Almost 1 Year Old Miele Capricorn...(Broken Park Lever)

[georgect]

It's no secret that I hate my Miele but it's just shy of a year old (May 25,2012) and the park lever broke internally.

It was always hard to get it from the up right parked position to unlock and go flat to vacuum.

Today I could not get the SEB 236 to lay flat at all.

I had to dismantle the SEB power head and this is what I found.

I can't wait for Riccar to release their new canister so I can retire the Capricorn to do car vacuuming.

 

[GM1982]

that stinks, you should probably bring it in for repair. I don't think the Riccar is going to be any different or better. They have problems and user error as well. The wiring on the base of the powerheads on the Riccar canisters can get caught on objects sometimes and get ripped out. The rate of repair on simplicity and riccar has been more than Miele, and much more than Sebo or Aerus.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

George

according to who ? I never had one Simplicity canister in for repair when I owned my store .

That's a common problem with Miele I repaired many of those . IMO Miele hasn`t made a good vacuum since the Aluminum , Silver and Blue moons . I hope the newest models went back to that quality built vacuums .

Dan

 

[GM1982]

Simplicity and Riccar are good vacuums but from what I gathered from three different vac repairers.... the canisters have more issues than uprights. Can argue this all different ways, but I am just the messenger here....

The S2, S4 and new S8 Miele are supposed to be better... The Miele dealer near my home says he has not gotten any in for repair so far. One person came back with a telescoping wand issue where it would not collapse. It was the S5 Callisto.

 

[sebo_fan]

I guess it all comes down to how its been used.

I think Miele tools and their vacuums are entirely different where quality and design is concerned though. I had problems in the past with Miele's telescopic 2 part tubing where the press button release doesn't work anymore, to the triscopic ones where the bottom release button doesn't work, either.

Another issue is buying up second hand Miele canister vacs where owners have evidently just used the bent handle to use for sucking up dirt as opposed to jamming one of the friction fit tools on - the handle base units before the lock buttons on the tubes just don't stand up well to being used as a suction part and splits are common along the base.

As a fan of the original Miele S4, the S4 is far better made than the S2 IMHO. I sold off the last of my S4's last year and bought an S2 from Amazon UK. It's just not as well made, the standard length twin suction pipes are too tall and the hose on the S2 is too short, not to mention the 5.5 metre cord and the lack of plastic quality compared to the older S4.

I don't always mind a short cord if the hose is longer. But the S2 just didn't inspire, making the choice of my recently swapped Miele S5 being all the better to use and having far more quality.

 

[dysonman1]

Since I work in the Simplicity/Riccar factory in St. James, I do get to see what comes back. The dealers have a program where they order a new vacuum and use it as a 'courtesy vac' when a customer wants to 'borrow' a vacuum while theirs is being repaired. Also, I get to see the parts returned under warranty. And I talk with Technical Services department all the time.

Circuit board failures are seldom due to mechanical defects. Want to know one thing that can easily cause a board failure? If you fail to change the Hepa filter at the suggested intervals. The heat from a clogged Hepa filter will start to deteriorate a circuit board. We test all brands of vacuums in the new Testing Facility they recently built at the factory. We let them run constantly, day and night, until they fail. We test them with new Hepa's at the suggested time and we test them without ever changing the Hepa. Big difference in motor life. And that's just with carbon brush dust clogging the Hepa. All machines tested for motor life and circuit board life are tested with clean bags.

I like Miele vacuums. I sold Miele vacuums. I collect Miele vacuums. I hate the price of Miele repair parts. Simplicity/Riccar vacuums are FAR less costly to operate (maintain). By far, the ultra light weight models (Freedom/SupraLite) get the best praise from the public. You wouldn't believe the number of people who recommend one to a friend. I like the Symmetry/Vibrance models because there are no circuit boards to fail. And they clean well. And they're built durably. Plus, they can have an optional attachment kit that will make them mimic a canister vacuum.

To be perfectly honest, my home is cleaned primarily with a Miele Salsa S7 upright. That's what Dan prefers and as long as he'll vacuum, I let him use what he wants. When I do the occasional vacuuming, I use the Aerus Platinum Edition. This pic is of Dan the day he got the Miele. Before he met me, he had a Dirt Devil bagless upright. No wonder he's so happy!

