003 and the one we used to have was made and bought in the same year they came out. So currently the fold away series is 16 years old. I know how old the Fold Away we used to have is 16 years old because of the date my Mom and Dad were married.

 

[kirbyklekter]

OK Thanks. I'll post pics when done. It needs a lot of parts, I'm debating whether to buy new or scout around for used. Hose, both filters and the height adjustment wheel assembly, and a new brush roll. Here are the numbers: Model U5871-0900 The serial no. is under a bar code on lower left side of sticker which is 040500003985. Then there is another bar code strip on upper right of sticker, it doesn't say serial no. but for what its worth, 7 19881 16021 4. on the front dirt bin,it says Turbo 3100. On the top of brush roll cover it reads widepath 12 amp motor with 20.0 cleaning performance. It just has three height adjustments. I think the cleaning perf. numbers got better in later models.I think this is an early model, I mean I rescued it over 10 yrs. ago! So if the first 4 digits of the serial number on mine read as 0405, would that translate as April,2005?

 

[royalfan103]

Yes, the serial no does translate to that date. For the filters and brushroll you can get new, the brushroll part number is 48414132. The hose and height adjustment wheel assembly you can seek either used or new. The Turbopower 3100 had 3 versions, model U5167-900 is one of my dream machines. Picture 1 is U5167-900. Model U5178-900 had 2 versions. One with a black dirt cup handle, the other with a white one like U5176-900.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Royal Fan103

Victor, thanks for the parts numbers etc. You've got my curiosity revved up about these Foldaways now. I only know about the one I have, which isn't a lot compared to you. So on the serial numbers, I'm dropping the 900 since they all have that. My 5178 looks exactly like the 5167 you show in pic.#1. The carrying handle to dirt cup and the rotary dial to the height adjuster are what I see as a medium grey color, not white. Here come the questions: What is the difference between my 5178 and the 5167? Of the three dream machines (foldaways) that you desire, 5161, 5163 and 5167,how do they differ from each other? How did they become your favorite. Lastly, what is the serial number of the red one in your video. This is fun, thanks, Billy

 

[royalfan103]

The video isn't mine, I used it to show how the fold away sounded different from another maytag hoover upright. The diffrences between U5161, U5163, and U5167 is that they're all different colors. When these came out in 2003, they came in Teal, Red, Black(Turbopower 3100), Purple, Blue, etc. The Black, Purple, and all the widepath models weren't shown in the commercial. Here's pictures of all the fold away models (most of them). There was also a minisite for the Fold Away on the old Hoover.com, along a link to the Old Hoover.com.




https://web.archive.org/web/20030921112701/http://www.hoover.com/

https://web.archive.org/web/20031008105302/http://hoover.com/MiniSite/FoldAway/FoldAway.html

 

[royalfan103]

Part 2 to my response to kirbyklekter.

Your welcome! To answer more of your questions. I found out we had a Fold Away after watching the Fold Away Commercial and an old family video from October 2009. No, I'm not gonna post it on this site because it's on the Playstation 3 we have. That's how the Fold away became one of my favorites and one of my dream machines because it's pretty nostalgic. Also, the Difference between U5178 and U5167 is U5167 is not a widepath model while the U5178 is.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Thankyou, RoyalFan103

Your info cleared a lot up for me.16 years and still in production, that's pretty good. Especially in these days. It makes it easier to get parts when they are still in production! It also looks like a good deal of parts are inter-changeable,yes? Was or is the TurboPower 3100 a performance model.Could you get the widepath in other models?Which motor do you think I'm going to find when I open it up for inspection?
Ametek/Lamb motors seem to be decent, I've seen them in lots of equipment over the years. As far as quality. I firmly believe that the customer who contracts with them or any manufacturer dictates the outcome of the quality by mostly how much they are willing to pay to have it made. They have the knowledge and capability to build as good a motor as any other builder, just comes down to money, as always! I'm thinking that the 103 in your user name stands for 1/03,or Jan2003, the month and year your parents were married. Bingo?

 

[royalfan103]

Yes, my parents were married in January 2003. The 103 in my username is a model number for the Royal Dirt Devil Hand Vac. Anyways yes, Parts are interchangeable with other Fold Away models due to the Turbopower 3100 being a recolor of the normal Fold Away and the widepath models using the same body style just a different base design. The Turbopower 3100 wasn't a performance model, but a model that was part of Hoover's private dealer product line-up called The Turbopower Floor Care Line Up. The lowest end model was a Tempo Canister and the Highest end model was a Self propelled Bagless Windtunnel. Judging by how high the 3100 is in the product line up, your Turbopower 3100 and the u5167-900 version were the low to mid range models in the line up.

 

[royalfan103]

BTW..

Yes, you can get other models with the widepath feature like the Tempo Widepath that's still in production. I think you would find a Maytag motor inside due to Ultralux98's post. If you see me posting twice, I'm quite forgetful and I can't edit because I'm not an upgraded member.