What happened to Fantom Technologies?

[natejudge]

I repair/sell/collect vacuum cleaners,and I rarely get Fantom vacuums (fury, thunder, lightning, cyclone XT, ect.)
I understand they went out of business in 2001 due to problems/bad reputation? Is this correct?
Also, I got one that I can NOT find any information on whatsoever. Stupid idea, but I sold it several years ago. It was a Fantom, and it was powder blue, with a clear dirt collection bin. To this day, I've never seen one like it, there isn't any series of it.
Another question I have about the Fantom series is unlike bissell, hoover, eureka, ect. They do not have a filter that I know of seperating the powder-like dust from backing up into the motor, causing it to become off-balance and vibrate. This only seems to be a problem with the Light-green/black colored Fury, as I have had several come in with this problem.
How exactly does this work if they do not have a filter? is there something that I am missing?

I'm mainly looking for as much information on Fantom Technologies as I can get. I was really young, 5 years old in 2001, so I don't remember much about prices on their vacuum cleaners or where they were sold.

 

[mieles7]

James Dyson allowed Fantom to use his cyclone technology in their vacuums, but Fantom began to get greedy. For example, James Dyson wanted the vacuums to use washable filters, but Fantom wanted the customer to have to pay for an expensive filter yearly. Fantom was tired of paying royalties for James Dyson's dual cyclone design, so they released the Fantom wildcat, a vacuum so bad that Fantom couldn't afford to pay for repairs and parts, so they went out of business. If you look at the DC01, DC02, DC04, and DC05, you can see a lot of similarities.

 

[director12]

I agree with these posts. Euro-Pro got the name in 2002, and the machines they made were listed as the worst vacuums of all time. Their service was the worst yet.

 

[eurekaprince]

Others may know more details, but if I remember correctly Fantom Technologies was born out of the Canadian vacuum cleaner factory that used to be the home of Regina and Iona. The plant was located in Welland Ontario not far from Buffalo and the US border. The factory had experience and history with bagless design since it produced all of Canada's Regina/Iona Elektrikbrooms. It is that company that bought the rights to James Dyson's technology and created The Fantom company. Not sure when exactly the corporate name change took place....

 

[fan-of-fans]

That is correct, Fantom was in the former Iona/Regina factory in Canada. I believe I heard they also made a water purifier that didn't work out before the problems with the single cyclone vacuums.

The exhaust filter on the Fantom Thunders seemed to be an afterthought. I believe they thought the dual cyclones would filter out particles small enough that it wouldn't need a filter, but that wasn't the case. The HEPA filter didn't come along until a few years after the first Fantom Thunders (originally just called Fantom) were sold.

 

[fantomvacuumfan]

Natejudge...

I hope the powder blue one Fantom you sold was not the Crosswind 600 XL, the Single cyclonic remake of the Cyclone XT. Those are IMPOSSIBLE to find. I have been looking for one for years. However, if it was the Crosswind 200 XL, the single cyclonic remake of the Fury, that is really rare, although I have one. I am posting a link to my youtube video of it in action.

 

[director12]

I hope someone releases a DVD on the rise and fall of Fantom Technologies.