Any Recommendations For New Shop Vac?

[NewportNic]

This is slightly off topic...
I have added a K&N Filter Wrap to my Dayton Hi Lift shop vac and my Ryobi 18V portable. They don't seem to restrict the clean performance much but if you're vacing up dust... shut the vac off, give it a sharp thump, and most of it drops off to the bottom of the canister.

If you go to the web site you'll see they list them by diameter and height, so you can easily find one that will fit over your filter.

 

[Scooby074]

The Rigid has plenty of suction when the filter is clean,.

Have a look at these guys : Oneida Air Systems - Dust Deputy

I have one and never have to clean my "clean stream" filter. Great for drywall dust and fines. Drywall bags are close to $20 for 2 here.

Only problem is its not the most elegant solution, Really bulk ups the vac. but it works very well

 

[JD755]

I have had a Shop Vac Industrial Contractor Duty model 610 with stainless steel canister for twenty years. The key feature here is the two stage motor. That two stage motor will provide greater and more consistent vacuum than a single stage. Don't just go by horsepower. If two vacs have the same horsepower rating, the one with the two stage motor will provide a deeper level of vacuum. You should Google for more info, but basically the two stage has two sets of fan blades. Several models from both Shop Vac and Rigid have this feature.

 

[harpoonalt]

Have owned different brands and my vote is the Craftsman from Sears. That is one product that really does the job, the filters are easy to find and it runs forever, Heck, yours was 29 years old.
Buy the biggest and most powerful you can. Plus, there should be some great Thanksgiving/Christmas deals coming. They use it as an incentive.

I've had many shop vacs and used a bunch at work. For home use, the rigids or craftsman are good and parts are easy to get. The best advice I agree is to get the biggest and most powerful they make. Money well spent. At work they use the industrial vacs that are 5 or 6 hundred bucks a copy. They are much quieter and last forever but for that price you can get 2 or 3 Rigid vacs and never have to move one again. I have one in the basement, one in the garage and one in my garage overhead. Not having to lug them around is worth it.

 

[herringchoker]

I have a 20+ year old Craftsman and a 5 year old Ridgid. They both are incredibly strong but noisy. But guess what.....they were both made by Emerson Electric and many parts are interchangeable, including filters, hoses, wands, etc. I don't know if Emerson still makes Craftsman, but they do own the Ridgid brand.

 

[sixdogs]

I have a 20+ year old Craftsman and a 5 year old Ridgid. They both are incredibly strong but noisy. But guess what.....they were both made by Emerson Electric and many parts are interchangeable, including filters, hoses, wands, etc. I don't know if Emerson still makes Craftsman, but they do own the Ridgid brand.

So maybe the Craftsman and Ridgid are basically the same vac? If so and they perform similar maybe I could buy my next (Ridged maybe) shop vac at a big box store and skip the hassle of going to Sears for a Craftsman? Probably get a better price?
For anyone that has owned both a Craftsman and a Ridgid, would you say the power and suction is comperable or is one better than the other?
How do prices compare?

petes -- prior post--why do you mean about the filter and lock ring? The Craftsman just has a plastic cover and nut to hold the filter on.

 

[59 Sons]

About 5 years ago my old 5hp Genie 20 gal was no longer repairable, I tried to get the part but Genie didn't even acknowledge having sold shop vacs from 15 years ago. I was using it in the basement shop and operating a maze of 2 inch pvc run thru the house walls to various locations. From those ports I would plug about 25 feet of 1-1/2 inch hose to a floor wand.

That old Genie sounded like a jet engine but since it was in the basement, it was ok. But man could it suck! So I finally had to replace it, and with sucking power critical, I opted for a 6.5hp ShopVac. It was amazingly quiet but had no suck!

After that I became very skeptical of hp ratings. After a couple years of using the broken Genie and the new vac siting in the corner I relegated it to the cabin and went looking for another vac.

This time I bought 3 in the $100 range with the intent of testing them and taking the losers back. Since I was using it as a whole house and shop vac system, I required that it function with an internal paper bag in addition to a good pleated cartridge filter that usually stayed clean or caught the fine dust that escaped the bag. Also it had to suck at the far end of the house at the real world end of my floor wand. Noise volume was a secondary concern.

I replaced the floor wand with an empty milk jug and cut a 3 inch hole in it to which I attached a cfm meter and a static pressure manometer, a few tools off my HVAC truck.

I then tested a Rigid, a Craftsman and a ShopVac, all in the same hp and price range.

I no longer remember the specific readings but I remember that the Rigid was very strong, however the design prevented the installation of the internal bag, a deal breaker for me. I ended up with the Craftsman with only a tiny power lead and slightly quieter than the ShopVac.

The ShopVac had clearly changed their design compared to the failed one a few years earlier, and performed just fine. I think the Sears mostly edged it out due to convenience of returning the ShopVac and the cheap 2 Year extended warranty.(I'm one of those fanatics that actually tapes the receipt to the machine in a zip lock bag) A nice feature for a tool that I knew would live a hard life.

The Sears Craftsman performed very well over time, has good real world power and reasonable volume. It is more squat in shape and less likely to tip over when dragged around. I think I like the shape and lay out of the ShopVac better, but it was a toss up.

 

[sixdogs]

..... I required that it function with an internal paper bag in addition to a good pleated cartridge filter that usually stayed clean or caught the fine dust that escaped the internal bag, a deal breaker for me. I ended up with the Craftsman .....

Excellent review. Thank you.
I have a six year old Craftsman shop vac. How do you use a paper filter in addition to the pleated one? That sounds like the perfect setup.

 

[evo803]

Fein vacuum cheaper than festool ,yet a very capable quiet tool triggered vacuum. I used to have 3 for work still have one and it is 10 yrs old and still performs like the day I bought it. Over time it is the superior investment choice.

 

[59 Sons]

Just inside the drum hose connector there is a 2 inch fitting that deflects the air sideways. The bags I get at Home Depot have a card with 2 inch opening and a soft rubber seal. I carefully press the card over the deflector until it is tight to the inside of the drum. It is not as positive a connection as the units that have a slot for the card, but I haven't had it come off. If it does, the secondary pleated cartridge catches what slips by. Every 2 or 3 bags, I pull the cartridge and blow it out with compressed air. The key to good suction is keeping that cartridge clean, the bag has very little impact on air flow.

Once I ran out of bags and the vac was useless as the high efficiency cartridge plugged up almost immediately. Mind you I was using the central vac system on my belt sander to finish pine floors and random orbit sander on drywall topping. It was very convenient to then throw on the floor wand and vacuum the walls and floor between coats of polyurethane. With the vac on while I sanded, I was able to finish an attached sun porch right off my bedroom without filling the bedroom with dust.

You can see the vac on the left behind the table saw connected to the pvc coming out of the ceiling. I also have a dust collector for the shop equipment.