I had the older version of this machine. I bought it about 6 years ago and after attempting to clean the rugs last month I realized it was no longer picking up the water. Opened it up and saw that the internal suction hose had split in half. That was it .. time to find another cleaner. I have had good luck with Hoovers but did a TON of research before settling on this machine. I have a dog and a toddler and both do a number on my rugs. Juice, food, crayons, spit up, urine and everything else under the sun has ended up on my carpet in the past 2 years. I did not take care of my previous Hoover so it wasn't the best in its later life. I just brought the new one home and oh my god, the water was black. I did not think anything could bring my carpets back but this did. They are so soft and clean. I love this machine because it has a rinse button if you want to make sure you have gotten all the soap out. I use really warm water and the machine directs hot air onto the carpet as you make your passes. The carpet dried super fast and just looks fantastic. I had to fill and empty the containers 4 times for my combination living / dining room but hey, I'm not complaining now that I see the results. I also like this machine because you do not mix the detergent in with the water. This is great because if you have detergent left over you just pour it back into the bottle. Based on my previous experience, here is what I learned and can pass on to future Hoover SteamVac owners:

1. Clean your machine after each use. That means taking apart the brushes and washing out the front nozzle. This is an investment and if you want it to continue working like it did the first day, you need to take care of it.
2. Do not leave left over or dirty water in the tank when you put it away. This will wear away at the joints and increases the chances the leaks.
3. Do not leave left over detergent in the tank .. see #2.
4. Read the directions when you put it together and make sure you read how to use this rather than just take it out and turn it on. I never read the first manual and didn't realize I should have been cleaning and using the spray button a totally different way.

This is a great machine and I hope it will last just as if not longer now that I know how to take care of and use it properly.

I'd like to share my experience of using the "steamvac" model # "F7411-900"
This is my second, improved model which replaced the model # "F5918-900" I had for about five years. Eventually the plastic hose of the previous model's attachment wore out at the bend. I was about ready to go with the costly replacement for the whole hose subassembly, because there was no way to replace just a broken part itself, when the electric motor burned out. Although I thought that five years for a non-professional water vacuum is too short a lifespan, I needed a water vacuum, so I went shopping.

In a local store I saw the new model # "F7411-900" offering better and improved features, so I purchased it. As of today I have had this model for six months, but I am already highly dissatisfied with the design, manufacturing, and quality of the vacuum.
First of all, just a few days ago, two plastic bosses were broken from the `dirty' tank. These plastic pins hold the handle and secure the recovery tank lid. Now, that whole container is useless and requires replacement. I am an engineer myself, and I'm absolutely sure that the problem is due to bad design and manufacturing defects in the molded part. After hundreds of times closing and opening the handle, the stress accumulates in those small plastic pins, eventually breaking them. Other things which I have become frustrated with in this model are:

1. When hose is attached and used, the dirty water drips back to the carpet through the main inlet nozzle. The position for the hose attachment seems poorly placed. Every time I use attachment, I have to clean the residual dirty stains on the carpet caused by leakage.
2. The hose attachment has very tiny little plastic hooks for attachment to the hole. These eventually can and will break from simple use. I have yet to find separate replacement parts for these, so I assume that the whole attachment must again be replaced.
3. We have some pets, but even if we dry vacuum carpet before using the water vacuum, the main inlet accumulates hair and other litter from the carpet. The fur particularly accumulated into inlet nozzle slot, and there is no way to remove them without using a specially made wire hook to slide into the very thin slot space in order to remove it. Why is there no hatch for this purpose? The issue had to have come up during testing, or did manufacturer assume that the vacuum would only be used on absolutely clean carpet?
4. The black rubber seal gasket in the rectangular hole on which the dirty container sits has come apart and lost its continuous shape, so there is now a gap in the sealing material, causing decreased suction. Again, this can only be caused by the manufacturing or design flaws, because the part does not see enough wear to warrant such quick deterioration. Even if I find a replacement seal for purchase, how long can I expect it to last given the history?
5. The upper tank has two compartments: one for water and one for the cleaning solution. Once I put the solution in the compartment, it looses a few drops of solution every time I install the clean container in place on the valve. Overall, it looses a lot of cleaning solution and makes a mess.
6. The plastic tool caddy that is supposed to hold the hose and hose attachments on the back of the vacuum is absolutely useless. Not only does it not hold any parts reliably, but it also comes off by itself from the simple motions of vacuuming.

