Saw this on ebay not too far away listed under other DIY/Tools as a Hover...
Always wanted an aquamaster, so lobbed the only bid on and went and fetched it
It came with a bag!
Immediate win was all the paperwork, which wasnt shown or mentioned on the listing!
Small tools didnt look too healthy though...
but apart from missing the upholstry tool it was very complete!
May 1989
I opened her up and found another filter too, which was nice
Ball valve was present
Hose end is broken sadly, but it holds the tools ok enough
Floor brush
Poles were worn but not dented
Didnt sound brilliantly healthy but it ran
Had a quick shampoo
and did a quick test, although only turned the solution on halfway through like an idiot
Removed a healthy amount of dirt from the hallway rug
Job done, I had a look at the floor tool. It didnt like switching from carpet to hard floor
Was also utterly filthy
Ah
That'll do it
Gave it all a good wash
Quick polish had it looking good again!
I washed and ciffed the solution tank, and Eva helped me apply trim gel and buff it
Then tested it for strength
Later that night when SWMBO went to work, I got started on the messy stuff!
Some screws
And some soil/plaster dust
The castors and holder snap off the bottom
and knock out from above with a screwdriver
Had a look at the solution tube next
Dirty
Sadly the little tube snapped off at a join when removing it
All split and ready for washing
Found some old Vax tubing
Cut to length
Onto the main machine now (you'll see why I waited for SWMBO to go to work...)
Float valve cage off
Seal was filthy
as was the whole thing
Onto the top cover now (it stands up easier with the float cage removed)
One screw is hidden under a cap
One long and one short
2 machine screws release the handle
and the top comes off
Sensing filth, I grabbed a Hoover to vacuum out my Hoover...
Handle split down
Switch cover removed
Onto the next layer
Cable off
Switch pops out of the moulding
Removed
Top diffuser off
and finally the top layer of housing
First layer of sound deadening
It was solid with plaster dust and damp. The three clips holding it together were a pain too, and I slipped with the screwdriver a few times, and snapped part of the backing of the sound deadening but eventually
Another peice was inside the top hat
and again solid.
I vacced off the worse, and got some movement back into the sponge, and withdrew the motor assembly
Yummy
This forms the start of the solution tube network
More scabby foam
I think this machines seen some use
People who have had these machines before were screaming at me to check the fans...
Motor seals off
Not being too fussed about a few dents on the fan case I hammered it off
Took the top cover off
Carbons are good, but worryingly wet... (in its defence, I may have performed a partial water change on our fish tank by sucking 2x loads of water out of it using this before the stripdown...)
Onto the fan now, so grabbed ye old faithfull
And eventually got the nut off
and the fan
Noticed my finger had started bleeding by this point
so fixed that
Started uncovering the fan case
and got it free again
Couldnt get the second fan off, but I have a flatblade screwdriver that fits perfectly into the fins so scraped out a LOAD of caked on plaster dust!
After that, it was getting late, so I cleaned up the front room, and washed the motor housing and foam bits. The foam bits were filthy, so much grit and crap ran out it nearly clogged the bath. Got them 70% cleaner, but the backing started to suffer so I left them be. Their dry now, and do feel 100% better. Sadly, the plastics aren't coming up 100%, so may beed to wash them a few times. Will persevere.
On an unrelated note, I got a box of Turbopower tools from freecycle at lunchtime
which are always handy as I have laods of Turbopowers that need them. However, I noticed that the hose end had the Aquamaster solution trigger cutouts on. Hoover must have cut costs so much in the 90's that they just used the same parts for different machines. Older TP Hose ends dont have the cutouts
I'm going to see if I have a more used hose end with the cutouts anywhere as this set is unused, but if not then this hose end, and the small tools will be donated to the Aquamaster.
More when it's all washed!