*Even if this particular machine isn't from before 1986, its design is. :-)

I've had this machine for over a year now, and never used it. A lady brought it in to the store, it needed a new switch... and instead of getting it fixed, she just decided to buy a new cleaner. So home with me it came, and a new switch was installed. (That was NOT fun!)

I thought, if anything, I'd throw it on eBay. Instead it just sat around...

Anyway, after FINALLY using it, I am really quite impressed with this cleaner!

I found that it worked very well on all of my plush and frieze carpeting... was easy to maneuver, and is powerful!

When holding the end of the hose, it's not a huge, obtrusive handle, and not overengineered... it's straightforward and seemingly designed under the "form follows function" philosophy.

The hose is lightweight, the cleaner isn't terribly noisy, and again, it's POWERFUL!

Hurray for finding an enjoyable new vacuum!

~Fred

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Anyone know when exactly this machine does date from?

Or how to decipher Eureka's date code?

worked wonderfully. Sat neglected for a few years until i bought a new hose on Ebay. forgot how well the powerteam worked with it.

Hi Fred, I have a similar one in red that I found last year. Nice machine but a few quirks..at least on mine.. the powerhead says Edge Clean right on it..but when you look at the floor plate underneath there is nowhere for any edge cleaning to be done.. the brushroll doesn't get anywhere near the edge and there are no air channels along the edge either so I can't figure that out..
Also the bags don't seem to seal too well and after I've used it I find a bit too much dust has escaped and coated the interior.

I think I still have some extra bags for that machine. You want them?

Kmart version, late 1980's

pretty colors!

wow, eureka really likes to mess with cleaners with the same model number. there was a eureka upright for sale, model 631, just like the green one in Jeff's scan. cept the one i saw had only four selections on the rug adjuster and a wooden agitator. same model number. is this surprising? nice canister, fred. i like those powernozzles.

Very nice! Enjoy!

OMG! I have a Eureka 632B upright with the HighPerformance 5.5 amp blender motor with tall fan blades and VGII!
I also have a Eureka Express canister with the 4 peak horsepower motor and VGIII.
Thanks for the scans Jeff!

I have to say that these have the best power nozzles I've ever used. It grooms the rug well and seems pretty durable. The machine itself is so so. By that I mean the bags are not really easy to install. You have to think a bit and bend the cardboard collar just right. If you don't get it right, the disc filter gets clogged. The Lamb motors seem to get dry bearings and whine a bit too. On the plus side, they are powerful and like Fred mentioned, the hose grip is easy to handle. I never liked the gas pump style hose ends and this style is just right. I have alot of these vacuums in different badges. Wards, JC Penney, etc.

All in all I like these machines and do rotate them into daily use. Style B Eureka bags are still available too.

Thanks, Fred, for the post.

Joe

and have the spec sheet for Fred's machine. I'll scan and post it tonight(hopefully)
Its just after 7am, sun is coming up, I've already been at work for 30 minutes...
I hate month end!

...And all this time I thought it was an upright! Very nice Fred, that machine is in just beautiful shape! I love how they were still calling the power nozzle the "Roto-Matic Power Team"; I'm guessing it has the Vibra-Groomer II? Another thing that really surprises me is the condition of the bag chamber. The paint is quite thin and they ALWAYS seem to rust somehow. The latest I've seen one of these steel-body canisters is the early-90's (saved some Wards ads from 1991-2), and it had the grey plastic hose as well.

Jeff, thanks for those neat KMart scans. I have both the 630 and 631...the 630 is standing right here in my room, and the 631, well, more on that one later. Just wondering, do you have any earlier ads that would have the 664 upright and competing models? I'm itching to find out which models of Eureka we had when I was little; a red-orange 1970's upright (much like my 664) for the second floor, and another with a navy blue base and white hood for the first. I know the blue machine didn't have a headlight, but looking at video footage I have of the red one, I can see the red lens trim. Of course the bulb was burned out, which is probably why I have a hard time remembering it in the first place!

I noticed the 630 and 631 in the ad have 4-position and 6-position Dial-A-Naps, respectively. Hardly the case here. My 630 only has two positions, and the 631, four! How strange is that?

A couple of items of interest here. The 600 series of model numbers were models made for K-Mart. Their counterparts in the other models would be 1400 and 2000 series for the uprights and 1700's for the type of canister shown here. And the machine shown is too old to have a date code on the spec plate. That didn't come until much later.

Very nice cleaner, Fred, it looks mint.

It's been a long time since I used one of these power-heads, but as I recall, they were very good.

