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Thread Number: 16157
Info on Hoover "Wind Tunnel" self-propelled vacuum |
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| Post# 172256 , Reply# 1 3/6/2012 at 23:49 (4,432 days old) by szymonrules (Philadelphia, PA ) | ||
They are... | ||
| Post# 172261 , Reply# 2 3/7/2012 at 01:26 (4,432 days old) by TheBillbot () | ||
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Heavy vacuum to carry up and down stairs. I don't really think Self Propelled vacuums are all that cool, I mean, they do help in pushing a heavier vacuum. But I'm a sucker for Windtunnels, go for it. | ||
| Post# 172265 , Reply# 3 3/7/2012 at 03:32 (4,432 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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| Post# 172268 , Reply# 5 3/7/2012 at 04:59 (4,432 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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| Post# 172297 , Reply# 6 3/7/2012 at 10:23 (4,431 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
Excellent carpet cleaner! Very high suction for tool use, but it's only really practical for occasional dusting of "hip-level" surfaces like night-tables and chairs - the suction retracts the hose with a lot of force, so it is most practical for occasional cleaning of furniture. Using the two wands and the dusting brush, it's pretty good at doing baseboards and hard-to-get nooks and crannies hidden between pieces of furniture. The brush-roll on/off switch makes it very safe for use with tools and for bare-floor cleaning.
It is very heavy - so not the easiest to carry up a flight of stairs. But the self-propulsion makes this an excellent vac for those with lots of "acreage" of wall-to-wall carpeting in big living rooms and family rooms. It makes it a pleasure to vacuum as it requires very little effort to move the vac when in sp mode. Horrible upholstery nozzle though! Very dangerous to use on delicate fabrics as the hose has no suction reduction valve, and the sharp plastic edges of the nozzle are dangerous for fabrics and stitching (use the little dusting brush instead...) | ||
| Post# 172312 , Reply# 8 3/7/2012 at 10:57 (4,431 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 172394 , Reply# 9 3/7/2012 at 17:50 (4,431 days old) by director12 () | ||
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Vacuumfreeke, how about buying a pleated filter for your Windtunnel. And even though it's not sealed, you might make an exception since it uses bags. | ||
| Post# 172406 , Reply# 11 3/7/2012 at 18:53 (4,431 days old) by r2d2 () | ||
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Ugly But What a Sucker Its a bullet proof design that has in been in production basically unchanged for 15 years. One of the best carpet cleaners ever made. The hose suction is among the highest of all upright ever made. If you take care it it will last forever. | ||
| Post# 172450 , Reply# 12 3/8/2012 at 00:34 (4,431 days old) by bimmer740 (Long Island, New York) | ||
The Windtunnel is a good vac and its been one of the top choices of Consumer Reports since it came out. I do find it to be pretty loud, but it does clean very well. Its heavy and akward to schlep up and down stairs as others mentioned because you must use the carrying handle. Two things to be aware of: 1) its got a very aggressive brush roll so I wouldn't use it on a delicate rug 2) if you were pleased with the Kirby's tech-drive, aside from the transmission whine, you may not like the Hoover's self propelled feature. I've found it to be jerky and akward to modulate, especially when you are used to Kirby's transmission. Overall its a great machine and its fairly inexpensive too. If you don't need to have the self-propelled version, the standard WindTunnel is a good alternative plus its weighs less and is quieter.
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| Post# 172734 , Reply# 14 3/10/2012 at 00:47 (4,429 days old) by billybud21 () | ||
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Thanks!!! Thanks everyone for the great feeback and information! Brian, thank you for the link to your thread -- that was a great read. | ||
| Post# 172892 , Reply# 16 3/11/2012 at 23:08 (4,427 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest) | ||
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My main complaint with Hoover power drive machines was they went too fast. I like to vacuum slower. The nice thing about Kirby's drive system is you van vary your speed. | ||
| Post# 172905 , Reply# 17 3/12/2012 at 00:37 (4,427 days old) by bimmer740 (Long Island, New York) | ||
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After reading kenmorekid's post, I completely forgot how many times I too ran over my foot with the SP WindTunnel. Like so many others here I’ve been using a vacuum from the time I could walk and I can’t ever remember running over my foot with any machine, and certainly not one with such force that it would actually cause an injury. This problem added to the many reasons why I returned my machine just before the one month mark. I even cracked a toenail and started to bleed just from running over it with the Hoover.
I don’t mean to totally knock the SP WindTunnel since it is a good machine, especially at its price point. However, since you have used a Generation Series Kirby, there is just no comparison when it comes to the two different self-propelled features. The SP feature is something that has obviously attracted so many people to this machine since it debuted, and probably why it has hardly changed after all these years, but it just didn't work the way I had hoped. With a Tech-Drive Kirby you can push as fast or as slow as you want and the vacuum responds the same way. Using the Kirby is like driving a nice car, but when you use the SP Hoover, it’s hit or miss. I found it too hard to modulate when pushing the machine to justify purchasing the SP model compared to the more basic WindTunnel, which cleans just as well and is easier to carry and push because it weighs less. Maybe its an unfair comparison as the Kirby costs at least 5 times what the SP WindTunnel costs, but as collectors we pay close attention to these differences. I was using my grandmother’s standard WindTunnel on Friday night to clean up after we had cake to celebrate her 91st birthday, and while I don’t love the machine, for the $130 my grandfather paid for it, it really does clean the carpets well. One other minor but noteworthy feature on the standard WindTunnel is the NON-STRETCH hose. This hose is unlike the one that the SP model has which is awful to use, especially if the end of the hose seals against something, and be careful as the vacuum can fall over or pull itself towards you if you are on a bare floor. For my own personal use, if I were to buy another WindTunnel tomorrow, I would buy the standard non-self-propelled model because above everything else it’s just all-around easier to use. | ||
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