educate me on shop vac's

[Horses Ghost]

I have a 15 year old craftsman 5.0hp shop vac that is in need of replacing. I used it for cleaning the floor and some vehicle use. What should I buy? Thanks...Mark

 

[jay50]

Like a good woman, you need to get the one with the best sucking action.

 

[Horses Ghost]

I totally agree, but I already made a bad choice on one, and I don't want to make it on the second

 

[Torque1st]

NOTHING that hooks up to a standard wall outlet is 5.0HP or even close to it. Do not fall for those totally bogus HP figures on stuff. 5.0HP takes 56Amps and a 90A CB on 120V, or 28Amps and a 60A CB on 240V. Theoretically you can run 1HP off a 120V wall outlet but the practical limit is ~3/4HP.

Home Depot has another bogus HP shop vac on sale tomorrow.

 

[Ign]

IMO w Shop Vacs you either get a very affordable all plastic one, or you get a really expensive stainless. I opt for the former since I don't use it everyday.

I've got the Craftsman 16gal unit (largest they sell I believe) and personally love it. It often goes on sale for around $60 or $70 and seems like a great value to me. They often try to sell it as a bundle with a separate blower attachment, in which I have no interest. They try to make it seem like the blower is included "free" but the "sale" price w the blower is always $10-$20 more than when the vac alone goes on sale.

However the vac is all plastic and so I treat it w some care, specifically the hose retention clip and hose attachment point. I also realize it won't last forever, but when it dies/breaks/cracks I'll feel like I got my money out of it. I do wish the cord where higher quality (stiff in cold) and cord storage was a bit better/easier.

There's plenty of threads here, and at one time it was reported the Craftsman vacs are made by Emerson who also makes the Shop Vac??

edit: I take back what I said about size, I think Cman also sells a 20 or 22gal. If I really cared I'd go look, but I don't care that much.

 

[Ign]

NOTHING that hooks up to a standard wall outlet is 5.0HP or even close to it. Do not fall for those totally bogus HP figures on stuff. 5.0HP takes 56Amps and a 90A CB on 120V, or 28Amps and a 60A CB on 240V. Theoretically you can run 1HP off a 120V wall outlet but the practical limit is ~3/4HP.

LOL, I was thinking that very same thing today when I happened to see the two Milwaukee 14" abrasive chop saws in an ad; one claims to be 3.2hp and the other 5.4hp.

Craftsman has also gotten into stating blowing speed on at least some of their vacs, saying things like 90mph, etc. I think it's hilarious.

Ignore all the stupid specs and go off brand reputation/reviews, features and build quality.

 

[fr0mastaj]

I have a like 5 year old Ridgid that has been pretty awesome. Have had zero problems with it... I use it to vacuum cars, the garage, construction debris, flooded basements (MANY TIMES), amongst other things. My cousin even accidentally ran it over with his pick up truck and it's still kicking! Even has the tire mark on it still
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Legal Dispensaries Org

 

[1969]

I have 2 craftsman shop vacs, one I have had for over 20 years. I have used it to clean just about everything and still works fine. I bought a second one when it was on sale about seven years ago thinking I would use it in my woodshop and have a backup when the old one died. I have been very happy with the craftsman vacs.

 

[Matt M PA]

I have a Rigid vac that kind of looks like a tool box...it's been very good.

I recently got a Metropolitan Vac n Blo that trumps them all. It is not a wet vac. It hangs on the wall, or can roll on it's wheels. I mounted mine to the wall, and it came with 24' of hose.

A friend of mine saw mine and bought his own. He raves about how much he likes his too.

Being mounted on the wall means it's always ready to go, and I merely unroll the hose from the bracket to use. Very convenient, and the suction is great.

Finally, you can hook the hose to the output for a powerful blower. Works great for blowing out door handles, wheels, etc.

 

[7echo]

Look at Fein. They are powerful and quiet. But, they are expensive when compared to the Home Depot/Lowes type machines. We use them in a difficult environment and they hold up great. And they are much less noisy than most.

 

[djd99]

Home Depot has there 16 gallon shop vac again for 28.00, You can't be this price for this machine it's worth way more. I'm buying another one to dedicate a vac for my table saw. This machine has killer suction way better than my overpriced shop vac.

 

[tcianci]

Last year I bought 2 Ridgid vacs from depot 9 gallon IIRC. Without the wheels installed it was short enough to fit into the bed of my truck and still pull the tonneau cover over it. These vacs were on special for 19 bucks each...I even posted it on here so other guys could scoop one. The thing that is most impressive about this vac is the size of the filter and the amount of **** you can **** up before the suction starts to go down. 9 gallons isn't big and if you're going to do a lot of basement wet vac type of stuff, you need to get a bigger vac. But if you're going to do dry pick up, you will find this size to be plenty to carry around full when you take it out to empty it. I bought a 2 pack of filters too. I'm not sure if they're supposed to be washable but I hose them out and let them dry and they work great.

 

[IH82BL8]

I totally agree, but I already made a bad choice on one, and I don't want to make it on the second

Are you saying that buying the Craftsman was a mistake? Did you buy it new? If you've gotten 15 years out of it, I wouldn't call it a mistake. I have a 10 gallon Craftsman that I've had for 17 years and I have no regrets. It can be pretty versatile if you pick up some optional attachments for it. Some of the best money I've spent was for two lengths of smaller diameter hose with smaller attachments. Those are great for vacuuming out a car.

