Any reasonably priced, quiet Vacs on the market?

[Mac McQuinn]

I'm in the market for a reasonably priced Vac for my shop. I'm looking for a quiet model if such a thing exists. I'm going to retrofit it with a Dust Deputy and Hepa filter. Any suggestions? Please don't suggest Festool or Fein units as their simply unaffordable for me.

Thanks,

Mac

[David Hostetler]

Harbor Freight #97869 with a Thien baffle might be a better option if you are wanting to use it for dust collection... Vacs aren't exactly known to be quiet...

[glenn bradley]

$120 Ridgid vac and $20 set of headphones. You should be wearing them anyway. They of course, do not help if you want the quiet vac so folks in the house aren't bothered.

Even quiet vacs are only quiet compared to not-so-quiet ones. If you walk into the shop and fire up a Fein, it will get your attention. It just won't knock the squirrels out of th neighbor's tree.

[Harold Shay]

Mac I have put mine in a box and my planer sits on top. Since I have a dd hooked to it I don't have to dump it. I put a new Hepa filter and have yet to take any dust out of it. Here is a photo
Harold
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116770

[Brad Townsend]

I've got a cheap (and noisy) Shop-vac and am using a Dust Deputy as well. It's real quiet if you put the vac in another room and then run PVC line to the DD. From the DD, you use a long hose - mine is a 25 footer - that will reach anywhere in the shop.

The advantage of the dust deputy and the long vac hose is that you can put the noisy part of the system, the shop-vac itself, in some out-of-the-way place because you rarely have to get to it. Mine happens to be in the attic of my shop.

[Joe Jensen]

I have an expensive and very quiet vac, but I also have a newer Rigid 1850 vac and it's not nearly as loud as my old Sears shop vac was.

[Sam Layton]

I have a Rigid and it is a lot quieter than my old sears, and not as quiet as my Fein. If I was going to buy another shop vac it would be a Rigid. I think their better models are even quieter.

Sam

[Mac McQuinn]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I picked up a Dust Deputy today and will more than likely grab a Vac this weekend. I'm leaning towards the Rigid, was hoping for some labor day weekend sales..........;)

Mac

[Rick Dennington]

I have 2 Ridgid shop vacs, and they are about as quiet as a s.v. can be. All are noisy to me. Does anyone amke one that's quiet. I don't think so.


What is a Dust Deputy? Never heard of one-- Explanation please. Rick D.

[Joe Jensen]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I picked up a Dust Deputy today and will more than likely grab a Vac this weekend. I'm leaning towards the Rigid, was hoping for some labor day weekend sales..........;)

Mac

I bought this Rigid, I did quite a bit of internet searching and it's supposed to be their quieter version. It's not model 1851, I have the 1850.


http://www.ridgid.com/ASSETS/8EFAEF31795149379AD19663427688C5/WD1851_w_acc_L_72.jpg

[Chris Tsutsui]

I have a ridgid, a Festool CT33, and a metro vac. All three are loud in their own way... I don't see why people call the festool quiet because when you turn it to max suction it gets pretty loud. Perhaps not as high pitched loud as the ridgid, but it's not "quiet". I did have to fork up over $500 for it and the accessories arn't exactly bang per buck, though I do like the auto-on feature.

Anyways what I'm trying to say is I still use my larger rigid shop vac because it has bigger capacity and I don't have to buy new bags for it, just clean the filter every now and then.

My advice is if noise is a real concern, get a baffle or BUILD a baffle box for a cheap ridgid shop vac. Then you'll get real quiet, just make sure the vac doesn't overheat. I would copy an engine baffle box design with an external power switch.

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[Dan Karachio]

I have that same Rigid and a Festool CT22 as well as a little cheapo Shop Vac. The rigid really isn't that loud. The Festool is of course quieter, but certainly does not meet the requirement of "reasonably priced." I fought tooth and nail my rationale mind to not have to buy that darn thing, but once I did, I fell in love.

[Mac McQuinn]

Rick, Thanks for the info, Here's link to Dust Deputy;

http://www.dustdeputy.com/

I had a customer survey w/ 15% off from Woodcraft and was able pick the Kit version up for $85.00 + tax

Mac




I have 2 Ridgid shop vacs, and they are about as quiet as a s.v. can be. All are noisy to me. Does anyone amke one that's quiet. I don't think so.


What is a Dust Deputy? Never heard of one-- Explanation please. Rick D.

[Mac McQuinn]

Joe,
Is the Model #1850 an older model as the Rigid website has the #1851 listed only, differences?
Thanks,
Mac



I bought this Rigid, I did quite a bit of internet searching and it's supposed to be their quieter version. It's not model 1851, I have the 1850.


http://www.ridgid.com/ASSETS/8EFAEF31795149379AD19663427688C5/WD1851_w_acc_L_72.jpg

[Mac McQuinn]

Joe,
Is the Model #1850 an older model as the Rigid website has the #1851 listed only, differences?
Thanks,
Mac


I'm trying to determine the differences between the #1850 and #1851, Is the #1851 a internet only item purchase?? any information would be appreciated.

thanks,
Mac

[Joe Jensen]

I bought mine about 3 years ago. I can't tell any difference. When I bought mine, I researched it on the web and then when to HD to buy it and back then they did not have both models. Just went to the Rigid site and they only showed the 1850, but the HD site shows both the 1850 and 1851. The 1850 is store only, and the 1851 is internet only. The 1851 is almost idential spec wise, but it is heavier. I'd do th 1851 just because it is heavier and is newer, but not sure how much shipping would be.

