Looking for shop vac advice

[Jim Dwight]

. I look at amp draw, hot hp rating. I think the biggest draw 12 amps. I think my biggest draws 10 amps. They are universal motors so they only draw this a maximum loading which should rarely happen.

I have two Rigids, one for use out of the shop and one for use in the shop. The one for the shop has a dust deputy on it to minimize filter cleaning. I use a 20 foot 2.5 inch rigid hose on the bigger machines and a 5M Bosch hose for the smaller ones. I have an auto on switch on it and the pieces are mounted to a cart. You may not need anything this elaborate, or you might.

[Brian W Evans]

I have two Ridgid screamers and they have worked very well for close to 15 years. If you don't mind the noise, you can't beat them for the price. Mine look basically like the one below, albeit with different colors:

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The one pictured is about $85. Throw in a good filter or two and a long hose and you're still under budget.

The only thing I would watch out for with this machine is that you get one with a hose with couplings that allow rotation (as opposed to getting all twisted up). One of mine doesn't have this and it bothers me.

[Frank Pratt]

They are universal motors so they only draw this a maximum loading which should rarely happen.

With a vacuum, that depends on how clean you keep the filter. The vac will be at max load with a clean filter & a short hose. The sound it makes is a good indicator of the load; the higher the pitch, the lower the load. When you plug the hose & the motor is screaming, it's just loafing.

[Dan Friedrichs]

A few people have mentioned the Ridgid "screamers", but it's worth checking out the newer, quieter, models. They are not "screamers" like shop vacs of 15 years ago, by any stretch.

[Cary Falk]

I bought a 12 gal. Ridgid on a Black Friday sale for $25 years ago. Best $25 I ever spent. It is still kicking. You are about a week late. I think they were going for $39 now.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you all for your help. I took the motor apart on our old shopvac and blew it out with compressed air, and it was surprising how much dust and debris there was in there. It seems to be running better now, but I don't expect it will last forever and I will keep your advice in mind for when it does need to be replaced. The idea of a quieter vac is certainly appealing and is something I'll keep in mind when the time comes.
Zach

[Pat McCormick]

I bought a Shop Fox 1-1/2 hp dust collector. I disassembled the blower assembly and hung it upside down from an I-beam running down the center of my garage shop. I ran a 5-inch line along the beam and into an Oneida dust deputy that I connected directly to the fan inlet on the hanging blower assembly. The blower output goes to the bags which are mounted to the wall between garage doors. The dust deputy drops its stuff into a 50 gallon drum on a cart. I used plywood some foam rubber & spray contact cement to make a quick seal on the drum. I am really happy with how this thing works. Unless I’m so lazy I let the drum fill till it clogs the dust deputy, nothing goes into the bags other than some of the finest dust. I’m using 2 1-micron felt bags which I occasionally beat like rugs. The dust all goes into the drumb. I put quick clamps on the lid and used a short piece of 6 inch flex to connect to the dust deputy. When it’s full I just unclamped the lid and let it hang while I roll the dust away.

I can’t believe Oneida doesn’t make a kit for this. I have 4 4-inch take-offs with aluminum no-clog blast gates and I got a remote for the motor. I got several 4-inch and smaller hoses and fittings to permit jamming a standard Festool vac hose into any port. The whole thing works far better than I hoped. Tons of suction. Low operating hassle. No rolling mule in the way. I even used the 3 support brackets from the original machine by hanging them from the overhead joists. They work perfectly for bungee cording hoses wherever I need. The original collector came on a rolling base which the 50 gallon drum sits on now.

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Sorry the photo is sideways, but you get the idea.

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(Nice photo. I rotated it for you. JKJ)