Hoover Dial-a-Matic 1170

We had the cream colored DAM Powerdrive when i was a kid,,,i remember that vac being very heavy, and clumsy to carry up and down stairs,,,and i remember the suction being poor, especially from the hose, even on the highest dial setting,, and especially if the bag was getting full.

I also remember having to take apart the hose from the brush roll to the bag compartment several times,,it was always getting clogged with cat hair. (we only had one cat that was short haired)

The vac was easy to push in the power drive mode,, and did an OK job of grooming the carpet,,but i do remember the bag being a hassle to change, and the little red filter under the bag was always needing washed.
There was no way you could push that beast on heavy shag carpet with the power drive off.

Of course, the paper bags back in the 70s werent like today,,,there was no "Hepa" filtration, or several ply bags, at least not for a DAM.
The handle constantly needed tightening too,,it was always loose.

I wish i had better memories of that vac,,,but it seemed to me that it was poor preforming,,i remember having to dust the furniture after vacuuming, because the thing would spew dust something awful out of the upper front cover air vents.
Maybe we got ahold of a lemon? All DAM powerdrives couldnt have been this way.

It finally died in around 1978 when it burned up a belt and almost burned a hole in the carpet from the black hot smoke and suet.

One aunt had the blue regular DAM,,and i know used it for at least 20 years. It finally went to the garbage heap after the back wheels had been ground down to stumps! She had a very small house, with minimal carpet,,so maybe thats why it lasted so long.


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Post# 72754 6/22/2009 at 19:43 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes My latest Hoover DAM is a 1170 from 1969. The only other 1170 I have ever seen is at the Hoover Museum in North Canton, Ohio

Post# 72755 , Reply# 1 6/22/2009 at 19:45 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes The 1170 at the Hoover Historical Society Museum

Post# 72756 , Reply# 2 6/22/2009 at 19:46 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes Notice the Drive Wheel Design

Post# 72758 , Reply# 3 6/22/2009 at 19:47 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes The back side

Post# 72759 , Reply# 4 6/22/2009 at 19:48 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes Even came with the attachments

Post# 72760 , Reply# 5 6/22/2009 at 19:50 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes Does any one have pictures of the DAM 1176, U6007, U6041, and U6049.

Post# 72761 , Reply# 6 6/22/2009 at 19:54 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes My DAM's

Post# 72771 , Reply# 7 6/22/2009 at 20:26 (5,414 days old) by sbnhvlvr (South Bend, IN)
Checkrate/Likes Here is better shoot of my DAM's

Post# 72773 , Reply# 8 6/22/2009 at 20:42 (5,414 days old) by electroluxxxx (��)
Checkrate/Likes I have the lime green one. for my first Dial A matic I really love it.

Post# 72777 , Reply# 9 6/22/2009 at 21:18 (5,414 days old) by airway88 ()
Checkrate/Likes When was the power drive introduced? How did the PD perform? Were there a lot of small jerks similar to the early kirby models? Did it get better over the years?

Post# 72814 , Reply# 11 6/23/2009 at 00:47 (5,414 days old) by seamusuk (Dover Kent UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Mine...* U6033 Power Drive Built in NC for the UK market- its a VERY rare machine over here! Mine dates from September 1975. One odd difference between this and the US version is it uses the 12V push in dirtfinder lamp as used on the Concept etc. Maybe export models were fitted with this as a test????? Seamus

Post# 72835 , Reply# 12 6/23/2009 at 05:31 (5,413 days old) by kenmore81 (Warwick, RI)
Checkrate/Likes *Nice* My aunt had the 3rd from the left Rob(im bad w/model#'s)and I had the Orange one I liked it and wish I still had it. The only thing I tried a piece of cardboard and duct tape to hold the PD button in.Every Power Drive/Self prpelled vac I have/had I turn it off lol. My newer Hoovermore Power-Drive I never used it My WT either. Id love to find a blue non self propelled DAM Like Brandon had seen.

Post# 72836 , Reply# 13 6/23/2009 at 05:35 (5,413 days old) by kenmore81 (Warwick, RI)
Checkrate/Likes *Seamus* I like yours also Just my color =), It is strange that yours uses a 12v push bulb and ours is a push and twist.

Post# 72781 , Reply# 10 6/22/2009 at 22:40 (5,414 days old) by briankirbyclass (Eudora Kansas)
Checkrate/Likes We had the cream colored DAM Powerdrive when i was a kid,,,i remember that vac being very heavy, and clumsy to carry up and down stairs,,,and i remember the suction being poor, especially from the hose, even on the highest dial setting,, and especially if the bag was getting full. I also remember having to take apart the hose from the brush roll to the bag compartment several times,,it was always getting clogged with cat hair. (we only had one cat that was short haired) The vac was easy to push in the power drive mode,, and did an OK job of grooming the carpet,,but i do remember the bag being a hassle to change, and the little red filter under the bag was always needing washed. There was no way you could push that beast on heavy shag carpet with the power drive off. Of course, the paper bags back in the 70s werent like today,,,there was no "Hepa" filtration, or several ply bags, at least not for a DAM. The handle constantly needed tightening too,,it was always loose. I wish i had better memories of that vac,,,but it seemed to me that it was poor preforming,,i remember having to dust the furniture after vacuuming, because the thing would spew dust something awful out of the upper front cover air vents. Maybe we got ahold of a lemon? All DAM powerdrives couldnt have been this way. It finally died in around 1978 when it burned up a belt and almost burned a hole in the carpet from the black hot smoke and suet. One aunt had the blue regular DAM,,and i know used it for at least 20 years. It finally went to the garbage heap after the back wheels had been ground down to stumps! She had a very small house, with minimal carpet,,so maybe thats why it lasted so long.

Post# 72848 , Reply# 14 6/23/2009 at 10:17 (5,413 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)
Checkrate/Likes *Just curious....* Did Hoover make a better power drive system than Eureka? What's the consensus out there? We had a Self-Propelled Windtunnel for several years that worked great, even though I hated the screeching of the belts when you moved the handle to a very upright position in tight spots......

Post# 72850 , Reply# 15 6/23/2009 at 10:20 (5,413 days old) by ohio_tuec ()
Checkrate/Likes I think everyone has their own special memories of the Dial-A-Matic. In it's 15-year production run millions must have been sold, and if you didn't have one, you knew a family member or friend who did. They used to be a common site at church rummage sales. I love them all, but have a slight preference to the non power-drive models. To me, the power drive assembly made the cleaner a tad kludgy when not in use. As far as I know, the only blue non self-propelled models were the model 1136, with the flowers near the Dial-A-Matic name, and the 1110 in peacock blue (definitely a favorite of mine). The 1110 was the first with a full-bag indicator. I don't think the 1140 counts as it was more of a blue/green. Please let me know if there were any others? Here is a recent thread showing the 1110 at the top of the posting. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ohio_tuec's LINK