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Looking for a powerful compact shop vac. Preferrably cordless

J

jrsavoie

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Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
1,468
Location
North east Illinois
Looking for a compact Powerful Shop vac. Preferrably cordless.

I am looking for a small sized powerful shop vac. With power like the old Craftsman's I've had since the 1970's.

We have a 18 volt Dewalt. But I am not satisfied with the suction.

Any recommendations?

On a side note, In the 1980's our house vac went bad and I rigged up a big Craftsman to the powerhead.

The vac salesmen that stopped by would tout how much suction their vacs had and then ask to see the suction ours had.

Then we would drag that monster out.

I should have just made an easier rolling, skinnier container for it and kept using it.
 
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Handyandy23

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Nov 8, 2017
Messages
1,523
Location
Ontario, Canada
Project Farm has a video on these little cordless shop vacs:

Project Farm Video

I believe he found the Milwaukee and Ridgid ones tested the best.

I have the Ryobi because it was cheap and I already had some of their batteries, and going by that video I'm glad I didn't spend more on the DeWalt version. I'm reasonably happy with the Ryobi and it finished probably 3rd or 4th in that test. You can't expect it to have the same suction as a full size plug in unit because you're just not going to get that. But I use my Ryobi one 10x more than my full size because it's easy to bring to wherever I'm working and **** up little messes where I drilled a hole or whatever. And it's convenient to bring out to vacuum the car out.
 
D

dacan23

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Apr 15, 2014
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2,804
Location
RI
M12 Fuel wet dry or M18 Fuel packout wet dry. The original M18 wet dry is great, but M12 might be better option. All 3 work great and go through batteries but because they are on the upper scale of power for vacuums.

$130 for the M12 with 6.0 battery
www.homedepot.com

Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12-Volt 1.6 Gal. Lithium-Ion Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum Kit with 6.0 Ah Battery and Charger 0960-21 - The Home Depot

The Milwaukee M12 FUEL 1.6 Gal. Wet/Dry Vacuum Kit is the first cordless 12-Volt wet/dry vacuum of its kind. It delivers up to 40% more suction than 18-Volt competitors, is the most compact, and is up
www.homedepot.com

Milwaukee will probably release another vac this year, as they do every year. I want an M12 powered head for the M18 backpack vac. Just don't get the M18 vac that looks like a dyson setup, its the worst vac ever.
 
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GeoBruin

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May 5, 2018
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T

Trapps

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Feb 10, 2017
Messages
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Location
The Detroit Zoo
I have a Bosch 18V vacuum. So far (got it at Christmas from my kids) it's been great on wood chips, sawdust and dead bugs in my shop. I also cleaned out my truck and it did a fine job cleaning the carpets & floor mats. This weekend I'll be using it with a sander to see how well that works. I run it with an 8Ah battery.
 
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kbuhagiar

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Dec 27, 2005
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Location
Escondido, CA
I'm resurrecting this thread to solicit current opinion on the best available small portable shop vac.

I've decided I don't need a cordless model, just looking for the best suction. As I mentioned a couple of years back, my DeWalt 20V Max (DCV581H) is unimpressive. I need something better, preferably corded, that I can easily carry to a jobsite for cleanup. However, if there is a corded/cordless vac that can match the performance of a compact corded only vac I would consider it.
 
A

akasrick

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Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
795
Location
south jersey
kbuhagiar said:
I'm resurrecting this thread to solicit current opinion on the best available small portable shop vac.

I've decided I don't need a cordless model, just looking for the best suction. As I mentioned a couple of years back, my DeWalt 20V Max (DCV581H) is unimpressive. I need something better, preferably corded, that I can easily carry to a jobsite for cleanup. However, if there is a corded/cordless vac that can match the performance of a compact corded only vac I would consider it.
Click to expand...
Something along this line?
ash vac
I've read that they went out of business. It works.

akasrick
 
S

Steve_P

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Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
5,185
Corded is going to be superior to cordless so you need to decide which is more important to you. I have the Ryobi cordless and it's fantastic for quick cleanups. Of course, it doesn't have the same power as my 120V shop vac.

