oh no, a burst bag!

[vacuumfreeeke]

I went to use my Miele Plus tonight because I wanted to vacuum in the middle of the night and needed something quiet (I live in an apartment). I thought I'd check the bag because it's been a while since I have. I don't use the Miele much because I keep my canisters on a shelf and I hate taking it down, it's easier just to quick grab an upright and be done with it. Plus, the non integrated power nozzle cord really gets in the way, but for 20 bucks for a Miele, I really can't complain.... even though it is a "made in China from German and Chinese components" model. I thought there might be a problem, because the last time I used it, I picked up a little bit of baby powder in the bathroom (not any significant amount, I know better than that!) and the Miele shot the powder straight out. Had it been any other vacuum, I wouldn't have been shocked, but I know Mieles are better sealed than that. Well, I opened the bag chamber up, and much to my dismay, found that the bag had about a 3 inch gash in the side seam! I was horrified! There was nastiness all over the inside of the vacuum.... of course it was Dyson to the rescue, I always employ Dyson to help clean up other vacuums and it does a great job. I got it looking like new again, and put a new bag in, but man what a mess! I hope I didn't do any permanent damage to the thing with the baby powder.... I usually baby the Miele. HOWEVER, I was using DVC bags in it because when I bought it, I didn't know if it was going to work right and I think I was low on funds back then having just recovered from buying a car and I didn't want to invest in Miele bags. I figured that the DVC "cloth" FJM bags would be at least as good as the Miele paper bags and have been really impressed with their quality and filtration heretofore. I just don't know what would cause a gash like that.... I never suck up glass or anything crazy with the Miele!

Anyone else have a bag burst horror story?

 

[kirbyotronic]

The bag burst because it's a DVC.

That is the best way to ruin a Miele, by using generic bags. It's like a Lincoln, only use premium gasoline....OR ELSE (dun dun dun).

I remember when I bought my Mieles our little Florida con-artist recommended I use cut to fit Kenmore bags in them. Not even when hell freezes over.

 

[tolivac]

At a vacuum cleaner repair shop here-(long closed)someone brought in a Kirby G6 that had a burst inner paper bag and the people that used it kept going!The outer cloth bag was packed hard-and the cleaner could still pick up.The story was its owner got ill so she let the kids do the vacuuming with the Kirby-guess she didn't show the kids doing the housework when to change the bag.The machine cleaned up OK.I had a NSS M1 paper bag break from a freind who used it to clean his fire place.The bag had a defective seam to begin with.I had another one of those break on me-and wasn't vacuuming out the fireplace.And the bag that had ash in it was put into a metal trashcan.Fine debris such as ash,flour,face powder,etc can increase the possibility of a broken bag.And in my Royal backpack canister-converted to use paper bags-picked up some fine dust and---POOF!!!the bag broke!the loud noise let me know.Was a mess to clean out-use my NSS M1 vacs to clean out other vacuums-including the few I get from yard sales-(will I find any this morning when I go home from work?)And for ash jobs have a "SootVac" I bought from ReTool.It has VERY thick lined paper bags.I haven't ever had a bag break in a Meile since I use the "Intensive Clean)Filtrete bags in mine.The Filtrete bags in my Meile S7 upright are VERY difficult to tear in your hands.

 

[eurekastar]

Does DVC put any kind of warranty on their bags?

 

[joe22]

using generic bags can void the warranty



i have a sears canister i got at a garage sale, lady said it kept busting the bags, thats why she was selling it for 5 dollers, and it came with 2 pack of generic bags. i went to sears that afternoon, got sears bags and have never had a problem with a bag busting

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

I've used the DVC bags for 2 or 3 years had never had a problem until now. I guess it could be a defective bag.... I'm half tempted to buy some genuine bags just to compare... I want to anyway for regular use, but I need to finish the ones I have now. I'm thinking it was the powder now.

