Shop Vac Recomendation

[Steve@Advance]

I'm buying myself a new shop vac for Christmas.

I like the old Craftsman wetvacs but a little too big for use around the home shop.

Looking for something compact, easy to dump, long hose(not necessarily a big hose), and strong suction.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Butch(OH)]

Dunno?, if you find a good one let me know. Year ago I bought a Shop vac brand unit. Its not a cheapo but under the commercial units. Stainless steel tub on big wheels with front casters and a big storage box and handle
I think 14 gallon and cost close to three hundred bucks. Casters broke off first time I pulled it across the shop with a load in the bag and I had to fab up a new bottom. First motor had the "death squeal" 2nd time I used it and the replacement motor did same thing I. short order and still has that annoying bearing squeal. I say it has 3-4 hours total use. I am hoping that I back over it or something as I wont pitch it otherwise, LOL
My recommendation is avoid Shop Vac unless you are willing to spend 5 hundo on a commercial one.

 

[Wisconsin Cowman]

Stihl SE122 shop vac best shop vac I have owned have two of them. Little expensive but well worth the money. I believe the vac is made by another company for Stihl.

 

[gab]

I've never bought one. About twenty eight years ago at quitting time I was walking out the back door of the shop and there was a 16 gal. Craftsman in front of the detail dept. dumpster. I hauled it home, tore it apart and somebody must have been sucking broken glass out of a car door with no filter in it. Melted the impeller to the housing, after prying it apart and sanding the ragged edges down and several attempts shimming the fan. I got it working. It's sucked up broken plaster in every room in the house, cleaned cars, the garage and the basement and it won't quit.

 

[SkipperII]

I've had pretty good luck with Craftsman, including the 20 volt cordless my boss gave me for Christmas last year. In fact I hardly ever fire up the corded one anymore.

 

[Dennis Minn]

Steve Advance,

I will say this Rigid.

We operated shop vacs for weeks on end with little down time ( minutes to empty the drum). The craftsmans eventually seized the bearings.

Rigid ran strong throughout. We ha dprobably 10 vacs running at one time and at the end of it all, we had just rigid ones left still operable.

Stainless drum and quieter, too. I am not a sales person.

D.

 

[Tom in TN]

I have two Rigid brand vacs. I've had both of them for 10 or 15 years with absolutely no problems. Now, I'm not a professional shop guy so mine are used when they are needed which is a couple of times a month. One is a six gallon (pretty big one) and the other is a two gallon (really portable and quick). When/if I need a new one, I'll be looking for a Rigid brand.

Tom in TN

 

[300jk]

I will also say Rigid. I think mines almost 20 years old and does get used pretty hard.

 

[glennster]

i have a couple of rigid vacs, had them for a number of years no problems. also picked up the rigid vac with the stainless canister . very easy to keep clean . i also have a bosch 18v that is really handy too. to extend the filter life, put a wrap of paper towel around the filter especially around drywall dust. when it starts getting plugged, just replace the paper towel.

 

[DR. EVIL]

I had a 12 gallon Craftsman from years ago, early-mid 1970's, fixed and repaired it more than I used it. I have a big 16 gal SHOP-VAC brand and a little about 8 gal SHOP-VAC brand. I've used each more than I ever used the Craftsman, there's an entire WALL full of parts like replacement filters, replacement hoses, different types of nozzels and casters at most of my BIG BOX and Farm & Fleet type stores for the Shop-Vac brand.
My biggest gripe about the Shop-Vac vac's is the casters, they don't swivel freely, and the wheels don't rotate freely, you have to drag them around by the hose or the cord, usually tipping them over.
The small 1-1/4" hoses suck stuff up better, even tiny stuff out of car/truck carpet, but when vacuuming up sawdust, etc they tend to plug up worse while the 2-1/2" hoses rarely plug.
All shop vacs make a lot of noise, I made dust collector housings for my miter saw, belt & disk sander to attach the 2-1/2" hose to and suck up the dust before it gets on the floor.
My BEST home-made project, I built a 3-sided box from 1"x1" oak and 1/4" luan plywood to mount two old fans from junked range hoods or bathroom vent fans, sucking air OUT of the 3 sided box, the open side of the box is 20x20 inches, I screwed two little L-shaped arms to the box to hold 20x20x1 FILTRETE furnace filters and use it to pull would and steel dust out of the air in my shop when sanding and grinding. I can see the dust hanging in the air of the shop in the sun's rays shining in the window, 20 minutes after I turn the fan on I see only a spec of dust or two drift past. And it only took a half hour to build and a bunch of stuff I considered throwing away.

 

[504]

I have a Rigid that comes apart and you can use it as a leaf blower. Handy for cleaning and drying the shop floor. It1s around 10 years old.

 

[Rkh]

Rigid-they back up there lifetime warranty. I've had one go bad,sent them pictures they required of bad unit, & they sent me brand new one.

 

[Papaw8]

My son in law has a rigid that has been used a lot. Looks rough but has been a good one.

 

[Stephen Newell]

I've had a rigid vacuum for more than 10 years and it's still working fine.

 

[mtf]

Shop vac company closed the doors out of the blue this past September. My local building supply has been out of bags since then, that is when I learned of their closing. Other companies make bags and filters for shop vacs.

 

[Determined]

Years ago I picked up a little cannister vacuum made by rainbow.

Real handy, it is small enough to carry into boat, camper, car, truck etc with one hand.

No bags, just a filter to blow out once or twice a year and the little thing could probably suck the dimples off a golf ball.

Best part was it cost me all of $5 at a garage sale.

It is not a wet vac so if that is what you need disregard.

 

[Dusty MI]

Greenly is a very good industrial vac. Construction electricians use them for sucking string threw conduit to pull wire.

Dusty

 

[JD Dave]

The Dayton brand from Grainger is pretty good. They're well made and parts a available through Grainger.

 

[6cylpower]

Have a Fein that's coming up on 20 years old. Good suction, quiet, and well built.
Get a Dust Deputy cyclone that fits on a 5 gallon bucket for much less filter cleaning/changes. 90% of the dirt stays in the bucket

 

[bc]

I have a smaller gallon sized cannister sized one with a carrying handle bot for use in the trailer. Orange and black and I forget the brand but could be a Ridgid and probably got on Amazon. Works OK but it still has the clunky black hose that doesn't fold up and store very well just like with the big ones. Then with the stiff hose it easy to pull over. All in all, better than a car vac but no easy way to store the hose.

Would probably work good when drilling holes and cleaning around the work bench and equipment. Now that I think about it, it would be easy to make a little jet nozzle to siphon water, etc. using the blower so you aren't pulling water into the can like you do on suction and then soaking the filter.

 

[CGID]

2X on Fein. They are expensive, quiet, good draw and you will never have a problem with it. Quiet is what sold me on a Fein. They are that way by design. Anyone could make a quiet vac but a lot of people mistakenly equate noise with power.

 

[Steve@Advance]

Thanks everyone!

Think I'll go by the local Stihl dealer, take a look at what they have.

looking at the Ridgid reviews, hidden at the end of the list they got pretty bad, looks like China won the bid...

The Fein is just more than I can justify.

Thanks again!

 

[6cylpower]

A relative just bought a Stihl vac. Its pretty quiet and has decent suction. Time will tell the rest of the story.