Best Shop Vac's

M

MCWD

New member
I am wondering what you guys feel are the best shop vacs that you have used or use. I have been using Rigid shop vacs for years and have a 6.5 hp and a 5.0 hp vac made by them. I am looking to purchase new vacs in the coming months as mine are getting pretty beat. Do any of you have suggestions for relatively small but have huge power shop vacs??? I would really appreciate any suggestions and website links that have the vacs you are refering to. Thank you!!!:idea
 
lowes is going to have the shop-vac 14-Gallon 4.5-hp wet/dry vac for $29 on the black friday sale, and i'm sure home depot will have something similiar...
 
I would love to find a vac that is a powerhouse with a smaller size than the 16 gal.. have any of you seen or heard about one? I have a 5 that is a 5 gal, and the 6.5 is the big 16 gal setup. Thanks for the suggestions so far.. Guess Black friday will be the day to buy the VACS!!!
 
The 'best', probably Alto's Wap vacuum. A bit expensive, but far superior. They are very powerful, but extremely quiet. I have had mine for over five years and it has stood up to daily use since then, with no problems. They have several different sizes.
 
brwill2005 said:
The 'best', probably Alto's Wap vacuum. A bit expensive, but far superior. They are very powerful, but extremely quiet. I have had mine for over five years and it has stood up to daily use since then, with no problems. They have several different sizes.
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Wow that looks impressive, but how are they with hose replacements? pricey but Im sure that the product is worth it.
 
I've been very happy with my Rigid 4050. I've had Craftsman and Shop Vac brands before and neither was as good as the Rigid.
 
MCWD said:
Wow that looks impressive, but how are they with hose replacements? pricey but Im sure that the product is worth it.
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I just replaced the hose recently after five years of daily use. All the components are top notch.
 
how much was the hose? and what about the attachments? I typically get attachments from home depot and I know some of them dont hold up for more than 6 months or so. Thx for keeping me posted!
 
Costco had a sweet wall mount shop vac that would be great for a garage where your doing your own car or a few cars here and there a week, the hose is a good quality, similar to a rigid or shop-vac factory hose, but for me I think the hose would wear too quick with the abuse I would put it through on a daily basis..... Just figured I would suggest it for some of you who may be looking for a good quality vac.
 
Its all about inches of lift (suction power). I like the amount of lift the altos have, but if I recall the shop vac 6.5hp generates 80" of lift.



Anyone have this data on inches of lift for various vacs?



Cheers,
 
Greg Nichols said:
Its all about inches of lift (suction power). I like the amount of lift the altos have, but if I recall the shop vac 6.5hp generates 80" of lift.



Anyone have this data on inches of lift for various vacs?



Cheers,
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I know the VacMaster at Costco (mentioned above) has 88" of lift. From what I've read, 80" is the minimum you want. I've been eying it. Just waiting for a few more reviews to come in. $99 shipped right now. I will also say that I contacted VacMaster with some questions about it and their CS was excellent - quick, thorough and gave me all the answers I needed.



Costco also has the Hoover GUV in stores for $129.



I like that the VacMaster is a 1 7/8" hose - the smaller hose seems to clog too easy, and the big ones give up too much suction for most jobs (except like leaves).
 
I like where this post is going. If anyone has technical info I really would like to hear it. I myself do not have much knowlegde aside from knowing that higher hp's= better suction. Does anyone feel that fellow detailers need a certain amount of hp's to be effective???
 
MCWD said:
I like where this post is going. If anyone has technical info I really would like to hear it. I myself do not have much knowlegde aside from knowing that higher hp's= better suction. Does anyone feel that fellow detailers need a certain amount of hp's to be effective???
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From what I've read, hp don't mean squat. The number you see advertised is the peak horsepower - what the motor jumps to when it starts up. Water lift is the key, but it's hard to find the info.



Just as an example, I was looking for water lift numbers for vacs and came across some whole house / built in vacs: hp was 1.5, but water lift was over 100. Compare that to a 5.5 peak hp ShopVac that had a water lift of only 80.
 
I've used both Rigid and Craftsman. The larger units definitely have more suction than the smaller, and overall I think *I* would give the edge to Rigid.
 
As a professional the most important things would be build quality (reliability), power, and sound level. The specs on my Wap SQ15 are 90 water lift, 120 CFM (air volume) and only 58db. In addition the filtration system. Some spew dust all over the place which can be a problem.
 
brwill2005 said:
As a professional the most important things would be build quality (reliability), power, and sound level. The specs on my Wap SQ15 are 90 water lift, 120 CFM (air volume) and only 58db. In addition the filtration system. Some spew dust all over the place which can be a problem.
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Agreed. Aside from the specs, reliability and cost to service is my biggest issue. We used to have several really expensive vacuums which had excellent specs but were unreliable and EXPENSIVE to fix. Those Italian made motors are PRICEY. Since then we have switched to Rigid`s contractor wet-dry vacs and when they break we cannibalize them for parts and buy a new one. The entire vacuum costs less than one of the two motors the more expensive model used.
 
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