My shop vac really sucks…………when I am vacuuming drywall dust it just recirculates it around the room. I need a good portable unit that does the job.
I see that Homies is selling a Rigid tool box size vac that seems decent, anyone have one…comments?
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Buy quality buy once. I recommend the Fein. You can use the cloth filter or upgrade and add finer bags. Also you can power a tool through it and the vac will operate any time the tool is switched on. It's quiet too.
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
I bought a Gore filter for my Ridgid shop vac and that works quite well. Easy to clean and traps the very fine dust. My wife uses it inside all the time and calls it her new best friend.
I bought a Gore filter for my Ridgid shop vac and that works quite well. Easy to clean and traps the very fine dust. My wife uses it inside all the time and calls it her new best friend.
I second that. I've had the same filter in my vac for maybe six years. Much finer filtration than the paper ones. Washed it off maybe 50-75 times. Only problem is it takes a day or so to completely dry after cleaning. Drywall dust and wet filter = big mess!
Thinking I'll get a second so I can switch 'em out and keep going...kinda like a second battery for screwgun. PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Whatever brand you buy, I strongly suggest one that has a tall handle and rolls around like a furniture dolly. I always HATED the short vacs on tiny casters. Then I bought a Shop Vac brand with the taller handle like I mentioned and really like it.
Kerry was in Vietnam for only four months, which, coincidentally, is less than the combined airtime he's spent talking about it. [Ann Coulter]
I'll third that. The Gore filter works great on a Ridgid. You can clean it pretty well with a brush and without water if you need to get back to work.
Check it out at http://www.cleanstream.com
Billy
I have the rigid, It works fine!! No need to spend $400.00 plus on a vacumn. Just buy another filter when you buy it.
-Lou
I like my rigid. I've never used a fein so I can't compare.
It works okay on drywall. You'll have to clean the filter at regular intervals but as long as theres no hole in it, it doesn't recirculate.
blue
I had an old Craftsman it would pick anything up .
I wen't to Alaska for 3 years when i came back someone else had used it to suck up water and left in in there .The motor was frozen,i got it free and sprayed W-D 40 and it work for a few more years but it was so loud I hated it.Then I got a Portacable to go with my Drywall sander and it worked ok till it fell of the back of my truck one cold winter day.I started reading rave reviews about the Fein so I bought the big one,I was never that impressed with it .maybe I got a bad one ,I do like that it is trigger activated,my porter cable is too.My wife helps me some times and she was pissed when she used the Fein ,since she knew what i paid for it.
Last big job I did was a house fire ,I went back to sears and bought another shop vac .Like I said maybe my Fein is a bad one but it don't suck.
Totally agree. Same deal with my Craftsman...Had it mega years till it finally died. Was just about to buy the Fein. Something kept telling me I was nuts for doing that. Why spend $400? Because its quiet??? Big friggin' deal. What do I run that thing hours on end?? I run it a total of maybeeeeeee 20min a week. so did that warrent spending $400 and high costs for filters. And it comes with zero attachments?
Does it say I'm rich in LED letters on my forhead? If I was I'd have someone else picking up my garbage!
I bought another Craftsman for a hundred bucks. That thing wants to suck my entire house into it its so powerful...oh yeh, its a bit loud....awwwwww, poor baby. I'm taking the $300 I saved and putting it towards a bandsaw!
Be a sucka!
andy
I agree too.
I've got a big azz Rigid and it'll suck my boots off if I let it. The Gore filter works awesome in it. Sure it's loud. But so is everything else in the truck. I've got no problem spending good money on good tools but four bills for a vacuum doesn't make sense to me. Maybe if it was dedicated to dust collection with power tools I'd consider one of the more 'refined' models. But I do some horrible things to job vacuums and my $100 or so Ridgid does all I've ever asked it to. Sounds like your Craftsman jobs are about the same.View Image
Actually the woman who works for me kinda babyed it.Id want to feed it a healthy diet but she would pick out all the nastys .Never used more than the basket filter and 90% of its load was sawdust .Never used it as a wet vac.But all is not lost..my neighbors' rolled down thier stairs so they got the motor housing; i stuck my old Shopvac in the empty bottom (always liked the stability) and put the hose(which was always just a little small) on my old buck rodgers electrolux.
I have a rigid shop vac. I think its the 12gal model. it does fine with drywall dust. Just remember to keep cleaning the filter.
I dont get any "blow back". I use it when i'm sanding a patch in a finsihed home and it works great. I think I paid $60/70 bucks for it.
Fein. Use bags instead of relying soley on the cannister filter.Those rigid vacs are noisy, huge, noisy, tornado throwers, noisy, and huge. Did I mention they were noisy?The better shop vacs are two stage which means that they run quieter and generally produce less backblast. What's the point of trying to vaccum dust if the vac is shooting out a 200 mph stream of air 5 feet from where you are standing stirring it up?
