Miele C3 - Anyone Had Problems with The Dust Bags?

CheapAzChips on 15/02/2025 - 22:49
Last edited 15/02/2025 - 22:52

TL;DR Has anyone had ongoing issues with dust/crap in the bag cavity with a Miele C3?

So I bought a Miele C3, not happy with the depth of clean that cordless stick vacuums were giving. Had great reviews and the price I got (thanks Cheapies) wasn't bad.

I'm now onto my fourth bag, and all three before it have had the same issue: I get to a "nearly full" (80-85%?) bag and when I go to check it there is vacuumed up dust and crap all around the bag, through the bag cavity, through the intake filter, through the motor and into the exhaust filters.

I thought the first time was user error, but after the second time I was convinced it was the machine. I took it back to whence I bought it, a reputable appliance retailer who claimed to have dealt with a lot of vacuum repairs but had never seen it happen before. They got it cleaned (for free, to their credit), but claimed it was because the dust I was vacuuming was "too fine" (!?!), and that there was a lot of sand (apparently Euro branded vacuum cleaners can't handle sand??)

I've just now had the same issue on the third bag and I'm both livid and loathe to take it back and be told my vacuum cleaner has been misused again (which it hasn't).

Online I've seen others with this issue, where the bag can dislodge from the clip holding it in when you open the lid, so when you close it again the hose intake is offset from the bag hole. A glaring design flaw, if you will. That might have been the case the first two times but I checked it meticulously this time around and that was not the problem. The bag was fully snapped into place when I discovered the mess again.

Maybe the bag was too full? But every other bagged vacuum I've ever owned, all cheaper than this one, has had a relief valve that indicates when a bag is full and stops sucking as hard so you know to go change it. Can Mieles just not cope with a full dust bag? Do I need to check it every 10 minutes and discard the ($8 genuine Miele-branded) bag when it's half full??

Has anyone else had this issue? Is it a lemon? Should I demand a refund/replacement?

General Discussion

Comments

  • tombanks on 16/02/2025 - 00:50

    Interesting. So I've owned 2 Miele C3, one is 15+ years old and another is almost 2 years. I've never had the problem you've described unfortunately. I even use 3rd party bags and never had any issues. I am careful with making sure the hole and the bag align when I close the lid though? What I vacuum is mostly carpet and hard floor?

    It does seem like you go through the bags really fast. I think one bag will last me close to a year, and I do vacuum weekly. I will say though, these vacuums are not really designed for sucking up bulk loads of things like wood dust, sand etc, the filters simply can't handle it. So if you're using it for such a purpose, you probably better off with other commercial options.

    • CheapAzChips on 16/02/2025 - 06:48

      Thanks for your response, I appreciate you chipping in. I also vacuum carpet and hard floors in our home and also our vehicles. I'm not sure why a commercial vacuum cleaner would be required for jobs that every other vacuum cleaner I've ever owned has been able to handle with ease.

      In fact, I got the same "you need a commercial vacuum cleaner" line from the shop. I dispute this: commercial vacuum cleaners are not somehow magically able to handle finer dust and more sand and fluff than domestic ones, they are simply designed for more use: harder wearing materials and continuous duty cycles, ie. you can use them for 8 hours straight day in and day out and they won't burn out after a week. Ours was only ever used for typical domestic use.

      Still keen to hear from any other C3 owners please.

      • tombanks on 16/02/2025 - 11:55

        I only mean if you're using it on a lot of wood dust/sand items that you typically don't find in a house. If you're not it should work fine

        • CheapAzChips on 16/02/2025 - 15:23

          Thanks yeah, very much just your typical household dust, hair and the like. No wood dust or anything.

  • kiwijunglist on 16/02/2025 - 08:53

    I have a c3. I did notice that sometimes when you open the lid the bag position slips, but i think that happens when the machine is opened not when it is closing or already closed. As you mentioned if you open the lid and then the bag happens to slip and then you close the lid again without realigning the bag then that would mean the dirt would contaminate the machine.

    I haven't experienced dust or debri outside of the bag. I use original bags, not aftermarket, just like you.

    Can you fit a rubber band around the bag mounting mechanism to stop it slipping. You described it slipping a few times maybe the mechanism is a little loose.

