Worst trash find I've ever seen

[vacuumfreeeke]

So, I just had a neighbor bang on my door at the crack of noon (which is equivalent to 5 AM to most people because I work my second job until 3 AM)... I threw on some clothes upside down and inside out and groggily answered the door, hair a mess, sleepy seeds in my eyes, and creases fron the pillow case running down my face, to see what she wanted... fearing that she was going to tell me that something was wrong with my car or something (the last time she knocked on the door, my best friend had left the car in neutral and it was in the middle of the parking lot!). She said there was a vacuum in the trash that I should go look at. She thought it was a Bissell. My initial thought was, "Lady, you woke me up and startled me for a Bissell?!" I got there and it was indeed NOT a Bissell.

It turned out to be a Hoover WindTunnel V2. I don't have any "dual brushroll" machines in my collection, so I took it back home to investigate further. I know these are fragile and therefore will be rare one day... much like the Innovations. I remember when these came out when I sold them at Sears... they were loud and didn't have much suction, but I liked that they could be bagged or bagless. I wished they'd been offered in a self-propelled version.

Anyway, on to the condition of the machine. It had all the original accessories (dusting brush, turo tool, upholstery tool, 1 extension wand, and long crevice tool) which surprised me. The wand and nested crevice tool were laying in a box in front of the machine because the clip is broken off. The housing right above the brushroll is cracked. The headlight lense is missing. And, the poor Hoover logo has become displaced.

The machine is filthy, but the brushrolls work suprisingly! The motor sounds fine. So, do you think it is even worth the effort to try to restore this beast, or shoudld I just return it to the trash and let it rest in pieces and put it out of its misery?

I don't know how available parts are, and I'd at least want to replace that housing cover if possible... if I'm going to keep it.

What do you gys think?

Here's a picture of the poor abused thing. Even the plastic cover over the attachments is intact, and that is usually missing on Windtunnels.

 

[lunchboxsean]

Actually, my everyday vac is a Dual V. This is because we have no carpet in the house and just a bunch of rugs here and there. Because of the counter-rotating brushrolls, it doesn't pull up the corners of the rugs. The suction isn't the best, but it's sufficient. I will tell you this, the plastic piece that's cracked is a total pain in the a$# to replace, but it might be worth doing. Like you said, because of the nylon gears in the gearbox, these burned up a lot and will be very rare one day. I know one vac shop who actually refuses service one at all. Even professionals hate these. So the Windtunnel Dual V will become ominous and one day they will have the collector value of other ominous things like Nazi memorabilia and Backstreet Boys posters.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Thanks, Sean. I haven't been brave enough to tear into it yet, but I did look on Ebay and it seems that most of the parts are available. I took the floor model apart at Sears once because the clear inlets got dusty and I didn't think they should have been... they were meant to be clear! I hate it when manufacturers use clear parts on things that you know are going to get coated with dust.

This will be one heck of a restore job if I do it... I may just keep the attachments an throw the rest away )

Let me ask, is there supposed to be some kind of reflector under the headlight bulb? If so, that's missing too...

 

[briguy]

Hey Bobby, I have that exact model. Mine was going to be tossed as well when one of our local vac shops was going out of business. I am sure you already know, but the base plastic is exremely brittle. In fact a couple of the screw posts on mine were broken where the screws had been put back in after the brush rolls were apparently serviced. I was able to use JB Weld to fix them, but what a project. This is the first and only dual agitator vac I have had in the collection.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Bri, I just found out how brittle it is... I've torn in to the machine and have most of the salvageable parts soaking... I'll post pics later, but OMG! ALL the screw posts are broken... ALL of them and there are multiple cracks in the clear cover... which I had to dismantle the whole machine and snip wires to remove.... Oh what a mess. Even in this shape, the thing still picked up. I'm looking for the part, but I can't tell from the description if this is the right one or not... would someone be able to look at this link and tell me if this is the clear plastic part I need?

It may be best to find a donor machines... the screws (the ones there were there, half were missing), were all rusted.... this thing is a complete disaster!



http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Hoover-Dirt-Duct-Cover-for-Windtunnel-V2-Brand-New-/260821451842

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Sad ending for this guy... I'm taking it back to the trash, where it will litterally rest in pieces instead of peace...

I went to thrift shops and checked Craig's List and Ebay for donor machines... none to be found... I called vacuum shops and parts places and the ones that didn't start laughing as soon as I stated what model it was said they would call me back and never did. I even called the local Kirby distributor to see if I could look at their traded in machines, and the girl said, "You gotta ax duh managers and day ain't comin' back tool dumarah" (That's exactly how she said it)

I don't have the time or energy for another project, so I'm robbing the light bulb and attachments and the rest is going straight in the trash... shame indeed, but sometimes you have to know when to give up. Vacuums are like stray cats, I can't rescue every one that I feel sorry for :O)

Maybe I'll find another one day, but I never loved these vacs anyway... loud and hard to push, though unique... I should see if I can save the gear assembly and brushrolls in case I do find another one some day... OH well, I tried

 

[vacuumman206]

I never like 2nd,3rd...ext generations of something, this being one of them. I only somewhat like the design of the first windtunnels and that's it. I think this thing is ugly, too large and too heavy. But something with a dual brush like that qualifies for the label of badass. I have the red one. If you do end up scrapping it, I could sure use the bottom plate because that's what mine's missing, and I can't find one either.

