Shop Vacs

[fan-of-fans]

This may have been discussed before, but does anyone collect shop vacs as well?

I used to like them as a kid. My favorites were the more unusual ones. JcPenney had two maroon and white Shop Vacs called the Floormaster series. They had a bin on the back for the tools and I think blower ports. The smaller one was very short and there was a larger, taller model too. There are also Eureka shop vacs in those catalogs. I have a Sears Home Central catalog that has the Hoover wet/dry vac as well.

Another favorite was the Shop Vac All-Around, which looked a bit like a canister vacuum and was meant for more in-house cleaning. In the 1990s Sears sold a white 6 gallon Craftsman shop vac that I liked because it had a cord reel. I saw one in the trash a few years ago but couldn't get it.

Anyhow, I have one Shop Vac myself, a 5 gallon from 1997. I was always diligent about keeping the tank washed out and filters cleaned. At the time I thought about getting a Craftsman 2 gallon wet/dry vac instead, because it had a blower port. However, it didn't have wheels.

My grandparents have a metal tank red and white Montgomery Ward shop vac from the 1970s, although the plastic dolley broke. A few years ago they got a Craftsman 2 gallon when they were on sale for $14. I like that they come with a dusting brush and other tools, but they louder than other shop vacs.

 

[gsheen]

I love shop vacs But they are hard to collect as they are usually used to destruction and then the bin is used as  a bucket to store stuff or wash the car.


 


I love the original steal bin shop vacs, we used to get them her under the aqua vac name.


 


One of my first projects in R&D at Electrolux SA was testing the locally designed wet&dry shopvac.


 

 

[vacman117]

I collect shop vacs too! I don't really like the huge ones, but I really like the small ones. I have a few old metal ones, as well as some newer ones. I have a 5 gallon (I think it's 5) that I use to clean the cars, and then I have a small pink and gray All-Around one that I use in the house for quick messes. I attached a Eureka Mighty Mite hose onto it, which is much more flexible than the original, and has a handle grip. I would absolutely love to find the shop vac with a power nozzle from the 1990's, but that is probably near impossible...

 

[twocvbloke]

A local pet shop has a Goblin AquaVac loitering about their building, looked in poor shape and had a note stuck on it saying not to use it cos otherwise the user would get shocked, I did think about asking them if they wanted to get rid of it, but, I didn't really want it... :&#92

As for that actual "ShopVac" brand, after looking for their bags for a project, I have found a small few for sale, so I don't think they're that well-known here in the UK, probably cos people buy Numatic brand vacs instead.... :S

 

[rickenbacker]

I have a shop vac brand vac that I bought a few years ago from BnQ. It cost me £30 and I bought it pretty much because it was a shop vac I also at that point didn't have a wet/dry vac. Having used it for a short while I have to say that it's a bit shit really for £30 it's not bad and really, it's built to be abused however, the wheels ALWAYS fall off the bucket, the hose comes off whilst vacuuming, the hose flys off straight away if you stick it on the blow port and the air escapes through the cheap plastic The best use I ever put it to however was clearing a ton of glass from my dad's broken car window. That was quite fun I have always liked shop vacs though or rather, tub vacs in general. I am a big fan of numatic vacuum cleaners and currently own three, as shown on my display picture

Charlie

 

[tolivac]

I have 3 "shop-Vac" wet dry vacuums in my collection-A 15Gal Shop-vac marked as a "Dayton" vacuum sold thru Grainger.Bought it new from ReTool-sadly they are closed.Guess could be called a Shop-Vac--A "SootVac"came from ReTool.SS tank with a thick inner paper bag.Has a thick very heavy fire proof hose.Its dry pickup only.Lastly- is a Tornado "Task Force"ext filrter bag wet-dry vac.Has a 15A motor.same idea as the Tornado vac shown here a while ago.Motor-blower is detachable so you can use it as a VERY powerful blower.One of my dream vacuums is a NSS "Bronco" ext filter wet-dry vacuum with the polished SS drum and motor-and of course the HUGE blue NSS bag with the NSS "Horse" logo.Saw one of those at a Daycon janitorial supply in Wash DC over 30Years ago-wanted one ever since!The Bronco sold today is a smaller plastic drum internal filter machine.Not as cool as that older one.

