New vac: Rainbow vs Miele. Also technique question

[lees23]

Background:
Was given a Rainbow SE PE PN2 that is in great shape and was well taken care of. I love the way it feels and cleans. It seems to clean so much better than my roller ball Dyson.

Questions:

Is a new model Rainbow going to clean much better than the 15-20yr old SE PN2?

Is a Rainbow the best overall canister? I have read that some of the higher end Miele's might be better. A high end Miele is cheaper than a new Rainbow as well. I read a thread with a bunch of airflow numbers and water pull numbers. I get the water pull but the airflow seemed odd that the Rainbow scores anywhere from 0.5/10 to 4.5/10 and it saw that the Miele can get as high as 9.5/10. Can someone explain what this test is and means?

My house is fairly large and is all carpet and tile. The tile in the living, kitchen is a simulated wood and is textured to look like hand scrapped wood. Is a more up to date power head going to do a better job on my tile floor? When vacuuming the tile floor should you run the brush bar? When I did the the vacuum head tried to take off forward. I did most of the floor without it on but ran it occasionally if something was stuck to the floor. Will it damage the brush bar to run on tile?

My wife and I have allergies(I am much worse than her) so air filtration and air quality is important to us.

One more: I would like to buy a robot vac to run everyday to pic up dog hair and dust. Anyone have a recommendations?

Thanks in advance for all the help and sorry for all the questions.

 

[sptyks]

Airflow is usually measured in Cubic Feet per Minute or CFM.


It looks like the numbers you posted were from a Baird airflow meter which gives you a measurement which is a combination of CFM and watert lift on a proprietary scale of 1 to 10 units.


 


So if a vacuum has a rating of 4.5/10, it means it pulled a 4.5 out of a maximum 10 units on the Baird Meter which is just mediocre as far as vacuum performance goes. The Baird meter should be connected as close to the motor as possible because airflow decreases relative to the length of the hose. The Miele would be considered excellent at 9.5/10. FYI - There are very few vacuums that can pull a 10/10 on the Baird meter and Kirby is one of them because it has massive airflow compared to most other vacuums.

 

[sebo_fan]

Personally even if a vacuum cleaner has greater pull of suction, its the floor head design in question that can either inhibit pick up, get damaged itself or damage the floor it is cleaning.

If your tile floor is all in one tile, i.e a whole surface area of tile, I'd still be inclined to just use a hard floor brush rather than power nozzle. Unless of course the PN can be switched off and it has a sole plate that is void of any bare metal that could damage the hard floor in question.

Conversely, a brush roll can pick up successfully on tiled floor, but in my experience the tiles need to sit flush. Tiled squares that have been fitted with sealant in between often provide a trundling experience with a PN and wheels, meaning not all dust will get sucked up in one pass.

 

[blackheart]

Airflow

I have one of those meters, but their readings are not always completely consistent

When i had a Rainbow D4 SE it wouldn't register on the meter
My Rainbow E2 (black) as you can see in the picture pulls about a 2 i have seen it register in at about a 2.5 as well.
As for miele pulling a 9.5 maybe at the vacuum body itself but at the hose end the most i have ever seen a miele pull at the hose is a 5.5 both my older Silver moon and a newer S8 (forgot the exact model) can pull a 5.5

Is Rainbow the overall best? In my opinion no their airflow is mediocre compared to other door to door canister, and they are a lot of work to maintain i would much rather use a bagged system, i think the most powerful canister I've used is the Lindhaus Aria (reads in at 7.5 max) but i would not recommend one to most people as they are not as user friendly as some other machines.


In terms of performance and convenience I'd take a Miele over a rainbow, but the rainbow is much more versatile, being able to pick up water, shampoo carpets (with the right attachments, etc.

The newest model Rainbow should clean better i've never directly compared the two and no longer can as i parted with my D series models in favor of the E2

I think you should switch the powerhead for a bare floor tool when doing your hard surfaces.

 

[lees23]

Great info

Thanks for all the replies and info.

One of the main reasons I was looking to upgrade is because I really don't have much with the Rainbow. I was going to buy the missing accessories or just buy a new unit with everything. I started researching and saw the Miele canister reviews.

I don't mind spending the money but if I am going to spend that kind of money, I want it to be on the best product for my needs.

One of the posters above mentioned suction/airflow being important but so is power head design and performance. Any comments/test results on the best power head?

