My Dilemma - new canister? Looking for advice

[panofan]

So last fall I bought a Miele canister - the titan, but replaced the floor brush with the parquet twister and the power head with the SEB-228. I don't really love it and am a bit stuck with thinking about what to do. I'm past the return window at the vac shop I bought it from - and they were no use - despite being a Riccar, etc dealer as well, they only had Miele canisters and said they only sell them cause they like them best.

My house is about 2000 sq ft - no carpet on the main floor (just two area rugs - including one under the dining room table) but thick frieze through the entire 2nd floor. We have 3 cats - short hair but they shed a ton, a dog (doesn't shed) a toddler and an infant on the way. Lots of mess on the floors!

The short cord and hose has been driving me insane. I wrote off reviews talking about this ... I also find it doesn't roll very well on the carpet at all. Nicely on the wood floors. The parquet twister - seemed cool but just isn't good at picking up kitty litter. I miss my old, falling apart kenmore canister (donated to goodwill) - it had a nice 7' hose, long cord, easily picked up the kitty litter, and was easier to use - but noisy - high pitched, and had a horrible dust smell towards the end.

I have a slight bias towards central vac (grew up with it) but I don't know if my memories of it are accurate - since life was so simple in childhood. I can easily retrofit it with my layout - but the effort to install, long hose, etc held me back.

Have other folks 'traded' in a vac? I don't want to shell out for 2 nicer / pricier machines, but am not afraid to pay for quality. Do I sell it on craigslist or ebay?
I'm going to one last vac dealer around here that doesn't seem to be miele miele miele.

Options I've been thinking about - a used filter queen. In-laws have had one forever and love theirs. Maybe a used aerus if I can find a decent deal? Go back to kenmore and snag a good deal on an ebay floor model and just know even if it doesn't last as long as the old one, when you do the math it is not a bad deal? I like that 2 of the models have an 8' hose! Bite the bullet and install central vac? Wait to see how much the Simplicity Wonder is?

Thanks in advance - I've been lurking for a while and see lots of excellent knowledge, debate and advice in the threads here!

 

[jade_angel]

I'd wait to see about the price of the Wonder/Prima. After that, if it's too expensive, go with the used Filter Queen, I'd say.

Another option might be the Panasonic MC-CG902 or -CG918, which is like the Kenmore but IMHO better built.

 

[georgect]

Ugh...I know what you mean about Miele

I feel your pain.
I can't stand my Miele either.

It's only a few years old and the parking lever on the power head is broken, the adjustible wand is stuck and now it's been turning itself off.

I'm taking it as a loss and lession learned (it will become the vacuum I use for the car).

Monday I'm goint to a Riccar dealer and placing my order for the Immaculate Premier Canister.

The Riccar has bigger tools, longer cord, longer hose, better power head, optional electric mini power head...etc.

I don't know what vacuums you've been looking into already but do lots of homework (I've been doing years worth).
I really hope Riccar will be the right vacuum for me.

I wish you the best of luck though...it's tough I know.

 

[durango159]

To clean a high pile Frieze carpet a manual height adjuster power nozzle needs to be used. It needs to be one that adjusts reasonably as well and not to a maximum of 1/4". That said I can tell you that a Sebo ET-1 power nozzle despite being manual height adjustment, it will not work. I've tried it on some and the brush roll sensor just shuts off the power head every other second.

The Riccar/ Simplicity power nozzle works very well for tall carpets and the CenTec power nozzles on Kenmore and Panasonic canisters work well for this.

For best maneuvering I'd look to the Riccar Wonder series or Panasonic canister with large rear wheels. Many modern canisters with the low profile 4 swivel canister wheels will most likely not move well on the thick rug as you seem to have experienced. Likewise as a former Filter Queen salesman up until last month, I can tell you that I strongly believe that the Filter Queen will have a very difficult time maneuvering through it as well. An older style power nozzle on the Filter Queens with height adjuster will work but the top heavy design will not maneuver suction unit well over your thick carpet and you'll find unit toppled over on it's side quite a bit!!!

Therefore I would completely agree with Jade_Angel that the Panasonic MC-CG902 would work well or for greater durability Tacony's new Prima/ Wonder series would work well!!
Central vacs are interesting if you don't mind carrying an awkward 35' hose up and down steps. In addition to awkward hose carrying and putting away there are numerous other disadvantages. Centrals can get clogs in piping. You're looking at significant prices for the system itself and installation into an existing home!!! Central vacs aren't for quick cleanings!!!! Dragging out hose and going back to closet for attachments since they generally don't store on wand make them inconvenient to use. Depending on well vendors did their job, you need to hope that they measured your property thoroughly and that hose reaches all areas that you want to to. Otherwise once you're out of hose, that's the limit of your cleaning!! A clients house I used to work for, we couldn't reach back of her master bedroom closet or bathroom to clean those surfaces with central vac. Also we couldn't reach hose into garage to do clean vehicles inside or other chores. With a canister vacuum, you can easily relocate the electrical cord anywhere and go anywhere!!!

 

[suckolux]

I have that same Miele, hose/cord drives me nuts.

 

[panofan]

Phew!

I'm glad I'm not alone / crazy about the short hose and cord!
I'm really questioning if it will last '20 years' like it was 'designed for'. The plastic seems pretty cheap in areas.
I researched a lot, read a lot of threads on ths.gardenweb.com - all seemed to point to how wonderful it is. It does seem to clean really well. I'm beginning to wonder if part of Miele's marketing strategy is to have people shilling on forums, sending samples to every review site so that all roads lead to Miele.