If you want the "best" cordless, then watch the PF test in the link above; IIRC the Ridgid was the most powerful and the DeWalt was unimpressive. If you want 120V, Ridgid is what's usually recommended the most here, and they have several small models.
 
K

kbuhagiar

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Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
1,757
Location
Escondido, CA
Steve_P said:
Corded is going to be superior to cordless so you need to decide which is more important to you. I have the Ryobi cordless and it's fantastic for quick cleanups. Of course, it doesn't have the same power as my 120V shop vac.

If you want the "best" cordless, then watch the PF test in the link above; IIRC the Ridgid was the most powerful and the DeWalt was unimpressive. If you want 120V, Ridgid is what's usually recommended the most here, and they have several small models.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I saw that video. Confirmed what I thought about my gutless DeWalt.
I'm going to stick with something corded, and Rigid is now the leading candidate.

Any other nominees?
 
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dnschmidt

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Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
7,287
Location
Phoenix, AZ
dacan23 said:
M12 Fuel wet dry or M18 Fuel packout wet dry. The original M18 wet dry is great, but M12 might be better option. All 3 work great and go through batteries but because they are on the upper scale of power for vacuums.

$130 for the M12 with 6.0 battery
www.homedepot.com

Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12-Volt 1.6 Gal. Lithium-Ion Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum Kit with 6.0 Ah Battery and Charger 0960-21 - The Home Depot

The Milwaukee M12 FUEL 1.6 Gal. Wet/Dry Vacuum Kit is the first cordless 12-Volt wet/dry vacuum of its kind. It delivers up to 40% more suction than 18-Volt competitors, is the most compact, and is up
www.homedepot.com

Milwaukee will probably release another vac this year, as they do every year. I want an M12 powered head for the M18 backpack vac. Just don't get the M18 vac that looks like a dyson setup, its the worst vac ever.
Click to expand...
True story on the M18 push vac. Worst vac ever. I was going to say that it really ***** but it really doesn't **** much at all.
 
P

pbon

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Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
3,498
I’d skip any M12 vac. The current M18 box vac is OK for small portable for small area jobs — like cleaning up within reach. The dual battery M18 9 gallon is decent but empties a pair of 12AH batteries in 15 minutes on high and is fairly large. I also have the 120V head for it and is more powerful and obviously runs for more than 15 minutes. I do have 6 of the 12AH batteries so I can run the dual battery head for 45 minutes if needed.

A small 120V is less convenient but the way to go unless you do not have convenient access to power or don’t need maximum power or don’t need much runtime,
 
T

tarbellb

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Joined
Apr 17, 2011
Messages
5,773
Location
Oregon
Still my favorite small corded vac on the market
Ridgid is a no nonsense shop vac, easy to find accessories, lifetime warranty, and you know what you are getting.

$99 all year + holiday sales

Screenshot 2025-02-07 132300.jpg
 
P

pelletman

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Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
1,267
Location
Worcester, People's Republic of Massachusetts
Handyandy23 said:
Project Farm has a video on these little cordless shop vacs:

Project Farm Video

I believe he found the Milwaukee and Ridgid ones tested the best.

I have the Ryobi because it was cheap and I already had some of their batteries, and going by that video I'm glad I didn't spend more on the DeWalt version. I'm reasonably happy with the Ryobi and it finished probably 3rd or 4th in that test. You can't expect it to have the same suction as a full size plug in unit because you're just not going to get that. But I use my Ryobi one 10x more than my full size because it's easy to bring to wherever I'm working and **** up little messes where I drilled a hole or whatever. And it's convenient to bring out to vacuum the car out.
Click to expand...
I have both, they are OK, but I don't love either for tough jobs.
 
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