small shop vacs

[Zelatore]

I need a good small shop vac.

I work on yachts and primarily pick up water with my vac. I need a small but powerful unit that won't fall over easily either in the van or on the job.

I recently picked up a Ridgid WD4522 thinking it would be a good option. The square shape is ideal. The on-board tool, hose, and cord storage is great. It's a little too big and bulky for working in tight spots but the best I've seen.

The problem - it literally is useless. Good idea but horrible execution. It leaks like there's no tomorrow - water literally pours out of it when in use.

There is no gasket between the upper and lower chambers, and of course the lower chamber is pressurized when in use. Further, although this is a big unit you can only actually pick up about 2" of water since the inlet is mounted low on the side of the chamber. So if you have more than that in it, the water will slosh around and pour out when you go to dump it. Never a good thing but particularly bad when you're walking through the salon of a million dollar boat to empty it!

So ... back to the drawing board I guess.

Anybody have a recommendation for a good small WET/dry vac?

 

[stroked383z28]

I highly recommend this unit:

http://www.autogeek.net/dp-wet-dry-garage-vacuum.html

I have one and couldn't be happier with it. It has a 2-stage motor and a 35 ft cord. Way more power than anything you'll find at your local retail store.

 

[amolaver]

For the record, the little stainless Stanley at Costco is fairly terrible. Haven't done much water with it, but it is pretty weak, and the deflector (on the hose end that protrudes into the can) causes it to get plugged very easily. It has been relegated to wood stove cleanup, and even there it is annoying.

ahm

 

[itsvegas]

maybe the milwaukee m18 vac?

 

[Zelatore]

maybe the milwaukee m18 vac?

Hmmm....I had considered this in the past but forgotten about it. Might be worth a look since I run M18 stuff already and have a charger in the van. I wonder how much power it has for lifting water though - often I will have the vac sitting on deck and the hose stretched 4-5' down to the bottom of a bilge.

 

[PBCampbell]

You're pumping the bilge with a shop vac? I don't have that much experience with boats, but I have to ask why?

 

[Zelatore]

I highly recommend this unit:

http://www.autogeek.net/dp-wet-dry-garage-vacuum.html

I have one and couldn't be happier with it. It has a 2-stage motor and a 35 ft cord. Way more power than anything you'll find at your local retail store.

This may be a great vac, but at 8 gallons it's far too big for what I needm- that's a full size, stay-in-the-shop vacuum, not a portable unit. It would take up far too much space in my van and be to big to fit through narrow companionways in the boats without risk of scratching woodwork. It would also be too heavy to easily carry and dump once full of water.

 

[Zelatore]

You're pumping the bilge with a shop vac? I don't have that much experience with boats, but I have to ask why?

No, not pumping the bilge specifically. Obviously there are bilge pumps for that. But no bilge pump ever gets all the water in the bottom of a boat. They universally leave 1/2-1" of water depending on how they are mounted. Sometimes more if it's a deeper V hull and you can't get the pump into the bottom. But even with a fairly flat bottom, if you leave 1/2" of water but spread it out over say 10' of hull it's a lot of water.

Additionally, there are often areas that don't drain to the bottom of the boat where pumps are located. Stringers and other obstructions can create catch basins that aren't drained. Ideally every one of those areas would have a limber hole and would drain to the very bottom to be pumped out, but inevitably they don't.

Today I was on a 45' Cruisers Cantius and the fresh water tank's sending unit wasn't properly sealed, so when filling the tank perhaps 10 gallons of water overflowed and spread out to a depth of no more than 1/2" but over a large area. This was the project I was trying to use my new Ridgid on when I found out just how badly it leaks. I then got to spend an extra 20 minutes cleaning up the water it poured all over the carpeted stateroom floor as well as the trail of water spills I left through the companionway and salon when I hauled it out to dump it. Not the most efficient use of my time...and there's still water in the bilge since I didn't want to make any more mess!

 

[Silver Heels]

In college I worked at a marina with the pumpout machine plumbed through the docks. I used to walk around with the hose and pumpout everyone's dinghy after a good rain. Keep that in mind next time you are doing service on a boat at a marina that is equipped with a similar system.

 

[Zelatore]

In college I worked at a marina with the pumpout machine plumbed through the docks. I used to walk around with the hose and pumpout everyone's dinghy after a good rain. Keep that in mind next time you are doing service on a boat at a marina that is equipped with a similar system.

While that would work and be an easy way to deal with excess water in the bilge, trying to drag that nasty hose though the interior of a boat would be a big no-no. But I could see doing it if I was working in a cockpit or lazzerette.

Of course, that means firing up the boat and single-handing it to a pump out station. (not many/any marinas in this area have pump-outs at each slip) That can be a risk I'd rather not take on some large boats or in snotty conditions. Not always an option or worth the hassle/time.

Right now I'm thinking I'll check out the Milwaukee vac when I get a chance to swing by a Home Depot. It's not exactly what I want but if it does OK with water it could be a keeper.

 

[boiler7904]

I've had the Ridigid WD3050 for a few months just to use in the house and avoid dragging my bigger vac around. It got a good workout last summer cleaning drywall dust and dried mortar up daily during a living room fireplace remodel. I haven't used it for wet pickup and doubt if I ever will but it would be worth looking at. My biggest complaint is that it uses a small filter that Cleanstream doesn't offer a washable replacement for.

 

[DieselSaves]

Right now I'm thinking I'll check out the Milwaukee vac when I get a chance to swing by a Home Depot. It's not exactly what I want but if it does OK with water it could be a keeper.

We have one of the 18 volt vacs. Only had it since Christmas and it does really well for minivan duty. It looks like it should work for what you want as it is compact and the runtime is a little better than I expected for a cordless vacuum. I would guess the main drawback would be its capacity. I don't think it can hold over two gallons.

I just checked and it is rubber sealed and the filter looks to be washable. Also take two styles of Milwaukee 18v battery.

 

[Fugio]

The problem with our small ones if that the hose is too narrow, so one little bit of paper can stick in there and clog it up. We only use them for cleaning out the car/truck carpets now.
I use a big Rigid (and sometimes the big Shop-Vac) for the bigger jobs or for picking up water. There's just no way around it that I know of.
And if it's a really dusty job, I use an old Kirby (any model from the G3 or newer works great!) because their HEPA filter bags are incredible, and they have every attachment imaginable. Oh, and they're tough as hell. The Kirby guy says they can pick up water, but I don't want to try it. You can get one on CL or at a pawn shop for 20-50 bucks or less.