Moreso just a general question I've thought about for a long time

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eureka1998

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Jun 19, 2016
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Location
New York
Does anyone here on the forum consider wet dry vacs to actually be a type of canister vacuum? Some of them are even designed similar to some canister vacs. Just a generic question I had for the forum.

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If it weren't for bad filtration, no cord rewind, exhaust air that tends to shoot out the back, and no noise suppression, I would be happy to consider it a canister.

I tried that route a couple of times but was disappointed.

This little cutey is a compact 10" wide and not much taller. It's adorable but like a feral cat, you don't want it in your home making a mess.

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Yeah they are canister vacuums. I have my Shop Vac currently fitted with a HEPA filter and a premium filtration bag. I have a claw tool on the end of the hose, but they also have floor nozzle tools with wheels you can buy on many models. No dust comes out of my Shop Vac. Barely anything even escapes the bag pores.
 
huskyvacs,

If you haven't already, could you post details, ideally with pictures, of how you made your shop vac "clean"?
I might use one once in a while, if they didn't blow dust all out the exhaust.
I'm just picturing that ridiculously cute example that Keith posted, but "housebroken".
I might have to adopt one, if that were possible!

Barry
 
gregvacs28

I completely understand that! I used the Craftsman 4 gal as a canister when I first got it, since it was practically adertised as one on the box, even though it was a shop vac. Its fitted with a bag, a main and exhaust filter. But it smells now since i've used it for cleaning the car. Gotta get around to cleaning it out. its a really good vacuum. Not as strong as my Ridgid 12 gal, but strong.

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Almost 10 years ago, we had most of our carpets replaced in our house. The company who installed the carpets in had a now discontinued Craftsman 4 gallon Clean N Carry wet dry vac which was primarily used for cleaning up nails, leftover padding, and years of deep down debris that was hidden from the old carpets. Since the job took them few days to do, they left most of the equipment in our house. I got the idea of one day using that Craftsman to convert it with one of my TP210 Ultra turbine heads from our central vac and used it to clean up the fiber after the installation in some rooms and later eventually all of them. I was actually quite impressed with it. What I really liked about it was it had a much larger dirt canister to where I wouldn't need to empty it as much compare to just using a regular portable bagless vacuum. My central vac also has a large dirt canister and I could've just used that instead but the Craftsman actually had more power than the central. I think those type of vacuums along with a commercial upright with a shake out bag would be an excellent choice to use just for cleaning up carpet fiber after installation.
 
I went the other way around!

Funny, I’ve gone the other way around choosing to use an Electrolux tank as my shop vac for remodeling projects, if I have a wet mess, I use my little green machine small carpet cleaner for wet pickups.

I couldn’t deal with the nasty job of emptying and cleaning the filters on shop vacs anymore...hated it and life is too short. I was also able to get generic bags for the Electrolux at Dollar tree...a three pack for $1. Not bad. I bought a big supply. At .33 cents a piece per bag, I’ll gladly pay that price to never have to deal with cleaning out a shop vac and it’s filters ever again! Even my Brother and sister have started doing the same thing with their older Electrolux’s after we were having a discussion about how bad it is for you and gross to empty out and have to clean a shop vacs filter. It’s just easier to change and Electrolux bag in about 10 seconds and everything is completely restored to full suction as if the machine was new.

Jon

Plus the old used Electrolux AF I bought on eBay for around $50 with shipping has outlasted two previous shop vacs already!
 
Why not.

I mean machines like Silver King, watermatic, fairfax and a few others have had wet dry capabilities but we don't think of them any differently.
Using them is pretty much like using any other straight suction canister. just bulkier (generally) unless we bring up machines like the Haley's Comet.
 
I wouldn't consider Silver King, watermatic, or fairfax a standard canister vacuum either for the same reasons I stated above.

We had an awful Silver King when I was growing up. It was loud, messy to empty with no bag, woven hose, couldn't do stairs..... it was bad.
 
Barry

The way you make the shop vac have to have a new filter. Then you buy the vacuum bags for the shop vac. Everything sucked up stays in the bag. My shopvac blower is detachable. That means it doesn't use the air from the vacuum body it produces its own air. The filter, the bag and detachable blower leaves no where for the dirty air to go.
I was quite surprised with my 26 gallon 5 hp craftsman shopvac/blower.
There is some air sent through filter through the motor out small vents. It is very clean.
Les
 

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