Need a new shop vac

[john davey]

I am tired of listening to the cheap plastic yellow screamer I got at the Borg ten years ago for twenty bucks. Besides it hardly works anymore. I am looking for something a little quieter but not in the ultra pricey models. I know they are the best but the budget simply isn't there. This will occasionally be used attached to small power tools but mostly as a shop vac is intended to be used. I know there are several ridged models at HD and I believe I have read good things about them. Really just looking for something that is quieter than the screaming cheapies but not $450 top shelf model. Any ideas? thanks, John...

[Bill White]

I have a big Ridgid with the removable blower feature (somewhat useful), and I bought a a muffler for it. Works pretty good. It just pops into the exhaust port.
Spring for the good filters.
Bill

[Carl Beckett]

I have a big Ridgid with the removable blower feature (somewhat useful), and I bought a a muffler for it. Works pretty good. It just pops into the exhaust port.
Spring for the good filters.
Bill

I have this one. Vent it out a window.

(use the blower quite a bit, a nice feature that I didnt know I wanted until owning it a while)

[Prashun Patel]

I have the Professional 14gal Ridgid (plastic not stainless). With the muffler it's pretty decent. Don't expect to sleep next to it, but it's good for $100.

[Sam Layton]

John,

Not long ago I purchased the large Ridgid, 16 gal I think, at Home Depot. As I remember it was about $150.00, It is their most powerful, and for a shop vac it is fairly quiet. I would purchase it again.

Sam

[Jim Neeley]

Have you considered building a little weather-enclosure for it and placing it outside? It still won't be quiet but your walls will muffle it! :)

[Chris Friesen]

The better Ridgid ones have "SNR", or scroll noise reduction. It's supposed to reduce the sound levels somewhat compared to the base models. Adding the muffler can reduce them somewhat more.

[Ben Martin]

John,

Not long ago I purchased the large Ridgid, 16 gal I think, at Home Depot. As I remember it was about $150.00, It is their most powerful, and for a shop vac it is fairly quiet. I would purchase it again.

Sam

I have this one too and agree with Sam. I like using it, and it is the most used tool in my shop...

[john davey]

Thanks guys. Does anyone have the 14 gal version. It does not have the blower but is listed as quieter that the 16 gal. I don't know what their using to gauge it but they gave both vac's a 10 on suction. They gave the 16 gal a 7 for noise and the 14 gal a 4 for noise. Lower being better for noise. They also said it was their quietest vac. I don't need the blower as I have one or I would go that route. The 14 gal is only 20 bucks cheaper so I am assuming that the quietness is a cost which I am fine with. It will also take the muffler I believe to make it even quieter. Reviews are all over the map on the muffler so I am going with it will since some here gave it a good review. The 14 gal is also a little smaller footprint which will help my little basement shop. I was surprised to see how big these guys were at the store today. I live around the corner from a HD so I decided to come back and ask a few more questions and go back tomorrow. I am leaning 14 gal unless I hear the 16 is just a better vac. Thanks, John...

[Ben West]

I just bought a shop vac ultra pro, and it is very quiet. Very happy with it.

[Mike Henderson]

At the Ridgid display in my local Home Depot, they have the specifications on each vac, including the noise level. I bought one of the quiet ones and it's not bad. As someone else said, you might not want to sleep next to it but it's a lot better than the Craftsman or ShopVac brand that I had before (both of them were real screamers).

Mike

[Bill Bukovec]

I have a 16 gallon Rigid with a Dust Deputy. No matter what vac you get, I recommend the Dust deputy.

[Baxter Smith]

I have two of the 14 gallon ones, each with a dust deputy. They are an affordable combination of performance without a lot of noise.

[mreza Salav]

Ridgid vac's come with life-time warranty (at least when I bought mine back in 2005 that was the case).

[Ryan Wood]

I also have a ridgid 16 gallons. It is not that loud compared to my old shop vac. The only think with it is that the filter gets clogged some times and it losses most of its suction until you knock some of the dust off the filter.

[john davey]

thanks all. 14 gal it is. I'll pick it up tomorrow. thanks again...John

[Myk Rian]

I put a muffler on my Ridgid, and it didn't seem to do a darned thing for the noise.
It's nothing more than a piece of foam.

[Mark Patoka]

I had a Genie brand shopvac given to me as a gift years ago. Loudest screaming thing ever and it only had a 1-1/4" hose (smaller at the working end) and barely sucked up anything. Just donated it and picked up the Ridgid 14 gal a couple months ago. They had a special buy for $40 I think right after Christmas. The extra accessories cost more than the vac. Much quieter so I can actually run it for short periods without hearing protection and it works very well. I also picked up the muffler and that reduced the noise and blower exhaust even more. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

[Bill White]

"It's nothing more than a piece of foam."

Yep! That's the new (and improved-Hah-style). The one I have is a plastic canister that difuses the sound. I tried the newer model muffler. Didn't work. Bought the good one about 4 years ago.
Bill