bison

Well-known Member
Bought a shop vac yesterday, i figured on getting the biggest one in the store, a king 16 gallon 6.5 hp.
What a disaster it is.
I vacuumed about 400 sq feet and the filter was already plugged solid,.it left half the dirt lay, won't pick up small pebbles either.
Back to the store it goes.

What kind of vac do you guys use and how do you like it?
 
I found Shop Vac to be about the poorest excuse for a vacuum as I ever used. I had two Rigid shop vacs from Home Depot that were good vacuums, but were noisy. When I put a "muffler" on the large one, it didn't suck quite as good as without the muffler.
 
I like the craftsman brand with a large, about 2 inch diameter, hose. Craftsman brand
the power head can be removed and used as a leaf blower.

I only use a shop vac to do things a broom can't. I don't think they are made to vacuum
a large shop floor without choking the filter. I sweep mine first. If I want to get the
fine stuff, I use powerful fans and blow it out the shop door. That's where the power
head comes in handy, getting the small stuff from under benches and in corners.
 
Craftsman 15 gal is good for its size. But the hose is so short and stiff that you can't move without it dragging the whole
rig with you, or it flips over. Thin paper cover over filter keeps the pleated filter from clogging. Doesn't cut the suction
much.
 
Filter plugging is not brand specific. Certain conditions will plug filters quickly, you stop the vac,
knock them out and go back to work, a fact of life with shop vacs. That being said I am not specifically
defending the brand. All come with cheapo filters, you must pay $$$ for a good one after the purchase.
To answer your question the best shop vac I own is a 55 gal drum top unit. The drum is strapped to a
dolly and I have a long hose, by the way good hoses also cost $$$. My small unit is a bucket top, fits on
any 5 gallon bucket. Nice thing about the 5 gallon bucket vac is when you need to vac some nasty nasties
you remove the unit, put a lid on the bucket and put it out for the big blue truck to take away.
 
Well, that deal started out with a lie to begin with! A 6 1/2 HP motor would pull about 70 amps, weigh about 150 lbs! LOL

I second the Craftsman, the red plastic ones. Good power, easy to clean, last a long time.
 
After doing a lot of research prior to a Shop-Vac purchase I went with the Rigid 14-gal. WD1450. It had excellent reviews and I am very satisifed with it. It came with a top-notch filter and it is very quiet, which is one of the features noted by most reviewers.

Like others mentioned, the filter can get clogged quickly depending on the debris. I've been using the Rigid disposible vacuum bags which makes cleanup a breeze and really saves the filter.
 
Rigid 5 gallon is the best of three I've ever owned. Filters are pricey so I blow it out with the compressor. Same issue with short hose
and tipping but has great vacuum pressure and doubles as a blower. Stupid thing is that the casters are not big enough to roller over the
power cord. Carries it's own accessories and fits my table saw and band saw ports.
 
I chose the Rigid over the Craftsman because the Rigid filter does not have a solid ring around the ends, so the filter is more flexible to shake out the sawdust and dirt. I used the vac for woodwork, so I had to shake out the filter often; a flexible filter cleans out better than one that is bound solid so the pleats can't flex.
 
I have the Craftsman brand shop vac.The filters do plug,like someone else said its just how they are.The Crafstman works well,but its noisy.I also have a small,one gallon shop vac.I thought it would be totally useless,but it works for small jobs like car clean up ,and cleaning up after drilling holes in drywall,or that kind of small job
 
I bought a new Craftsman last year, it a lot quieter than the Shop-vac that it replaced and it works well so far. some materials will plug any filter, and different kinds of filters are available.
 
COME ON! All of you guys are missing the boat. I have two Shop Vac brand units and I think they are the 13 gallon size. They work great if you use them correctly. Go to desperate depot and buy the vacuum bags for the machine. Look where all of the extra extensions and floor brushes and crevice tools are. They are about $13.oo for three bags. Do you use your home floor vacuum with out a bag in it?? That round filter is to protect the motor , not hold a $htt load of junk.
 
(quoted from post at 04:41:18 04/27/15) I like the craftsman brand with a large, about 2 inch diameter, hose. Craftsman brand
the power head can be removed and used as a leaf blower.

I only use a shop vac to do things a broom can't. I don't think they are made to vacuum
a large shop floor without choking the filter. I sweep mine first. If I want to get the
fine stuff, I use powerful fans and blow it out the shop door. That's where the power
head comes in handy, getting the small stuff from under benches and in corners.
hat's why i bought the vac, to get rid of sweeping with a broom as it creates so much fine dust that drifts over everything.
It is the fine dust that clogs the filter in short order
I figured a 6.5 hp motor would make short work picking up anything that would pass trough the 2.5" hose.
I have an old household vac that does a better job than that big monster i bought.
I paid $220 for it so it is not exactly a cheapy either.It was on sale, normal price was $100 more.
It was the only one i could find that had big 8" wheels so it would not get stuck on a cord or a pebble like these little casters that the other ones have.
 

