GoVacuum Review Series – Hoover U6439-900 Self-Propelled WindTunnel Ultra Upright Vacuum Cleaner
Our retail stores love the Hoover Self-Propelled WindTunnel (U6439-900), simply because it is one of our most popular vacuum repair customers. But never would you find us trying to sell you one of these machines if you came to us for a recommendation for a quality vacuum.
Brand new, the Hoover Self-Propelled WindTunnel seems excellent. With new belts, filters, etc, the vacuum does a great job.
After approximately one year, however, the vacuum will start going downhill. This is by far one of the most repaired vacuums out there. And this is mainly due to a poorly designed belt system. It has a combination of two belts; one driving the agitator brush and the other driving the self-propelled mechanism. What happens is as soon as one belt inevitably goes bad, the other is soon to follow and break.
You will be having to replace the belts at least once a year, if not more. One other problem is when customers pick up the machine by the handle (lets face it, this is the most convenient way to carry) it causes the self-propelled actuator arm to break. There’s too much tension on the arm, and it will rip the screw right out of the plastic actuator arm. You need to carry the machine with the carrying handle on the back of the vacuum to avoid this.
There’s not much you can do to avoid the belt changes, however, as it is a flawed design by Hoover.
On another note, the Hoover Self-Propelled WindTunnel is very heavy so if you will be carrying it up and down stairs, it should be a serious concern for you.
Like we said before, when the machine is working it actually cleans very well. But, those times of good cleaning from this machine will be few and far between.
If you are like many Hoover WindTunnel owners and have to repair this machine’s belt yourself, you are in luck because we have created a video demonstrating how to do a belt repair in our GoVacuum Video Series. Check out the video below:
