Filter Queen Optima

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vacuumdevil

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I was wondering if anybody had any of the original brochures or manuals for their Filter Queen Optima they could take pictures and share?

Last time I saw one of these things I was in college. Here we are almost two decades later and a friend of mine pick this up for me.

Unfortunately I don't have the power nozzle. But I do have the hose,floor brush and original wands.
On top of that mine had been bojacked at some time to take filter Queen cones rather than the original bags.

Any info you all would be willing to share would be appreciated.

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There was an exception

The optima was a bagged machine many of them were retrofitted to take filter queen cones after the initial launch. I've read other peoples thoughts on them saying they weren't very good compared to the usual filter queen. I would ASSUME this was because of the bag latching onto the motor intake but I've never actually used ones. I've been curious about them but never quite enough to commit to buying one.
 
Thanks  for  your  knowledge  about the Optima  your probably  right nothing  stops  the bag to  be  suck  towards the motor   .


 


Thats  why i like tristar   bag  design the way  the ring is made no chance goes to the motor   interesting  Optima .
 
@blackheart this is only the second one I've ever seen in person and the only one I've ever heard of being converted to filter Queen cones. It's through a Henry bag in it for now. The last one I saw did have HEPA bags and there is a small latch at the bottom of the canister that holds the bag in place.



@bikerray don't jump to conclusions so fast. What you see in front of you shows otherwise.

@thevacomaticiec I'd like to see you try and post something and not refer to Electrolux or TriStar 😁
 
id like to see you not bash other brands on youtube for once.... Im in love with lux and tristar is it so bad ?????


don't like it skip my reply eay peasy


i just kn lot bout em is all ty i did add a Kenmore power head to my old shop vac once and lster my 16 gallons vac with my pn 200 head what a beast she was .
 
I  hit  a  nerve  vac  devil???


 


 


I know  were talking about a  filter queen  optioma  i was just saying  how interesting it  seem  to  me  and how i  prefer  a  lux  or tristar bag  as no chance  of them  touching the motor  is all  i said  .


 


Theres   no need  get your  filter in a  bunch  performance reviews....


 


.


is  it s o  bad i state my  preference  after saying   why  i  like  em   
 
I may not have any manuals or brochures but I can share some other threads regarding the Optima, apparently there are two different models. And I could be wrong here but I believe that handle was made by NuTone or at least made by the same company who made central vac handles for NuTone. I know some of the other FQ handles were made by Hayden. Nonetheless, I'd easily take an Optima with a Numatic bag over a Compact or Aerus canister. But that's just my opinion.

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?13469

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?33091

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?31745

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?20566
 
I wonder why these didn’t sell better?

I was considering a new Filter Queen since I like the vintage feel and it’s made in the US, but I think I decided against it due to it being bagless and the power nozzles aren’t great. Plus the performance and features didn’t seem to justify the price. This bagged model would be more attractive to me as I don’t want to deal with cleaning out the mess in the canister every few months (or whatever the recommended interval is).
 
@panasonicvac That last Link's pretty cool you can see what the bag actually look like originally.
I searched the vacuum land the other day and didn't find very much. Glad you managed to link some stuff thank you so much man!

@tylerhawkins84 I definitely agree. Filter Queen is on life support currently.
Their design definitely doesn't compete with anything modern. It's a real shame to see the name just slip away like that.
This seems to be the case with any of the door to door brands. I think the only one who's managed continuously update their designs as rainbow.
 
Yes

Thats why I don't read bikerays posts. He assume he knows everything and is wrong quite a bit. What do you expect from a backyard hillbilly.
 
I can tell you ALL about the Optima. I sold them brand new. All three versions. I'm sure the brochures are in the file cabinet. I'll get them out at the Vacuum Collectors Convention in three weeks and "pics will be forthcoming'.
 
Health-Mor introduced the Optima to keep from losing Filter Queen sales to vacuum shops selling Princess models (Princess II and Princess III). Many vacuum shops would 'piggy-back' off Filter Queen sales efforts in their communities. Because the Princess sold for almost $2000 less than the Filter Queen, it wasn't hard to sell them to people who had witnessed (and in many times, purchased) a Filter Queen.

The first Optima had a cage over the motor that extended almost all the way into the dirt container, which had no gasket (unlike FQ) on top. The bag was weird looking, almost square if you will. It was squished down so most of it couldn't really fill. They next brought out a design where the bag was U shaped, but it could only fill half way as the entrance to the bag was tangential. A simple change to the inlet could have solved that problem, but No. That would have been too easy.

The Optima commercial was another version of this machine.

There were three different attachment sets that were used (one was optional). In their efforts to make the Optima a different cleaner than the Filter Queen they eventually adopted the use of fit-all attachments and 1 1/4-inch standard hose end.

I sold so many Princess cleaners I won an award from Health-Mor. When the Optima was launched, our representative came to my store They were so excited about the bag being so much cleaner to empty. I said "Well, you've invented a Lewyt". I sold about 100 Optima cleaners and wound-up regretting about 1/3 of those sales. The bag system never worked right in the Optima.

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ha!

Thanks for sharing Tom. While I had heard they did a poor job designing a bagged system I was never really sure why. It seems so simple and yet they managed to screw it up. Too bad too I like the idea of a bagged filter queen. Although I have bagged tub style units like the Lindhaus HF6, Henry, And a Nilfisk they don't feel quite the same.
 
Blackheart

They actually made a 'bag' Filter Queen. It was called the "Seal-Guard filter cone system". Actually a plastic trash bag bonded onto a filter cone, Health Mor sold them three in a pack.
 
The emerald princess was made specifically for the Henry company in Indiana. It wasn't sold in any other vacuum shops. It did in fact use a filter cone, it was not an Optima.
 

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