Bad Combination: Small Wheels and Smooth Cords on Miele Canisters

[eurekaprince]

I love my Miele S8/C3 full size canister.

But....

I think the company must use a different cord covering material than most North American vacuum manufacturers. My Miele canister has a very smooth, shiny, black rubber or plastic covering - kind of like the material on the cords of electric drills and power tools. The vacuum cords I am used to from Hoover, Kenmore and the old Eurekas have a ribbed material rubber sheath covering them.

The problem is: my Miele refuses to ride over the cord on bare floors! No matter how hard I pull! I have to go over and bend down and literally pick the canister up off the floor to get it moving again.

I never had this problem with any other canister vacuum I have ever owned. My other canisters all had giant rear wheels that seemed to roll over the power cords much more easily - and if they somehow got stuck on the cord on a bare floor, I just needed to pull up on the front of the canister with the hose and the two rear wheels could be pulled easily over the cord. My Kenmore Progressive canister never had this problem as the ribbed covering on the cord gave the wheels some "traction" to ride over the cord on bare floors.

Do 220-volt European Mieles have the same smooth rubber covering on their cords/cables/flexes? Do European users of Mieles have the same problem as I am experiencing? If yes, maybe Miele should cave in and change over to nice big rear wheels like Electrolux uses on their UltraOnes?

Putting large rear wheels on my Miele C3 would make a great vacuum much much more easy to use.

Vacuumlander thoughts?

 

[vacerator]

Brian,

All cord reel power cables are smooth. It makes them rewind better.
I can only presume Miele uses small casters for aesthetics, and to save weight.

 

[eurekaprince]

Mike,

That's not true. My Kenmore Progressive (Elegance in Canada), had a ribbed cord covering. It had a cord reel. All Eureka Cordaway vacs had a ribbed covering on the cord. Mieles and Electroluxes from Europe have smooth shiny cords like power tool cords.

 

[vacerator]

Oh, ok Brian,

Well, that explains why my Eureka-Lux oxygen cord always wants to rewind on it's own then.
Which C3 do you have? The cream colored Alize has air filled wheels.
I think the former S8 unique also did, but they took them off the 2015 brilliant model.

 

[eurekaprince]

I wanted the Alize, but they were not available in Canada. But our wonderful McHardy Vacuum in London, Ontario was offering a beautiful white S8 Miele FreshAir special edition with SpotLight Handle, Long Flexible Crevice Tool and Universal Dusting Brush for $CAD550 plus free shipping to Montreal! An offer I quickly took advantage of!

However, my S8 does not have the shock absorber wheels like the Alize has...it's too bad because the vac is excellent in all other respects. And it's so quiet!!!

 

[rvarley]

Casters

While the small casters may not roll as easily as some of the canisters with large, fixed rear wheels, the 360 swivel casters do allow the body to be pushed sideways easily. The fixed wheeled canisters can't easily be pushed sideways. And I'll also agree that Mieles are wonderfully quiet machines. Not sure why the brand doesn't come up often on this board and when it is mentioned, it's often to voice a criticism. I've had several of them over 20 years and only one problem with a cord reel. I've sold them all when I've been finished with them and a to be sure, a used Miele sells faster and for a higher price than any other brand I've tried to sell. I have an old, decent Kirby that I can't give away.

 

[countryguy]

The cord on my Lux Guardian Platinum also has a ribbed cord, not a smooth one.

 

[vacerator]

Brian, Rvarley,

Brian, what color is your Miele C3?
I almost broke down before the holidays an got one of those British racing green special edition C3's for $399, or was it $499? At any rate, I didn't because it has no power nozzle connection.
Rvarely, that is correct. The Miele's follow close to you at all times.
One member said his entry level C1 frustrates him though, always tipping.
I think the price point of nearly double as in Europe may ne why we don't buy more of them here. It surely does not cost that much to install the 120 volt rectifier on the motor.

 

[suckolux]

I have a cord bitch on my Titan, short! but it also likes to stay curled, like the cat around the legs. Have eaten the floor too many times, I swear I hear it smile. The vacuum, not the cat! Damn sure I can hear Max enjoying it

 

[eurekaprince]

Hi Randy,

I think my canister gets stuck on the cord more times than I would need to push it sideways. Thinking back over all the years of using various canisters, I can't think of more than a handful of times when I needed to push the canister sideways for any reason. 90% of the time you are pulling it in a direct line behind you, and more often than not, it is going to need to roll over the electric cord while cleaning.

"Dear Mr. Miele, I love your canister cleaner. But could you please put bigger wheels on the back of the vac? Filn danke. EurekaPrince in Canada."

 

[rvarley]

@eurekaprinvpce - I recently got a Riccar Prima and noticed immediately that the larger fixed back wheels allowed it to roll better in a straight line, but it is not possible to push it sideways as I could with the Miele Aquarius. And for whatever reason, the sideways push is a move I miss. I didn't have a problem with the Aquarius Getting stuck on the cord. But yes, it doesn't roll as easily as the Riccar.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the Miele was better than the Riccar, but the design of the Miele is more attractive. I don't like the shape of the Riccar canister as much and the painted plastic looks cheap. Next to the Miele, the Riccar and its parts look a bit clunky. The Riccar is a nice Chevy and the Miele is a Benz. Would you rather look at a 3 pointed star or a tacky, gold stylized car?

