After my still unfinished business with my washer not draining (thread below), I guess I should move up a wet/dry shop vac from #47 on my list to #. A quick search lead me to this $100 model at Home Depot. It gets good reviews and is at the top end of my budget. I was hoping for something closer to $50, but I doubt if that's wise. My choices for picking up something Monday are Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, and Sam's. I don't have a shop, so this may be overkill. Other than emergency leaks and floods in the basement, I would use it to vacuum the car and living room.

[www.homedepot.com]

RIDGID Professional 14-Gal. Wet/Dry Vac Model # WD1450

The Home Depot model from about 6 years ago lives in the prop shop. It gets used almost every day and has proven worth the 79 on-sale dollars it cost 7 years ago. YMMV, but it gets my vote. (Filters are easy to come by too, and maintenance is a snap as well.)

I've had a Sears for 15 years and it's still going. I think the company that used to make Sears now makes
the Ridgid models. Go for something with the larger hose like the HD model that's linked above. You'll
get way less clogs with the larger hose.

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Grateful11

Seriously, a wet/dry shop vac is a bid deal. No house should be without one. The only issue for me (a person of the female persuasion) is that it's large enough to be practical, but not so big that I can't lift it up to dump it.

FWIW: HD used to have a RIDGID vac shop similar to that for $28.88 on Black Friday. I am not sure if it has all those accessories, but I think it had most of the features and accessories.

I guess you don't wan to wait till BF. and BTW, they had this deal for several years, but not last year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2012 10:08PM by space-time.

"I guess you don't wan tot tail till BF."

I never have and don't plan on starting now.

I might. I'm studying on how to work on it now without making a mess. I've always wanted a drain in the utility room as the house is on piers and beams, it wouldn't be that hard. The vinyl floor and particle board are already messed up under the washer.

I wonder if the drain wasn't covered, if the AC would suck air out from under the house through the open hose and pipe. I wonder if just letting the water pour out under the house onto the ground and let it evaporate would be OK until I got under there and hooked up the pipe to the graywater pipe.

sorry for the terrible spelling. I noticed my typing got MUCH worse over the past few weeks.

That 14 gallon Rigid got fine user reviews on some of the tool forum I read. I would say that it is a good choice.

I believe that both the Rigid and the Craftsman are made by Emerson Tool. You will find cosmetic differences but if you look at the specs you can compare them head to head and by from which ever you prefer deal wise.

My first shop-vac was the biggest Craftsman available (plastic barrel - not metal) back in the mid 80's and it lasted 25+ years of absolute hell. It died a couple years ago (motor was shot) but I still have the bottom barrel that is a now a roll around trash can in the shop. I picked up a 16 gallon Craftsman low boy model to replace it.

I also have a Rigid hanging model in my studio. HD discontinued it but it is available at Sears. I had one small warranty issue with it and I have to say that Rigid (different from HD) was great about taking care of it. I pushed my luck with them last year and tried to get the 20' hose replaced but they ruled it normal wear ... oh well.

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space-time
FWIW: HD used to have a RIDGID vac shop similar to that for $28.88 on Black Friday. I am not sure if it has all those accessories, but I think it had most of the features and accessories.

I guess you don't wan to wait till BF. and BTW, they had this deal for several years, but not last year.

Two years ago, Black Friday in Long Beach, I bought the 16 gal. model for $28.88 or some such. Two spare air filters was $30 right on a pallet nearby. Same set of accessories. Good deal.

Cheers!

You must be using Mountain Lion.

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space-time
sorry for the terrible spelling. I noticed my typing got MUCH worse over the past few weeks.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Are these good for all-purpose vacuuming, like the living room carpet? I remember using a carpenter's shop vac when he was here and it would have picked up beer cans, I think. I assume if they have the right attachments, they would do better than my lame regular vacuum cleaner.

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prymsnap
Seriously, a wet/dry shop vac is a bid deal. No house should be without one. The only issue for me (a person of the female persuasion) is that it's large enough to be practical, but not so big that I can't lift it up to dump it.

If you're talking about emptying water out of a vacuum, my 12 gallon Sears has a spigot you open to drain the water out of it. No lifting, unless you need to lift it to dump the water in a deep sink, etc. LyleH

No, because they don't have a carpet beater brush.

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Dennis S
Are these good for all-purpose vacuuming, like the living room carpet? I remember using a carpenter's shop vac when he was here and it would have picked up beer cans, I think. I assume if they have the right attachments, they would do better than my lame regular vacuum cleaner.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Yeah, I've seen lots of HD specials on these vacuums, but never paid any attention to them. I think I'll try to do my best to minimize the water spillage tomorrow and lie in wait for one of them.

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Speedy
No, because they don't have a carpet beater brush.