There are special filter bags for most shop vacs. they work great and the filters last for a vary long time. If your as cheap as I am, you can un roll the end of the bag, empty it and glue it back together.
I vote for the Fein too. When ever I fire mine up someone on the job comments on how quiet it is. Most of the time I'm not sucking dry wall dust, but even when I have the cloth bag has done a good job. It's a quality tool.
I said this on previous post in regards to removing stipple from a ceiling. Get a 5 gal / 20 L 'mud' bucket, cut 2 holes in lid to fit 2 hoses in, one to the vac, one for the pick up ., one hose should be inserted further into bucket than other to avoid 'short circuit of air flow. fill bucket 1/4 - 1/3 with water, vac up dust as usual, dump when water is ' contaminated with 'mud' . the heavy dust particles should fall out of air stream and into water. I use a long central vac hose and the factory large shop vac hose. also I usually place the mud bucket on a set of wheels from an old shop vac for mobility. Note: If vac speed is to fast, dust will not drop out of air stream. This system also helps in static elec. build up in plastic hose. You can still use a fiter bag to reduce dust exhaust even further.
IF IT WAS EASY, EVERYONE COULD DO IT!
They sell those "water bucket filter" things pre-made as well.
I have one that has a drywall sanding block attached. Works pretty well, though the hose is too small for general purpose use.
"They sell those "water bucket filter" things pre-made as well.
I have one that has a drywall sanding block attached. Works pretty well, though the hose is too small for general purpose use."
A word of caution.... be careful of the static electric charge that builds when using the water bucket filter. When the humidity is low, the plastic hose will bite something fierce. Just another one of life's little irritations.
I've got a little 1 gal portable that works ok cleaning up after door installs, maybe a simple drywall patch, but all you can get for it is a foam and cloth filter- no bags, and a pleated filter won't fit , it's simply a convenience thing. It's simply an aid to get in, move around effectively, and get out. Clean after every use.
Then I got a mid-sized one, which will take a pleated filter, for somewhat larger jobs, like a kitchen install, where all the debris is demo stuff and sawdust. This one not only sucks, it blows. Nice to have when you need it
Then I got one of them "6HP" chrome tanked shop-vacs which can take a pleated filter and a bag, and that gets used on the bigger jobs, where theres dust and debris of every kind. Most of the time it lingers in the shop, but it sure is nice to have it when you need it. Sucks and Blows too. Good for truck and shop cleaning....
I'm getting used to the cost of bags for this sucker, they do contain most of the dust, the pleated filter being only secondary should the bag fall off the intake (which it does sometimes).
A fella is wise to keep track of receipts for warranty, cause it seems that the shop-vac stuff either works for years, or works for a month. Heck, bout ten years ago I had one that lasted for 30 minutes.....Fixed it, and it lasted up till last year.
When I used that beast for drywall dust, I never used pleated filters, just the foam and cloth ones, but I found I could extend the time between cleanings by easily twice if I took some accoustic insulation and simply wrapped it around the inside of the tank, and as there was always some insulation hanging around, it wasn't an expense, merely a time saver.
On the big one, I use the LV hoses, which proport more effective air flow, and the local flea-markets and vacuum rebuilders are a good source for metal wands and attachments, as opposed to the wimpy plastic crap that comes with them.
I'm gonna file that idea about emptying and re-using filters for future reference, never thought of it.
Eric
I'm gonna file that idea about emptying and re-using filters for future reference, never thought of it.EricWhen reusing the bag I found that the spray adhesive For putting up dry wall trim works great for resealing the end.Chardo
I've got the Fein, and you quickly forget how much you paid, but since I got such an exceptionally good deal I remember (ha). I got it for 230 because it was free shipping, on sale, and somehow I came across a 25$ promo.
Now I even have it set up for what I call "voice activation". (I have a remote I can stick in my pocket that turns on a remote outlet with a light socket plugged in - all plugged into the automatic accessory outlet). If you do it right it's pretty impressive: "vacuum, on!"
I loved my Fein till it died after only 3 1/2 years .I didnt really abuse it..a little drywall dust here and there but not a steady diet. Cost to rebuild by Fein was about $25 less thana new one which I thought was a ripoff. I loved R2D2 but not with that kind of longevity factor and price.Especially when my POS Shopvac is still roaring but sucking after 15 years.