The 10 gallon, 6.5 hp blue ShopVac is the best ShopVac I've ever owned. I use a bag in mine to keep the filter cleaner longer. Pulls dog hair up from carpet, no problem.
 
Craftsman 15 or 16 gal. Put a 1 micron cloth filter bag over pleated filter.
No cloth bag? There a reason dirt roundy-rounders steal the wife's pantyhose and put on air filters ;)
Mine came with that 2 1/2 hard hose however they were throwing away a brand new 1 1/2" 12' long soft hose complete with a metal floor attachment from a $400 - $500 vacuum.
 
Yes, broom creates fint dust, same fine dust that will choke any vac. When I use broom,
I have use a powerful fan to exhaust dust and blower from shop vac to send the rest of
dust out the door.
 
Don't buy the cheap single stage vans and expect much. If you want suction look for a 2 stage vac. They are MUCH quieter and have more
suction (static pressure) but usually less CFM of airflow. The extra airflow is handy for some things like if you use it as a dust collector for a
saw or router. I find the extra suction makes up for the loss of CFM in most situations. The drawback to 2 stage vacuums are the price. Last
one I bought was 200 bucks.

Second is use filter bags in your vac. They cost a few dollars each bag but they keep the exhaust air cleaner and you can fill the vac full
without ever cleaning out the filter cause the bag acts as the filter. I have sucked up drywall dust and still continued to use the bag for many
hours before changing. Try that with a cartridge filter.
 
Hello bison,

6.5 H.P.? What did I it get plugged into? Hard to believe that rating!

I have
A four gallon from Homely depot that does just fine. Bags now come in a pack of
Two.

Guido.






I
 
(quoted from post at 14:08:20 04/27/15) Hello bison,

6.5 H.P.? What did I it get plugged into? Hard to believe that rating!

I have
A four gallon from Homely depot that does just fine. Bags now come in a pack of
Two.

Guido.Well it says 6.5 hp on the thing but i realize it might be just a sales gimmick cause it plugs in an ordinary 110v 15 amp wall socket . I can't believe i got fooled by that cause here is no way a single phase of 110v can torque a 6 hp motor
There is only a 2 prong plug on the cord to boot.







I
 
Got three of them and they all work ok for me I guess. Got one of the smaller steel can ones, I guess one of the originals. Then got a small plastic red one about the same size. It works pretty good on the house with the other one. Out in a barn I got a big red or green one. Don't even remember which color, but it's out there and I use it. I use all three from time to time. Never had a problem, even sucking up water. Guess I got lucky. The biggest one though was a gift. I remember reading on the box "Proudly Assembled In The USA". Didn't make me happy that it wasn't "Made In The USA", but it was a gift, so...

Mark
 
Hello bison,

How do they get away with those outrageous ratings! You would need a 50 amp circuit for
that load! I like mine, I use it as a regular vac on the piece of rug by my work benh.
Works for me,

Guido.
 
I use a 12 gallon "shop vac" brand I bought on sale at lowes about 10 years ago. I'm paranoid about fine dust and free silica and
I use the drywall bags and then run the honest to goodness HEPA filter behind that. I have a small vacuum set up the same way for
use in the house. Not the best vacuum I'm sure but cost effective for me.

The only plugging problems I have is when stuff gets piled up in the hose right where it goes in the canister. I also rigged a
deflector in the big vacuum as sometimes rocks and things would beat a hole in the bag right where the hose comes in. The HEPA
filter caught the dust when that happened. The exhaust ports on the vacuum stay clean and show that the system is working pretty
good.
 
(quoted from post at 17:51:50 04/27/15) Hello bison,

[b:dcb0f0582f]How do they get away with those outrageous ratings! You would need a 50 amp circuit for [/b:dcb0f0582f]
[b:dcb0f0582f]that load![/b:dcb0f0582f] I like mine, I use it as a regular vac on the piece of rug by my work benh.
Works for me,

Guido.
don't know!,..i will be talking about that with the seller tomorrow.
 
Hello bison,

I would ask him what is one electric H.P. last time I looked it was 746 watts,

Guido.
 
I would recommend a craftsman, and buy a washable replacement filter for it. The filter is a little expensive, but I've been using my latest one for six years now.
The filter usually doesn't even need to be washed, just take it out and tap it against a post or tree, and you're back in business
Pete
 
Quite often electricians use vacuums for sucking a string through conduits to pull wires into the conduit.
Most often that vacuum is a Greenlee, which is a very good vacuum.

Dusty
 
I have the mid size Rigid and it works great, noisy but I carry ear plugs all the time in my pocket anyhow. The smaller ones are garbage, make sure it has the 2.5" hose. The blue and grey ones Lowes sells are junk.
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