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Dennis S
Are these good for all-purpose vacuuming, like the living room carpet? I remember using a carpenter's shop vac when he was here and it would have picked up beer cans, I think. I assume if they have the right attachments, they would do better than my lame regular vacuum cleaner.

I don't know how those work. Will it do OK from just brute sucking force?

Yes, but the shop vacs usually aren't all that 'mobile' to use as an everyday vacuum.

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Dennis S

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Speedy
No, because they don't have a carpet beater brush.

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Dennis S
Are these good for all-purpose vacuuming, like the living room carpet? I remember using a carpenter's shop vac when he was here and it would have picked up beer cans, I think. I assume if they have the right attachments, they would do better than my lame regular vacuum cleaner.

I don't know how those work. Will it do OK from just brute sucking force?

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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Speedy
No, because they don't have a carpet beater brush.

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Dennis S
Are these good for all-purpose vacuuming, like the living room carpet? I remember using a carpenter's shop vac when he was here and it would have picked up beer cans, I think. I assume if they have the right attachments, they would do better than my lame regular vacuum cleaner.

I have seen models of shop vacs that had optional carpet attachments. The beater brush on one I saw was powered by the airflow created by the vac.

I have a large Wet/Dry Sears vac I bought 20+ years ago. Still works fine. The problem was it's size. So big that it was hard to find a good storage place for it. I've since bought a mid-size and then a compact W/D vacs. I rarely dig out "the beast". The compact model gets the most use. If I need the larger diameter hose, then the mid-sized vac gets used. I just found it so much easier to work with the smaller units. At worst, they just need to be emptied more often but, they're much easier to handle when full than the Sears beast.

Just make sure the hose locks into the vac port. My small vac has a friction fit and, when you pull on the hose, eventually the hose just pops off the vac.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2012 11:57PM by testcase.

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Dennis S
Yeah, I've seen lots of HD specials on these vacuums, but never paid any attention to them. I think I'll try to do my best to minimize the water spillage tomorrow and lie in wait for one of them.

buy one but don't open it. if you don't need it, return it and wait for deal. if you have an emergency, open it and use it and forget about the deal

I had a large one, Rigid that I rarely used, as it was a pain. I bought a 10 gallon one, Shop Vac about 15 years ago, and it is still going, I use it often, and as I can only lift it at about 5 gallons, it is perfect. It also wheels easily to my laundry sink thru a narrow corridor, and can be carried up stairs. Bigs ones cannot.

I wonder if the very small ones are any good.

If you're going to spend $100, you should look at this model
[www.homedepot.com]

same price, larger capacity, and has a blower. I use the blower more often than the vac, but use both at least weekly.

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wolfcry911
If you're going to spend $100, you should look at this model
[www.homedepot.com]

same price, larger capacity, and has a blower. I use the blower more often than the vac, but use both at least weekly.

The original model OP posted has a blower also.

But I concur, the blower is an important feature. I have a Rigid 5HP 12gal model that I use for the same type of tasks. It's about 5 years old and it's great. Makes so many jobs so much easier. If you're at all "handy" you need a good shop vac/blower.

Blower may not be as important if you have a portable air compressor.

If you end up spending $100 either one of those models will serve you well. For the tasks described you could get by with less also. But you will use it so much that you will wish you had spent more on it in the first place.

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testcase
I have a large Wet/Dry Sears vac I bought 20+ years ago. Still works fine. The problem was it's size. So big that it was hard to find a good storage place for it. I've since bought a mid-size and then a compact W/D vacs. I rarely dig out "the beast". The compact model gets the most use. If I need the larger diameter hose, then the mid-sized vac gets used. I just found it so much easier to work with the smaller units. At worst, they just need to be emptied more often but, they're much easier to handle when full than the Sears beast.

Just make sure the hose locks into the vac port. My small vac has a friction fit and, when you pull on the hose, eventually the hose just pops off the vac.

I have a large Craftsman wet/dry vac that I bout 20 years ago. Still works, but don't use it much anymore. I bought the Rigid 4 gallon one that I use a lot. Easy to carry, powerful, doesn't take up a lot of room and has more than enough capacity for me.

This is the one that I got:

[www.homedepot.com]

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DRR
The original model OP posted has a blower also.

Sort of, in that you attach the hose to the exhaust and it blows, but it's no where near as convenient as the removable head on the larger model. I blow my driveway and yard every week and blow leaves in the fall. I also blow clean construction areas in no time - all without lugging the entire vac around.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2012 02:08PM by wolfcry911.

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wolfcry911

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DRR
The original model OP posted has a blower also.

Sort of, in that you attach the hose to the exhaust and it blows, but it's no where near as convenient as the removable head on the larger model. I blow my driveway and yard every week and blow leaves in the fall. I also blow clean construction areas in no time - all without lugging the entire vac around.

Oh I see now - detachable blower. That would be very helpful.