Once again I appreciate everyone's help.

How about air quality and filtration of the rainbow vs the Miele? I have replaced all the filters in my Dyson and it still stinks when I run it. I love that the rainbow has 0 smell when I run it. If I buy a $1500 Miele that stinks after a couple of years I will be extremely disappointed.

 

[fantomfan]

All bags stink after a while.

Especially if you vacuum up dog hair. That is the beauty of the Rainbow. No bag, no dirty bagless container, all dirt down the drain, no smell, no mess. I haven't had a Miele personally, but my vac shop gets them in all of the time for repair. Replacement parts are very expensive. I have found that it can be difficult to get bad smells out of vacuums. It really depends on when you change your bag & filters, what you vacuum, and where you store it. Many Mieles have carbon-treated final filters to eliminate the smell.

 

[lees23]

New vs Reconditioned or not from an authorized dealer?

So if I decide to purchase the latest Rainbow should I buy it from a distributer and pay the $2000+ or go to a site like greatvacs.com or GoVacuum and buy a "new" or reconditioned late model. Any other sites I should check out?

What is a new, from authorized distributer, Rainbow with most of the attachments going for these days? Have seen anywhere from $2000-2600?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[man114]

New they're about $2500 around here, it varies somewhat regionally but not by much. I guess it depends on the quality of your distributor and their service,Mir you know they are established, it might be worth it for warranty purposes if you plan on using it heavily. You should be able to trade the old Rainbow in for a pretty substantial discount, our distributor gives something like $800 for that model if I recall, and they don't make you sit through the demo again, just basically bring the new machine, do the paperwork, take your old one ask if there is anyone you know who you'd recommend it to so they can get some referrals and you might get some of the new accessories. I've done a few of these personally, it's a 20 minute process for the most part.

The current model's powerhead does a very good job of cleaning and grooming the carpet. It is nicely maneuverable.

If you can live with the water, they are quite versatile machines, they have no smell and have some truly useful attachments (Minijet, Rainmate, Aquamate). Also they've been around forever and parts aren't that hard to get.

 

[countryguy]

I have owned both a high end Miele (model Capricorn) as well as the newest black model Rainbow. Although they are both good machines when it comes to sucking up the dirt, there are other factors to consider that influence how versatile and convenient the vac is to use. Some of the things I found were:
1. the cord on the Miele was far too short and I had to changed electrical outlets a couple of times whereas with the Rainbow I could use one outlet for the entire main floor of the house
2. the Miele's hose is shorter and too stiff. When vacuuming in tight corners it was always bumping into something with the possibility of knocking something over on a table
3. the wheels on the Miele are far too small if you are going to be using the vacuum on any type of rug with a medium to plush texture. I found the small wheels made it very difficult to manoeuvre.
4. the bags are expensive although they filter well especially compared to a Rainbow where you won't be buying bags
5. the above the floor tools (dusting brush, crevice tool, ulphostery nozzle) are miniature in size compared to those of the Rainbow. Also with the Rainbow you can get a motorized mini power nozzle for doing stairs, couches, car interiors, etc. compared to the Miele which only has a turbine powered mini nozzle.
6. the rainbow is a much heavier vac than the Miele
7. the Rainbow has the quick connect wands just like the Miele although the Miele's is telescopic.

I bought my Rainbow new on Ebay and paid far less than what I would have paid from a Rainbow distributor.

Gary

 

[lees23]

Thanks Gary

I am looking at a "like new" Rainbow from greatvacs. It has almost all of the accessories. I am also seeing if they will give me anything for my SE D4 on trade. I will check out EBAY for new ones. What store did it ultimately come from?

Steve

 

[countryguy]

You are welcome Steve. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the seller on Ebay but I believe he was from MN.

Gary

 

[williamr1248]

New Vac: Rainbow vs Miele

I have to agree 100% with Gary on this one.

