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Thread: Best shop vac

  1. #1

    Best shop vac

    I have read and read reviews on various shop vacs, cfm, water pressure and general opinion. I cannot afford the Festool and some of the ones I am considering are pushing it. My fein died. I wish I could say I was impressed with it but I was not. My Golden Retriever dog hair would plug it up in no time. I do plan to use an Oneida dust deptut with the vac. My choices are the Ridgid 16 or 14. This one is the cheapest even after outfitting it with tool assist plugs and adj. speed and special tubing. Approx. 200. Downside is it is louder and probably will not last. The Fein turbo 2 or 1. It seems the 1 has just as much power as the 2. The 2 is pushing 500 with accessaries, w/o acc. 450. The 1 is around 260 or 350. Many like it but c/o of the tool function failing and the tube failing. Plus, will I be dissappointed with hair pick up as before. The Makita seems to be a great vac. but is 439 and 500 with acc. Plus it is top heavy which can be cleared up if secured to a cart. Finally is the Nilfisk alto which sells for 355 with acc. or the Attix which sells for 589.(Definitely pushing it). The cfm is 127 vs. 135. Both have the onboard tool attatchment and the Attic has the adj. suction. Any help from anyone that has these vacs would be appretiated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Boston
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    1,740
    I have a Craftsman 16 gal that replaced my old one that lasted 25 years. It’s much quieter so much that I don’t need ear muffs and the suction is great. Paid 110 bucks. Sears always has shop vacs on sale too.
    Don

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Cuenca, Ecuador
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    16
    I've had great luck with my Ridgid 16. It's not as quiet as the Fein but it can be hooked up to the exhaust and blow. It also has the drain plug on the tank if you have to suck up liquids. The Fein is a nice vac, but not $400 nicer for my shop. With the dust bag it has done a great job for sanding dry wall. In 6 years it hasn't missed a lick.
    If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

  4. #4
    If it is just for the shop then a built in vacuum exhausting outside would probably be better than any drag behind.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Fredericksburg, TX
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    2,576
    Check out the noise on the Ridgid 16 and 14. I called Ridgid to find out a quieter unit before buying the 14 about 9 or 10 years back because it was much quieter. I use an Oneida dust deputy ahead of the shop vac and the 14 vs 16 is not an issue since I never have any accumulation in the shop vac except a little finer dust. Strongly recommend the dust deputy and the Ridgid 14 has worked well for me.

  6. #6
    I have a Ridgid, also, and have been very satisfied. Actually, a couple of Ridgid vacs.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Okotoks AB
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    I have a large Ridgid (16?) for several years & it's been great. Not terribly loud & very powerful. Using with a dust deputy & HEPA filter is highly recommended.

  8. #8
    Rigid (14 or 16 - I think they both have the same CFM rating) with a CleanStream Pro washable HEPA filter. You could certainly spend more money, but it's a pretty incredible value for ~$150, and probably the most CFM of air you can move in a shop vac (even moreso than the ~$800 festools). Doesn't the vac have a lifetime warranty, too?

    I buy really cheap bags for mine, and use them to "prefilter" ahead of the main filter. Easier to deal with than a cyclone, and avoids the hassle of where to put the cyclone. And no clean-up mess - just throw the bag away.

    The tool-trigger device is nice, but variable speed is only useful if you want to quiet the vacuum down. If you just need to decrease the suction for use with a sander (etc), you can just use the adjustable bypass tube that comes with it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    New York, NY
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    2,203
    Kärcher WD5/P https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BL7J5M4. I'd recommend the Bosch 35mm hose for it but this isn't absolutely mandatory.

    I like mine as much as my other vac, a Festool CT26.

  10. #10
    My trusty and dependable Ridgid shop vac just just burnt out after 10 or 12 years. I did some research but in the end decided to buy another Ridgid. It has more suck than any of the other high end vacs. In my 2 car garage the shop, that is usually with the door open, I figured a clean stream hepa filter and a dust deputy would work great. Well at the very last minute, I found out that home depot sells a new Duststopper separator for $40 bucks. I researched on line and it seems to perform nearly identically to the dust deputy. Whatever minuscule performance differences are totally offset by the low profile of the duststopper (YMMV).

    I bought a new 14 gallon 6 hp Ridgid vac for $99. Duststopper $40. clean stream hepa filter $30. and and some small HF polyurethane casters $12. Strapped it all together with a pair of old bungee cords and it works great! Wheels around super smoothly. Easy and fast to clean or separate for odd jobs not requiring the dust stopper. Kept the original filter for yard jobs not requiring hepa filtration. And the new Vac is much quieter the my old one.

    All in all, in my situation I could not be happier for $200 bucks.

    IMG_2341.jpgIMG_2342.jpg

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I have a couple of those Rigids, and one large Shop Vac. The Rigid has better suction-we use the Gore filters, but the Shop Vac uses bags. The bags are better for fine dust, since the air goes through the bag before it gets to the filter, but a little suction is lost in the process. The Shop Vac only gets used for fine dust. Fine dust will clog the Rigid filters quickly. A bag might be better for dog hair.

  12. #12
    I have two Rigids and no desire for a more expensive shop vac. The one hooked to the dust deputy has a tiny capacity but a 10 amp motor (I look at amps, not hp rating). Almost nothing makes it past the dust deputy so the storage capacity of the vacuum doesn't matter in my opinion. I also have a switch on that setup that turns the vacuum on when the tool is switched on. I have a power strip plugged into the switch so I can have several tools plugged into it at once. I move the hose from tool to tool. I use a Bosch 5m for smaller tools and a Rigid 20 foot 2.5 inch for bigger tools.

    My rigids are noisy but so are the tools they get hooked up to. So I wear muffs. I can't see point of a quiet vacuum hooked to a noisy tool.

  13. I have the 16g Ridgid, recently started using the vacuum bags in it. Will never go bagless again. No desire to get anything different.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX (NW Austin)
    Posts
    578
    The Ridgid 16 is quieter and performs better than many of the smaller Ridgid vacs. It is not as quiet as some the premium brands but not a screamer either. Most important, it does the job you will want it to do.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Palm Springs, CA
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    1,085
    I've had the Ridgid 16 for quite a few years and it has been a great vac. It has been used for everything from dust collection to draining and cleaning the bottom of a small garden pond. Never any problems. Now it is typically used for dust collection and uses the optional HEPA filter. It initially collapsed a 5 gal bucket when used with a Dust Deputy and has since been refitted to a 15 gal fiber bin. If it ever disappeared I'd replace it with the same. I'm also using the optional exhaust muffler from the box store however to my ear it only marginally quiets this vac which is very tolerable as is.

    Ridgid 16.jpg

    DD W Fiber Bin.jpg
    Last edited by Dick Mahany; 09-23-2018 at 3:28 PM.
    Dick Mahany.

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