Hoover Junior 119 / 1224 Agitator Brushes.

[Fidelity Fan]

Hi,

Two years ago after having various bagless vacuum cleaners, we reverted back to the tried and tested Hoover Junior. Our first bagless was a Dyson DC01 bought new in 1999. It was always too heavy and cumbersome for my mother to use; the last straw was when she nearly fell down stairs with it! Other makes of bagless vacs were tried without much success. We have been using a 1346A Junior for the past two years which I fitted with new motor bearings and a new suppressor.

However, I was recently dismayed when my mother picked up a 1224 from a car boot sale. Having been diagnosed with a very bad allergy to house dust mites, I did not like the idea of no disposable dust paper bag. For something that is around 55 years old, the motor runs nice and quietly. I doubt that any of today's bagless cleaners will last this long.

I am going to devise some sort of plastic tube insert to enable a paper bag to be fitted.

The main bugbear with these cleaners now is non availability of agitator brushes. Has any other members with a 119 or 1224 been able to alter the brushes from a different vac to fit this machine?

[mike_newcomb]

Hi,

For old Hoover spares you need to contact a repair shop that has been in the business a very long time. Sadly so many of such have closed.

Check out Jacks Repair Centre in Harrow, who I have found very helpful over at least the last 40 years. There is/was another repair shop near Willesden Green Station when last I looked.

Good Luck - Mike

[Fidelity Fan]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I do know of an old vac shop fairly nearby in Fleetwood. The owner of the shop has a 119, but he too has no brushes.

[Darren-UK]

If you've any such shops in the Manchester area, take the drum off the Hoover with you to show them. That tactic often encourages them to rummage through their boxes and drawers.

Do you actually need new brushes or do you just want a spare set?

[ThePillenwerfer]

Give me a yell if you get stuck.

- Joe

[Alan Stepney]

If you can't find anything closer, try Southern Counties Electrics, Ashley Rd, Poole.
(Don't rely upon their website, phone them.)

If they have any, but can't post them, let me know and I'll pop in there.

[dom10161]

There's a repair shop called Belec, based in Bury (North Manchester). They have been around for a good number of years. Here is the website address http://www.belec.co.uk/welcome Hope this helps, Dom

[Fidelity Fan]

Thanks again for all the replies. The cleaner does need new brushes. vacuumcleanersparesuk at Ashton Under Lyne have the brushes, (http://www.vacuumcleanersparesuk.co....g/HOOVER_.html),
but they are asking £11.99 for a pair. Despite their scarcity I do not think that they are worth that price.

I will call at Belec when I am next in Bury.

[saxmaniac]

You could still try some of the trade wholesalers who might have old stock, Medco in B'ham is a large one. These cleaners did run beautifully and last forever. I used to be in that trade and normally only did servicing on these, plus bearing/brush replacement. People did have cleaners serviced yearly and parts were cheap. so they could be made to last forever! My mother only ever had one cleaner all her life, a 1224.

[Darren-UK]

Originally Posted by Fidelity Fan

vacuumcleanersparesuk at Ashton Under Lyne have the brushes, (www.vacuumcleanersparesuk.co.uk/acatalog/HOOVER_.html),

They don't. Look at the bottom of that listing and you'll see it says "Obsolete". There is also no "Add to cart" button. They've not had any for years. I questioned it once and was told the modified listing was still on view only to show the brushes are no longer stocked.

[Fidelity Fan]

There is currently one set of these brushes up for grabs on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOOVER-BRU...item19d8b9fbb5

I have already bought a set.

[sp10mk11]

I have one of these cleaners that I restored and I love it. If I see any brushes/bags I buy them. As has already been said they go on for years, they are utterly serviceable and reliable and do a good job, so any parts you get will be well worth the price paid.

I did try putting a vertical pipe inside the bag but it didn't work too well as the pipe would need to bend at the base like the bellows did on the later Juniors.

As an introduction to retro vacuum cleaners it was a good machine to start with.

[Darren-UK]

I always trumpet these machines. They're relatively small and will reach places others won't, no inner dustbag is used, they're relatively quiet, the handle is a convenient length and the on/off switch is as sturdy as you could possibly get.

The one drawback (other than scarcity of agitator brushes) concerns the plastic foot-operate cover for the on/off switch. They're prone to fracturing at the bottom where they hinge if treated too roughly.

Some people poo-poo them because they're 'old fashioned' but, at the end of the day, they do the job they were designed to do and will probably continue to do so for many decades yet.

Up here in the northwest the 119 is still very common and they can be picked up in fair condition quite cheaply (£20 give or take). In contrast, down south in Cambridge where they're scarcer, there's a little vacuum cleaner shop which occasionally sells refurbished examples with a price tag of around £100.

The machine illustrated in post #12 above looks very smart, so well done there. I just ensure they're in good mechanical and electrical order and leave it at that I'm afraid.

There's two variants of the 119. One had gold lettering on the belt cover, the other had red lettering. It was something to do with marking the death of King George VI but I forget now which colour was which. The 'commemorative' version is quite rare anyway.

[Nicklyons2]

Magnificent machines with few faults as Darren has said. However they can also suffer from the usual junior faults of noisy back bearing and the wearing of the front spindle which gets smaller and smaller in diameter 'gearing down' the agitator and causing very rapid wear of the rubber belt. The little wheels at the back, wood on some, Bakelite on most can get very worn big centres which gives the machine a wobbly gait.

If anybody's interested I think I've a new boxed armature for one of these and a N.O.S. cloth bag for another upright.
Nick

[Fidelity Fan]

I have cut down a piece of nylon tube from an old suction hose and fitted it to the fan outlet on my 1224 and fitted a paper dust bag. I left it short enough so that it wouldn't need to flex. At the moment the paper bag is held on with a cable tie. A rubber band similar to a round Junior belt but smaller would be ideal. The Goblin Housemaid did use such a band.

I wouldn't be able to use one of these cleaners without a paper bag, as I have a very severe allergy to house dust mites which has caused nasal polyps.

[Fidelity Fan]

I have been looking at the new 119 agitator brushes. The bristles are held in with a piece of wire that is inserted into the metal base then bent over and glued in. Later Juniors have brushes with a nylon base. However they are held in the same way. It would be time consuming, but I reckon that new brushes could be fitted to the old metal 119 brush bases.