I know that people always say using generic bags can void a warranty.... I have two responses to that. The first is... so what? The machines I (and most collectors) buy are so old that the warranty expired YEARS before I even obtained the machine... I buy most of my vacuums used. My second response would be.... who would tell the company they were using generic bags? How can they prove it? It's just a scare tactic used by manufacturers to get you
to give them more money for expendables, instead of outside companies. Of course I will not argue that many times genuine is much better than generic... quite often there is a difference in quality between genuine and generic, but not always.

For the record, I think the best way to ruin a Miele would be to run it over in a 4 by 4 truck or use it to suck up water

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I ALWAYS use genuine

HOOVER bags, it was DRILLED into my head. I'm also a bit of a "purist", among other things....

 

[thevacuumman]

I have had a generic bag burst in my Kirby Legend 2

 

[tolivac]

Come to think of it--I had an older paper Kirby bag break in my Kirby 1600ComVac.Used some new Kirby bags and its fine.Age can have something to do with it as well.I beleive the date on the ComVacs I have are 1982.Paper does get brittle and weak with age.And same with the belts with the machines.New belts pepped them up!The old belts were slipping and dragging.Yes--agree to be safest use the bags recommended by the vacuum manufacterer.
I would definetly use ONLY Meile bags in the Meile vacuums.and the Filtrete ones.Yes they are expensive--but last LONGER than the paper bags.you can pack the Filtrete ones.

 

[electroluxkirby]

I had a bag bust in my Eureka self propelled upright once, and it was a genuine Eureka bag. The hose on my Kirby LII came out of the bag once and I didn't know until I unzipped the bag. I've been using generic bag on my Electrolux canisters and have never had one break yet (knocking on wood).

 

[electroluxxxx]

I always use generic bags on my lux machines and have no issue with them whatsoever, they seem to filter just as good as the ones that you buy at electrolux at half the price. however I did have a Genuine eureka F&G bag burst in my Sanitaire 3 times and all three times the bags were replaced free of charge as they were defective

 

[electroluxxxx]

oh one more, I had a Monty wards Canned Ham, this thing was soo powerful that everytime I used it, the bag needed to be replaced because for some reason the machine sucked a hole in the bag, I remember the day that I got it I put a brand new Genuine bag in it, and about a week later the bag was torn and all of its contents were in the machine itself

 

[kirbfan94]

I use generic bags, the envirocare cloth filter bags for the
kirby's are very well designed.
as for clean air vacuums, id judge by the thickness and how
the seems look.

 

[midcenturymike]

Oh, those Eff'n G bags!

I have never had a problem with F&G's in older machines, but I found that for Sanitaires, and other newer machines with increased motor amperage, the bags blow out at the seams after MINIMAL dirt capture.
I also found trouble with genuine Royal J bags used in my Powertank. I used to go out of my way to buy the Royal bags, despite being poorer quality than the multy-layer Envirocare equivalent, simply because they were still made in the U.S.A.

Now that they are all Chinese (and probably made of woven asbestos) I'll take the Envirocare bags with their cheery yellow paper, nifty adhesive patch that covers the opening to prevent dust leakage upon removal, and the included replacement microfilter.
I found that the seam of the Royal bag would let go long before the bag was full.

I share the thoughts of those above who have never had a problem with the generic 4-ply Elux bags; I've packed them pretty darn full without breakage.

 

[joe22]

miele and kenmore bags

was at the local walmart and there were bags from arm and hammer that were *made to fit kenmore 5055 and miele* so the vac guy was not that far off, lol

 

[schwinnapproved]

Oddly, I had the "Type-H" bag in my Celebrity blow out just today!

I was vacuuming up "Capture" dry carpet cleaning powder from my truck interior when I noticed a cloud of white dust all over the garage. Looks like the spot that gave out was at one of the bag ends were its held by glue. The bag is over 10 years old at least. I had it sitting around from another Celebrity I had a few years ago and ended up using it in this one.

No harm done, just a dusty mess that had to be cleaned up. The Capture is practically harmless as it is a non abrasive material and I repacked the motor bearings a month ago so everything should be fine.

 

[schwinnapproved]

Heres a few pics of the aftermath

 

[schwinnapproved]

another...

 

[joe22]

hint

on vintage paper bags, i put a few staples through the folded up glued end, to prevent this