 

[vacuumman206]

I missed that

Oops! I missed that you said it's going back to the trash. Would you save the brushplate and how much would you want for it?? and would you mail it?

 

[gmerkt]

Yes, that agitator housing (the part with the cracks and failed screw holes) is the weak link on these. And a replacement part hasn't been available for many years. Some of the other parts are still available and usually not very expensive but they are drying up quickly.

Hesco has the bottom plates new for $2.19.

If your agitator housing hasn't sustained other damage, there are ways to reconstruct the screw receptacles but as BriGuy said, it's a job of work.

I've refurbed quite a few of these, so long as they haven't been too far gone to start with. They sell but not quickly.

Currently, I've got a Dual V in maroon that is almost finished and a V2 in Navy blue that I haven't started yet. I'm waiting for two parts for the Dual V. No idea what the blue V2 will need but a cursory inspection shows no major parts that are bad.

Also I have a Dual V that has a badly broken agitator housing (someone stepped on it). Then I have a bottom end for a Savvy. I've been going to marry the two together just for kicks, not for resale. The Savvy has some electronics that the Dual V lacks, also a DC motor to run the single brushroll which I think I've figured out how to mate to the Dual V upper. This frivolous project has been hanging around for a couple of months but I'll get to it eventually.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Gary, thank you as always for an informative and well written repsonse. With Hesco, you have to be a vacuum store owner to order from them, right?

Jordan, I never made it to the dumpster... I got engrossed in a sewing project and forgot all about the V2... I'm going to look at a couple more thrift stores today (they both had V2s the last time I was there, but they were missing the brushrolls) and if I don't find anything I will throw the machine away, but keep the attachments and send you the bottom plate... might as well give it to someone who can use it if I can't... better than going in the trash. If I find a machine and it is missing the bottom plate, I will have to keep mine... and if I find one and it has the bottom plate, I'll keep one and send you the other... I'll let you know and if I send it, you can just reimburse me for whatever it costs to ship if you want it....

 

[vacuumman206]

bottom plate

Thank you! That will be much appreciated. I believe anyone can order from Hesco. I might have at some point for a hard to find Regina switch I think. But I don't recall them being $2. Thanks again!

 

[super-sweeper]

I have a simular dual-v,the parts for thesse are becoming harder to find,would it be worth it to have the gearbox (If it even works) and the brushes shipped?

-Alex.

 

[director12]

The design of the model went to the Hoover Convertible Anniversary Version. That model was also just as bad.

 

[super-sweeper]

...Just as bad?

I own one in pristine condition,and i can't see why this is a bad cleaner...?
You can go bagged or bagless-it has a dirt sensor-cleans well-on/off brushroll-brushroll aurge protector-

Sure seems well to me!

-Alex.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Jordan, send me an e-mail with your address. I threw everything away except for the upholstery tool, dusting brush, and turbo tool because I figured that I might find another machine one day that was missing those things and then I would have them. Even the extension wand was cracked! Now, I'll likely find another V2 with everything perfect except the brushroll motor/gear and will kick myself for throwing this one away... I called a large vacuum store in Tampa as a last, vain effort to find parts or a donor machine. I figured if anyone would have the part, they would... after being placed on hold for 15 minutes, they guy said he'd call me back. We played phone tag about 37 times because he decided to call me back after I got to work. When we finally talked, he said he went "upstairs" and found the part and that it would be 60 dollars. That's ridiculous, but before I could respond, he said his co-worker just told him they don't have the part, even though he'd just gone upstairs and seen it with his own eyes. I hung up, and he called back 10 minutes later to ask of the Windtunnel V2 I was asking about was a vacuum or steam vac. I didn't know Hoover made any Steam Vacs called WindTunnels.... learn something new every day :-/

I had a quiet moment of slience as I hurled the pieces into the dumpster )

Supersweeper, I think that only the Savvy models had the dirt sensor and not the V2 models, am I right? Though the dual brushrolls are the achilles heel of this model, they are the only rare/unique thing about it that make it worth collecting (for me anyway). The later single brushroll models are just another heavy, clunky plastivac with no distinguishing characteristics whatever, save maybe the ability to be used bagged or bagless...

 

[jmurray01]

What exactly does the dirt sensor do? Is it like the UK "Autosense" feature which automatically adjusts the motor speed depending upon the dirt being picked up?

 

[vacuumman206]

reply #3

I sent you an email with the info. Did you get it??

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

It went into my spam (yet e-mails from real spammers offering to enlarge my breasts or giving me the opportunity to cash a million dollar check for someone in Nigeria come right through... good job Gmail!)... I dug it out and responded, but thank you for letting me know it was there!

 

[super-sweeper]

My bad,

I own 3 models,The savvy,a V2 and a "Convertible".
It's shameful to see the convertible name on such a thing, but the "Convertible" was the one i was referring to in my above post,with single brush and a dirt sensor.

James,While what you are referring to is a dirt sensor,The type on my cleaner senses dirt,indicating carpet is "Dirty",changing an indicator light red.When it no longer senses dirt,The light turns green indicating "Clean".

-Alex.