I truly believe that this model should be taken off of the shelves and redesigned because of its many manufacturing and design flaws.

I just got this carpet cleaner from Amazon.com and I am so happy with it. It outcleans everything I've ever used before, including professional cleaning companies. I owned a Kirby years ago and it can't hold a candle to this Hoover cleaner. I found it was much easier to use than the rug doctor, which I've rented many times, and since I own it, I don't have to haul it back to the store and I have all the time I want to clean my carpets.

It was very easy to use, and I particularly like the clean water rinse feature. It gets all the detergent residue out, and my carpet was soft and lofty after cleaning. Just think, you wouldn't wear your clothes washed and not rinsed.

The power is awesome, my carpet was practically dry when I finished. I got back very close to the amount of water that was dispensed. My carpet was dry enough to walk on in an hour and vacuum in 2 hours. This machine is so well made that I look forward to having soft clean carpet for years to come. It has the quality that I expected from a Hoover. I researched all brands of cleaners dilligently on the net and even looked at some brands, including Bissell, in a store before I decided on this particular Hoover machine. I've never been so happy while cleaning my carpets before. I had it out of the box and ready to go in minutes. It's as easy to use as a vacuum cleaner, plus, Amazon's sale price was cheaper than any price for the same machine that I found. I am a happy camper with this purchase!

I've owned this cleaner for about 4 years. It cleans carpets pretty well. You can easily tell which part of the carpet has been cleaned because it is so clean! The hand held tool doesn't work quite as well on the stairs, but it is better than nothing.

I have used this cleaner once or twice a year for the last 4 years. Maybe it has been used a total of eight times. I have been VERY careful with the cleaning, handling and maintenance of this machine. It looks brand new, just like it just come out of the box.

But I have had two problems with this machine:
1. The water tank cracked after the the third use. This was easily replaced at my local Hoover dealer but still, it cost about $40 to replace.

2. The last time I used it I noticed that the brushes were not spinning. I found that the gear box that spins the brushes was bound up and the turbine had a crack in it. I was able to clean and lube the gear box and glue the turbine back together. The brushes spin again, but it looks like I will have to shell out another $40+ for a turbine gearbox in the near future.

So after 8 uses, I am out about $280. This is probably what I would have spent renting a cleaner 8 times at my local supermarket. But, that cleaner is an industrial strength cleaner and would probably do a better job cleaning my rugs.

I would have no problem with this machine if it were more reliable, but I can't recommend it. When this machine dies for good, I won't buy another Hoover.

My parents told me they wanted to buy me a carpet cleaner for my birthday and were planning to get a Bissell similar to the one they have. I have a Consumer Reports subscription, so I figured I'd be able to find out what CR thought about various brands and models. It turns out that, as of January 2009, Consumer Reports hasn't even bothered to test carpet cleaners.

So I hopped online to check out some reviews elsewhere, and the Bissell didn't fare very well. In Amazon's customer reviews, the Hoovers outperformed Bissells across the board. There was a sale at a local store, so I started looking at reviews for any Hoovers that the store sold. It didn't take long to narrow down my choices to the Dual-V Widemouth and the All-Terrain (which both had great reviews on Amazon), so I opted for the cheaper one--which was also $20 cheaper than the Bissell my parents had originally planned to buy!

Well, yesterday was my birthday and we did the family thing today, so I got to open up my present and try it out for the first time. It didn't take long at all for me to realize that my new Hoover beats Bissell, hands-down. You can stop reading now, because there's simply no comparison.

Hmmm...I can see you're still reading, so I guess you didn't believe me the first time. Fine, I'll make a few comparisons:

1. Sure, the Bissell ProHeat has a built-in heater, but you put hot water into the thing anyway and the water stays hot until you spit it onto the floor and suck it back up, so the heater offers no advantage, whatsoever.

2. The 6 circular spinning scrub brushes do a better job scrubbing than the long drum brush that most other carpet cleaners seem to have (including my parents' Bissell and all the other Bissells I looked at during my couple days' worth of research). The big long brush just strokes the carpet a few times each rotation, while the circular spinning brushes have tons of bristles constantly rubbing against the carpet.

