Small Shop Vac

[Jim Young]

Here is the deal. I have a Sears 16g 5hp shop vac which works great. It lives in my basement shop. Everytime I want to clean my truck I have to haul R2D2 (my pet name for the vac) out of the basement to the garage. Well, I'm getting older and tired of the drill. I'm thinking of buying a small, yet powerfull shop vac for the garage and the rest of the house, something with only a couple of gallon capacity. I would like to hear what others have to recommend.

[Michael Perata]

FEIN
9-55-13 Turbo II about $230.00.
I have one and it is very quiet and efficient and still light enough to carry easily.

[Tom Peterson]

I just bought the Fein vac mentioned for $194 at the MKE WW show. Nice and quiet and has the auto-start outlet for your power tool. The old shop vac is headed for the garage.

[John Miliunas]

I just bought the Fein vac mentioned for $194 at the MKE WW show. Nice and quiet and has the auto-start outlet for your power tool. The old shop vac is headed for the garage.

Tom and Mike are right on the Turbo II, but if you're going to be hauling it up/down stairs a LOT, you may consider its smaller brother, the Mini Turbo. I've had that one for a while now and it's great. Quiet, powerful and would not be a chore carrying up/down stairs. The only bad part about the Fein units is that there is no on-board storage, unlike the Festool units. :cool:

[Ed Falis]

Jim,

Consider the one in this ebay ad. I have one. If you can get it for under $100, you've got yourself a great deal (lists ~$170). The bags are a bit scarce, but can be had from www.robertstool.com (part #60910). It's a 5 gal model.

You may want to double-check with Roberts tool on the bag availability. The last time I spoke to them, they said that the manufacturer has no plans of discontinuing them.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2382652696&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

- Ed

[Lloyd Robins]

The small Festool vacs are very nice. I don't know how the weight compares.

[Mark Singer]

I have the Fein TurboI and TurboII they have both been good. Use the I for the house and the II for the shop and cars.

[Gene Collison]

Tom and Mike are right on the Turbo II, but if you're going to be hauling it up/down stairs a LOT, you may consider its smaller brother, the Mini Turbo. I've had that one for a while now and it's great. Quiet, powerful and would not be a chore carrying up/down stairs. The only bad part about the Fein units is that there is no on-board storage, unlike the Festool units. :cool:

Wait a second, I have a Festool 22e and didn't know I had storage. Where's it at? Maybe I should read the IB. Unless it's the top where my tool boxes go.

Gene

[Dave Sweeney]

Fein and Festool are certainly very excellent machines but a little overkill, don't ya think, for vacuuming out the car and truck. I keep a ShopVac Model 301-04, 5 gallon, wet/dry vac parked in my garage full time. If I remember right, I think it set me back a whopping $37.00. It is a little on the noisy side but with the garage door open or out in the driveway it's not really an issue. Actually, its no lounder than my wifes upright. :cool:

[John Miliunas]

Wait a second, I have a Festool 22e and didn't know I had storage. Where's it at? Maybe I should read the IB. Unless it's the top where my tool boxes go.

Gene

Oooops. My bad. I think the one I saw did have a Systainer on top with all the accessories in it.

OK, so let me rephrase: You have no option with the Feins for on-board storage. :D :cool:

[Byron Trantham]

Fein and Festool are certainly very excellent machines but a little overkill, don't ya think, for vacuuming out the car and truck. I keep a ShopVac Model 301-04, 5 gallon, wet/dry vac parked in my garage full time. If I remember right, I think it set me back a whopping $37.00. It is a little on the noisy side but with the garage door open or out in the driveway it's not really an issue. Actually, its no lounder than my wifes upright. :cool:

Dave, I agree. He should move his Sears unit to the garage and buy a better shop vac. I bought the Festool and love the dickens out of it.

[Gene Collison]

Oooops. My bad. I think the one I saw did have a Systainer on top with all the accessories in it.

