Shopvac - Toy or Tool?

[GlennT]

I don't like to put tools away dirty; it's kind of an obsession or something. Especially things with engines. So when done using the riding mower or the tractor I fill the tank, grease the zerks, clean out the air filter and do any other maintenance needed--including blowing off the dirt and dust with my great big Sears shop vac. I used to wash off the riding mower and the tractor with the hose and sometimes even the pressure washer, but I rarely do that any more. Unless there's mud to contend with, compressed air does as good or better a job, doesn't create a muddy patch of ground and, best of all, I don't get water in places where water ought not be. If necessary, I wipe things off with a wet cloth after blowing off the loose crap. Works great!

 

[Bird]

Many years ago, I had one that was dry only when I lived in town. Then when I bought this place 7.5 years ago, I bought a 10 gallon 3.5hp wet/dry Shop Vac brand (model 800E) from Wal-mart. It's seen a lot of heavy duty use and after about 3 years burned up the motor. I replaced the motor with a 4hp model and also learned when I bought the new motor that they had an optional filter that looks like a big car or tractor air filter that works much better than the foam rubber and sheet of paper it came with originally. So it's still going strong.

 

[rmorgan]

I bought a 6.5-hp wet/dry at HD 3-4 months ago as part of a decennial cleaning frenzy. We put in city water back in September and our old cistern did not have a working drain at the top. We had massive spring rains this year, and not being used to the cistern not being drawn down by usage, I was less diligent at checking than I should have been. When it filled up, the downspouts had nowhere to drain, and so filled up themselves. I the middle of a long, hard rain, I happened to be checking the basement when I saw a tiny trickle of water coming toward a door; a downspout runs under the pad at the top of the steps. The water was dribbling, and then squirting, out a pinhole at the bottom of one of the steps. As I watched, a cup turned into a quart. I got the vac, and by the time we got it working, there were a couple of gallons filling the bottom pad. By the time I had gotten a pump into the cistern and drawn down the level enough that the downspouts were drained, we had emptied at least six half-containers of water--maybe 30 gallons. The basement where that 30 gallons would have been was completely dry, and we saved days of cleanup time and expense. The shop vac earned a place in the tool hall of fame that day. (I now siphon down the cistern regularly, pending a permanent fix.)

 

[knucklehead]

We have 2 - one in the garage, one in the cellar. Never missed them until we bought them (huh?). Same thing with battery powered drills (Makitas, etc). Probably will be the same with FEL (currently woundering if I want an older, more HP tractor w/o FEL, or newer, smaller tractor w/ FEL).

Cleaning out the car/truck is quick. Have sucked up washer loads of water, too, and rain leaks. Also helps with chimney cleaning, although I'd reccommend a dedicated unit, as it gets nasty inside. Also make sure the filter is intact before you vac dusty stuff - I cleaned up some sheetrock & mud dust one year when we added rooms to the attic, and did not notice the filter had slipped - wifey came out of the clouds, and tapped intensely concentrating hubby on the shoulder. Spent days running fans out of the windows - that stuff never settled. Imagine doing the same with chimney soot. BTW, NEVER vac ash out of the stove (I know you all know this /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif) - always a hot coal in there ready to strike back while you sleep.

We keep our eyes open at garage sales/newspapers for used vacs - will probably have 3-4 before we're done.

Re: static - they build a charge on the plastic when running, and everything clings to the outside. You can get grounding kits, or run a piece of bare copper around the outside of the hose, and along the cord, and ground at the outlet (safely - this is just a quick n' dirty explanation). Grounding works better when unit is semi-stationary, like in a small shop.

Now I have a question - pressure washer - tool or toy?

 

[Ozarker]

I have a couple of them and I love them. Have sucked up everything from water to nails off of the floor. But the one I use the most is Mini-Wet Dry that I have under my desk in my home office. It has about a 1 gal tank on it and a 1 hp motor. I have the habit of smoking and eating while computing and nothing is better at cleaning a keyboard that a wet/dry with the brush attachment. It will flat suck the dirt (and crumbs) right out of a keyboard and a computer case.

Walmart sells a Computer Attachment kit that has tiny attachments that will fit the standard vacuum hoses. Great for getting into those small areas.

 

[brewerbob]

Kevin:
I use my shop vac for cleaning my wood furnace which is in the garage. It makes a big mess to clean it, and my Sears 4.5 horsepower vac does a great job. I usually make a mess on the garage floor too, so I scrub it up with Simple Green and then vacuum up the water. It's way too dirty to use for anything else, so at some point I'll buy another one for general use. They're really handy.
Bob

 

[Anonymous Poster]

When the wife complains I use it to vaccuum the vehicles.

Mostly I clean up dog hair in the kennel with it before washdown.

 

[rdln]

I'll ziptie the plastic mesh grass seed bag to the inlet inside my shop vac and vacuum the leftover seed in my seeder write back into the bag./w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[RobS]

I've got two, one in the basement shop and one in the garage. The basement one is an older Craftsman 16 gallon and it's great. A little loud but it sure does clean well. The garage one is a much smaller and newer shop-vac brand. It's a piece of junk. Only use it to clean the cars and can't stand it. It's got the smaller diameter hose and it's too rigid, keeps popping off. Also, the lid doesn't stay on unless it's running.

A couple of notes on wet use from my experience: empty it out before you use it wet, the dust and such makes for a messy muddy concoction when you add water. Also, the filter will tend to get wet so be sure to let it air out afterwards. If not, it'll be a moldy mess in no time.

That reminds me of another key difference between my two vacs... the filter. The better one has a large pleated filter like an auto air cleaner filter. The cheapie has a little sock-like filter. Go for one with a replaceable pleated filter /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Frank_Mulligan]

Kevin,

I've had a Sears brand shop vac for years. My advise is look at the amps, not the volume of the tank, to see how powerful it is. My tank is plenty big, and if I fill it, it's pretty hard to move. Also, I received a small ShopVac brand Shop Vac as a company Christmas gift. Unfortunatly it uses an annoying paper bag which has to be replaced (or dumped) every time it gets full. I would recommend getting one that does not use a paper bag.