Panasonic 40 & 50 series

[rolls_rapide]

I had an MC-E43 from new and it had three problems.

It was singularly useless at removing grit from short pile carpets. The grit would be bouncing in front of the cleaner, but would not be swept into the airflow, no matter how many sweeps you made.

The twin 120 volt bulbs were Edison Screw. The vibration from the beating action constantly unscrewed at least one of them. Because they were wired in series, the lights went out. Give me Bayonet Caps any day.

WHICH? recommended them one year as a Best Buy. Yet the following year they reported a problem with a blockage that was very difficult to clear. I experienced a problem where dust, fluff, and dog hair made its way into the motor cavity by way of the wheel axle. The axle simply sticks through the lower half of the motor shell with no seals at all. Silly design.

 

[vintagerepairer]

That grey cleaner there is a lovely looking machine, though I would stake my life on it having had a new mains lead as the original was usually grey. Not that it matters.

I can't argue at all with what Rolls_Rapide has said. I never thought that the Panasonic uprights felt like they were doing much cleaning as they never seemed to suck at the carpet in the same way that none-floating head cleaners did. The suction plays three roles usually, that being to grip the carpet, to remove debris by suction, and to suck away debris removed by the roller brush. In the case of the Panasonic, it seemed like the suction only did one of the three, that being to suck away debris from the roller. As I mentioned on another thread, my wife bought a Hoover Turbopower 3 in 1997. This was to replace a Panasonic MCE-43N which she'd bought long before I knew her. She never ceased to say how 'heavy' the Hoover was to push about, I suppose this was due to the thin rear wheels and none floating head, but did often say how much better she thought it was at cleaning.

 

[baglessball]

There is is a MC-E43 on eBay, grey with headlight and clear tool door..

 

[baglessball]

Also completely agree about the lack of grit removal! This used to baffle me when I was a kid. I would reppeatedly vacuum the same spot and still grit would bounce out of the carpet in front of the machine no matter how many strokes I would make..

 

[hoover719]

Is the MC-E554 the same as a Miele Powerhouse S174i?

 

[vacu-finder]

Never seen one myself..........but I is a big fan of Panasonic. Pretty looking MC-E44 and MC-E47 machines

 

[sebo_fan]

Oh this takes me back! When I started out collecting someone gave me a 1989 year white MCE 41N - I loved that vacuum and then I got the green MC E53. As someone has already mentioned, I too had more problems with the MC E53 - the auto cord mechanism was quite a struggle but more to the point the motor had seen better days and the variable suction dial was next to useless. Good vacuum when it worked properly but not as eager or as compact to push as the MCE 41N.

Also, a fact that Panasonic now stipulate with their silly current bagged series is the 2 drive belt system which is a bit of a nonsense to have to remove both just to replace the drive belt. It was the same set up on my bagless uprights, MCE 4003 and MCE 4111.

 

[nswsteve]

Belt Change MC-E54

Hi,
Hoping for some advice. I managed to get my hands on one of these machines. THe belt is very stretched so I changed it with what I thought was the correct belt but they are only lasting 30 seconds and then ripping. I'm not sure if I am fitting it correctly. There seems to be a metal guide from the belt pull to the brush roll and I am fitting the belt into that. Is that correct?

Any Adivce would be appreciated

thanks,