OK, so let me rephrase: You have no option with the Feins for on-board storage. :D :cool:

OK John, that sounds better. You had me wondering for a minute though, how in the h..L did I miss that? LOL

Gene

[Frank Pellow]

I too, vote for Festool.

I recently replaced my old Craftsman with the Festool CT 22 E (with an attached systainer on top for hoses and stuff). I used to dread vacuuming, now I look forward to it.

(No, I don't work for Festool; although one might think so from my comments on this and other threads.)

[Dean Baumgartner]

I really have to agree on the Fein or Festool being way overkill for incidental cleaning in the home or garage. I've got the big shop vac in the shop but for use around the house the little 3 gallon works great. It has as much suction as it's big brother, sounds like a jet airplane on take off but only cost in the $40 range.

How much do the Fein or Festool cost? Just not the best use of my money for occasional use.


Dean

[Byron Trantham]

Replaced my Sears screamer with a Festool CT22. It's ten times more useful than the Sears. Expensive? Relative the Sears, yea! It's like most (not all) of our tools, there is a tool and there is a TOOL. This ones a TOOL.

[Tyler Howell]

To stir this pot one more time. Does the Fein have the auto start like the Festool:confused:

[John Miliunas]

I really have to agree on the Fein or Festool being way overkill for incidental cleaning in the home or garage. I've got the big shop vac in the shop but for use around the house the little 3 gallon works great. It has as much suction as it's big brother, sounds like a jet airplane on take off but only cost in the $40 range.

How much do the Fein or Festool cost? Just not the best use of my money for occasional use.


Dean

Dean, I agree BUT, only to a degree. My little Fein sits no more than two feet away from my super-charged, fuel-injected, twin-turbo, gazillion HP Craftsman. Which one gets used more? The little Fein. Why? It rolls around easier and never worry about the hose coming out or it tipping over. Because the stuff you vacuum INto it, stays IN it! (Good filtration, in other words.) It has a unique motor cooling system to it, so you never have to worry about burning up the motor if the intake gets clogged up. Lastly, it's quiet. Real, real quiet. As most WW's, I do a fair amount of sanding on projects and, hooked up with the Festool ROS units I have, I don't get a headache sanding for long periods of time. The rushing of the air through the sander is, I think, louder than either, the sander OR the vac! Yes, I still use the BIG one, but primarily when it comes to major cleaning where a lot of larger chunks of material are concerned. It has more oooomph, larger container and larger hose for more volume. Because of the attributes surrounding these Euro-type vacs, I think it no longer becomes a tool of "occasional use". My shop, therefore, stays cleaner, the environment is healthier and makes my time in there just a bit more pleasant. If you'd have asked me about this 2 or 3 years ago, I'd have certainly poo-poo'd the idea of spending even anything close to $150.00 for a "shop vac", much less more than that! Not anymore. Just my $00.02-worth.... :cool:

[John Miliunas]

To stir this pot one more time. Does the Fein have the auto start like the Festool:confused:

Tyler, the little Mini Turbo does NOT. The two larger ones do. I worked around that with a suggestion given to me by Bob Marino himself. Go to Sears (yeah, you read that right!) and get yourself one of their Auto Start modules. You plug your vac into it (or worklight or whatever) and turn it "on". Plug your sander or other tool into the designated outlet on the module and, when you turn on the tool, the vac comes "on". It also has a "delay" built into it, so that after you turn off your sander (or whatever), the vac circuit stays on for @5sec. longer to clear the hose. Nifty item for $20.00. :cool:

[Tyler Howell]

Tyler, the little Mini Turbo does NOT. The two larger ones do. I worked around that with a suggestion given to me by Bob Marino himself. Go to Sears (yeah, you read that right!) and get yourself one of their Auto Start modules. You plug your vac into it (or worklight or whatever) and turn it "on". Plug your sander or other tool into the designated outlet on the module and, when you turn on the tool, the vac comes "on". It also has a "delay" built into it, so that after you turn off your sander (or whatever), the vac circuit stays on for @5sec. longer to clear the hose. Nifty item for $20.00. :cool:

John,
Was thinking of the Festool and read about the Fein here. I made my own auto start, but it is about the size of a milk carton.
I was hoping to jump on the Festool band wagon and I was going to start with a Vac.
I'll do some price comparisons and let you know what I decide.

