Hoover Convertible

[sudsmaster]

I was going through my defacto vacuum collection, and wondered if the Hoover Convertible (5 amp) is considered anything special. I bought it back around 1985, and used it on the orange shag rug in my rental home. It seemed to do better than the vintage GE Swivel Top cannister vac I also picked up around the same time for $5. No longer have the GE, but do still have the Hoover. Despite its low power consumption, that beater bar did a pretty good job of taming the shag.

That orange shag is one of the big reasons why I don't have any wall to wall carpeting in my present home. I ripped out the avocado green before I moved in, and refinished the oak hardwood floors underneath.

Oh, and the Hoover Convertible is kind of an orangish red.

 

[westytoploader]

Rich, yours sounds like a 4.8-amp, 4-position, plastic-base model with front conversion. Does it have a single speed motor or Power Surge setting? I'd definitely hang on to it as they do a better job cleaning rugs than anything else out there. Keep in mind that power consumption isn't important on a vacuum and doesn't mean anything positive except an advertising point...Greg & I had a conversation on this Tuesday night. In fact a 12-amp Panasonic is definitely more expensive to run than a 3.5-amp Eureka or 4.8-amp Hoover Convertible, and I'm willing to bet that the latter two will perform much better because of the airflow.

If they brought the Hoover Convertible back, it would immediately qualify for an Energy Star rating.

--Austin

 

[sudsmaster]

Austin,

Well, yep, I plan on hanging onto it, but unfortuanely I don't have much use for it. Just a few area rugs in the home - one is very thin (old factory woven wool number), and the other is very thick (hand looped and carved Chinese wool rug - about 3/4" thick!). I won't use the beater bar on the Chinese rug - it would destroy it. But I find that the more gentle action of the Eureka Whirlwind is ok for it.

I do like the fairly solid construction of the Hoover. But I'm puzzled as to exactly what is "convertible" about it. It has no provision for attachment or converstion to any mode other than vacuuming floors in an upright position. Am I missing something here?

Another Hoover in my "collection" is a "Sprint" that I recovered from my mom's apartment when she had to move to a rest home. I think it's kind of a POS, but my brother claims he spent a fortune on it for her.

 

[brettsomers]

Convertible

when the convertible first came on the scene, the tools attached at the rear, and the motor was automatically shifted to high-speed when the hose was inserted. this was one reason why is was named "convertible". the later, firm bristles MAY wear at rugs if left sitting in one spot TOO LONG. on the older convertibles (pre late-70s) the brushes are softer. and the beater-bars dont really stress the rug. i think its QUITE safe to use a convertible with soft bristles on delicate rugs. David

 

[sudsmaster]

Hmm. I haven't seen any "rear entry" port on the Hoover, but I will check again just to make sure.

The rug manufacturer specifically warns against using any upright vac on the product. The Eureka seems ok, though, as it has no beater bar and relatvively soft bristles.

 

[brettsomers]

the metal beater-bars on convertibles RARELY harm rugs. its FRICTION that does the most damage. beater bars vibrate the rug without SCRAPING it. (btw, a "beater bar" and "brushroll" are two different things). some folks say "beater bar" when they mean to say "brushroll". the later convertibles DIDNT have the rear tool connection and also had firmer bristles. i once did a test, i placed a paper towel onto the nozzle opening of a OLDER convertible. the agitator/ brushroll (with beater bars) DID NOT damage the paper towel.

 

[hoover1060]

The reality is

NO Convertible, be it softer or firmer bristles will harm any rug. If you're currently using a Eureka bagless I guarantee the high RPM of that brush is doing more damage to your rug with FRICTION than a Convertible will.
Just my 2 cents

I'd recommend a nice used Electrolux, Olympia/Silverado vintage. Good machines, good filtration, and nice gentle brushes.

 

[brettsomers]

ps

the rug being cleaned should not be allowed to get pulled into the nozzle. if its very thin, it might get pulled into the nozzle by the agitator. remember, when hoover was around in the 20s, most rugs were considered "delicate" by todays standards. hoover introduced the beater bar on their agitators in 1926. the only people afraid of the beater bar were Hoover competitors. if the raised beater bar on the classic hoover agitator was potentially damaging, it would not have remained a fixture of Hoover cleaners for over 50 years.

 

[brettsomers]

good point about the RPMs, jeff

hoovers jealous competition was constantly harping on the damaging effects of the Hoover agitator. yet the Hoover cleaner was the standout favorite and best seller. you can be sure if the Hoover beater bar was dangerous, Hoover would not be "The oldest and largest maker of electric cleaners".

 

[hoover1060]

right

Hoover would not have made the beater bar agitator for 60+ years on its uprights if it was bad for carpets.

Another good choice for area rugs/bare floors would be a Kirby, such as a Legend II, or Heritage. Kirbys work well on bare floors as an upright or with a hose.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I just happen to have a Kirby. It's a red Classic III. As far as I can tell, it's a cloth bag only, with a dump door on the bottom, and some kind of odd half zipper on the side with a pocket for what I don't know.

 

[petek]

The little half zipper pocket is for you to stick your hand inside and shake out the dust better without getting your hands dirty... ta da.

 

[tolivac]

The side pocket on the Kirby vac bag is the "sani-scraper" pocket.You use it to help in emptying the bag.to use-with the machine off-put your hand in the pocket and (a scraper is sewn into the end of the pocket)and scrape the sides of the bag-then empty the bag as usual.It allows you to get more of the dust and dirt out of the bag.

 

[tolivac]

I wonder if the carpet maker was concerned about the use of vacs that have PLASTIC beater bars on their brush rolls-I had a rug get DESTROYED by plastic beater bars-happened like this--was vacuuming the rug with a cheap Eureka machine that had a plastic beater bar-hit a penny with the vac-the resulting nick from the crack in the plastic bar promply tore threads out of the rug by snagging them-to this day I shy away from any vac that has plastic beater bars-Vac shops I know of have had people expereince the same problem-DIDN'T have that problem with vacs that have the polished METAL beater bars.And yes-the concern of FRICTION against rhe rug or carpet-Iwould be concerned about that with the plastic bars-due to plastics low melt point and sort of "sticky" feel to it.