Fred
What a great machine. They were the ones I sold in the mid 80's, when I had my shop here in Columbus. The power heads
did very well with the VG II. I do have to agree that the
cannisters were not as heavy or good as the older 1700's

For convertible68 in Texas. The Orange Eureka you describe with
the red/orange hood. Could have been a 70's Eureka model.
It would have had a headlight and 2 position carpet height.
If I am recalling correctly!! I think I remember them from
K Mart in 79 and 80 when I was a Eureka rep calling on them.
I used to/did get so discussed with K mart because they would
only order 2 dozen F&G Eureka upright bags that fit all three
models they carried. Because they only had open to buy for one
box. Hoover was selling the three different upright bags plus all of the others. They just did not get it!!!
Norm Brown

I am not a big fan of eureka...but some models are growing on me. I remember as a kid our neighbors had one like in the ad with no headlight. They were poor so I generalized that anyone who owned a eureka was poor! I had so much to learn. My favorite models are those ealy 70's models with the chrome tops. I think that some of these vacs really gave Hoover a run for its money. Great thread and what a cool canister!

--Tom

I knew I had this, from 1986...

backside

My Mom has the suction only version of your Eureka and she likes this vacuum the most out of all the vacuums in the house because it is muy powerful!!! I bought it in the 80's at McMahan's Furniture store in Banning and somewhere along the way it became my Mom's vacuum. The attachments are nice and full sized. The carpet nozzle is the newer plastic design that is kind of hard to push on the rug. I found the Eureka Turbo Nozzle and it transformed that vacuum i'll tell you! It's a little workhorse! Marty

Fred.. I love these Eureka ironsides canisters. I have two of them in my collection, a maroon one like I had when I was a kid and a green one that I got because I love the color and because it was in like new condition. I think the green one is a bit newer than my red one, but they both have a tremendous amount of suction and I love using them. Here are some pictures.

Derreck

here is the green one.

Aren't those Eurekas fantastic! I just love them!

Derreck!

That green Eureka power team is GoRgEoUs! I have the matching upright to that canister... My absolute favorite Eureka color combination! Those greens are really pretty!

Jeff!

Thanks for scanning that spec sheet! Fabulous!

~Fred

Fred..

I too have the matching upright to my green Eureka. I absolutely love my green canister. I got it at a vac shop here in St. Louis.. it's in excellent condition. Like someone else in this forum said, these machines seem to rust easily on the inside. This one was in such great shape I had to have it. The matching green upright is one of the first vacuums in my collection.

Derreck

wasnt that one of the earliest ESPs? did those early ones use the heavy duty motor? we need to see more Eurekas around here. very nice.

I thought the earliest ESP's had a perforated vinyl outer bag, just like the Hoover Convertibles of the day. Does anyone know when Eureka switched from vinyl to the tietex material? Oreck changed around 1990.

Were 1979, and they were called the "Brandywine" series. Derreck has the MOL canister pictured above. There were 4 uprights, and three canisters. The upright bags were shiny maroon vinyl with white stripe and big Eureka letters.
I think I may have a brochure still I can scan....

I stand corrected. My Eureka 632B upright has the 5.5 amp "Sanitaire" motor with the tall fan blades.

Here 'tis...this is the vacuum I used tonight...sorry it is not a eureka...it is a Hoover Convertible! Beat up yes...but it did suck up the loose pine needles from the tree like nobody's business. You just can't kill these old machines. By the way...beautiful eurekas!

--Tom Anderson

I certainly wouldn't attempt to pick up broken glass with any of my Eurekas. Now the metal-base Convertibles on the other hand I would feel less hesitant about using for that job...

Good one to have as a daily driver :)- was having the nice 1020 in the background for comparison intentional ;)

Seamus

Seamus...no it was not intentional just a coincidence. The 1020 is a rough and tough machine that handles a lot of real dirty jobs around the house. It has been in my family for a long time now 25+ years. My parents bought it at an auction when it was already well used. It has not missed a beat since.

--Tom

a 1926 hoover 700 . it will probibily out last all of us put together.

Well, since we are all sharing what we used, I used my Silver King 73-B2. I don't have a picture of it yet though.

Here's my Eurekas, all a bit dusty from a cross country trip and I've misplaced the floor tool on the canister.

The Vanguard naturally is my favorite. I was lamenting the fact a year ago or so that I didn't have one Eureka and within a day or two I was in a thrift store and there it was waiting for me like magic. Then they started popping up all over the place.

Just finished doing the flat with my Hoover Deluxe 652 - which as you can guess was the European equivalent to the Model 65.

For a laugh I used the floor brush in the bathroom where some (clean!) kitty litter had been spilt. The 652 has a looong hose, but pretty bad suction (this first model has a one-speed 375 watt motor), so once it does pick up the litter, which is a struggle in itself, you can hear it rattle up the hose very slowly before it gets to the fan. Reminds me about how dinosaurs had a delayed reaction to pain and things...

Si

Hey mate

The 652 looks great :)- tis very odd ours only had the single speed but the 65 had twin speed :(.

Seamus

Probably use my kirby heritage 2 when i give the house a goin over tomorrow, maybe my dial a matic.

Ian

great to see a nice smiling face with the owners toys,thet look happy with them

Si...what a beautiful 652! Our 65 had a long hose too but even with the higher speed, it still was no power house. This model was made for cleaning carpet which it did perfectly. I would not be able to get used to that huge switch hanging off of the side of the machine. All of my table legs would be nicked!!

--Tom