Electrolux Oxygen Ultra

[cam2s]

So I’ve been on the look out for one of these for quite some time, European Electroluxs don’t pop up often around here. Anyways nabbed this one for 30 bucks at goodwill. The 1st issue I had was getting bags. The local vac shop didn’t have any for it, so I ordered some on Amazon only for the order to get cancelled two weeks later. Happened to go out of town, tried two other vac shops, who also didn’t have any bags for it, finally tried Walmart.com, which did get them to me, after a delayed shipment. This particular unit came with a bag of goodies too, all the attachments, a floor brush, and a turbo brush. There appears to be a carrier for the basic tools that slips into the back of the canister, but it’s broke so it doesn’t stay any. The canister itself is quite nice, feels solid, good sealed filters, is quite powerful, and very quiet. The suction control is a bid odd, it does reduce the pitch of the motor slightly but doesn’t really reduce the suction any. The hose, which incidentally is the same as the hose on my Eureka Europa, is kinda cheap feeling. Also the PN wands are a bit loosey goosey. The power nozzle has height control and grooms nicely, though this particular one seems to be noisy.

 

[cam2s]

I do have this Electrolux Versatility. Compared to the Oxygen is has a much sturdier hose and wand set up. The only problem is it uses non standard sizing, where the oxygen uses a standard nozzle opening. Also the bagless setup in the versatility is a bit goofy, it just doesn’t have power that the oxygen does.

Overall the Oxygen is still a nice vacuum, though was a bit disappointing, especially after waiting a month. I think it will be much better enjoyed paired with my Sebo or Lindhaus pn, and a regular set of steel wands. That will bring some build quality to the party, and both of the nozzles run very quietly to match the canister.

 

[cam2s]

And the Europa, again notice the exact same hose set up.

 

[ocscott3085]

My parents had the black Eureka Europa with the Express powerhead for a brief period of time and I remember trying to get bags for it from a local vac shop and the guy didn't believe me that the model existed. I literally had to bring the machine in to prove it was a real unit. Great powerhead and quiet but the Miele they bought soon after was much nicer.

 

[huskyvacs]

Here's my Electrolux Oxygen EL6988E I got from Goodwill on 5/22/2021 for $17.99. It didn't have the powerhead, only the floor tool.

I think all 3 of these vacuums are all from the same family. Not sure why they never caught on. They just came then disappeared as mysteriously as they arrived. They are pretty sold little vacuums, would be great for a dorm or apartment.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Was this the model that Home Depot used to sell? I remember them selling a reddish-orange Electrolux canister, an upright (I believe the folding one) and maybe a stick vac as well, all in matching colors.

I thought this power nozzle was very sleek looking. I liked that long curved headlight.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Those small tools look to be pretty good quality. I think I've seen those used with some Eureka models as well. That bare floor tool seems to be used by everybody. I've seen it on some higher end Kenmore Progressive uprights, Hoover used it on some of their uprights as well as the Constellation and Windtunnel Anniversary Canister. I think some other brands did, too.

 

[eurekaprince]

That grey upholstery nozzle supplied with the Electrolux Oxygen in North America is the exact same design as the deluxe, wider upholstery nozzle made by Eureka Williams way back in the 1960’s. As a matter of fact, the earliest appearance seems to have been a green one that was sold with the 1959 Anniversary Edition of Eureka’s Super Rotomatic. That’s almost 40 years of sales of that particular design of upholstery nozzle. Maybe that’s record for a vacuum cleaner attachment?

 

[jo]

These are all rebadged Eureka’s

I despise these Electrolux’s they confused people horribly as Eureka wanted to sell their Electrolux line in the US so they bought the name back from the US Electrolux. US Electrolux, now Aerus suffered horribly and still is by the renaming. Most people still think these Electrolux’s are the US companies products and therefore think the machines are crap and now that they are no longer sold in the US. It’s all just a mess. People do t know the “original” US Electrolux never went away and is still available now sold under the Aerus name plate as a “Lux Classic” or “Lux Legacy” or the upright model.

Some frites da bought one of these red oxygens and were disappointed in it. The power nozzle was noisy too and she felt the vacuum wasn’t much better than the Kenmore canister it was replacing when they were expecting to buy a “real Electrolux” which would have been the Aerus but they had no clue about the whole name change thing. They did figure out the machine was a Eureka but just thought that was the end of the old Electrolux and it had been replaced by this.

These machines are around 20 years old now not bad though for a plastic canister to last that long. Parts and bags are going. To be harder to find now that Eureka has pulled the Electrolux vacuum product out of the United States. In fact I don’t see that many Eureka products in the stores. A lot of Shark and Hoover and Bissell and an occasional Eureka.

 

[eurekaprince]

They are not rebadged Eurekas. They were designed in Europe by Electrolux design teams and were sold without the power nozzle set-ups all over Europe. They were also manufactured in Electrolux's factory in Hungary. The only parts that were made in North America were the power nozzles and electrified wands- maybe at Electrolux's assembly line in Juarez, Mexico. The final product may have been assembled in Bloomington - not sure. But none of these vacs were ever sold as Eurekas. The Eureka brandname was slapped on the Electrolux Oxygen canisters and uprights for a while, but those products were all made in Europe.

It's important to remember that outside the USA and Canada, the name Electrolux represented the original Swedish company for retailers and consumers all over the world for close to 100 years. Most of the world does not connect the name to the separate American vacuum company.

 

[huskyvacs]

Brian is correct, made in Hungary.

I think Jo might be confusing these with the canisters that used the same outfit as the Dirt Devil Tattoo series vacuums, which were also cloned for Riccar, Miele, Eureka, Simplicity, Kenmore, and so on. Those were just cheapo canisters made to fill a price point in the company's lineup. These Electrolux vacs are pretty heavy, they do not feel cheaply made at all.

 

[panasonicvac]

The only Aerus machines that I'm aware of which were made for Electrolux AB/Eureka would be the Sanitaire SC660 and SC6610.