[Greg Peterson]

In my experience, the Ridgid shop vac with SNR is about as quiet as a low cost shop vac is going to get. Fein is the gold standard and priced as such.

I've had a couple of Sears shop vacs plus a Shop Vac brand unit at work. The Ridgid is somewhat quieter. What makes the Ridgid better IMO is the quality of the noise it generates. It isn't a high, whining, piercing tone.

With my Sears units I had to wear ear protection because the tone of the unit was so shrill.

I'm very happy with the Ridgid. Another plus for the Ridgid is that the cord is extra long and the bag stores many attachments. I'm not in construction but I find the features that a contractor values benefit me too in my modest little home shop.

[Mac McQuinn]

Thanks Guys,
Mac

[Mac McQuinn]

I went down to the nearest HD to buy a Ridgid #1851 Vac today to accommodate my new Dust Deputy. Two problems.....1st the big HD power tool sale where you buy a specific amount of tools and get so much off does not include Ridgid shop Vacs.:(

2nd, I was getting ready to bite the bullet and buy it regardless and noticed an open box #1850 vac next to the #1851 units and decided to investigate further. I assumed the units are basically the same except for the filter flow checker. I discovered there is no rubber/elastomeric seal between canister and power head! Just plastic on plastic, surely this can not seal well. This is part of the reason I'm retiring my old Craftsman unit. There were always tell-tale whisper marks of saw dust at opening edge of canister. Kind of kills the benefit of a Hepa filter inside. What do you guys think about this? It seems like it would have been very easy and inexpensive to mold a seal cavity in the canister of a seal of some type. For the people w/ the #1851 unit, does it have a seal of any type at the canister power head junction?


Mac

[Paul Greathouse]

I'm running two ShopVac brand vacs, one with a dust deputy and the other with a bucket lid seperator. Both are the 6.5hp models and they are both as quiet or quieter than the powertools that they are pulling suction on.

Honestly, I don't understand all the hupla about shop vac noise, my 3hp Onieda Cylcone is louder than the ShopVac's. My ShopVac's take care of two track saw tables and my Dewalt miter saw. When the saws are running I don't even notice the sound of the ShopVacs running.

[Jim Mattheiss]

I have the 16 Gallon Rigid from HD. When I have clipped the vac hose to the output port of and used it as a blower its REALLY quiet. Put the crevice tool at the end and it's a really POWERFUL blower.

That said you might try attaching a fairly short length of hose to the vac OUTLET to act as a muffler. I've read here or there that the purpose built/sold mufflers are not that great but I don't have one. Of course you might diminish the suction by increasing static pressure on the outlet but there's no free lunch.

As other have said - buy a Rigid and build a baffled case for it.

Or you could get lucky like me and find a Fein Vac at the curb caked with sheetrock dust. I took the blower assembly apart and cleaned the blower wheels. It's quiet as a mouse and all I needed to buy was a power cord - it was cut by someone before I got to it.

Cheers

Jim

[Joe Jensen]

I went down to the nearest HD to buy a Ridgid #1851 Vac today to accommodate my new Dust Deputy. Two problems.....1st the big HD power tool sale where you buy a specific amount of tools and get so much off does not include Ridgid shop Vacs.:(

2nd, I was getting ready to bite the bullet and buy it regardless and noticed an open box #1850 vac next to the #1851 units and decided to investigate further. I assumed the units are basically the same except for the filter flow checker. I discovered there is no rubber/elastomeric seal between canister and power head! Just plastic on plastic, surely this can not seal well. This is part of the reason I'm retiring my old Craftsman unit. There were always tell-tale whisper marks of saw dust at opening edge of canister. Kind of kills the benefit of a Hepa filter inside. What do you guys think about this? It seems like it would have been very easy and inexpensive to mold a seal cavity in the canister of a seal of some type. For the people w/ the #1851 unit, does it have a seal of any type at the canister power head junction?


Mac

If the plastic on plastic "seal" doesn't seal it's ok as with this design, air will leak from the outside in. I will just let clean air in. It will hurt efficiency some, but dust will not get out because of this tank to lid seal.

[Mac McQuinn]

If the plastic on plastic "seal" doesn't seal it's ok as with this design, air will leak from the outside in. I will just let clean air in. It will hurt efficiency some, but dust will not get out because of this tank to lid seal.

Joe,
Thanks for taking the time to answer this. I asked this due to my old Craftsman having the same design "seal" as the Ridgid and I noticed fine dust in the channel where this is suppose to seal. I agree with your reasoning although can't figure out why the fine dust is moving to outside of canister if the air is suppose be pulled inward towards filter....:confused:

Mac