 

[larry_g]

When you look at your new machine look at the quality of the hose. how it is attached to the machine and how the tools attach to it. The flimsy hoses will kink, and the adaptors will fall out of them. I have a shop vac brand and the hose and tools are **** and the replacements are expensive. The ridgid extentions are brittle and break and are an odd size so that pvc pipe will not fit. The machine ***** well but that is all. The tool holder will only hold the tools in one direction and all the tools have to be removed to dump the bucket.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[santagary]

I have a GUV hanging on a post midway in the two car portion of my garage and the 30' hose reaches to all corners and it's QUIET!!! It and my Black and Decker cordless leaf blower have replaced a half dozen deafening shop vacs...come get 'em, I'll give them away...already given away two so far.

 

[Aberdale]

I too had a 5.0 Cman, but mine was about 20 years old when it gave up the ghost. (And then it was my fault for running it too long with a leaky filter that let dirt in the motor.) It was pretty inexpensive, sucked up a lot of dirt and liquid in it's lifetime, and was generally a pretty good value. However, it was NOISY, and in the last couple years the attachments frequently fell off the hose as the hose was pretty much worn out. I'm not complaining, I pretty much just wore it out.

I have a second Cman that is smaller, and a Shopvac brand with a plastic housing. They are both even NOISIER, and I rarely use them because of the noise.

The last vac I bought was a stainless housing Shopvac similar to this:

http://www.shopvac.com/vacs/detail.asp?ID=187&HdnSource=vacfinder&StoreID=

I bought it at Lowes on sale but it was still a bit more expensive than the plastic housing options. It looks like it has the same plastic lid/motor housing as the plastic ones, however it is a lot quieter, so the stainless housing may make a difference, or there may be a difference in the motor design. Don't know.

I would recommend the stainless Shopvac at Lowes. so far, it's been quieter, the hose seems a lot more flexible, and it has larger wheels on the back which allows it to roll better, (I would hate it when my old vac would wander into the side of the car, or trip over it's own cord.) Oh, and it has a nice long power cord. The Shopvac stainless is still a lot cheaper than any commercial stainless vac.

In the end I think you get what you pay for.

 

[D KRAGER]

Another thing to think about:

Keeping a chepie for wet pickup only. That's what I do, I have my older unit as my wet pickup only. Then my other one I can use it with a bag in it to keep dust down.

 

[Horses Ghost]

IH82BL8, I was refering to the reference to the post above about wives and sucking. I have had great luck with my Craftsman, but it is starting to go out and I want to get something new. I have a full kitchen in my garage and I will mostly need another vac for cleaning the floor. Sweeping creates to much dust.

 

[muncie21]

I hooked my shop vac up to my blasting cabinet to reduce the dust in the air. It lasted for about a week in that environment.

 

[mikester]

I had a 16 gal Shop Vac for close to 15 years and the switch broke. I called Shop Vac and they sent a replacement switch but it wasnt the right one. Turns out the switch that I needed was discontinued. I used a toggle switch for a while but it was rigged and I didnt really want to use it that way. I bought a 14 gal Rigid from HD. Not as powerful as the old one but it will do. The only thing that I really dont like is the way the accessories store. It has a bag on the back as opposed to the setup on the Shop Vac which I feel was much better. But for the money its not a bad vac. Its picked up everything so far but I havent used it on liquids yet.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

For the average joe at home, a Sears or Rigid shop vac will do just fine. Get the optional soft flexible hose, and not that black plastic one that is hard to work with, on second thought, get two hoses and connect them together, gets the vac further away so you don't have to listen to it. They are all noisy. If not noisy, they are expensive, way too expensive. Second thing to buy is the Gore filter, the more expensive one of the two (Cleanstream), made from the Goretex fabric. You just shake it out, sometimes I hose it off. Never brush it or scrape or rub it, it will get damaged if you do, just shake or hose, it looks like new when you are finished.

Charles

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I had a 16 gal Shop Vac for close to 15 years and the switch broke. I called Shop Vac and they sent a replacement switch but it wasnt the right one. Turns out the switch that I needed was discontinued. I used a toggle switch for a while but it was rigged and I didnt really want to use it that way. I bought a 14 gal Rigid from HD. Not as powerful as the old one but it will do. The only thing that I really dont like is the way the accessories store. It has a bag on the back as opposed to the setup on the Shop Vac which I feel was much better. But for the money its not a bad vac. Its picked up everything so far but I havent used it on liquids yet.

Let me get this straight. You had a perfectly good working shop vac that you ditched because you didn't like having a functional toggle switch on it in the place of the original switch? Why? When the motor burns up, then I will consider a new one, until then, if something like the switch or cord needs replacing, it will get whatever I can make work functionally and safely.

Charles

 

[Joe B.]

For the average joe at home, a Sears or Rigid shop vac will do just fine. Get the optional soft flexible hose, and not that black plastic one that is hard to work with, on second thought, get two hoses and connect them together, gets the vac further away so you don't have to listen to it. They are all noisy. If not noisy, they are expensive, way too expensive. Second thing to buy is the Gore filter, the more expensive one of the two (Cleanstream), made from the Goretex fabric. You just shake it out, sometimes I hose it off. Never brush it or scrape or rub it, it will get damaged if you do, just shake or hose, it looks like new when you are finished.

Charles

Nothing but truth here. All of the ones sold by big box stores are about the same. I have a Cleanstream filter and it is amazing. I would take any model as long as I got to keep that filter!

 

[mikester]

Let me get this straight. You had a perfectly good working shop vac that you ditched because you didn't like having a functional toggle switch on it in the place of the original switch? Why? When the motor burns up, then I will consider a new one, until then, if something like the switch or cord needs replacing, it will get whatever I can make work functionally and safely.

Charles

It wasnt just the switch, I had to hog out the plastic cover to get the switch in and it never felt sturdy so I tossed it.