3. The Hoover destroys stains and dirty patches that the Bissell could hardly even lighten.

4. The Hoover has separate dirty and clean water tanks, both about the same capacity. (There is one gotcha: the dirty tank looks like it can hold almost twice as much, but it doesn't. You'll see what I mean if you use it. I'ts not a problem though; just empty the dirty tank whenever you refill the clean tank.) My parents' Bissell ProHeat has one tank that has separate compartments for both clean and dirty water. Since it's physically only about the size of one of the Hoover's tanks, the Bissell's capacity is only about half that of the Hoover--which means you'll be dumping and refilling twice as often.

5. The Hoover's first-time use is a little more complicated than that of some of the other carpet cleaners I've used, but this machine has extra attachments and is easier to clean. Just read the book the first time you're about to use it, and remember to clean the tanks and the pick-up area after each use. It's pretty easy to figure out after that.

Still not convinced? Well, how about a little story. My parents brought their Bissell ProHeat carpet cleaner over to my house soon after I bought the place, and my dad did a thorough cleaning. He ran over a dirty patch in the hallway about 20 times, and spent a good 45 minutes trying to clean a stain in front of the fireplace--he must have gone over that stain at least 30 times. My fiance and I have borrowed both my parents' carpet cleaner and her mom's carpet cleaner a couple times since then, and no matter how many times we've tried cleaning the carpets, both the dirty patch and the stain defiantly stood their ground, just mocking us.

I ran my new Hoover SteamVac Dual-V Widepath over the hallway patch a couple times, and the dirty patch now almost matches the rest of the carpet. Then, for the true test, I took the cleaner down to the basement and cleaned that spot in front of the fireplace. I ran over it once and it seemed like it might be a little lighter. I thought, "Hmm, should have gotten a before & after shot." Then, later on, I ran over it a couple more times and seemed to make even a little more progress. "I guess that's a tough stain, so this isn't too bad," I thought.

Then I realized that my new carpet cleaner was still set on "rinse" for the second and third passes. I switched it back to "wash" and attacked the stain from a couple different angles. Now you can hardly even tell there was ever a stain there! I've had that stain for 4 years, and nothing--not spot cleaner, not carpet cleaners, and no amount of scrubbing--could put a dent in that stain. But a few passes with the Hoover erased the stain.

If you're going to buy a carpet cleaner, buy this one.

This carpet cleaner is amazing!!! We have owned several cleaners in the past. Most recently a Bissel - after the second trip to get the Bissel it fixed and then to only have it braking again, we finally gave up. And I started renting a rug doctor to clean our carpets at least 2 times a year. We have three pets and then my husband and myself, and we live in the desert with all the dust and mud that tracks in from outside - and honestly we are not messy people. I am kind of a freak when it comes to our carpets and keeping them clean. 3 months ago I rented a rug doctor and cleaned all of our carpets, and within the couple of weeks it was starting to feel like I had never cleaned the carpets. I decided to try to get another cleaner.

I found this Hoover on Amazon and read the fantastic reviews, so I decided to give it a try. I tried to find it in a local story but had no luck. I ordered it last weekend on Amazon and it was here before this weekend started - quick shipping. I cleaned all of our carpets yesterday and they look fantastic! My husband said (several times) that it looks better than when I rented the rug doctor and better than when we had the Bissel. BRAVO Hoover - you have made an awesome product! The cleaner is very easy to push around - almost like a vacuum. The attachment was simple to use to clean in those hard to get to spots. And the whole thing was very simple and quick to rinse after I was done. I am very impressed with the whole thing.

This produce it truly an A+ for me.

I had a Bissell ProHeat for the last 7 years, and it had been repaired a few times, but finally gave out. I was generally satisfied with it until it recently started to perform poorly. Features that I really liked were the convenience of one tank, the ability to "dial-in" the soap, easy to use tools, and the ability to apply soap and then rinse on the same tank for small jobs.

After reading several reviews, I thought it might be time to switch to Hoover. One negative about the Bissell is that it always left carpets fairly wet. We would always do big cleaning jobs in the spring or fall when the house was open so that we could air out the house overnight as the carpets dried. Another negative is that you had to clean using multiple passes from different angles. This was especially noticeable when going after a stain. You would have to clean north-south, then east-west, and sometimes south-north and west-east in order to completely get the stain out.

