Fantom Thunder "extras"

[justjunque]

Hi all,

I've been reading the posts recently, debating newer (plastic) vacuums, vs older (metal) vacuums.
I'm more of a "vintage" fan myself, most likely because I like to have things from the era that I grew up in, or that I remember people having when I was young, and life seemed better.
However, if some of you younger folks have the same goal, it stands to reason that the objects from your youth aren't as old as the objects from mine.

That being said, you might recall that I recently bought a Fantom Thunder, for some unknown reason.
I really haven't even touched it since I brought it home, but this discussion got me thinking about it.
While the vacuum itself is far too grimy for me to post pictures of it, I thought some of you who are fans of these machines might be interested in seeing some of the "stuff" that the seller included with it.
There's even the original purchase receipt.
I put other papers over the parts that showed the original owner's personal information.
Also included, but not in the pictures, is the housing for the HEPA filter, and an additional greyish stretchy hose with a crevice tool on it.
Looking at the order form for parts and accessories, I guess the "greyish" color is actually called Light Mauve.

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Update

Wow.
Looks like I got in over my head with this thing.
I thought it was just really dusty, and that a preliminary wipe-down with a damp cloth or paper towel would make a noticeable difference.
Turns out, the whole thing is just filthy. Inside, outside, every nook and cranny.
Nothing that I'm trying is even making a difference.
Have you seen the pictures of how Chicago Mike breaks these things down to clean them?
That's what this one needs!
Unfortunately, I'm not Chicago Mike, nor do I possess his knowledge of these machines.
And on top of that, I'm nowhere near "into" these vacuums enough to put anywhere near that much effort into it.
I think this one is going to either get put back in the basement just the way it sits, to grow old and more collectible, or it may just go for a ride to the nearest thrift store.
I think I see now why I got it so cheap!

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Update #2

Okay.
I had a slight change of heart, and actually started to feel sorry for the thing.
I gave it a cleaning, only slightly better than the damp cloth wipe-down that I was planning on.
The scrapes and gouges keep it from looking good, but at least a decent amount of the schmutz came off.
It still doesn't appeal to me, and i know I'll never use it.
I see it just getting put aside somewhere, so I can at least say that I have one.
And it will probably be the first to go, when I need to "make room".

My initial observations, after putting it back together and hitting the switch for the first time:

1.) It does sound powerful.
2.) The height adjuster doesn't seem to do anything.
3.) The little piece on the front of the machine, that the manual calls the carrying handle, really doesn't seem substantial enough, considering the weight of this vacuum.

Please; if you like these vacuums, don't take offense at my criticism of this one.
It's just one fat old guy's opinion.
Take into consideration:

I'm not a spring chicken, so I'm kind of set in my ways at this point.
I like bagged vacuums.
I prefer older machines.
I prefer canisters/cylinders/tanks to uprights. (Whatever the correct term is for my Electroluxes, and vacuums like the Hoover Portable and Celebrity.
This is just way outside of my comfort zone.
And, if regular use causes them to get as dirty as this thing was, no thanks.
I don't want to have to deal with that mess all the time.

Barry

 

[dysonman1]

That's actually a fairly nice, somewhat early Fantom Thunder. Just after the HEPA filter was added (previous Thunders had no filter at all). My Thunder was obtained from Fantom only three weeks before they went out of business. I owned a vac shop that was a Fantom warranty center. I order one each of the Wildcats, and one Thunder and one Cyclone XT. I lived to regret selling the Wildcats, never had a problem with the Cyclone XT, and kept the Thunder (still have it). The Thunder got used by me about 25 times in its life. Haven't used it in years. The Dyson was light years ahead of Fantom in terms of dependability and filtration.

 

[broomvac]

Sweet Fantom!

You got a better deal than you realize. That is quite a good haul. You have not only all of the attachments, but also the extension hose, the paperwork, the vhs, etc. You even have the exhaust cover so the vacuum can be (conveniently) used without the HEPA filter should you choose to do so.

The height adjuster should work; you just won’t notice the difference until you recline the handle. The mechanism is designed such that all force is taken off the mechanism when the vacuum is upright.

You won’t break the carrying handle. It doesn’t feel very confidence inspiring, but it is stronger than it leads you to believe.

You may like to know that these use a high quality, dual-stage, fully serviceable Lamb motor of the same family as those used in high-dollar canister vacuums. Imagine a downsized Lamb Ametek central vac motor. I recently rebuilt mine myself, replacing the carbon brushes and both motor bearings.

A tip I learned from man114 here on Vacuumland involves shining up Fantoms using Carnuba car wax. It makes a big difference!