    Your issue sounds like either the dust is passing through the bag (unlikely) or is going around the bag. It would go around the bag if the bag wasn't aligned, or if the bag got "blocked" (bag too full or bag had debri that blocked air passing through the air permiable bag).

    I change my bag when it is nearly full, maybe 80-90% full. You shouldn't let it get so high that the air can't pass through the bag.

    This isn't relevant to your issue but… You shouldn't use your machine for plaster dust and if you have people come to do plastering you should remind them to use their own vacuum and you should hide your vacuum so it's not used. Plaster dust is too fine for the vacuum bag to contain.

    The c3 is the best vacuum I've ever owned.

    • CheapAzChips on 16/02/2025 - 15:36

      Thanks, yeah definitely not using it for plaster or anything. The dust is not passing through the bag, because there are no holes in the bag and larger things like fluff and hair also escape. It's definitely some sort of misalignment causing leakage.

      The c3 is the best vacuum I've ever owned.

      I have had two Nilfisks previously (among others) and they were the best I've ever had (they're no longer making domestic vacuums though), and I'd heard such good things about Miele, particularly the C3, which makes this all the more disappointing.

      I've certainly considered engineering solutions to the problem, but I just wanted to know if there's a bigger problem or if there's some fault with mine.

      I'm going to analyse it further. I've already cleaned it out again, I have a big bag of salt here (probably an old Cheapies bulk purchase?) and I'm going to try and replicate the problem with a clean bag in a repeatable way so I can go back to the vendor with confidence.

      • kiwijunglist on 16/02/2025 - 17:15
        +1

        Add electrical tape to make a 3-5mm lip around the plastic pipe that inserts into the bag. You could put tape on the inside facing out and then around the outside facing in. That would make a very stiff 3-5mm lip.

        Otherwise maybe when you are opening the vacuum to check how full the bag is, the bag insert is slipping back slightly. So adding a rubber band loop around the cardboard insert so it can't slip out might work. (Don't have vacuum in front of me while i type this, but something to try if possible).

  • stuntah on 16/02/2025 - 09:53

    Mine has been like this since day 1 - but honestly, you will know when a bag is full.

    • CheapAzChips on 16/02/2025 - 15:39

      That's what I thought, right? You know when the bag is nearly full so you go and replace it. Only problem is that the last three times I've done it I've been faced with a horrible mess.

      In close to 40 years of vacuuming with countless machines, this has only ever happened maybe twice, and only when the bag got a hole (sharp objects vacuumed up or over-filled).

  • Huntakillaz on 16/02/2025 - 14:10

    Parents have a Miele C3 cat and dog, they've had it happen once, where the bag wasn't installed properly there was a slight gap between the pipe hole and bag, it was user error in this case.
    Hasn't happened since

    iirc isn't there 2 slits and you're suppose to install to the closer one?

    • CheapAzChips on 16/02/2025 - 15:45

      No, it's pretty clear where the bag goes, there's only one place it fits. That "slight gap" thing is apparently a problem though, and I've seen it happen on this machine. If you open and close the lid a dozen times, maybe 3-4 of those times the action of opening it will cause the bag to dislodge.

      That should not happen IMHO, but if that's the problem and the solution is "always check the bag isn't dislodged when you reclose the lid or your vacuum cleaner might get destroyed", then I guess so be it.

  • L3tstaxth1s on 16/02/2025 - 21:51

    I was complaining about my c3 today.

    It makes weird high pitch sounds at lower power settings.

    The lid for the accessories had issues shutting due to the spring mechanism.

  • shzm on 17/02/2025 - 08:37

    I have a c3 cat & dog and haven't had this issue - used both official and 3rd party bags.

  • y2k on 17/02/2025 - 09:08

    I've had my C3 for 8 years and I've never had that issue. I've used the official bags, and various 3rd party bags (Unifit 175 and Filta 033 currently in my cupboard) and they've all worked problem free. Sorry to hear your experience hasn't been the same!

  • loldev on 17/02/2025 - 13:41

    Have the C3, haven't had any issues with it, using the aftermarket bags from either Temu or Aliexpress.

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