I am happy to report that the Hoover is much better than the Bissell in these two areas. The carpets are MUCH drier with the Hoover, only taking a couple of hours to completely dry out. Also, the spin brushes seem to clean all sides of the carpet fibers regardless of the direction you are push/pulling the cleaner. I think the Hoover does a better job of pulling dirt out of the carpet, but a worse job of pulling pet hair up. I don't have a scientific measure of either of these, but the Bissell would always leave chunks of dog fur after cleaning (which you could easily pick up with your hands). The Hoover does not make those chunks, and it did not seem that there was a bunch of hair in the dirty water, so I am assuming that the hair remains in the carpet. Perhaps Consumer Reports will do a more scientific study and prove me wrong.

This model has the ability to wash/rinse the carpet on the same tank, but it does not allow you to "dial-in" the soap concentration. This is probably a good thing, as we used a lot less soap with the Hoover than we did with our Bissell. One inconvenience is the two tanks. It requires more time/effort to change two tanks on the Hoover. At the end of the day, though, the Hoover dirty water tank is much easier to clean than the Bissell tank/bladder system. Both systems seem to hold about the same amount of water; a previous reviewer was misguided with their comment about the seperate tanks holding more water on the Hoover. The difference is that the Bissell has one tank that is always full, with a bladder seperating the clean and dirty water. The Hoover has two tanks, but the total fill capacity is about the same as the Bissell.

The attachments are not as easy to use on the Hoover as my old Bissell. Not a huge problem, as we usually don't use the attachments and the Hoover is not cumbersome to set up, but there is a difference. I cannot speak about the durability of the Hoover, as I have not owned it very long. The durability of the Bissell was fairly good. It cleaned up after two babies and two inside dogs for about 5 years before I had significant problems, and it limped along for another couple of years after that. If the Hoover can match that durability, then I will be more than satisfied.

In summary, I would like to list the strong points for each of my two carpet Cleaners:
("Pro's")
Bissell:
One tank easy to dump/fill
"Dial-in" soap concentration
Easy to use attachments
Modest increase in water temperature
Better pet hair removal
Durable

Hoover:
Significantly drier carpets
Better overall cleaning
"Single-pass" cleaning
Easy-to-clean tanks
Lower soap consumption
Durable? (unknown due to short time of ownership).

Common to both machines:
Soap/rinse on same tank
Easy/quick to set up
Compact (Compared to commercial-type cleaners)
Cheaper than carpet cleaning services

I read all the Amazon reviews and decide to go with the F7411 rather than the slightly cheaper F5 series because of the separate cleaning fluid/water chambers and the upholstery tools. I had it delivered by the next day and it did an incredible job! Easy to install and the carpet is dry quickly as the backstroke sucks up the water. I have two puppies and they are... well puppies... there was no way we were getting rid of Gwen and Luca but the carpet was something to consider changing. We had professional do the job and it was "okay"... now my pups are older and still have accidents.... so I took a chance on this and it has incredibly enough restored the carpet to a nearly new appearance. It is worth the extra cost to keep the cleaner and the water separate.. no mixing needed and it was amazing to see the dirt coming into the reservoir for the dirty water... both reservoirs are easy to clean. The package included a long hose, a Rotating cleaning tool and an unholstery brush. It also comes with enough cleaning fluid to start out. Did a large bedroom in no time. Only drawback so far... thing is a bit heavy but I guess that's why it is so powerful.
Buy it.

This carpet cleaner does a nice job, but, although I followed all the instructions to the best of my ability, IT LEAKS.

This is my third steam vac in about 12 years. The first two were Bissels and were very hard to use. They were hard to push, were constantly breaking belts, etc.
This Hoover is the best. I just cleaned my entire 3500 sq ft. house with it-all bedrooms, stairs, area rugs, etc. It did a fantastic job. The best thing about it unlike the others that I have had, is it got out of the carpet almost entirely all of the water that went in. My carpet was dry by the time I was finished. I have never seen so much filthy water that was coming back out of my carpet. ( and I vac every week) The carpet in one bedroom had a bad odor that I had tried repeatedly to get out of the carpet, from a pet urinating. The odor and any stains are entirely gone now. The house smells clean and fresh. I had thought we were going to have to replace the bedroom carpet, because it was so bad. I even got on my hands and knees and smell nothing but fresh smell.

This is an awesome steam vac, well worth the money. Stanley Steamer usually charges me around $150.00 per year to come out and do a couple rooms. This paid for itself the first time and I was able to do my entire house. What I really love about having my own steam vac is that I can use it whenever I would like without the headache of having to wait half a day for someone to show up and do it for me.