Thanks

[Steven Wilson]

I like my ears - the Festool or Fein are the only way to go if you enjoy your hearing.

[Chris Padilla]

Bingo! The sound of my Rigid and its ease of clogging have me wanting to get rid of it. I can get away with no hearing protection running both my Festool ROS (150/5) and my CT-11e vacuum. It really is nice and worth 5-6x the cost for me.

[Scott Coffelt]

I have the Rigid and it is one loud son of a gun. I went with the Mini Fein because it was $150, not over $200 like the Festools. I get around the autostart by hooking into an X10. I carry the remote on my belt, would one less step be nice sure but since I had the supplies it wasn't worth $$$'s. I so pleased with its performance, I often forget it is on. I stored it in a cabinet and have the hose hanging out. I still use the Rigid from time to time, but only when sucking things up that I don't want in the smaller Fein or through the loor sweep.

[Dean Baumgartner]

Dean, I agree BUT, only to a degree. My little Fein sits no more than two feet away from my super-charged, fuel-injected, twin-turbo, gazillion HP Craftsman. Which one gets used more? The little Fein. Why? It rolls around easier and never worry about the hose coming out or it tipping over. Because the stuff you vacuum INto it, stays IN it! (Good filtration, in other words.) It has a unique motor cooling system to it, so you never have to worry about burning up the motor if the intake gets clogged up. Lastly, it's quiet. Real, real quiet. As most WW's, I do a fair amount of sanding on projects and, hooked up with the Festool ROS units I have, I don't get a headache sanding for long periods of time. The rushing of the air through the sander is, I think, louder than either, the sander OR the vac! Yes, I still use the BIG one, but primarily when it comes to major cleaning where a lot of larger chunks of material are concerned. It has more oooomph, larger container and larger hose for more volume. Because of the attributes surrounding these Euro-type vacs, I think it no longer becomes a tool of "occasional use". My shop, therefore, stays cleaner, the environment is healthier and makes my time in there just a bit more pleasant. If you'd have asked me about this 2 or 3 years ago, I'd have certainly poo-poo'd the idea of spending even anything close to $150.00 for a "shop vac", much less more than that! Not anymore. Just my $00.02-worth.... :cool:

John,
That's just the point. For something you use often in a shop I can completly agree on spending the money for a higher quality and much, much quieter vac. The original question was for something for infrequent use around the house instead of hauling the better vac in from the shop. My little shop vac in the house rolls around just fine and with the pleated cartridge filter catches everything. I think it's in the .5 to 1 micron range.

Dean

[John Miliunas]

John,
That's just the point. For something you use often in a shop I can completly agree on spending the money for a higher quality and much, much quieter vac. The original question was for something for infrequent use around the house instead of hauling the better vac in from the shop. My little shop vac in the house rolls around just fine and with the pleated cartridge filter catches everything. I think it's in the .5 to 1 micron range.

Dean

Dean, I see and can understand your point(s). I guess it may be because, I'm getting older and more clearly see the value in getting a higher quality piece of machinery right off the start. Basically, if it does an equal or better job, more consistently and lasts longer, it's a better value in the long-run. That, plus I'm probably too biased to suggest cheaper units. I had a small Shop Vac, which even though it had a lot of suction, spewed smaller dust all over the place and continually got louder as it aged. Plus, I think maybe I've been spoiled with how nicely my little Fein works! :rolleyes: (Hey, at least I admit it! :D ) :cool: