Sears Wet-Dry Vacuum 20th Birthday

[kbuhagiar]

Hello, fellow garageniks,

Was browsing through my file cabinet yesterday and found the receipt for my Sears Craftsman 20-gallon Wet-Dry Vacuum, and the receipt was dated March 6, 1987 - wow! my vacuum is over 20 years old! Out of all the tools that I have in my garage, I use the vacuum the most; probably 3 or 4 times a week, and it still works as well as the day I bought it. Of course, I empty the canister and clean the filter on a regular basis - I guess that helps.

Many times in the past I have thought about buying a new one, but I could not justify it because my old one still works so well. The only modification I made (and I highly recommend this) was purchasing the 20-foot hose and adding it to my existing 6-foot hose (I made a hose coupler by using a piece of PVC pipe - works great!). This way I can get to almost any point in my 18-by-20 garage without having to move the vacuum.

The only thing that could persuade me to trade it in would be finding an equivalent unit that wasn't quite as loud - man, that sucker ROARS! But I'll bet the new ones are just as loud (or not quiet enough to justify the change).

I hereby nominate the Wet-Dry Vacuum as the most unappreciated tool in the garage!

 

[TNToy]

If you upgrade, get a Ridgid from Home Depot.

Mine has all kinds of suction, and they're very quiet. Much more so than a Shopvac or a Craftsman.

 

[eschoendorff]

Uh-huh. When my Shop*Vac dies, I'll being looking at Ridgid models. I really like all of my other Ridgid stuff....

 

[dps]

This was a couple of years ago, but Fine Homebuilding Magazine did a comparison article on shop vacs. The Craftsman won for lowest price, highest suction, and loudest of the batch.

I read somewhere, maybe here, that a guy bought the smallest container Craftsman (I too have a 20 gallon model) because why lug all the extra around when the filter typically needs cleaning long before you fill up the tub? That unless you were planning to do a lot of wet pickup, why bother? If/when mine gives up the ghost, I think I'll go with that philosophy.

Though in the meantime, my lusts have turned toward the least expensive Meilo canister vac, which, though made for the home, is supposed to be very powerful, very quiet, and is available with a car cleaning accessory kit that contains their "TurboBrush" which supposedly works even better than a powered head for getting sand/gravel out of the carpet along with pet hair. I think I would probably use this more than my shop vac for non-high volume-of-debris purposes. It does use bags, so I'd stick with the Craftsman for sawdust, full floor vacuuming, etc. This other vac is $300, and I'm trying to figure out how to get it onto Wifey's list of wants and budget...

 

[kbuhagiar]

I read somewhere, maybe here, that a guy bought the smallest container Craftsman (I too have a 20 gallon model) because why lug all the extra around when the filter typically needs cleaning long before you fill up the tub? That unless you were planning to do a lot of wet pickup, why bother? If/when mine gives up the ghost, I think I'll go with that philosophy.

Agreed...If and when I do replace The Beast, I will definitely go for a model with a smaller container. And, based on the comments I've read here, I will have to consider the Ridgid units, especially if they are that much quieter...

 

[TNToy]

That's exactly what I did. I got the smallest Ridgid vac that's got a fullsize 'head' on top of it. Basically just a larger vac cut down to about 2 feet high... but the same diameter. Really nice, especially since it slides under any workbench to save space.

And yes, they're quiet. Probably about 1/2 or 2/3 the volume of my brothers year-old shop vac... and nowhere near as loud as the ear-piercing craftsmans. Very happy so far.

 

[Major Ramifications]

The Ridgid and the Craftsman vacs are both made by the same company (Emerson) and are almost identical. I am partial to the Shop Vac brand, especially the "Contractor Series" that Lowes carries.
I followed the same philosophy when I bought mine, I got one that was not too big, but had plenty of suction (12 gallon, I think).
The new Shop Vac Contractor Series models supposedly beat out the others when it comes to noise level, and Lowes has all the power tools, welders, compressors, and we-dry vacs 15% off right now.

 

[Ed and Sandra]

The Ridgid and the Craftsman vacs are both made by the same company (Emerson) and are almost identical. I am partial to the Shop Vac brand, especially the "Contractor Series" that Lowes carries.
I followed the same philosophy when I bought mine, I got one that was not too big, but had plenty of suction (12 gallon, I think).
The new Shop Vac Contractor Series models supposedly beat out the others when it comes to noise level, and Lowes has all the power tools, welders, compressors, and we-dry vacs 15% off right now.

We did a post on 3-25-2007 about a new Shop Vac from Lowe's. We have a good bit more experience with it now and definitely are very pleased with it! It's quiet and it's powerful. Using the 1 1/4" hose attachment for vacuuming inside the cars has proven to be a real plus while the regular 2 1/2" hose configuration is great for general purpose.

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra