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The Fantom Thunder had the best performance because it had the biggest and best motor. I have all four of the Fantom models, in high quality condition. With manuals and brochures. They will all be sold along with all the vacs in my collection. I'm retiring at the end of the year and...

Those are the same original plugs that came with my model 1C, as well as my Scott & Fetzer Sanitation System.

When a potential customer comes into my store and announces their budget (I ask) is $300, they are NOT shown vacuums for more than $300. They told me they cannot afford a more expensive machine. Why waste time showing someone a vacuum that's a THOUSAND dollars more? The most expensive vacuum...

Your original title to this thread was that you had $300 to spend on a vacuum. Since you spent $1300 on a vacuum, why didn't you say so at first? If we knew you were rich, we would have suggested expensive vacuums to begin with.

It actually is a simple fix. Remove the two screws holding the 'cover' and make sure the speed control lever isn't bent. Even a little will keep "Hi" speed from working.

The only way to know for sure is to look on the armature, between the stackings. The date is stamped into the metal. But that's the date of the motor, so if the motor was changed, that changes the year of the sweeper.

You'll never get the definitive answer you're looking for. Some will tell you 'vintage is the way'. Some will tell you German 'out of budget' vacs are best. Some will say the old fashioned ones (like Kirby). Try them out. It's like cars, no two people like exactly the same features. As the...

Hi Barry: I understand. I too am just starting to get comfortable with letting go of a lifetime collection. I'm at retirement age and want to go in a different direction. I've collected vacuums for almost 55 years, have over 600 of them, mostly very rare machines in excellent shape, with...

I've known Owen (centralvacs1928) for decades. He's an expert, and I bow to his extensive knowledge. If he says something is no good, it's no good.

Silver King bought the dies and tooling from Universal. Their Silver King upright was a Universal with the Silver King name. Custom Kings were ordered in quantity of 8 (there were 2 to a master carton). The attachments were also packed two to a master carton. I remember when Ruth ordered...

There's a way to verify whether or not it is a Vactronic. Like an Electrolux Automatic, there's a sensor tube connected to the intake so the full-bag light will not go on when you put your hand over the end of the hose. The tube can easily be seen when you raise the hood and look. If the...

Ruth Hollander was a distributor for Thompson and Sons. She sold Silver King as well as Custom King cleaners. She told me all about them. A distributor or dealer could order the Custom King in any design they wanted ("custom"). You would order the same model with a by-pass motor or standard...

I absolutely do not believe one can build a dishwasher that sips water, and has a huge long-lasting (as in many decades) motor. The motors they put in modern dishwashers is no bigger than a power nozzle motor. No wonder all the reviews are so negative. People are being taught that five years...

A dishwasher needs to use at least 15 gallons of water for a complete cycle. These modern pieces of crap dishwashers can all go from the assembly line to the tip. My dishwasher is vintage, uses a LOT of water, and gets everything clean. Just like my Speed Queen washer uses almost 40 gallons of...

We sell lots of reconditioned Rainbows. Ordered two delphins (one for me personally) and one for sale. They can sell in store of any price the vac shop wants. I'm very fluid on my price, as there will virtually always be a Rainbow trade-in. I plan to sell a ton of them. They are very, very...

Favorite Vintage Canisters. I love using the battery Perfect Power Nozzle with the straight suction models. Who knew a 1940 Rexair or Electrolux could thoroughly clean a carpet? I rotate these vintage canisters, so they all see one week of service every year. There are many more. These are...

General Electric made the Bison motor for them. Richard Shaffer was President of Bison. Former V.C.C.C. board member, Clay Floyd, operated a service/repair center for Bison in the early 1970's (1973 to be exact). Mr. Shaffer flew from Florida to Denver to host sales meetings, recruit new...

The wonderful Lewyt Big-Wheel could turn on a dime. The easiest canister to pull around ever. Too bad about the zapper models....

Here's a now-vintage Eureka canister (Birthday gift from me to Alex B.). What a powerful machine.

Congrats on an awesome machine. The 543 was designed to be the lower priced (budget) alternative to the Model 700 - the first Hoover with an agitator. Because the motor in the model 543 was designed for the Hoover Beating-Sweeping brush and not the Agitator, it has a hard time turning that...