Eureka Powerline canister

[fan-of-fans]

At a thrift shop today I saw an unusual plastic Eureka canister. It was black and gold and said "Eureka Powerline" on it. It had a gas pump style hose end with the controls on it. I have never seen one. It only had the upholstery tool on it, didn't see any other attachments. Anyone seen one? I just remember the Rally canisters and then the World Vac ones and Excalibur.

 

[eurekaprince]

After the Rally canisters, Eureka came out with a rounded "aerodynamic" shape of Express/Rally canister which I think actually was marketed as the Aero or Contour line-up. It came with an Express power nozzle and later with a World Vac power nozzle. The rear of the unit had contoured foot buttons for the cord reel and the on/off switch. I distinctly remember seeing the vacs in Sears in summer of 1991. There was definitely a chocolate brown one, and I do seem to recall a Powerline Gold version which was black.

The design did not last very long and the line-up was soon replaced with the World Vac canisters with the bulbous wheels and on-board floor brush in the back with the smaller new style tools.

 

[durango159]

I've seen white and blue labeled Powerline canister vacs. They look very similar to Eureka World Vac canisters but with wrap cord storage on the bottom, front mount house rather than swivel, standard hose grip, non gas pump with suction release valve. Power nozzles on the Powerline units I've seen were World Vac series.

Here's a past eBay auction of the style I'm thinking of. This is the white model. There was a gorgeous blue one too! Just can't find the blue one currently on the internet![this post was last edited: 6/18/2016-21:58]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eureka-Powe...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[eurekaprince]

Hey there Rob! Indeed, that eBay auction is showing the style of aerodynamic sleek Eureka canister I meant. It was the next iteration of the Express series and Rally series as it's basically the same vacuum with a hose port that does not swivel and tools on board in the back. The white Powerline you refer to was the basic budget version - there were more deluxe versions with a Cordaway cord reel and a gas-pump handle identical to the Express hose. I can't remember if these were the first Eurekas with the new edge brushing power nozzle, but they must have been because the World Vac canisters came a few years later.

 

[durango159]

Hi Eureka Prince!

I remember my Bradlees discount store selling the blue Eureka Powerline which was basically the same as the white Powerline above with a basic hose handle and wrap storage below the unit-- this was back in the late 1990's!

Meanwhile Consumer Reports in March 1996 highly rated the red Eureka World Vac 6865 B as excellent in deep cleaning carpet and Excellent in bare floor cleaning. That unit was marked as a Best Buy! Consumer Reports also highly rated a sparkling gray charcoal colored Eureka Excalibur canister vac in that same issue with similar ratings to the World Vac but in the individual vacuum descriptions----which back then Consumer Reports did, they liked the reliability and wiring better in the World Vac.

***The picture of the Excalibur in the magazine looked charcoal gray. There is one here in this vintage thread that looks more like a green!



http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?3261

 

[vacerator]

The Excalibur also came in black,

or dark blue. I recall it in a JC Penney catalogue back in 1995.
It was made in Sweden by Volta/Electrolux.
The successor to it was the Europa, and was green. Also made in Sweden, and the first to have heap filtration, and quiet operation. It was called the Excelio in Europe. Eureka sold another Europa at a lower price point.

 

[eurekaprince]

It was nice to see some of Eureka's deluxe power teams top the ratings charts in Consumer Reports in the 70's, 80's and 90's. The 1255 Red Princess Power Team did it with a Best Buy tick in 1974. Then the deluxe Electronic Express Power Team did it in the mid 1980's. Then the Cranberry Red World Vac Power Team did it in 1992 or 1993. And as Rob said, that was followed by two top rated Excalibur power teams featuring quiet, high filtration canister units made by Electrolux's Volta Division in Sweden.

The first Electrolux Oxygens in North America were also labelled Eureka, but I don't think these appeared in Consumer Reports until they were labelled Electrolux in 2007 - the burnt orange Oxygen with problematic electrified wands.

 

[durango159]

Consumer Reports liked the cleaning ability, filtration and noise level of the Oxygen units. It was the reliability factor and also complaints from vacuum shops that servicing them was quite difficult!! Those are the issues with them. Otherwise they have nice features!

I like the rubber tread on many of the new style Electrolux power nozzles. Also the "click" for the height adjuster feels more solid and more definite of a lock into that position compared to the Kenmore/ Panasonic power nozzles and many other manual height setting vacuums!

 

[eurekaprince]

Indeed...that first line up of Burnt Orange Electroluxes (first saw them in person at Sears in Toronto) were excellent performers. Both the Oxygen upright and canister were top-rated by Consumer Reports. It's too bad the units had lots of problems requiring repairs. The two-motor upright was one of the coolest designs I had seen since the Eureka Ultra debuted. Electronic height adjustment plus cord reel!

The first North American Electrolux Oxygen canister had a nice set of grey Eureka attachments that stored on a removable on-board tool holder. I loooooooved the upholstery nozzle that came with it! It was identical to the deluxe upholstery nozzle Eureka Williams included with all their deluxe canisters in the 1960's! The design had survived for 40 years!!! :-D

 

[vacerator]

Indeed Brian,

I have a few of those upholstery tools also, as well as their companion machines. Only one has a worn out bristle strip. It's from my Express canister model 8290. I also prefer the deluxe horse hair dusting brushes.
Having the on the wand tool holder is also handy when I use the Oxygen vibragroomer 3 power nozzle with the central vac.
Seems to be the deluxe E-Lux upholstery tool of today is the flip open combination crevice/upholstery tool.