
This is my second Hoover, the first one didn''t survive lending it to my girlfriend. She took it apart to clean it and never could get it back together again. Oh well, it was about 20 years old and probably would be fine if I were to fix it.
As for this one, it works as well as the first one. I just cleaned my beige carpet which hadn''t been cleaned in at least 5 years. It looks almost new. Also I''ve been doing some landscaping and had tracked a lot of mud across the carpet and you would never know.
I also used it to clean my ceramic kitchen floor and it did a pretty good job. It didn''t get a few small spots (got most of them) where spills had been on the tile for a long time and it didn''t get the grout between the tiles. To be fair, in the past I had clean those spots with a scratch pad and the grout had to be cleaned with a brush. Still, it was much faster and did a better job than I achieved by hand. I didn''t use the squeegee because the grout lines negated the usefulness of it and it picked the water up fairly well.
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On the downside, the brushes quit spinning shortly after I first used it or perhaps not at all, I''m not sure about that. I was going to return it, but figured it wouldn''t hurt to see if I could find the problem and fix it. The fix was very simple.
First you need to remove the dirty water tank. Under the tank near the front of the machine there is a impeller unit housed in a black irregularly shaped part with a screen facing the front of the machine. You can see it on the first picture posted here by "Peggles". It''s just behind the yellow spray bar in the front.
First remove the front (suction guide) of the machine. It is the piece with the lettering on the front of it. Near the top (under the water tank) there is a plastic tab that you pull on and rotate the piece forward. It will come right off. This is the same piece that you need to remove to get access to the front screen.
Next, Remove the 2 front screws and the 2 back screws (not the 2 middle screws) on the impeller unit and it will lift off the machine. On the side of the impeller unit you will see a number of tabs holding the top and bottom together. Carefully pry the tabs out (a little) and pull the top and bottom of the unit apart. Once that is done, turn the unit over and you will see the impeller.
On my machine the impeller would not turn, so I rocked it back and forth until it did. Once I did this, the impeller would spin freely. I put everything back together and it has been working fine ever since.
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Another problem I had the first time I used it was that it quit sucking up water. As others have mentioned, there are two screens that, if not cleaned, will prevent the cleaner from sucking up water. So, just inspect and clean these screens every time you dump the dirty water and it will work just fine.
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These misgivings aside, this is a nice machine.
What I like about this machine over my older one is that the tanks are easier to remove and dump, especially the dirty water tank. I also like the separate tanks for the cleaning solvent and water.
BTW, I sent an email to Hoover regarding both of my concerns.

I recently purchased the Max 77 to clean a bonus room that had been heavily soiled by kid and dog traffic. The unit performed much better than the unit I typically rent, a Rug Doctor. I am extremely impressed by how well the unit cleans. The unit is easy to clean and the dual dispenser, separate soap and water containers, is a real plus. The unit is a great deal easier to operate then the Rug Doctor and the wide stance saves time and effort. While I typically do not endorse products, this is an exception. The Hoover MaxExtract 77 saved me the expense of replacing my carpet, a feat that I thought would be impossible to accomplish.
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I spent several weeks researching different types of carpet cleaners, and was actually aiming for a bissel when I looked this product over and opted for Hoovers the much easier two container (holds way more water=less time filling and emptying)unit. I got this product during a sale at Kohls, and it''s brilliant. Assembled in minutes, and was cleaning my carpets 20 mins after getting home. I noticed the brushes weren''t turning, so I took out the dirty water dispenser and noticed the arm that controls the brushes was vertical. I moved it down, and voila, the brushes work fine now. The speed control doesn''t appear to make that much of a difference in rotations. I don''t use it anyway.
Clean up is super easy, and the soap mixer/dispenser is a very welcome addition. The power surge really does do a surge, lol, the first time I overdid it a little, and spent some extra time getting the water up from the carpet. Thing is, it picked up all that water, and the wet spot was as dry as the rest of the carpet.
I found that going over the area again after a few minutes picks up even more water, and yes, I had one area of carpet that was literally dry to the touch in a couple of hours.
This carpet was brand new when we moved in one year ago, and there was some pretty dirty water! But, when completed, the carpet looked like it had just been laid down again without that nasty new carpet smell. I have a small dog that lives for marking one of my loveseats, and the upholstery cleaner had it looking (and smelling!) brand new in no time flat.
I like that it''s dual surface, it''s cleaned my ceramic tile floors within an inch of their life and they are sparkling white again and dry as a bone. It''s got a squeegee attachment that I haven''t used yet.
This thing truly sucks!!! ROFL, in a very, very good way!
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Years of good experience with Hoover products and very good features on this machine led us to purchase it. It was easy to assemble and directions were good. However, it did not work. Cleaning solution was not being dispensed during operation, it was just wetting the carpet and sucking it sort of dry. Two days after we received the machine, we phoned customer support at Hoover; they were woefully unhelpful. Their only offer: If we paid to ship it back, they would send us a repaired one. I figured it was a sucker deal to offer us a repaired machine to replace a new machine that was faulty.
Amazon, however, took the machine back at no charge and sent a new one, as we requested, also at no charge for shipping. I can always trust Amazon to stand behind their sales!
The machine''s features are so good, I''ll try again. But it better be good this time! And Hoover needs to listen to engineers and business people rather than their bean counters. They need to have responsive customer service.
Update: Amazon (bless them!) sent a new cleaner right away. Great service and response, very good phone support by Amazon. The new cleaner works fine so far and cleans very well. We have used it only once; I''ll wait and see.
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I did a lot of research before purchasing this carpet cleaner comparing features and weight of the machine. Not that this is a light weigh machine, but I did find that the Platinum models all were a good bit heavier. I love the separate containers for clean and dirty. The collection tank also opens up to allow you to clean the dirty tank. Some may think no big deal after all it just gets filled with dirty water. For us pet owners we know what we may have to be sucking out of the carpet that is a big plus. This feature sold me on the hoover over a Bissel. Also it does suck up alot of the water. While it claims no more wet socks, that requires a logistical miracle. You do go back over the carpet a couple times to suck up all the water. It sucks up enough that it is dry with in a couple of hours (with the help of a fan).
my carpet is very light colored and had very dark streakssome that were made worse by cheap carpet cleaners. This cleaner was a last ditch effort to avoid replacing my carpet and it did the trick. At first I thought it was leaving a good bit of dirt behind but by the time I turned it to rinse and then went over it once to help get the water up, it was great. I highly recommend this model!
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