I’m looking to spend about $150 cdn on a new wet/dry vac, and i’ve heard that the ‘shop vac’ brand isn’t neccesarily the way to go. I’m more interested in power/suction than capacity – i’d rather have a powerful vac that i have to empty often than a great big beast that underperforms. Any brilliant reccomendations?
Jesse David
“Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before,” Bokonon tells us. “He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.”
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I don't have any experience with the high end types like a Fein, but I think they cost about twice your price range anway. I've got a Ridgid WD1660 "6.25hp" (yeah right!) with detachable blower. It's got a 16 gallon bucket and has quite a bit of suction. I find the blower to be pretty useful too. It's a bit loud, but a $10 muffler helps alot. It's been a good vac for under $100 USD.
http://www.epinions.com/content_126347611780
I got the Sears 6.4hp last year to replace my old burned/rusted out 4hp. It's a serious 'sucker' and will collapse a metal trash can with the Veritas DC top installed. Have to use the 2hp vac for that. On sale, with craftsman club I paid $79US; comes with muffler. Genuine plastic...accept no substitutes!
I've had a Craftsman shop vac for quite a few years. Noisy but it works well.
Joe and WS...does the same company make Ridgid and Craftsman vacs? (Maybe Emerson?) I thought I had read that once, plus I have a friend who has a 16 gal/6.25 Craftsman that has an identical motor/fan assembly and muffler as my Ridgid....only the tank is different. We could all be touting pretty much the same vac...
I can't say whether or not the Craftsman and Ridgid are made by the same company but looking at the new Ridgids I've been wondering myself. They seem to be identical. My Craftsman is an Emerson.
Hey Jesse,
The shop vac that I bought is the Fein Mini turbo. The thing is quiet and has good suction. The only problem is the price of the bags, at about $9 a pop. Something you might want to consider.
CWoody: FYI Fein now sells a three pack of bags, they no longer sell individual bags ( unless dealers are selling them that way) to the Fein distributors. The filter bag number for the mini turbo is 913038K01. It has a list of $11.70 per pack of three.
CWoody:
I have the Fein mini-vac and find that the generic bags from the hardware store fit tight around the intake port. Give them a try.
I recently decided to replace my aging 20-year old Craftsman vac with a new Shop Vac brand. Worse tool mistake I have made in a long time. The old vac out-performs the new one by a wide margin. The problem with the "shop-vacs" generally is that there are no cfm/static pressure values from which you can make a purchasing decision. I think one of the other problems is that in the manufacture's efforts to reduce noise, they have also affected the suction potential.
Doug
Hi JesseDavid - I just got done browsing this month's Craftsman Club flyer (June 5th-12th). They have their shopvac model 17066 on sale for $90 (US) with a free portable 2-gal vac (model 17713). This is essentially the same as the Rigdid WD 1660 (or 166?), and includes the detachable blower.
...food for thought...
Edited 6/2/2005 2:29 pm ET by knot scott
I hate recommending anything Sears sells, but I have to admit, that the Sears unit I own has given me 10 years of good service. It's about shot now, not sure if the new Sears units will hold up as well. As for suction, it was their largest model, and I never had a complaint about it getting the job done. The worst part of any shop vac is the replacement cost of the HEPPA filters, so you might want to see what that is before committing to a purchase. Also, if they use a non-standard hose connection size or configuration, it can force you to deal with them later, when you need to replace it, at their prices.
Any brilliant reccomendations?
I'd use a USA Hela..chopper Turbine engine with a BIG HOSE!
Good choice, as long as it's preceded by a cyclonic separator so the helicopter blades wont be damaged.
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