I have owned both. I sold my Miele.
It does have good points like powerful suction, quiet and good quality. I had odors and smells from my new in box Miele within 2 weeks. The bags are expensive.
I REALLY did not like short power cord, short hose, tiny tools and heavy wand. My Miele (the canister ) was lightweight but it was not easy to pull on the thick carpets and would go sideways. I thought the power nozzle seemed tiring to use because of the heavy wand set up.
It was a good product but not for my particular situation.
The worst part for me was that short power cord.
The Rainbow has no odor,ever. Not when it was new and not after using it for 3 years everyday. It is very well made and can be used for other jobs like wet mopping the floors. It is HEAVY to lift.
I did buy mine new from an Excellent Rainbow dealer who have given me top notch service. I would give Ken Bashford 5 stars as an honest and very good service provider. Several of us have bought from him over the years.
If you do buy a Rainbow, I would go for the new model as it has so many more user friendly features compared to my old SE model and make SURE to get the Chrome door storage rack to hold the hose and tools.
The Rainbow was one of those few things in life where you do get what you pay for and don't have to keep replacing the same item over and over again.

 

[suckolux]

I agree with those gripes on my Miele anyway, and I know it was not a high end one, however.... When the lower back is bad, it is light weight, has a soothing sound and pretty easy to live with. Bags are pricy, but very efficient in my mind, almost never need changing, very clean when you do.Give it a better hose and little longer cord and most my bitches are gone. I keep a short 4' extension on hand with it and can reach every room.No smell in mine even after months with same bag.

 

[ctvacman]

I've always felt my SE PE did better than my new rainbow, but it's no where near as convenient to use as the new rainbow. As far as bags for the miele if you can afford the machine you should be able to afford the bags, just like owning a good car you should be able to afford to maintain it.

The rainbow is heavier than the miele as well if that's a concern, but it has a better dusting brush than the miele.

I have both and like them equally, it just becomes a matter of if you want to clean the separator and dump the water,esp often if you have a lot of pet hair.

Colby

 

[kirby519]

Because of the design of the Rain bow /Rexair machines they do last a very long time. Far less danger of motors over heating due to lack of air flow thru the machine to cool the motor. Few moving parts to break due to vacuuming up objects not designed to be vacuumed up. Water will trap most of the dust/dirt. some dry particulates are not easly water wet able like plaster dust.

Seeing that you all ready own a Rainbow that has some age on it. and the fact that you all ready like it. It is well worth looking at a newer model. Maybe not a brand new one but it is possible to by a recondition trade in for a fraction of the price of a new one. maybe hard to come by as people will hang on to them becouse the like the machine. Buying a vacuum from a dealer you can wheel and deal a much better price than they are asking for it

I Bought a new Kirby in 1987 from one of the local dealers that listed for the basic machine in this region for $1,100.00. I paid $499.00 for the basic machine then added on the shampooer and Zip brush for an additional $150.00 which was more than those two items were really worth. for a total cost of $650.00

I give them two options a check they can fold up and carry out in thier pocket with a price I feel it is worth or they pack up all the boxes and lug them down the street to the next house. Funny how they leave the vacuum in my living room to figure out what to do with it.

 

[miskini]

Amen

I agree with kirby 519 and do the exact same thing with my kirby distributor. If you haggle with the rainbow dealer, you'll get a brand new unit for $1500

 

[tolivac]

At least what I have seen with E Rainbows-their motors are full bypass.A seperate fan cools the motor.This is also for safety-the motor is isolated from the dirty or damp cleaning systems airstream.Commercial wet/dry vacuums use the same types of motors.And both have fancases and fans made of corrosion resistent metals or plastics.

 

[fandb22]

I have two Kirbys

And 2 rainbows, one being the brand new black rainbow with the later improved PN. I enjoy vacuuming with my rainbow the most, as it smells like a fresh clean rainstorm for 2 days after I vacuum. My rainbow has also cut down on dust in my home. My carpet cleaner who I have come twice a year always comments on how great my carpet looks, and I tell him it's thanks to my Rainbow!

 

[Metaphor]

I can't get past the weight and having to dump water, clean it carefully and dry it out after every use. There is no such thing grabbing a Rainbow for a quick clean up then stuffing it back into the closet so you can get on with your day. If you are not hard core about always cleaning the thing out funny things start to grow in there. You have to bleach it periodically to kill the microbes. Too much work. I can go a month or more without changing a bag and filters get changed about once a year on a canister. A canister is under 20 lbs usually where the Rainbow is over 30. Also think about where you are dumping the water. Do you have to lift the thing up to a sink or can you dump it over at ground level? And like Supersweeper mentioned, how is your back feeling? Bad backs don't get along with heavy objects usually. Just my thoughts.