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The Hoover Constellation story
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- Опубликовано: 14 ноя 2021
- The Hoover Constellation was probably the best cylinder type cleaner that Hoover ever made. In this video I tell you some of it's history.
For those wanting to date their Constellations I have added a serial number and date list after the end titles.
You may also like to watch my 2 1/2 minute little comedy called "The unexpected" I made this on 8mm film stock some 50 years ago, it features my Brother David as a repair man and a Hoover 652 upright cleaner.
"The Unexpected" • The unexpected
My Grandmother had a Hoover Constellation ( as pictured above), that fantastic spacecraft/vacuum that floated on a cushion of air instead of wheels. It floated beautifully all over her house except for the uneven junction between carpet and tile. There it would lose air pressure and become marooned, needing a push to coax it back into frictionless travel. A little heartbreaking really, and when playing with it as a child I carefully avoided that forbidden zone. I would remove the attachments and , holding the end of the hose, fly it in a circle around me. I liked to yell orders into the open end of the hose as I spun, holding it like a microphone and occasionally letting it suck the air from my lungs. Eventually the power cord would wind up tightly around my ankles and my Grandmother would have to come and unwind me. This sequence would repeat until I vomited
Blimey what a story, it would make a good film. Lol.
I have a Hoover Constellation and love. I bought it off eBay and hardly been used. I also have a Hoover celebrity, similar design to the constellation as floats on cushion of air, but has 800 watt motor and bigger bag. They certainly don’t make them like these today. I also have a brand new Hoover 652 a in Swedish green, again, brand new still in box with all tools. Hoover made some brilliant vacuum cleaners and I agree fully, new machines made in China and cheap plastic. Keep up with your brilliant videos.
Hello Paul, thank you for your kind comments about my video.
I have always liked the Constellations and of course the 652 range, although I was never a fan of the celebrity range, I always found them cumbersome and awkward to use with a bulky hose compared to the 652's lightweight double stretch hose.
You are very lucky to have a new 652, there is nothing on the market today that would match it's sheer quality.
What I like about the Constellations is that they are simple with no pointless gadgets that most modern plastic monstrosities are equipped with.
hi john , i have always since the age of around 3 loved these old machines, i focus on hoover mainly and have grown my collection from a hoover 575 and 750 all the way to my 1963 hoovermatic 3334 all of which i have made videos on, and i must say as a 13 year old now , i get some very funny things said about the stuff i do lol .and i do hate the throw away society we live in , its sad seeing a modern machine being thrown away because its clogged or a belt has snapped , but i also have had many interference suppressors explode on me on old ones even though they are an easy fix , what companies need to realise is that if it works with a simple on and off switch then why bother adding anything else to make it unreliable . it is also why i like the numatic henry machines that you spoke about briefly because they are very good well built machines. anyway , love the videos , i could honestly listen to you ramble on about anything and you'd somehow make it interesting , love it . thanks for the videos😁
Hello, many thanks for your kind comments about my videos, so glad you like them, it is refreshing to hear of a young person who likes these old machines and also your attitude on the throw away society. I never throw out things if I can manage to repair them, many people think I am mad trying to repair something that costs little to replace but I just hate waste, far too much stuff is thrown away these days.
Sounds like you have some good machines especially the 575 and 750 plus of course the 3334 Hoovermatic which was far superior to the 3301L range that replaced them. In my life I have worked on many 1000's of Hoovermatics and of course the wonderful 3224 keymatics. Keep up the good work John.
Hi mate, my son has just picked up an early 60s constellation. Your video will be really helpful for us.
Thanks for watching Jimmy. In my opinion the constellation is the finest and most reliable cylinder type cleaner Hoover ever made. They are simple, reliable and work well, what more could one want.
What an awesome video, thank you for making it.
You are very kind, thank you.
I have an 822a. Lovely cleaners
I agree, as I mentioned in the video I was never keen on the 822/822A mainly because of the cumbersome hose fitting but now I love the look of them.