This ought to generate some ire .

 

[vacerator]

David,

The Miele C1's are budget priced machines for those who want to say, I own a Miele.
Maybe it was you who wrote that here?
Their quality definatley is not that of the C@, or 3's, even though the dust capacity is 5 litres like a C3.
Beyond me why Miele would even sell a non sealed type cleaner other than to gain market share.
Immer Besser?????

 

[eurekaprince]

Mike,

My first Miele was a lightweight S2 Contour (Canadian name for the Olympus). Though it does not have the black rubber gasket around the bag compartment, the fit is exact enough to block any suction leakage. I can feel no air being sucked in through the bag compartment edges on the body. It was an unbelievable steal at Canadian Tire for CAD$349 - including a mini turbo nozzle and the $100 AirTeq carpet nozzle.

This vac is great. So great, that it convinced me to go and get the fancier S8/C3FreshAir one year later. The C3 gave me tools under the hood and longer wands, cord and hose. But as a budget vac, the S2/C1 is amazing! Compact, lightweight, powerful, quiet..and very simple. Consumer Reports test results were similar to the fancier Alize in bare floor cleaning, air-flow through the hose, filtration and noise suppression.

And I can't believe how much dirt can be packed into those blue collar bags before needing a change. Amazing.

I just want bigger Miele wheels on the back!

 

[suckolux]

Very aware the Titan is their budget line, still took me a year to pay it off! If I had seen it in store, tried it, it would not have come home with me. The bad trade off for amazon from home! It does have great power and a nice sound.

 

[n0oxy]

miele c1 and prima

I have the Miele C1 olympus. Apparently all of the Miele canisters use the same motor, so the power is the same. While the Prima may not be able to move sideways, it does spin around very easily if you need to change direction. Also, I think the Prima is slightly quieter than the Miele.

 

[delaneymeegan]

 


 


 


Brian, Is this what you're dealing with?


 


I'm not sure those even count as wheels.  Those might be better as the little wheels that are part of a kitchen draw glide system.


 


 


 


 

 

[delaneymeegan]

 


 


 


Perhaps a trip to the hardware store to buy some straight wheels and a pivoting wheel for the front?


 


As for the cord, I agree with you. Except for my shop vac, with a 6' cord, I can't think of a vacuum I have  with a polished smooth cord.  Everything has a ribbed cord.  Ribbed for safety reasons.


 


If you're handy, you can change the cord on your vac.


 


Three wire, utiltiy extension cords typically have smooth sheathing.  

 

[delaneymeegan]

 


 


So, I take it that Miele vacs, and perhaps Sebo's are today, what BMW cars were in the 80s?

 

[durango159]

I've seen machines with various cords:

Hoover Celebrity, Dimension, Futura, PowerMax machines all were ribbed.
--- PowerMax and Futura black cords are much stiffer than prior series and tend to jam the winders due to how stiff they are. Permanent loops always visible in the cords.

Hoover Anniversary Windtunnel S3670- smooth cord with the goofy yellow and red line. I'm sorry I think the yellow and red marks on the cord are lame. Just pull the cord till it doesn't come out anymore!

Kenmores-- ribbed cords.

Eureka Express and World Vac canisters I believe were smooth cords.

Eureka Rally-- cheap yellow straight suction model--- smooth cord with yellow/ red labels.

Panasonic Jet Flo MC9527- smooth cords-- semi stiff, permanent loops visible in cord but not as bad as 90's and 2000's Hoovers.

Riccar/ Simplicity cords- smooth. Depending on floor surface, the machine may have issues rolling over cord as some models with the 4 wheel swivel wheels are a very low profile wheel.

Sebo D4 Premium- Smooth cord. Long 40' -- longest cord I've ever seen on a retracting cord winder system.



As far as Meile canisters. I've tried 2 in my life. One was at a dealership with a SEB217 power nozzle. A very quiet power nozzle that did get up some surface lint. Other than that I'm not sure how great it actually cleaned as far as deep down. The 4 wheel swivel design was awesome on the stores hardwood designed laminate flooring. The machine glided across that floor with extreme ease from any direction. I don't remember it being tested over its own cord and don't remember maneuvering it around on a carpet.

At a collectors home I vacuumed his dining room with a Miele Silver moon. A strange name for the unit as the color was a navy blue. It was equipped with a SEB 236 headlight equipped TOL power nozzle. The machine cleaned Ok. Suction and airflow are good but I've experienced better on other units!! Overall the vacuum was nothing special to me though. Hose was not very long, it took some tug to get to manuever around the room. I think the Hoover canisters with large rear wheels do better at trailing behind. I'm used to backing out of a room with a machine and just ease a suction unit backwards with my foot or sometimes my hand. I've ever had the urge to kick a machine sideways, similar to what EurekaPrince mentioned.

Despite the HEPA bags and great supposed filtration of a Miele, the machine definitely carries odor and lets it escape. This collector has a gorgeously maintained home and maintained machines too. It has nothing to do with lack of service or environment! From experience with Riccars the machine does a very good job at trapping odors in the HEPA bags and carbon layer of the pre motor filter. Aerus Guardian machines with the tall filter that although not very attractive, does work well and filtered air is near odorless.