Durango - good to know about the filter queen - I thought those caster-like wheels would do good - didn't think about how the machine is top-heavy and would tip on the frieze carpet.

I'm not worried about clogs in central vac - with my layout there would be 1 run in the crawl space, and then the other outlets would be direct from the garage / garage attic. I'm planning to install myself (helped my sister with her install years ago).

Good to know about the big rear wheels.

Have any of you had luck selling a newish vac like my Miele? I know I won't get full price of course - just want to recover enough to cover most of the replacement.

 

[rosiembanks]

Wait for a bit to see the new Riccar Prima/Simplicity Wonder, if you can. I tried the prototype Prima and really like it. I'll be first in line to buy one. Try the Immaculate, also, for comparison--it's a fine machine, top of the line, a much larger canister, but both have full-size power heads. The Immaculate's too heavy for me, so I decided the small-size Prima is the better option. I was told the Prima will be less expensive than the Immaculate, though they didn't yet know the price point. However, the Immaculate does have very nice casters that roll every which way (as does the smaller Pristine, which is the next model down, and is also a very nice model). The Pristine appears to be a bit larger than the Prima. The Prima didn't have those. Overall, I really like Riccar's attachments, and the dust bags are definitely more affordable than Miele's. All of them have longer cords than Miele, too.

The Panasonic MC-CG902 is much like the canister I currently have, the Kenmore Progressive (it's made by Panasonic, highly rated by Consumer Reports, but I take their ratings with many grains of salt). The Kenmore Progressive has a lot of nicely thought-out features, but suffers from a lack of build quality. Lots of plastic, and just overall not well-made. For example, the HEPA doesn't seal well, the power head rattles and shakes as you use it, and the tool compartment lid doesn't close smoothly. (My daughter has the same model with these same issues, so it's not just my mine.) The Panasonic is supposed to be better built. In my hunt for a new canister, one shop suggested it to me as an alternative to a Miele (which they also carry), and offered to order one for me, but I'd have liked to see it first--I didn't want to be obligated. I'd consider getting one if I hadn't found the Prima, though, as it is reasonably priced. It might be a good option for you, provided you can handle one first and not just order it.

 

[panofan]

Thinking of the panasonic

Thinking of the panasonics - is there anywhere to see them in person?

Does anyone know if the bag seals better than kenmores do (at least the older ones did)? The one I had just had a foam gasket in the bag holder - and the bag cardboard just has a hole, no rubber to seal it against the hose.

I found over time this foam got filled with dust and occassionally (bad batch of bags maybe - like loose cardboard) dust and bigger particles (pine needles, etc) would get past and end up plugging the pre-motor filter. Do the panasonics have the same issues I wonder?

Otherwise, sounds like lots of thumbs up for the Prima/Wonder and waiting for it. Any idea on rough price range?

 

[mieles7]

I would guess that the Wonder would sell for around $500-$800, in order to compete with similar vacuums from other brands.

 

[williamr1248]

My Dilema- Looking for a new cansiter

Panofan,
I just bought the Panasonic a few months ago. I liked the machine and tools BUT it leaked a LOT dust all over the interior with BOTH the regular bags and I then bought the hepa bags with the very SAME result. It seemed to be where the bag attaches to hose. I have read many owners with the very same problem. The secondary filter and the whole interior of the machine had a layer of dust after the very first use.
Mine went right back to the store.
I looked at both the Sears and Panasonic. The Panasonic seemed to have better build quality but don't expect too much at the low price.

 

[ctvacman]

Re dust leakage

I've had that problem as well . The worst case being the enviro care hepa material bags, the cardboard collar is extremely thin and doesn't fit well. I usually only use kenmore brand now and put a piece of duct tape covering the gap between the bag and bag holder. I'll try and load a picture to give a better idea of what I'm talking about. But this little fix has solved the problem

 

[panofan]

Ah - I've only used the kenmore bags on it - good idea about the duct tape - after seeing how the Miele bag seals to the connection to the hose, I thought of trying to find some pipe to glue into the top part to extend into the bag (if I had gone back to a kenmore that is).

 

[durango159]

This is an older Kenmore Progressive canister unit with essentially same design build as the current market Panasonic MCCG902. It's a cleaning clients home of mine. We've had no issues with dust not getting into bag. Only issue we have is we haven't started using HEPA bags yet. This clients home is attached to a 32 stall horse stable. House is an extremely dusty environment with 85% of 2 floor home being ceramic tile with deep grout on 1st floor and laminate upstairs. The Kenmore does a great job cleaning floors when using a 10" generic horsehair brush. Maintains air flow well throughout cleaning despite tons of very fine stable dust in home!!! I wash premotor filter about once every 3 months on these style canisters.

***Power head is a replacement.

 

[panofan]

Interesting - maybe that's it - I've only used the hepa bags - maybe they are heavier or the cardboard isn't as strong (bad batch?) and it pulled away from the red collar it clips to.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I've got a current (third generation) Progressive canister, and I use the yellow micro C bags in it. I still get a light coating of dust in the bag compartment and on pre filter. I vacuum the filter and dust out the compartment each time I change the bag. It doesn't seem to be a big issue, the HEPA exhaust filter still seems clean.

The model I have is supposed to use the Q HEPA cloth bags, but I found them to be expensive and the C paper bags fit fine. It just that it isn't True HEPA certified without the cloth bags.

The bag mounts seem to be the same on all Progressives and Whispertone and going back to the 1984 models, but I think the gasket changed from rubber to foam at some point. That may be the weak link.