Hi John, I remember my parents having one of these in the early 70’s whilst growing up on Brockworth Gloucestershire… I remember thinking that we must be quite posh as it looked so futuristic. We were also told that because it was special, that if we were really good we could do the vacuuming as a treat. Many years later I tried the same thing on my kids but they weren’t as gullible as we were 🤣 . Thanks for another great video… Roger 👍
Thank you very much for your comment Roger. In fact when I was a little lad in the early 1960's the very first cleaner my parents had was a Constellation. Not many years later I was repairing them, In Gloucestershire funnily enough.
John, I worked in Tennyson road Cheltenham and think that I may have used your shop on several occasions, if it was the one across the road from the station.👍
It sure was Roger, The company started out as Mercia Maintenance Ltd in Rodney road, opposite the original Hoover office, we transferred to the shop in Glos road, around 1968. In 1975 my brother and myself took over and run it until 1999. The new owners closed it down around 2011.
Oh John that’s a wonderful coincidence… I bought many a spare set of brushes or various drive belts for our vacuum cleaners over the years as did many of my colleagues at Spirax Sarco. I’m still plodding away a Spirax, but looking forward to getting out in the workshop and enjoying my retirement… thanks for your great videos, always delighted when I see another one from scrimperuk 👍
Roger, we used to get a lot of customers from the various factories in Cheltenham, Smiths of Bishops Cleeve, Dowty group, GCHQ, NHS etc all had accounts with us, several of my Cycling friends worked at Spirax, one still does. Thanks again for your kind comments about my Videos.
Iam vacuum cleaner collecter I love all the old hoover uprights n cyclinders from 70s n 80s I got the yellow Connie from 70s/80s
Thank you for the comment. Prior to connecting to the internet for the first time in 1996 I thought I was the only one interested in old Hoover machines. I am mainly only interested in metal bodied uprights up to the 652 and 1334. I prefer the pre war models such as the 700 and 800 series.
@@scrimperuk I have to send you some pics of my vacs
Yes same as my digital computer tyre inflator useless , , same digital Computer battery charger that won't charge a flat battery useless !! Why can't things have an off on switch ! Great film Thankyou !!
Thanks for your comment Steve.
Superb video! Got another 5 or so constellations in the last week so good info
Many thanks for your kind comment. IMHO the 862/867's were the best non upright cleaners Hoover ever produced - excellent suction - very reliable - good build quality and simple to service - what's not to like!
@@scrimperuk I have two dogs and when the floor has lots of dog hair on it I find the exhaust blows the hair all over! Apart from that yes a great design
Hello John. I found this video to be absolutely fascinating and as always, the production quality is superb. You have certainly done the Hoover company proud in documenting for all, the history of their excellent vacuum cleaners over the years. I agree with you that so many of today's consumer products are overly complicated and unrepairable.
I'm still left wondering however about the rat on your bench! I thought that you'd talk about this at the end of the video. Stay safe and well.
Thank you so much for your kind comment Simon. You are the first one to mention the rat!
One of my grandsons gave him to me when he was a tiny lad (he is almost 18 now) surprisingly we call the rat Ratty, our German shepherd dog is fascinated with the rat.
I thought he could be my mascot in the videos.
Lovely cleaners I like the light green colour scheme. If I remember rightly they made it until 1982/3 in mustard yellow with a rocker switch
I don't remember a rocker switch version?
Excellent video John . Fascinating
Thank you so much for the kind comment. It means a lot to hear that people like the videos.
Great video! I have a 1946 hoover 402 in not so good condition.
I would imagine the 402 are quite rare now Ewan. Some years ago a factory near to us had around 100 model 402 they used for collecting brass filings from their machines, we had the contract to service them every month.
@@scrimperuk wow, that must have put some wear on them. Did they use the original cloth bag in them? I think mine was used to clean cars for many years but the motor is still healthy.
@@the_bigT Yes they used the cloth bags, It was a Smiths factory they made clocks and aerospace stuff they found that the 402 and some 417's were better for the job than industrial machines.
