Cordless shop vacuum on wheels

[Dave Sabo]

Oh, $789 at Home Depot with 2 batteries and a charger. .... Gulp.
Needs 2 batteries to run, 2.1 gallons. I don't need Hepa filter capability. 3 year warranty.

The Ridgid is $119 vacuum only at Home Depot. With one 6ah battery and a charger added the total is $328.
Only needs one battery to run and is 9 gallons. Lifetime warranty.
Winner so far and more in line with my budget.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Well.........you had a pretty extensive and specific list of needs and wants. I assumed (wrongly) you knew you were going to have to pony up.

Sure $700+ is a princely sum, but 3-$400 of that is batteries and charger. Factor in the tool activation trigger, variable speed , the cleaning accessories and adapters, plus HEPA rating and it’s not outrageous. But, if you won’t be adding anything else in the Makita lineup then that 400$ is dead weight. The 120v operation is a unique feature too, but you’ve said that is a drawback for you.

re: only needs one battery. Im sure you understand how battery works; so realize One battery isn’t a plus in the case of a power hungry tool like a vacuum. Especially when weight isn’t a concern.

Brad - your system doesn’t really make sense. Either you don’t really have 5hp “dust collector” or you’re starving the impeller of air with 3” pipe / hose and are cooking your motor. Now a 5hp craftsman shop vac could run on a 3” hose.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have a Ridgid 14 gallon vac for general use around the shop, and the one thing that is frustrating about it is that it doesn't like to roll over its own cord. I've been thinking about getting some 4" or so casters and putting them on in place of the little ones it came with, but I haven't actually done it yet. Another factor I've noticed is that if I fail to empty it for a while it gets worse, but soon after being emptied it bounces over the cord much more easily.

[Frank Pratt]

Brad - your system doesn’t really make sense. Either you don’t really have 5hp “dust collector” or you’re starving the impeller of air with 3” pipe / hose and are cooking your motor. Now a 5hp craftsman shop vac could run on a 3” hose.

Starving a dust collector does not harm the motor in any way. In fact, it will run cooler.

[Mike Henderson]

Starving a dust collector does not harm the motor in any way. In fact, it will run cooler.

Frank's correct. Just to add the reasons why:

The fan motor is loaded by moving the air. Air has mass and it takes power to move it. When the motor is not moving air it requires less power.

Most of the motors driving dust collection devices are induction motors. The speed of an induction motor varies with the load. The heavier the load on the motor, the greater the slip between the rotor and the rotating magnetic field, which means the motor is rotating slower. When you block up the intake on a dust collector you'll notice that the fan runs faster, which indicates that the slip decreases, which, in turn, indicates that the motor is not as heavily loaded - and therefore takes less power.

Now, looking at cooling the motor. The air used to cool the motor is not coming from the air moved by the dust collection fan. There's a separate fan that blows air over or through the motor to cool it.
So when you block up the intake to the dust collection, the motor speeds up because it it less loaded - which means it it using less power and generating less heat - and the cooling fan for the motor is now moving faster, blowing more cooling air over (or through) the motor.

So blocking up the intake to a dust collection device will not burn up the motor.

Mike

[Andrew Joiner]

I've had a Ridgid 12v cordless drill for years. Not only do I love the drill, I love the lifetime warranty. I've used the warranty AND it covers batteries too.

I would only buy Ridgid cordless stuff now as long as they keep the warranty. I have many expensive cordless tools gathering dust because the batteries are shot. New batteries cost almost as much as a new Ridgid tool with a battery and lifetime warranty.

[Tom Bender]

We bought the Ryobi 18 volt vacuum for all around use. We have hardwood floors so not much need for it on floors. It will go about 10 minutes on a big battery. (we have two) Good for the car, a rug, project cleanup etc. It sucks but does not blow.

[mike sato]

Just wanted to share that I picked up the Ridgid 9gal cordless vac with one 6ah Ridgid Octane battery. Without measuring equipment, by feel the suction and blowing power using a 1-1/4" hose is the same as my corded 10gal ShopVac that uses a 1-1/4" hose.

The Ridgid vac comes with a 1-7/8" hose and using it, the blowing power straight from the hose is weaker than my corded ShopVac because of the larger diameter hose, but using the supplied "car nozzle", the blowing power is the same or a bit stronger then my corded ShopVac using its 1-1/4" hose.

It will be nice to blow and vacuum our carport after I use my table saw and jointer, without having to drag a power cord and have the wheels hang up on the cord. Wouldn't recommend a cordless vac for permanent power tool dust collection but for cleaning up by dragging the vac around, or for portable dust colledtion, it's a winner.