I think Calvin's just about died too. I heard too many stories like yours so I never pushed the button to buy one. For a hundred bucks I'll deal with the noise my Crapsman throws at me now.Thing sucks like all the hoo...oops<!----><!---->
treetalk,THAT will take all the fun out of it if it happens to me. I'll sure get on the blower and complain about that. So far it's the best I've ever had. When it came it had the hose "click in" outlet broke - the packing wasn't the best, it rattled around in the box. They sent me a new one but the broken one is still working great (with a little tape), so I'm saving it. I'm just curious - did you ever use it for a wet vac? I didn't get that option and don't really see it being for liquids.Fz
Can I ask which Fein did you have? And what kind of filter were you using?I have the middle size Fein, and it came with a felt filter bag, which is all I have ever used (and nothing over the motor housing). Mine has been going strong for maybe 6-7 years (no wet pick-up, no drywall dust). The tool activated switch blew out about the second day I had it, but I just exchanged it for another at the place where I bought it.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Ridgid: outselling Flaccid 100:1.
Mine has a noise reduction feature. I don't think it's very loud at all.
Yup... my vote is Ridgid. I have an older 12 gal that I wear the earplugs when I'm using... it screams, and the wheels on it were POS. I still use it, just needed a second (putting this one to stay in the shop).
While Fein may be "fine", I couldn't talk my wallet into opening up for that. So, went with the "pro" Ridgid, second down from the top (I believe it's 14 gal). I love it. A lot quieter than the first, also added the mufflet to the outlet to quiet it a little more. Cost - About $110. $99 for the vac, about another $10 for the muffler.
I too will spend my $200-$300 saved on other, more fun tools.
I gotta see about that muffler. Do you know anything about hook-ons to collect from, say, a sander, saw, router etc? Also I'd like to be able to enact the vacuum by turning on such an attached tool. Any leads? thanks.
I've been buying shop-vac QPV's (Quiet Plus Vacuums)for years (cause that's about how long they last) and using in-the-tank bag filters instead of "on-the-motor" bags. The only time I get dust outside the vacuum is when I tear a hole in the filter by filling the bag over capacity (but how else am I supposed to know that the bag is full?). If I see the room filling with dust I know I've overloaded the bag, right? The things run non-stop for up to three hours when I have to sand drywall (I'm a terrible mudder). I can't seem to find them at the home despot and I'm freakin' out waiting for my current one to burn out.
God made fools so the rest of us would look smarter.
Edited 2/19/2006 3:29 pm ET by chascomp
Wow what a pain every time I go to preview the post the fkr disapears so now for the third time check out the the thre pictures included.
Long hose from sears mail order 22$ Remote control christmas tree light controler 10$ a class action ear damage control devise and a broken garbage disposal/ a dog was busted off it so it vibrates real bad/ good if you hold it against the shop vac and it shakes out the filter without pulling it all apart. I'm not gonna check this and just post it, so lets see what happens.
Any body have the Bosch? havn't heard about that 400$ unit?
If you do mostly drywall then you should look into a drywall vacuum. A company called Loveless makes them and I understand that they work very well. http://www.lovelessash.com/. The Rigid is a good vac but, as far as I know, will not acommodate a bag. I have custom made a holder for a bag for my Rigid so that I can use a ShopVac bag when I do drywall which is not very often. The Rigid has a lifetime warranty on the motor so save your receipt. Rigid make the latest Craftsman models so there is no difference there unless the Craftsman will allow the use of a bag. When I use my Rigid for Drywall I use both a bag and a GoreTex filter. If you happen to pick up something sharp while vacuuming drywall dust it will tear a hole in the bag which will put you in an instant cloud of dust without the second filter. I remove the lid and pat the sides of the bag to knock down the dust and expose fresh filter media for better air flow. If you do this you can use the bag until it is almost full to the top.
Best vac I ever used was a WAP. It had a cloth filter before the pleated. I have a Craftsman that is over 20 yrs old. I replaced the plain bronze bearing along time ago with a ball bearing when it started squeeling. You can get thin foam filter material in bulk from a heating place. I use this to wrap the pleated filter and I made a filter for the exaust for cleaning ashes from the fireplace
"The Rigid is a good vac but, as far as I know, will not acommodate a bag. I have custom made a holder for a bag for my Rigid so that I can use a ShopVac bag when I do drywall which is not very often."The $150 Ridgid WD1850 ( 16 gal.)I bought last spring takes filter bags
at around $14 a pair. I can also cram on 12 gal Shop Vac brand bags at about $14 for three although the fit isn't perfect.
I have a Ridgid and it works fine, but it is LOUDDD!
Steve,
I have had the Fein for several years. It is strong, quiet, and captures virtually all the dust ( I can't see any dust coming out). The felt dust bag is some work to clean, however, and the standard hose size is different from everyone else's (it can accept a 2" hose, but the hose with which it comes and the attachments are odd sized). Also, it has a gizmo that lets you use a power tool, like a table saw, and when you turn the table saw on the vac turns on too! When you shut the saw off the vac stops after 2-3 seconds. Nice feature.
Rich
PS I don't think you will get a good vac for $80.