Hi Guys , 

just wanting some info, We have started selling sebo's and I bought a sebo felix to try out. after a few uses I noticed a really unpleasant dog smell every time the machine was on, I bought a g1 aswell and this model does not do it. neither do my normal daily driver dysons.We vacuum every day about twice a day as I am a bit OCD .  I have noticed that the Miele s7 upright has the same smell after a few uses and always put it down to the synthetic bag. 

Has any one else had this problem. 

A mate of mine who works in a lab that deals with odours said its due to the pet hair and dust deteriorating inside the bag, but then all bagged vacuums would do it and its just the felix and the miele that do. 

Josh donnell

I have 11 cats 3 dogs , the dogs are allowed inside and yes they are washed weekly. My house is about 1400sq so its a fairly gig house, allot of it is hard flooring, teak and origan pine flooring some marble flooring and carpets. I am ocd so I can't handle dirt or fur anywere, We have a vacuum in each room as I vacuum at least twice a day. My carpets are washed once a week too.

It has little to do with my house as I noticed the same smell when I used the machines at my office 

Vintage repairer

Yes I am a dyson agent and one thing I have never noticed is a smelly dyson. I think the fact that the dirt is out of the airflow and it also has to do with the brilliant hepa filration system.

I know Miele offers a charcoal filter but we get enough of these in still smelling. what puzzles me is I understand why the dyson doesn't smell but why the felix and not the G1 

Vintage repairer.

On the smell note , we will often get a dyson in for a service and it will smell fine when we test it but when you take out the hepa filter the smell of cigarette smoke is overwhelming, that's how good there hepa filtration is that it traps the cigarette smoke . Im not a smoker so I pick up on it allot faster . Yesterday we got a Vorwerk in for a service and when I switched it on it stank out the whole workshop with cig smoke even with its hepa filter. 

my oldest dyson a dc04 is 14 years old , has neversmelt of dog, if you abuse it then yes. The only way to get the cyclones clogged is to overfill the bin right to the top so that shows what kind of abuse that poor machine took. 

Just out of Interest , this felix is not old , its about 4 weeks old, I took it to my office and ran i around there with a new bag, 3 days later same smell, No dogs cats or anything else there. 

gsheen - have you got the later SEBO Felix charcoal filter cartridge fitted? This is like the original green one with the orange handle but has a thicker layer of charcoal on the base, now added to sustain for pet hair odour. Sounds to me like you don't or, that the charcoal filter may need replacing. Dependent on the type of bags you have, I've noted that the older paper dust bags suffer from pet hair odour in long term keep. 

Code 7185ER

Sebo fan 

we only get the paper bags here But why does the G1 not smell, also paper bag 

The filtration is similar but it is not the same design; hot air is present out the motor filter which is more towards the bottom of the G1 machine and away from the bag - the exhaust filter shroud around the Felix is more apparent with the air pushed upwards and the micro filter covering over the motor vent inside. This is where most of the inner air from the vacuum flows through as you probably know - but the charcoal now absorbs any bad odour before the bag.

Just called HQ , we dont get the charcoal filter or the synthetic bags here. GO figure. 

See if you can source them off EBAY.US or your nearest EBAY. They will become worldwide parts soon.

Yes I can do that for myself , but how can I sell a machine that is ment for pet hair if I know it smells bad after a few uses. I need to get sebo SA to get the synthetic bags and charcoal filters in here asap. 

Yes, I agree! Pressure on the HQ should push them to buy in stock from Germany, but then it may well be happening already.

It's not just the plastic parts that suffer from dog smells - the hose is the worst - especially ones with metal ribs. A total pain to clean although I always find it better to use antibacterial wet wipes, dry kitchen towel, a couple of blunt bamboo sticks and patience.

Good advice but in gsheen's Felix in South Africa, his/the Sebo stockist there hasn't got the newer filter cartridge for pet owners yet, which is why his Felix is smelling a fair bit.

Whilst cleaning hoses are a good idea though, the worst types I find are the ones that have metal coils embedded in them - like the Sebo ones - the dirt and pet hair sticks to the coils thanks to the natural oils in the pet hair and over time start to rot on the coils themselves. I usually use disposable antibacterial wipes shoving them up and down with a blunt stick and the mess that comes out is quite filthy. Other brand hoses that have no coils can easily be laid in a bath of warm water, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and tree tea oil to give it a good clean out.

I know some owners also pressure wash the hoses out, which can be a better, more compact solution but obviously has to be done outside.

TBH I've never washed a hose in a washing machine but thanx for the tip. For non-Sebo vacs and others like Vax Mach Air round filter or paper pleated HEPA filter cartridges,  I used to wash HEPA cartridges by hand and then place the whole thing in a pillow slip with a towel, tie a knot in the case and put it in a tumble dryer on a low temp. About 45 mins later filter is usually bone dry, taking far shorter than waiting for the filter to dry by air.