cordless vacuum, small or medium?

[rattle_snake]

Have a bunch of Dewalt, so looking at their 1/2 or 2 gallon cordless vacs. For those who have one, other or both, which size would you get (regardless of brand)?

Use is all things were big shop vac becomes cumbersome; auto, boat, camper etc. thanks

 

[turbodave]

I have a ton of Dewalt also, but haven't been impressed with their cordless vacs.

I have the older 18v 2 gal version, but it was a battery killer and it's performance was not on par with a normal shop vac, even when running on A/C. It works good for cleaning up sawdust and dirt off of hard surfaces, but left me disappointed when I tried to use it to clean the carpet in the car or truck (one of the things I thought it would be handiest for).

I do have a cordless 18v Makita vacuum that we use in the house and it has worked well for us. We had gotten tired of rechargeable household vacuums that are garbage after a few years due to non-replaceable batteries and the Makita has a nice form factor similar to a dustbuster and uses their common 18v Li-ion batteries. It doesn't perform like the shop vac of course, but it's way more convenient to grab for a quick job than the Dewalt was. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0733KWZ3P/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[subroc]

I have a Dewalt DCV581. When I made the decision 5 years ago I went back and forth between it and the smaller one. Chose this. It's OK. Works well enough to clean the truck. I use it for spot work if I drill a few holes or cut something small. When I trimmed out the widows in the house using the 20v sliding miter saw I stuck the hose in the hole for the bag/vac and it worked well as I snuck up on the fit. I use it about 50-50 between batteries and the cord. No difference in performance between cord and cordless. Well, at least none I can see. Lets face it, it is just a small portable vac. I didn't expect it to **** the *** out of the cat and it doesn't.

It's OK.

 

[rattle_snake]

thanks for feedback. Use will be cleanup after drilling a few holes, small spill.

 

[jblnut]

I purchased a Ryobi P770 on a whim a few years back and absolutely LOVE IT !! I already have a ton of Ryobi stuff so it fit right in. I have a tiny little DeWalt 20vMAX and it does OK but I really like the more "full size" of the Ryobi as it can be used for lots of other things as well. It is no replacement for a corded one but it does very well. I used it to clean up around the drill press, vac out vehicles and clean up around the welding table once things cool off.

 

[sgf13]

Dewalt did poorly in this test. I was surprised considering the cost and my success with my Dewalt battery tools.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Renegade1LI]

There really is no great one, I've tried them all, ok at best, just have to keep your expectations low. The dust buster style works best after that you can't beat a corded shop vac.

 

[Gila Monster]

I have both a DeWalt and Milwaukee, the small style. I use it all the time, very handy. Nowhere near the power or capacity though of a real shop vac.

 

[rattle_snake]

So I finally bought a small cordless vac, the Dewalt DWV501HB, now that they make a decent one. Love it works great.

The only problem is, it can lead to an increase in OCD induced over-cleanliness, as it is too handy. I'll just vac that up real quick....

 

[housewolf]

I have the 18V Milwaukee. It’s the only 18V Milwaukee tool I own that I wish I didn’t

 

[u2slow]

I have the Makita as mentioned earlier. Had it 8 years now. Just another tool because already use those batteries.

 

[kngelv]

At work we have both a DeWalt 18V and a Hilti 22V cordless. The Hilti runs circles around the DeWalt. It's literally night and day. I currently primarily have DeWalt 20V brushed tools and have been acquiring some Milwaukee 18V brushless items. The Milwaukee Fuel Packout vac is only slightly better than the DeWalt and can't hold a candle to the Hilti. I ended up returning the Milwaukee.

James