@@scrimperuk why doesn't it surprise me that Hoover was better.
@@the_bigT originally the service contract was with Hoover Ltd contract dept but Hoover transferred it to us in 1965, fortunately I only had to do the machines once, it was boring doing over 100 machines, I spent most of my time doing the Keymatics which I loved doing.
It really does seem that our economy is 'based on waste' nowadays. So ironic that there is so much talk about recycling but the notion of spare parts and repairing otherwise decent items is so alien to our everyday experience. I'm starting to become rather wary of battery technology too - as you say, who will replace a battery when a brand new machine is cheaper? Thanks for this glimpse into a different era John. Oh and I watched The Unexpected again - David should have had the Oscar that year, he was robbed.
Thanks as usual Mark. Our economy is now based on imports rather than manufacturing, the companies who import the cheap junk from China don't want it to last they just want to keep flogging you a new one. In the electrical field at least the once great makes like Hoover are little more than retailers of Chinese stuff. I suppose their attitude is why bother with Factories and employees when we can just buy cheaply from China and make more profit selling off factory land for housing. They don't care.
Funnily David keeps asking me for his fee. BTW, my wife was expecting our second daughter when I made that film, she is now 52!
@@scrimperuk Wow! You don't look old enough. It must be all that cycling, although it's no wonder Mrs. Scrimper needs the electric bike now. (Don't tell her I said that...)
@@MarkMcCluney Mark I added wrong, second daughter is 49, first daughter is 52. (corrected now).
One of these is my everyday cleaner !
What's not to like about the Connie. I won't let the wife use mine, she wrecks practically every vac she uses, you should see how she misuses the 652.
😂 Love it John you have said the hoover 417 is better with lower suction against a diesoon Dyson and a shack Shark. 😂😁🌟🌟
Thank you Peter, I don't think I have mentioned either of those makes in any of my videos, I wouldn't lower myself! Thanks for watching.
Great video. I am having identifying a constellation type vacuum cleaner that my wife inherited. It doesn't have the usual normal hoover badge but has a large white H on a red background. I cannot find a serial plate but everything else is similar to the 867A. Is it a copy or a Hoover?
Hi Mark, thank you for your comment. The machine will be be genuine but the badge you describe is one supplied by a pattern parts supplier. Your machine has either been reconditioned or the original badge was missing and a pattern one fitted. Pattern parts makers had to use just an H to represent Hoover because the Hoover Logo was copyrighted and Hoover took action on pattern makers using their logo. The 867a first came out in 1965.
Great video John
Thank you very much and thank you for watching.
Like Ginger Rogers it' will dance on air.
They do float quite well.
I think the early constellation motor was also used in their early twin tubs and spin dryers .obviously without the fan unit
David you are correct to a degree, There were 3 motors fitted to the Connies, The very first was the taller one that they used in the old 417's then the middle one (the best version) and the third with the plastic top. The motor used in the 3174 range of twin tubs was the middle one, although they looked the same (without the fan stages) the spares did have different part numbers. Single tub and twin tub parts started with the numbers 627*** whereas the keymatic commenced with 629*** numbers.
Couldn’t agree with you more John modern vacuum cleaners are completely meaningless
They are just throwaway toys aren't they.
Constellation would've been better with a stronger motor, 600w was just a bit weak. 800w would have made it perfect.
Have to be honest I don't rate motor wattage being high some of the machines prior to the EU ruling of a maximum 1000watts it was getting ridiculous with some motors at 1800 watts using as much power as a 2 bar electric fire. A properly designed 2 stage fan on a 600watt motor will give better suction than a 1000watt single fan motor.
The early design motor used in the 822 etc was not very efficient though TBH.
If you have an original house for a Hoover constellation that will be amazing I’m trying to find one for my machine
Sorry Terry I don't have a spare hose, your best bet is to join the facebook group Vintage Hoover Home UK and ask in there.