 

[kenmore81]

Id like to collect Shop-Vacs but theres just no room. I especially liked the early- mid 80's ones. They had so many sizes and colors depending on the store. We got our first Shop-Vac in 1988, it was white with a blue and white can 5 gal. It lasted quite a few years then the can rusted. I didn't care for that much the dolly was always falling off. I always wanted the steam cleaner attachment for it.


When Hoover came out with there 2 tank system I wanted one so bad.


Also there was one called a Roo vac. Its logo was a kagaroo and it had a 3 level tank, I always wonderd how it worked. The smallest top tank could detatch as a small 2 gallon wet/dry.

 

[rainbowd4c]

When I lived in the house in Michigan I had two. I had a shop Vac All Around that I had down in the basement for those days I didn't want to carry my Rainbow downstairs. and I had a Shop Vac big mouth I used to call it out in the garage that I used for cleaning the decks, garage, sidewalks and car. I got rid of both when I sold the house and moved into a apartment.

 

[broomvac]

I have 4

One tiny (1 gal) 2 medium (six gal) and one huge (18 gal). When it comes to Shop Vacs, for me, the bigger the better, because I use them for yard work and cleaning out my woodshop.

 

[gsheen]

I so agree , bigger is better. I wish they brought the brand  Shopvac to SA I love the really big ones. I built my own, really simple and I have even sold a few.


Funny thing is they are so powerful I had to reinforce the drum by lining it with fiber glass

 

[broomvac]

Another thing that counts a lot

is having a much larger diameter hose.

 

[fan-of-fans]

That barrel vacuum reminds me of one Home Depot sells. I believe it's called the bucket vac, it's a top with a motor, filter, and hose that attaches to a 5 gallon bucket to make a wet/dry vac.

 

[tolivac]

when you think of what wet-dry "Shop-Vacs" were for-picking up wood chips and sawdust,metal shavings,and even demolition debris from remodel jobs.and of course-they are used as a cheaper substitute for a dust collector for power tools.so the large diameter hoses are needed to move the air and the large debris and large amounts of it.

 

[kirbylover]

I have a Shop-Vac ultra, 60L/13gal. 6HP

It's great and extremely powerful. I use it for everything, including cleaning the vacuums in my collection! I also use it for anything construction- drywall, sawdust, etc. I hook it up directly to my mitre saw or table saw while running (like a dust collector) which greatly reduced the dust on the floor. Have not used it for "wet" yet but I'm sure the day will come. I use an even bigger wet/dry at work but it doesn't seem to have the same suction (smaller diameter hose, but much longer too).

 

[floor-a-matic]

I currently have:
Ridgid WD1956
WD1670
Sears/Craftsman 8 Gallon
16 Gallon
Shop Vac 5 Gallon metal tank

All of the above my parents & I bought new

 

[vacuumfreak95]

Shop-vac....

I have a gigantic 80's Sears Craftman shop vac that belonged to my father. That thing is a trooper, been to hell and back over the years yet continues to work fantastic. I've come to the conclusion that it will never die! Haha!

 

[gsheen]

Here are some of my "ShopVac" as none of them are the actual brand shopvac. Staring off with two of my Karchers. I will have tp find them all

 

[gsheen]

Here is a goblin Aqua vac. I love this machine due to its powerful double stage (twin fan) Bypass motor set up. Its a powerful force to be recond with. I have a smaller single stage version two but this beast is my favorite

 

[gsheen]

Another Karcher. The only issue is they have very small filters and therfore yiu have to use paper bags which get expensive when your using them for their purpose..... Cleaning up big messes