Here’s a fun thing to try: completely empty out your Fantom, then use it as your go-to vacuum for a while. It has a hose, so you can dust with it in addition to cleaning your carpet. Once the bin is reasonably full, take it off. Look inside the fine dust collection chamber which meets up with the tip of the inner conical cyclone. You will be amazed. All of that fine dust was separated from the air using physics alone. Conservation of angular momentum is pretty useful (and cool)!

Thanks much for sharing!

P.S. In case you were curious, this is what a later Fantom Thunder looks like.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks Tom

It probably is a decent vacuum. And it seems really complete.
I'm just not into bagless vacuums, and I have enough bagged machines to choose from.
Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't others that I would like to have!
I'll keep it for a while, just as a novelty. And, down the road, if something has to go, it will probably be this one.

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Hey broomvac

Thanks.
Your reply came in while I was responding to Tom.

I do like how complete it is, and I thought the VHS tape was a neat bonus item.
Even though we haven't had a VCR hooked up in years, so I can't watch it.

I have an exhaust cover?
What/where is it?

If I use this vacuum regularly, is it going to get filthy inside and out, like it was when I got it, or did the original owner just kind of neglect it?

Barry

 

[broomvac]

Hi Barry,

Yes, the extras are nice. I wish my Thunder would’ve come with them.

The exhaust cover is on the “passenger side” of the vacuum. Notice my Thunder has the HEPA filter mounted on the side? Yours currently has the exhaust cover instead. The user has a choice to run either the HEPA filter or the exhaust cover. Most of the time, owners chose to use the HEPA filter and consequently discard or lose the exhaust cover. That is why the covers have become rare.

Note: only the early Thunders came with the exhaust cover. The later ones, like mine, would not have even come with one. HEPA filter or nothing!

Go to the 5:15 mark in the linked video (probably the same thing as what you have on the VHS) and you will see how to remove the cover and install the HEPA filter. The HEPA filter will help keep the machine cleaner. The fact yours was run completely without the filter may have contributed to its filthy state.

My Thunder is actually my “daily driver.” It copes with my plush carpet very well, features onboard attachments, and is fun to use, so I have naturally gravitated toward it for my primary vacuum. Haven’t been disappointed. I wouldn’t say it gets dustier than my other vacuums. I give it a quick wipe over when I’m done using it and empty it when it gets full, as I do with all of my vacuums. That’s about all the treatment I’ve given it in the past year I’ve owned it. I put a new HEPA filter in it when I brought the cleaner home, but I haven’t touched it since. As you can see, my Fantom has fared well with this simple care.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, broomvac!

That's interesting.
I want to pull up that video and watch the whole thing one of these days.
I cringed at the part where they dropped the vacuum down the flight of stairs!

I didn't realize that was a removable exhaust cover.
I was looking at the vacuum, wondering how the HEPA unit was supposed to attach.
Now, it makes sense!
And I'll take another look at the height adjustment.
That's interesting that it would only show when the handle is released.

I probably will give it some use after all.
I wish it had more of a wand, for using on bare floors, since that's what I mainly have.
It's nice that I have a combined 30 feet of hose, (exaggeration added for comedic effect), but there's not much actual wand length.

Thanks again for the advice and encouragement!
Your Fantom is really nice looking!
I can't believe how clear your bin is.
Did mine look like that at one time, and it just got cloudy from the dirt swirling around inside it, or did the newer version have a clearer bin?

Barry

 

[broomvac]

You’re welcome, Barry. Glad I could help.

Once you attach the HEPA filter, you may notice that the vacuum is quieter. It’s a pretty good muffler.

Yeah, I agree, the wand is not super long. However, you may find putting the extension hose on one end of the wand and the floor tool on the other to be a decent setup for your hard floors. Although I have some hard floors, the majority of my house is wide areas of carpet, so I don’t use the hard floor tool with mine much.

Good observation about the dust bin. The bin in that picture is, in fact, brand new. Completely by chance, I discovered that bin at one of the vacuum stores in my city. They just so happened to have a stockpile of new old stock Fantom parts. I actually use the vacuum’s original bin for my regular vacuuming and it is somewhat more fogged. I will say, though, that the Fantom bins seem more robust to fogging those on modern vacuums for some reason.

 

[broomvac]

Ah, I forgot one last tip:

You may have noticed that genuine belts for the Thunder are no longer available. This is no problem, however. The Royal/Dirt Devil Style 4/5 belt works perfectly, and is cheap and very readily available! I have also heard of folks using Hoover Dial a Matic Belts in their Thunders, but I have yet to try this.