Thread Number: 25903
Hoover Futura
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Post# 290436   7/27/2014 at 00:12 (3,532 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

I see Hoover Futura canister vacuums for sale from time to time. They look interesting. What can the brain trust here tell me about them? What kind of motor? Lamb or something else? One stage or two? Are they durable? How good is the powered brush? Are tools and parts super hard to find? Is there hose stock available to replace assuming you have good ends to use? Is it a quality vacuum comparable to a Kenmore canister of the same era? Give me the full brief.

Post# 290517 , Reply# 1   7/27/2014 at 07:46 (3,532 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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It depends on the model/version of the Futura.

In 1993 testing of vacs done by Consumer Reports, a Hoover Futura power nozzle vac tied for first place (with a red Eureka World Vac) in the power nozzle canister category. Besides being great carpet cleaners, both featured an on-board storage slot for their bare floor brushes - very rare convenient feature for canisters these days.


Post# 290533 , Reply# 2   7/27/2014 at 10:39 (3,531 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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Didn't they also have quadraflex beater?

Post# 290610 , Reply# 3   7/27/2014 at 17:39 (3,531 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Indeed....I think the highly rated deluxe 1993 Power Nozzle Futura had a Quadraflex agitator giving it great carpet cleaning results.

Post# 290613 , Reply# 4   7/27/2014 at 18:00 (3,531 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)        
Dircik

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Hoover made their own motors for all their vacuums, & the Futura was no exception. I do believe it was a 2 stage motor, that was non-repairable, but having said that I do believe the carbon brushes could be replaced easily. Average quality for a mass-produced canister from a common brand, & avoided complicated designs with the wands, hose & wands, which meant no burnt-out electrical connections. Cleaning tools were only average quality, but the floor brush was a really good design, better than Kenmore's, & I do believe they went on later to make this floor brush with a 1 1/4" universal neck for the Hoover uprights. So, you could buy one to use on your Kenmore's if you like. The upholstery tool with the rubber fingers was also nice & worked well too. But would have been nice to see horsehair bristles on the dusting brush instead of nylon bristles.

Filtration was poor, like most Hoover models, relied heavily on micro-filtration bags & a afterfilter with a screen that looked similar to what fishnets & window screens use. Type S HEPA bags can be obtained now to improve filtration though. Suction & airflow was only average at best, when they introduced the Windtunnel models they increased the suction & airflow a bit though. The PN on the Futura was OK, but only average, the Powermatic & Quadraflex PN's were definitely better carpet groomers & would definitely be a good idea to upgrade to one if you buy a Futura & use it regularly. I'll go as far to say the Powermatic PN was one of the best PN's ever made, will beat ANYTHING made now, including your Kenmore/Hayden/Panasonic & Wessell Werk PN's, for performance. Only PN I can think of that would match the Powermatic for performance would be the Eureka Express PN w/ VG III. Hoover truly perfected what a powerhead should be with their motto "It beats, as it sweeps, as it cleans". If only they made the Powermatic still today & with a geared belt....

They were Mexican made if memory serves correctly, but all that changed when the Windtunnel Anniversary Edition came out, then production changed to China except the Windtunnel PN which was still Mexican made, the entire vacuum, motor included, was made for Hoover by Kingclean in China. Major problem the Chinese models have is the canister circuit board fails around 2 to 3 years old, & the PN stops working although the canister functions normally & speed control still works. Unless you like buying problem vacuums, a model best avoided.

As for the electric hose, they are still available to buy complete from Hoover, & I don't think they sell the hose stock separately. The type of material Hoover used was similar to other manufacturers, like Filter Queen for example. Perhaps material for another brand could be obtained & substituted if necessary.

David- No, they had the plastic brushroll that the Hoover Elite uprights used. The last Hoover PN's to have the Quadraflex PN with metal brushroll was the Celebrity & Dimension series, & I do believe the early Hoover Spirit models had it too but could be mistaken on that so don't quote me! Fred S will probably correct me if I'm wrong, he is our resident Hoover expert LOL.

Brian- You're right, both the Hoover Futura & Eureka World Vac were highly rated by Consumer Reports. However, I was never particularly crazy over Hoover & Eureka's canister models....have always felt Kenmore & Panasonic canisters from the 80's & 90's were better choices than Hoover & Eureka. The only models from Hoover I really liked were the Celebrity & Dimension lines, & from Eureka the Excalibur, Home Cleaning System & Europa lines. Models from these vacuum lines offered better performance overall & could easily challenge a Kenmore for overall cleaning performance.

Rob


Post# 290615 , Reply# 5   7/27/2014 at 18:03 (3,531 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)        

kirbylux77's profile picture
Oops...a slight mistake! Meant to say the Quadraflex was a metal brushroll, & the last ones to use it were the Celebrity & Dimension. The Futura PN used the same plastic brushroll as the Hoover Elite uprights.

Rob


Post# 290648 , Reply# 6   7/27/2014 at 22:37 (3,531 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

The Futuras I have seen all say Made in the USA on them. No Hecho en Mexico or worse, Hecho en Cina so far on any I have seen offered.

Very interesting about the powered brush. I have since found a parts breakdown for the motor on the Hesco website and found several sources for new motors. It is a Hoover specific motor but it appears, or at least one version appears to be in use in one or more current production models. Maybe I misread something. No brush replacement however. Kind of a funky motor and not cheap either.

Seems like canister vacs of that era all had weak filtration but the diagram in Hesco shows a big filter between the bag and the fan. Not sure about the material but I would imagine I could substitute secondary filter material from a more modern vac including what is used in modern Kenmores.

Thanks for the input everyone. A new monster you have created!



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