Fantom Thunder Cleanout Question

[TheBillbot]

Hi, my Fantom Thunder which has to be at least 14-15 years old has seen a lot of use. When we moved out of our house about 8 Years ago, we took our Fury we had, and put the Thunder in Storage. Our Fury had died. And we got another Vacuum. Now, about 6 months ago, I took the old Thunder out of Storage because I gotten Interested in Fantom's again. It was in really rough shape when I got it. The belt was bad, 8 years of Dirt was still in the can, and the outside of it was caked with dust. And it smelled like a Garage or a damp basement. I cleaned it up a bit, wiped it down to shine it up and get rid of the dust on it. Now the Dust Cup. The Dust Cup was the worst thing that was wrong on this Vacuum. 8 years of Dirt had been sitting in that Dust Cup. In took me about 30 Minutes to pry out that dirt. I cleaned off the Cyclone Assembly, as that was caked with Dirt as well. Well Right now currently, It's still a bit rough, but It's a heck of a lot better than It was before. It runs fine, no whistling noise, the only thing left to do on it is open up the front cover replace the belt clean the Brushroll. And the Hose had split, so I gotta tape that back together. But my biggest Gripe is that the Dust Bin smells like a Cat Litterbox. Moisture mixed with 8 Year old Dirt. Not a good combination. So, do have any Ideas to make it not smell like that. (Mildew).

Thanks.

 

[mark40511]

I don't know. I wonder if it would be safe to use very very diluted bleach water? I've used diluted bleach water to clean all sorts of things and never had any issues. I even used like a half teaspoon of bleach diluted in 1/2 gallon of water in my hoover steamvac Jr when the cat threw up on my carpet once. But again, I'm not sure so perhaps someone else will chime in. I had this very vacuum but I personally didn't like it. The dust cup you're talking about that needs cleaning; when you put it on the vacuum, it didn't make a good seal at all on mine. I always felt it leaked dust. Maybe it was just the model I had was imperfect.

I even remember the video that came with it. I remember the lady giving instructions for it saying do not to use to pick up water.......She said, "It's not a wet vac, OK!" (LOL)

 

[thermokid]

Fantom Dirt cup

Spray the inside with Febreeze
and let it dry. It might take two or three applications but it always works. I usually use Febreeze on other vacuums and they always smell good afterwards.... Dan