Fantom Fury motor bearings on their way out?

[niclonnic]

So I've recently decided to put my 12 amp Fantom Fury to use again, after having not used it in several months. It was mostly from boredom during quarantine.

The vacuum still runs great. However, the motor has gotten progressively louder the last few times I've used it. As of today, it has gotten unbearably loud, to the point where it sounds like the vacuum is going to blow up.

I thought right away that the motor bearings are on their way out. It seems to me that not using a vacuum for a long time will dry out the motor bearings. Just to make sure that the brushroll bearings weren't bad, I removed the top cover of the vacuum, disconnected the belt from the motor shaft and ran the vacuum like this. Turns out the motor was making all the noise!

I've had this Fury for two years now, after having purchased it from Mike (electroluxxxx) here on this site in March of 2018. I used it as my daily driver for a couple weeks, and then it went out of commission for most of that year (long story) until December, when Mike pulled the motor out of his 2000 Fantom Fury for me to use, which has worked beautifully until now. But then, last summer, the plastic near the handle release pedal cracked, which is apparently an extremely common issue with the Fury.

For the record, I've NEVER vacuumed up ANY type of liquid with this vacuum.

I texted Mike yesterday about this issue, but he hasn't replied yet, hence why I'm posting here.

Well, I've finally realized the limitations of using a vintage bagless vacuum in the modern world, especially from a company that went bankrupt years ago. While the Fantom Fury is a symbol of my childhood (mostly from memories of my mom using it to vacuum our old apartment), it's just not practical to use in 2020, because A) it's not very powerful at all, due to the dual-cyclonic technology cutting off most of the airflow, and B) replacement parts are difficult to find, due to said bankruptcy of Fantom Technologies. I got this Fury as a collectible, but I've pretty much lost interest in Fantoms over time. In addition, the Fury is a rather small vacuum for such a big (3,200 sq. ft.) house. I'm thinking about asking Mike (electroluxxxx) for a refund on this vacuum.

I have uploaded a video showing this issue in action. I also tested the suction through the hose, and it's normal. And somehow, the headlight still works! Please forgive me for the mess; I was working in the garage while filming this video. The mechanical noise in the background is emitted from my tankless water heater.

 

[bvac6]

That definitely sounds like bearing scream!

 

[electroluxxxx]

Hello Nick!

I received your text yesterday but as you know I am a pretty busy person. due to the machine being sold 2 years ago I am not refunding anything. as a matter of fact I have replaced 2 motors in your machine on my expense to satisfy you, and by the sounds of it there is something in the fan as that is the sound of an unbalanced fan. my advice to you would be to check the fan on the machine as that IS NOT a bearing scream. If the transaction were made 30 days ago a refund would have been possible but definitely not 2 years later. You have used the machine quite a bit even after the motor was replaced.

 

[repairman]

Don't Forget

These machines never had a pre-filter of any kind. That's why Dyson ended his contract with Fantom. Because they didn't want to listen to any of his ideas.

 

[niclonnic]

I got to the motor...

...and it's hard for me to tell whether or not the fan is unbalanced. There's some dust in there, and a few strands of hair (not mine). But the armature looks great. I posted another video where I turn the motor by hand, showing the armature and fan.

 

[madman]

Asking for a refund is not cool dude. That's rude af. You bought an old machine knowing full well that it was old and parts are not available. It's your baby.

 

[repairman]

Also,

I would not recommend using this as a daily driver. I had one of these years ago and it was very fragile. If you want to preserve what is now considered a collectors item, I suggest not using it. Again, Fantom made their money selling the hepa filters. That's why they went bankrupt. They were greedy. That's like if I was using a Regina Housekeeper (Cheapest vacuum on the planet) and complained it wasn't working.

 

[tolivac]

Are replacement motors available for this vacuum in case he should want to use it again?That may be the best out.

 

[niclonnic]

Update

After getting to the motor on my Fury, I blew out the fan vanes using a can of compressed air, which is normally used for dusting off electronic components. Quite a bit of dust came out. However, upon reassembling the machine, I turned it back on, and the motor is making the EXACT SAME NOISE as before! Perhaps I should try using a pipe cleaner to wipe down the fan vanes, like what man114 suggested to me.

