Miele C2 vs. C3 airflow

[882]

So the subject came up in another thread and I stated an interest in knowing but I wanted to formally ask the question as a dedicated thread and see what anyone could offer.

Has anyone observed or does anyone know of any difference in the airflow between the Miele C2 & C3. Someone I was speaking with (admittedly a salesman) hypothesized that with the smaller bags typically creating greater resistance, a C2 would likely produce less airflow than a C3. I am reluctant to even reference them, but Consumer Reports does list tool airflow on a C2 as "Very Good" with the C3 as "Excellent" --- but they also list tool airflow for the U1 Cat & Dog as "Very Good" while the U1 Jazz is shown as "Good"... Inconsistent? Looks like it to me.

What do the experts think?

 

[eurekaprince]

I think much of the difference in airflow with Miele cleaners has a lot to do with the kind of post-motor filter in place...a more substantial Hepa filter will slow down the movement of air compared to just a thin Air Clean post motor filter pad. Consumer Reports tests the cleaners as they come out of the box, and various Mieles come with different post motor filters.

 

[tseg]

Apples and oranges

This is an interesting point about variance in post-motor filters. Miele has many combinations of post-motor filters, much less all the different kit that comes out of the machine, across all lines, I think one has to be very specific when making pseudo-scientific comparisons to explain exactly what was compared, both after the motor and coming out of the machine. Just referencing C1, C2, C3 models leaves lots of room for variance.

 

[eurekaprince]

I really think this is the reason the 4 models of Miele S7 / U1 Dynamic uprights got such varied rankings in Consumer Reports tests. The blue one with the flimsiest exhaust filter got the best rating for cleaning in all modes, yet filtration was deemed quite good. The most deluxe model - the black Auto Eco - comes with a very expensive Active Hepa filter, and it's bare floor cleaning and hose airflow was not as good as the other U1 uprights tested. It just goes to show you that you may not need a robust Hepa exhaust filter to give you sufficient air filtration on a Miele vacuum...the Miele dustbag may be doing a lot of the filtration work needed.

 

[suckolux]

It would certainly be easy enough to test the airflow with either filter or removed for the test just to see, right?

 

[882]

Interesting additional thought --- with reference to the exhaust filters/influence, and Consumer Reports... I'm not sure that the filters are the answer to Consumer Report's inconsistencies...

The 2017 Buyers Guide lists the U1 Twist which comes with the Air Clean exhaust filter (least resistance of the bunch) with a tool airflow of "Very Good" which is the same score as the Cat & Dog and it houses the HEPA + charcoal (likely their most restrictive) --- while online they currently show the HEPA only Jazz as "Good".

Their bare floor performance ratings on the units are even more inconsistent ! I'm not saying they are worthless mind you. Generally there is only one grade point separating the similar units and nowhere do they show anything that would likely be horribly different in real world application. It just seems like there is more to their results than meets the eyes if there is any degree of scrutiny.

It appears though that the general consensus is that the bags and bag sizes in the C2/C3 comparison is likely inconsequential.?.