Which Portapower was Better?

[guardsman69]

dear ben what a facinating and impressive portapower retrospective....you made me pull out my 40 year old spec book on this thread....you can ask john long how thick my hoover spec book is..and you have pinpointed every detail perfectly....i thought you were only into kirbys.....you shocked me with this one ben....

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

John G.,

I wonder if you have any Portapowers yourself you'd like my expertise in?

I wish I had information about the Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney Portapowers. I know Wards withdrew from selling their version after 1983 (the blue bodied version is rarer than the white one which I believe they started selling since 1977) when they got a more favorable deal in slapping its name on the Eureka Mighty Mite, although JCP continued selling its version through 1984.

The machine was also sold by Oreck as their Power Pak XL starting around 1982 as it is a version of the S1029-075. Oreck's has the 1.7 HP Spirit motor because the switch is a slide-type rather than the rocker type used on the original S1029.

~Ben

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

C2093 Office Machine Cleaner (Front)

Special commercial duty version, first sold in 1988. The actual colors of this machine are Crimson Rust (overall) and Raisin Brown (accents).

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

C2093 Office Machine Cleaner (Back)

Back side.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

For now, I know that the first Montgomery Ward version of the Portapower was catalog #82-702, and the corresponding model # would be #UHO-702. This was based on the #S1015-030 produced from 1976 to 1980. The Wards unit shared the same Oyster White body color. The version with the plastic wands will carry a model #UHO-702A on the nameplate.

The blue-bodied second version, as seen in the attached picture, was still given the catalog #82-702 (as can be seen on the box), but the model # would be #UHO-702B. This being a post-1981 model, due to the slide-type motor switch and the 1.7 peak HP Spirit motor. It was the last Portapower version sold by Wards, since after 1983 Wards would lend its name to a version of the Eureka Mighty Mite canister.

~Ben

 

[guardsman69]

BEN THE ONLY VINTAGE PORTAPOWERS I HAVE ARE THE S1015030 WHICH WAS THE FIRST HOOVER I SOLD IN JANUARY 1977....THE SECOND IS MY S1029 FROM THE HOOVER VAULT ...NOW AT TTI IN GLENWILLOW AND MY S1075 FROM 1988 THAT I USE OUT IN THE GARAGE FOR THE TRUCKS AND THE S1077060 THAT NEVER LEAVES THE HOUSE FROM 1989.....ALL ARE PERFECT..AND RUN BEAUTIFULLY....I AM SO IMPRESSED WITHYOUR HOOVER PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE AND ATTENTION TO THE MOST SPECIFIC DETAILS SINCERELY JOHN

 

[kloveland]

I had no idea that Hoover produced so many version of the Portapower. I knew the early ones had the Dial-A-Matic motor. The later ones seem to be a little quieter to me.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Yes, Ben

KUDOS to you, indeed.  A stellar "display" of Swingette/Portapower history.  One MIGHT be considered "better" than the other.  But,  neithe certainly is 'bad'.  Right?

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

John G.,

Right. They are all excellent in one way or another.

I would like to think that Hoover switched to the Spirit motor assembly in late 1981, after the remainder of the parts inventory of the Dial-a-Matic series, whose motor assembly the Portapower originally used, was depleted (that upright was discontinued in 1978).

~Ben

 

[kirbyklekter]

Just curious

Hi Ben! I was just wondering if you knew when and why the "Good Housekeeping " seal of approval is no longer seen on these brochures. I believe 1977 was the last to have this. Thank you for all your efforts in being such a trusted source of information. Billy

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

kirbyklekter

Billy,

I wish I knew about that myself. I am sure someone else here will answer this question.

~Ben

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Being a purist,

I think I'd prefer the originals. But, I do have and love the newer ones as well.

 

[human]

Office Machine Cleaner

The black Office Machine Cleaner in reply no. 31 unlocked a memory for me of a place where I worked in the early '90s. We had an IBM copier and the technician who came to service/repair it had one of those to clean up spilled toner. It was housed in a hard-sided carrying case, constructed much like the Samsonite suitcases and briefcases of that era, and the cleaner itself sported a blue IBM logo instead of a red Hoover logo.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I have a newer dark gray and orange one that I got off Dollarhog on eBay. It was a return, I had to wash the cloth bag and order the wands it was missing off topvacuum. But it looks brand new and it's a nice cleaner. The colors are nice, I like that they still make them.

I don't know what the motor in it is like, I'm curious if it's similar to the one in the mini canister that came with the lightweight upright.