Thread Number: 16645
Moulinex Major 2nd... 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 177518   4/18/2012 at 17:25 (4,390 days old) by kirbymodel2c (Nottingham, England)        

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Hi, I came across a 2nd version of the Moulinex Major. I've never seen this version before. I'm sure it came out after the 1st version I already have. I'm guessing this version was out mid 80s as the other version was out around 1980/81ish. I've gave it a quick clean and polish and it runs nice and smooth.
Hope you like the pics.

James:o)

Post# 177872 , Reply# 1   4/21/2012 at 17:43 (4,387 days old) by Rolls_rapide (-)        

Oh yes, I see what you mean: the tool converter sliding access panel has gone.

Post# 177959 , Reply# 2   4/22/2012 at 07:28 (4,387 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

The sliding panel is gone, as is the headlight. The wheels also lost the rubber treads as the wheel on these cleaners is a one piece moulding now. Older models had a clip on rubber tread. These Major cleaners did have a much easier arrangement of disconnecting the bellows though, as there is an access panel on the back of the main body. This was not present on earlier cleaners and wasn't there on the Master, which was the blue none cordwinder version of this Major cleaner. To be pedantic, this is the third style of Moulinex upright. The first two looked more or less identical to the naked eye, but where the first range of cleaner had a screw down hood, the second range had a clip-on hood, the same fitting as used on what I am calling the third range here. Also, the roller brush on the first range was much more sturdy than the later style.

You can easily tell which is first and which is second range, as both the Master and Major of the first range were brown and white. The second range Major was the same colour as the first, but had much more writing on the door of the bag compartment. Same as pictured here, except the writing was white, not dark brown. The second range Master was white and yellow, again with more writing on the bag door.

The third ranges are what we see here. What is strange is that the softbag cleaner went on sale almost at the same time as the Hoover Turbopower Junior. They were always such similar cleaners in terms of style. The Hoover Turbopower was a much better cleaner all round than the Moulinex and it goes without saying that the popularity of the Turbopower outstripped that of the Moulinex, which given the price of the Moulinex is a little surprising as there was a big saving to be made between the prices of the two brands. But then Moulinex had reputation for what one might describe as cheap quality products. However, their vacuum cleaners were not all that bad, especially for the price they sold for.

Post# 178381 , Reply# 3   4/24/2012 at 15:53 (4,384 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)        

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As seen in Argos 1985

Post# 178387 , Reply# 4   4/24/2012 at 16:16 (4,384 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

They is a massive price difference between the Moulinex and the Hoover Turbopower cleaners. I thought that there would have been.


Post# 178389 , Reply# 5   4/24/2012 at 16:26 (4,384 days old) by kirbymodel2c (Nottingham, England)        
Hi Chris

 kirbymodel2c's profile picture
Hi Chris thanks for that, I've just e-mailed you:o)Hope you got it...

James:o)

Post# 178390 , Reply# 6   4/24/2012 at 16:27 (4,384 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)        

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A price difference maybe, but you'd be surprised how much extra people would pay for a better brand, or what they think is a better brand anyway...

Being a HOOVER fan I'm a little biased in saying I think the Turbopower Junior was better :)

Post# 178392 , Reply# 7   4/24/2012 at 16:33 (4,384 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

I'm not the least bit surprised people would pay more for Hoover, so I do apologise if I gave that impression, as I know the Turbopower cleaners were a major seller and Hoover always did have a good name. What I was surprised at was that the Moulinex was not more popular in general, especially as tools were included. I don't think Moulinex cleaners were as widely available as others, from what I remember.

Post# 178394 , Reply# 8   4/24/2012 at 16:37 (4,384 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)        

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Well up until reading this thread I had never heard of Moulinex so I think you may be right Benny.

Post# 178399 , Reply# 9   4/24/2012 at 16:50 (4,384 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

You make me feel so very old! Moulinex went out of business about 10 years ago, although the name does carry on via the people who make Tefal and Rowenta products. I know very little about Moulinex except to say they were French and that in the UK their products, which were almost always small domestic appliances, were at the cheapest end of the markets. The quality was poor to good, although time has proven that some things like electric knives and food mixers did not need to be well made to stand the test of time as such appliances often had little use.

Post# 178409 , Reply# 10   4/24/2012 at 17:01 (4,384 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland)        

jmurray01's profile picture
Ha ha, sorry! It is good that you are old (I'll throw that shovel away in a minute) because it means that you have a wider wealth of information on products sold years ago.

Now that I've offended you sufficiently I think I'll put the soil I've dug up in my mouth to stop me talking again!

Post# 178419 , Reply# 11   4/24/2012 at 17:30 (4,384 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

That's ok!


Post# 178999 , Reply# 12   4/28/2012 at 16:56 (4,380 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa)        

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Wow , My mom had the first version major, I am still looking for one:( 

 

were do the tools attach for the newer version ?

 

I have one of those Rowenta's in turbomasters post, fantastic machine 
Post# 179983 , Reply# 13   5/5/2012 at 16:35 (4,373 days old) by Rolls_rapide (-)        
Moulinex

 When my mum was shopping for a new vacuum cleaner in 1982, she was in Comet and asked about the Moulinex with the sliding tools access flap. The salesman said that they had a tendency to block. My parents didn't buy anything that day, although she rather liked the look of the red Hoover "Freedom" cylinder cleaner.

A week later they simply had to buy a vacuum. Dog hair was rapidly building up from two dogs and the Hoover "Senior 612" was away getting fixed - about a fortnight of dog hair and the Hoover was still in pieces, so off to Currys we went for the Hoover "Sensotronic System 2".

We got a cylinder cleaner because of the versatility of the tools and suction power. The first cylinder we had used was a Hoover "Conquest", in a holiday cottage.

Post# 179985 , Reply# 14   5/5/2012 at 16:38 (4,373 days old) by Rolls_rapide (-)        

I think the newer version tools use a "pan converter", like the Hoover Turbopowers and U1104 Junior.

Post# 179992 , Reply# 15   5/5/2012 at 17:33 (4,373 days old) by vintagerepairer (England)        

The one I referred to as being the 3rd version does indeed use a pan converter. This can be seen in those Argos pictures. I don't deny that the original Moulinex hose fitting could get clogged, but I wouldn't have thought it to be any worse than any other upright. The idea of connecting the hose to the front was a selling feature and I always thought it to be rather innovative in the way that sliding the cover open would automatically raise the height of the front wheels to avoid damage to the carpet from the roller brush when using tools. I am sure it featured this specific arrangement of connecting the hose in a television commercial for the original cleaner. As these were what one might consider to be an inexpensive cleaner, I suppose the feature was a little over the top, but none the less I liked it.

The idea of using a pan converter instead would undoubtedly saved on parts and assembly alike, and even though I consider the original method of connecting the hose to be simple and superior, most upright cleaners on sale alongside the Moulinex would have had pan converters anyway. So even if one didn't like the arrangement, it was hard to find an alternative. My immediate thoughts turn to the Hotpoint and Electrolux 500 cleaners, as well as the Hitachi which has recently been mentioned, as these all utilised a hole on the back of the cleaner.

This entire message stream has rekindled a memory of a woman who bought in no less than three Moulinex Major uprights into my shop, all of them being identical to the 3rd version in all brown, as pictured at the start. All of them needed attention and one had a broken handle. She hoped that I might use one of the cleaners to repair the other two, but as it turned out I didn't need to as I was able to make use of a few spare parts I already had, including a blue handle.


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