Vac for cars / garage

C

Concourswanna b

New member
I'm in the market for a new shop vac. for heavy-duty home use and the cars. I have the Metrovac and a small dyson for small-scale stuff, but my cheap, larger vac is worn out. I've decided to just go with Lowe's on this one, to keep it simple.



Looking to spend $150 - $450... keep in mind it's just for garage use, so I don't need anything super high performance, just good lift, and ease of getting filters, etc.



Anyone have experience with, say, Shop Bosch 6.6-Gallon 6.5 Peak HP Shop Vacuum at Lowes.com ?



Cheaper Shop-Vac units would allow me to buy 3 or 4 for the same money (just keep replacing).
 
Power flite 51 is a good one. How large will the debris be that you want to pick up? Will you have to have a 2.25" hose?



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
I just picked up a new heavy duty RIDGID vac to replace my worn out Shop Vac, and so far I've been loving it. Went with their 16gal. stainless tank unit with a 6.5HP motor:



RIDGID 16-Gal. Stainless Steel Wet/Dry Vac-WD1956 at The Home Depot



Also outfitted it with a HEPA material filter:



RIDGID 5-Layer Allergen Filter-VF6000 at The Home Depot



And the high efficiency dust bags to make cleaning it out easier and provide yet another layer of filtration:



RIDGID High-Efficiency Dust Bags for RIDGID 12-16 Gal. Vac-VF3502 at The Home Depot



As well as the noise reduction muffler:



RIDGID 2-1/2 in. Noise Reduction Muffler-VT2525 at The Home Depot





Definitely worth the money, and having the cart with the attachment storage pouch makes it quick to find what I need and switch out while doing jobs. Speaking of attachments, I also highly recommend their auto detailing kit and micro-cleaning accessories; their long/flexible crevice tool is by far the best I've ever used.



RIDGID Premium Car Cleaning Kit-VT2534 at The Home Depot



Stinger Micro-Cleaning Kit-VT1215 at The Home Depot





I had been using Shop Vac branded vacs for years and they always wore out on me rather quickly; a few of the contractors I worked with doing renovations to the house always told me how much they love their RIGID vacs, and now I know why. Plus with a lifetime warranty you really can't go wrong. All told you'd be looking at just shy of $300 for the entire outfit.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
I just picked up a new heavy duty RIDGID vac to replace my worn out Shop Vac, and so far I've been loving it. Went with their 16gal. stainless tank unit with a 6.5HP motor:



RIDGID 16-Gal. Stainless Steel Wet/Dry Vac-WD1956 at The Home Depot



Also outfitted it with a HEPA material filter:



RIDGID 5-Layer Allergen Filter-VF6000 at The Home Depot



And the high efficiency dust bags to make cleaning it out easier and provide yet another layer of filtration:



RIDGID High-Efficiency Dust Bags for RIDGID 12-16 Gal. Vac-VF3502 at The Home Depot



As well as the noise reduction muffler:



RIDGID 2-1/2 in. Noise Reduction Muffler-VT2525 at The Home Depot





Definitely worth the money, and having the cart with the attachment storage pouch makes it quick to find what I need and switch out while doing jobs. Speaking of attachments, I also highly recommend their auto detailing kit and micro-cleaning accessories; their long/flexible crevice tool is by far the best I've ever used.



RIDGID Premium Car Cleaning Kit-VT2534 at The Home Depot



Stinger Micro-Cleaning Kit-VT1215 at The Home Depot





I had been using Shop Vac branded vacs for years and they always wore out on me rather quickly; a few of the contractors I worked with doing renovations to the house always told me how much they love their RIGID vacs, and now I know why. Plus with a lifetime warranty you really can't go wrong. All told you'd be looking at just shy of $300 for the entire outfit.
Click to expand...



Charlie,



Thanks- that looks like a great setup. I have heard that the RIDGID units are better quality than Shop-Vac.

My Dad's Shop-Vac from '85 still works, but I've been through two since '06.



I think I really am just going to go with your suggested setup. I like the noise reduction idea as well, and it looks like it prevents the exhaust from kicking up random dirt particles in the air.
 
RIDGID 14-Gal. Professional Wet/Dry Vac-WD1450 at The Home Depot



I approve of the Rigid shop vac, I bought the above one about a month ago for $99 on special from home depot which included the auto detailing kit. However, the car cleaning nozzle broke after a couple cars and too many hours of me applying downward pressure to the neck which occurs when shoving it under seats. I replaced the car cleaning nozzle with shop vac's attachment claw utility nozzle and it is made of much stronger plastic and seems to work just as well.



Claw Utility Nozzle for 1-1/4" Hoses - Shop-Vac Accessories
 
Concourswanna b said:
Charlie,



Thanks- that looks like a great setup. I have heard that the RIDGID units are better quality than Shop-Vac.

My Dad's Shop-Vac from '85 still works, but I've been through two since '06.



I think I really am just going to go with your suggested setup. I like the noise reduction idea as well, and it looks like it prevents the exhaust from kicking up random dirt particles in the air.
Click to expand...



No problem! Good luck, I'm sure you'll be happy with that setup.



The noise reduction does disperse the exhaust (the part is actually stamped as a "radial diffuser") which helps, but you still may kick up some particulates if you're working in a particularly dirty environment.
 
Accumulator said:
Does the noise-reduction attachment seem to affect vacuuming performance?
Click to expand...



I'm sure probably all of the additions (5-layer HEPA filter, dust bag, Muffler) affect vacuuming performance to a certain extent, though as far as I'm concerned it's negligible in this case -- particularly for detailing purposes. Even with the setup as I spec'd it out the performance of the 6.5HP Ridgid blows the 5.0HP unit I had previously out of the water, and has plenty of power for anything I've asked it to do thus far.



Should I ever need a bit of extra suction, or find myself in a situation where I'm not worried about the noise or the filtration, I can remove the muffler in a matter of seconds and swap out the filter in less than 5 minutes.
 
C. Charles Hahn- Ah, OK, gotcha.



I'm still using an old "demoted to garage-duty" canister for dry-vacuuming, but I do sometimes think about getting one of those garage-vacs. Thanks, you've helped me decide which way to go if/when I finally get one.



I do still like one thing about that canister though- being able to hook up the powerhead for carpeted areas (of sufficient size).
 
The Hoover L2310 has a very good rating for a permanent type of vac. I think you can find it at Home Depot. See reviews on Amazon.
 
Accumulator said:
Does the noise-reduction attachment seem to affect vacuuming performance?
Click to expand...



I've been using this setup for a little while now, and the noise reduction muffler is not taking away from the vac's lift ability in any discernable way, as far as I can tell.

It's working great.



This is like the big Metro Blaster dryer- no buyer's remorse!
 
Concourswanna b- Ah, thanks for the update. I put a lot more stock in how such things work for fellow Autopians than I do in, say...anonymous internet reviews.
 
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