BoxStore ShopVacs

[Jim Summers]

Hello All,

I am in need of a replacement general purpose shopvac. Something in the $80-$120 range.

So I thought I would see if anyone has opinions on them before I head to the local borgs for a look? My ten year old one was a screamer, fell over easily and now can hardly pick up anything. Cleaned the filters but still lacks suction.

So I am hoping to get one that is quieter, has a 2 1/2" hose, and a little more stable.

Ridgids seem to get good reviews, but not sure what else is out there.


TIA

[Peter Pedisich]

Jim,

A friend recently got a Ridgid for about $100 with 'SNR' (scroll noise reduction) and it is a good bit quieter than my older Ridgid shop vac.

Pete

[Gary Benson]

I have the ShopVac (I think it is QSV pro?). Good suction, much quieter, uses filter and bag, so it is easy to empty and maintains good air quality.
Good luck,
Gary

[jerry nazard]

I have a Ridgid. Happy as a clam!

[Lee Koepke]

I got a Rigid from HD a couple of Christmas' ago ( $39 sale ? ) its way quieter than my 20 yr old prior shopvac ... its great for day to day use.

[glenn bradley]

I've been running my 6.5HP (Yeah, right) Ridgid for years without a single problem. I have a 5gal seperator a 25ft hose and a CleanStream filter on it (that's an extra $70 IIRC). I use it as a regular old shop vac and adapt it down to use oin my routers and sanders.

It is not treated with kid gloves by any means. I'd buy another in a heartbeat and put the extra $200, that some folks spend, toward materials. In all fairness some folks need a much quieter machine or other specific quality and that costs money. The Ridgid is pretty basic.

[Chet Kagel]

Here's another vote for a Rigid with SCR. I also use a paper bag insert sold at Home Depot to trap more dust inside. :)

[David Christopher]

+1 for rigid.......I think it is U nan a mos

[Brad Wood]

looks like Rigid takes the cake.

just food for thought. I've got the Craftsman with the detachable leaf blower.
This thing will suck the chrome off a tail pipe... but it is very loud. The hose really isn't very long, and the power cord is too stiff.

That said, it does work well, and the blower feature is great... I use it all the time

[Matt Benton]

I went to Lowe's, bought a ShopVac brand, took it out of the box, put it back in the box, took it back to Lowe's, and got a Rigid at HD.

My dad had a Rigid that I had used, and I could tell from the first moment that it wasn't built as well as the Rigid...

[Bill Huber]

1+ for the Ridgid, its is much quieter then my old 6 hp craftsman and it works very well.

In other words the Ridgid really Sucks...

[Paul Ryan]

I second the craftsman sucking like a .......................... you get the idea but does it make noise. If it wern't for the noise I would recomend the crapsman.

[Peter Quinn]

We have a Rigid SNR at work. It works fine for general use, doesn't seem too noisy in an industrial setting. Good suction too.

[Nelson Howe]

I got the small Rigid (portable, I think), and liked it a lot. But when I went back to upgrade to the hepafilter, discovered that it wasn't an option for the portables. Much to HDs credit, they took back my slightly used portable. I bought the bigger, silly one that doubles as a blower. I don't use the blower function, but the vac is great. I also bought the aftermarket hepafilter and then ordered the Dust Deputy kit from Oneida, which I bolted onto the orange Homer Bucket. Oneida sells the same hepafilter, but it's cheaper at HD. I also got that Sears auto switch so when I run my random orbit sander, one switch turns it all on. These purchases were mostly due to Creek recomendations, and all seem to be good ones. The vac and dust deputy take up a lot real estate, but they fill in some gaps in the basement dust collection program that help to keep dust out of the rest of the house.

Nelson

[Michael Roland]

When I replaced my Craftsman last year I went with the stainless steel Shopvac 16 gallon 6.5 HP. Ridgid makes a similar model but the specifications show that the Shopvac has more suction and about 20% SCFM.

The Shopvac has the option of using a bag if you want. I am not sure if the Ridgid has that option.

[Dick Strauss]

I bought two of the HD Ridgid vacs over the past years for $30-40 each (one for me and one for my buddy).

IIRC HD often has a good sale on vacs over the Father's Day weekend!

[Aaron Berk]

But only cause I've never used any thing else in my shop. At work is a different story, the boss paid MEGA BIG BUCKS for a Snap-On chrome plated up right vac with a triple filter system and 2 spd motor. What a joke, my craftsman 6.5 hp with a clean stream sucked way better!





I second the craftsman sucking like a .......................... you get the idea but does it make noise. If it wern't for the noise I would recomend the crapsman.

[Damion Bevacqua]

Okay - this is something that has been bothering for quite some time.

I have three shop vacs right now... actually, I have four.

One is a very, very old craftsman 2.5 hp - it has amazing suction, but it is unbelievably loud.

The rest are all newer shop-vacs. One is a little 3 hp, five-gallon (or thereabout) with the small (1.5"?) hose.

The others are larger - one is 5 hp and the other is 6.5hp. I bought the 6.5hp one recently because I felt as though the 5 hp one wasn't powerful enough... but I've been pretty disappointed with the 6.5 hp, too.

They are much quieter than the Craftsman, but they really don't seem to have anywhere near the power. Anyone have any idea what could be going on here? Are the newer vacs just that much weaker than the old ones?

- Damion