 

[williamr1248]

Almost 1 Yer old Capricorn

Tom,
Very interestig information about the hepa filter replacement.
I just checked my hepa filter on my black Rainbow. I already bought a replacement. I have had the machine 2 years now. The original filter looks prefectly clean. I tried the new filter and could not tell any difference in the air flow,suction or tone of the motor.
My question is: With the Rainbow brush less motor-hense no carbon dust. Would you still wash or change the hepa filter ? I do wash the separator and change the water as you have told me and I see no trace of dust anywhere in the exhaust of the machine or on the fans when you shine a light into the cavity. As you know I had my SE for 19 years and it still ran smooth and quiet and no odor or visable dust in the exhaust. The book tells you check the hepa filter every 2 years and wash if needed. It also says to change every 5 years or have it checked by a Rainbow Service center.

 

[dysonman1]

@rob

Your Rainbow does have a circuit board, BUT, room air is constantly being pulled over it to keep it cool. That's what the vents are for at the rear of your machine, near the top. Just keep the vents dusted off and you'll be fine. I would, however, recommend a yearly ritual for anyone with a 2 speed Rainbow. Attach the hose to the blower end. If the hose is dirty inside, put the free end into the water pan intake portion, and shake the hose to clean it out inside. Next, attach the crevice tool, and use the airflow to blow through the vent holes in the back of the machine. Your circuit board should never fail.

You have a unique vacuum in that respect. With no carbon brush dust, the circuit board in your machine should stay nice and cool, irregardless of the condition of your HEPA filter. I personally know how clean you keep your home. You'll never see dirt on your HEPA filter, ever.

 

[williamr1248]

Almost One Year Old Capricorn

Tom,
Thanks for the information about the Rainbow hepa. That information will be helpful to other 2 speed Rainbow owners.

 

[vackid]

2 Year Warranty

George,

That machine has a 2 year housing warranty on the SEB236, I know this because I sell them. Take it to your authorized Miele dealer with your receipt and they should fix it for free. Remember the housing and motor of your machine has a 7 year warranty and a 2 year bumper to bumper warranty on everything else included with the unit.About 80% of our canister sales are S8 HomeCare units that we pair with the SEB236 and so far the only issue we've seen, is customers forgetting to press the reset button on the top after they clear an obstruction in the brushroll. They bring it in and all we do is press the button and they are back on their way again and we show them for the second time, (First time was in the demo) and they are on their way again.

On a side note on the topic of Simplicity and Riccar canisters, The machines are wonderful but they are not flawless. In the past 2 years, they have had 3 or 4 different wand designs. Speaking to different dealers, and my own experience, you never know what you're pulling out of the box, could be the first wand, or the 3rd one. It seems like there is a new one every few month. I just wish they would take one, perfect it and then send it out. Not finding out if it works in the field and then fixing it. But as I said, there are good things. The full sized canisters that are made in the United States are wonderful machines and I have sold many of them, all with satisfied customers. The only other thing that I wish Tacony would do is put the plastic bag collars on their bags like on the 9 ply Miele AirClean bags because we have seen one or two units where the customers had a bag just get a little too full and the cardboard bag holder began to pull backwards and let dust get into the bag chamber. Not a big deal, the pre motor filter captured it most, but still annoying to the consumer.

 

[dysonman1]

@vackid

The three new upright designs, which are being built at the factory at this moment, do have plastic, self closing bag collars. You're going to see a few REALLY nice changes this year.

 

[scvacuumguy]

Miele is definitely not what it used to be for sure.  They have some neat designs, the weight is great, and some of the power nozzles are pretty cute, but you'll never have the same quality as the Blue Moon/Aluminum era.  That said, we find it very difficult in our stores to properly sell the Riccar cans at full retail.  Early this year, we noticed a lag from last year in our canister sales, so we decided to bring in the Lindhaus Aria line.  We already carried the uprights, so we figured the canisters were worth a shot.  Our canister sales are back up beating out last year's sales at this time.  We still sell the Impeccable and Immaculate, but the Lindhaus definitely beats out the Riccar in consumer appeal in the mid-sized category.  


 


We get way more Mieles in for repair than Riccar canisters, but I will add, there are far more Mieles saturated in our market than Riccar canisters.