MadMan, I'm not sure if you read the reply from Electroluxxxx, but he couldn't refund me anyways, since I bought the vacuum from him 2 years ago, not to mention that we shipped motors back and forth between WA and NY. Eventually, Mike parted out his 2000 Fantom Fury just so I could have a working motor. He even sent me a hose for my Hoover WindTunnel 2 Rewind Pet, packed in with one of the motors he sent me a year and a half ago. Talk about generosity!

repairman, I agree with you, and FantomFan said the exact same thing last summer, as a matter of fact. Have you seen the broken plastic near the handle release pedal on my machine? That just speaks to the fragility of the Fury. Also, the whole purpose of a vacuum cleaner is to be used to get the house clean, and I consider myself an average user, NOT a collector. I have a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off vacuum that I use as my daily driver, which means the Fantom has been relegated to occasional use.

tolivac, yes, but replacement motors are incredibly rare to the point that doing a search on eBay will net you zero results at the moment.

 

[huskyvacs]

Remember what Darnell said in the movie "Christine" - "ya can't polish a turd". Sometimes things will still be bad no matter how much you try and fix them because they were made badly to begin with and henceforth why they are no longer around.

After two motors and several part swaps and it still sounds like this, you have to realize that this is just normal for it.

It's either dry bearings or just poor motor insulation for noise and vibration. Based on the history of this vacuum and what has been said before, dirt is getting in the motor due to design flaws inherit in its construction. You could try putting better quality grease in the bearings and making sure the motor is all okay, but other than that - nothing much else you can do about it.

This is mainly just a showpiece vacuum, if you're going to daily drive it you're gonna need to know how to fix it when it breaks, which can be many times.

"the whole purpose of a vacuum cleaner is to be used to get the house clean, and I consider myself an average user, NOT a collector"

Then why do you have this vacuum? A vacuum so known for how terrible it was and how much it breaks? Use a brand new vacuum. There might have been a time in 1997 when these were brand new and worked great - but that was 23 years ago. Parts and materials age and break down and no matter how much you restore it it's still going to have problems. Also the HEPA filtration on this vacuum was very early in design and is very mediocre at filtration compared to vacuums today.

 

[luxz80]

This is just what some brands of vacuums do over time. Hence why I started my thread,


Through the years to come.


Yours will have to be consigned to being cleaned up and being a display piece going forward, especially if parts are no longer manufactured. I remember seeing these on the TV back then thinking they were great. When I came back to the U.K in 1998 I remember the Dyson dc01 being the newest and latest model on the market and thinking how much it looked like the phantom.

Sadly I will agree with electroluxxxx on the no refund topic. Even new vacs have a warranty and exchange or refund period.

I do hope you can get it running great again.

 

[repairman]

That's like if you were using a Hoover Model 0 or a Ford Model T as a daily driver. Again, these machines are collectibles and you're risking another one being lost.

 

[dysonman1]

Fantom Fury

There are 2 rotating suction fans. You must remove both of them from the armature shaft and WASH them (soak them first) using a strip of an old electrolux floor brush to get into the turbines from the outside going into the curve. That's what's throwing off the balance and causing the sound. Pry off the first fan case, remove the fan nut and fan, then pry off the second portion of the fan case and remove the spacer and fan for cleaning. You'll never get the fans clean unless you wash them.

 

[niclonnic]

Huskyvacs, the motor on my Fury was actually healthy when I got it in late 2018. It wasn't until this year that the motor got progressively louder with each use.

The main reason I got this Fury was for nostalgic and sentimental reasons. But then I realized its many flaws over time. I didn't realize that the Fury would be THIS bad in modern times. However, I DID get to learn about the anatomy of a Fantom vacuum, especially when installing the various motors I got. A good learning experience for me.

Dysonman1, I might just have to follow your advice on cleaning the fans! I'll just have to ask electroluxxxx to walk me through disassembling the motor.