Eureka Sweet Sixteen Canisters

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Wow! Eureka Williams at its best! Sleek, understated, confident industrial design - wish I could find out the names of the designers who created these classic cleaners!

The art director doing these spec sheets made a few minor errors on the front side of the 1660 and 1680 documents: the front pic of the 1660 should show a Vibra-Beat carpet nozzle in the Tool Pak, and the front pic of the 1680 should show Eureka’s deluxe, wider upholstery nozzle. The back sides of the spec sheets show the correct tools on the canister.

I think these vacs are circa 1970. They debuted after the Empress II FastVacs from 1967. I think the canister bodies went from sky blue to burnt orange and harvest gold in 1972.

EUREKA. The very best in vacuum cleaners. A few decades ago…..
 
I actually think there was a fourth model in the line-up: the 1620 was a budget version with no CordAway cord reel, if I remember correctly. The series was launched at the National Housewares Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, and Home Furnishings Daily had their special NHMA show edition which had a print ad from Eureka showing the 4 models: 1620, 1640, 1660 and 1680.
 
Cool 😎, I do use it, pretty colors. When I saw it I was thinking 68 to 71 maybe those were popular colors then for the cars. Mine is in I would say very good condition with all of the tools but no tool rack it just wasn't there elderly owner. I'm guessing the exhaust vent on the bottom is to allow for better air flow and cooling but I don't really care for the sound of it with it open.
 
Wow, Eurekaprince, good catch. I didn't notice the omissions in the pictures. I personally never cared for the Vibra-Beat attachment. It always seemed gimmicky and noisy. In '72, I bought a new Model 1260 Power Team. I liked the cord reel and electrified hose, though you had to string the leader wire up the channel behind the extension wands. Great machine.
 
My mother has the Eureka Canister Vacuum Cleaner Model 1640. Thanks for posting the spec sheet. Do you also have the parts schematic for this model? I'm looking for the part numbers to replace either the rear wheels alone or the rear wheels with metal yokes fastened to the body of the vacuum.
 
motor and sound

I would love to see one of these, I wonder what motor they used and what the sound was like. I have some idea since I've heard other motors of that time, I've heard the power team that Eureka made in 1972, I wonder if it was similar to that. It was an "f" note, that's the pitch the motor had. Since I'm blind I guess I tend to notice things like that, lol. Were these discontinued when Eureka came out with their powerteams?
Mike
 
Hi Keith,

Love your Empress II FastVac! I think you mean Model 1860….the Empress II canisters were from the 1800 model series. That series had a similar range: 1820, 1840, 1860, 1880. These came out about a year or two before the 1600 series.
 
Hi Mike,

Here is a YouTube clip showing a Eureka Model 1630. The ratings on the spec sheet go by horsepower and each of the models in the series had slightly more powerful motors as you went up the range. This 1630 may have a 1 and 1/2 hp motor…you can distinctly hear the motor sound in this clip as the user cleans a piece of upholstered furniture with an upholstery nozzle….

 
@ Brian: Thanks so much for the kind words Brian! I appreciate you very much!

Another Department store brand version of the Eureka vacs was Grants. They carried the Bradford rebadged Eurekas back in the early 70s. [this post was last edited: 12/23/2021-17:08]
 
love the sound

Love the sound of the motor on that youtube video, between an "E" and E flat. Definitely a two stage motor, what a contrast between that and the high pitch screaming sound of most vacuum motors today. I like the sound of those older motors much better. So each cleaner in the 16 series used a different motor? Interesting. I still think it's kind of interesting and somewhat ironic that two of the biggest vacuum brands, Hoover and Eureka were actually the last ones to introduce powerteam canisters. Just about every other vacuum brand had powerteam canisters several years before Hoover and Eureka did. Try as I might, I can't think of any reason why these two companies waited so long.
Mike
 
Hi Mike,

I have a theory about why power nozzle canisters by Eureka and Hoover did not appear before 1973. In about 1969, Consumer Reports rated the Electrolux 1205 as the top canister because of its excellent carpet cleaning ability. I can't remember if any Kenmore power nozzle cleaners rated well in that report. It could be that once popular Electrolux grabbed the top spot in the ratings, Hoover and Eureka figured it was time they created a power nozzle canister. Especially since Consumer Reports tests showed that Eureka's Vibra Beat carpet nozzle did not really improve carpet cleaning: I remember that the report said the racket the Vibra Beat created was "much ado about nothing"!!!!
 
Another thought, although obviously I could be very wrong! I always thought that the Hoover and Eureka back in the day, they had some models starting at let's say a beginning household's budget and then fancied up and more powerful from there, where adding a power head would almost double that price. Again it's just a theory but I think you're more expensive door to door and such it wouldn't have been such a shock to their average buyer. Maybe! Using my sweet 16 today!!!

suckolux-2021122615073004881_1.jpg
 

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