Wet/Dry Vac Horsepower Needs?

dchawk81

dchawk81

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I'm wondering what kind of horsepower your Wet/Dry Vacs have and whether you're able to suck out carpet cleaners in a manner similar to carpet steamers with it.

I don't seem to have much luck with my little 2hp job. Was thinking about 5. Will that do?
 
This is a really interesting topic I've been wanting to ask! I'm subscribing. Even though I have a pretty economical vacuum it has 3hp and sucks up pretty well! :)

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AG Online
 
Yeah, I'm talking about one of these:

autogeek_2269_59926018


Shop-Vac Claw Utility Nozzle for 1 -1/4 inch Hoses

IME shop vacs usually don't come with an attachment like that in the box.
 
Yeah my vacuum didn't come with any attachments:( but thanks for the tip!

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I have a large shop vac, but if i was going to get a smaller one, it would be:

Shop-Vac 5872410 5.5-Peak Horsepower Portable Contractor Right Stuff Wet/Dry Vacuum, 5-Gallon
 
Be careful of shopping horsepower ratings--they don't mean much in consumer line vacuums anymore. A 1hp Dayton will outperform a 5hp consumer edition Shop Vac. Not to say the consumer versions won't fill your needs, just try to look up the meaningful specs like water lift and CFM and base your decision off that.
 
I have a 5 gallon/3.5hp shop vac which does really well pulling water/soap/dirt from carpeting and seats. I use an extractor head from a BISSEL Steamer Machine. It doesn't fit exactly right, but the suction keeps it in place.
203-6653.jpg
 
CCC4me said:
Be careful of shopping horsepower ratings--they don't mean much in consumer line vacuums anymore. A 1hp Dayton will outperform a 5hp consumer edition Shop Vac. Not to say the consumer versions won't fill your needs, just try to look up the meaningful specs like water lift and CFM and base your decision off that.
Click to expand...

This is an excellent post. Water lift is the true "power" of a vacuum. The analogy I like to make is comparing a vacuum to a drinking straw. A smaller diameter straw will allow you to draw harder and create stronger suction. That is why the Metro and other vacs with a high water lift have a smaller diameter hose. Once you increase the diameter of the hose, you are also increasing the 2nd important stat, and that is CFM (Cubic Feet/Minute). This is your volume obviously. What you want is both #'s to be high, and not one high at the expense of another. Horsepower is great to measure engines, but absolutely useless and completely misleading for vacuums. Companies that push HP ratings for vacuums are misleading the public.
Please check out this review I did for a vacuum I consider to be excellent. It's the one I have and have had for a few years now. It is so good that I would replace it immediately with the same one if something were to happen to it. Very powerful with strong WL and CFL:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/35123-pf51-wet-dry-vac-review.html
 
Well...

Shop-Vac Heavy Duty Portable
587-24-10

Air Flow: 195 (CFM)
Sealed Pressure: 59 (inches)
Electrical Ratings: 120V 60Hz 11.5Amps
Peak Air Watts: 345

Dayton 2NYE3 Portable Vac, 1.5 Gal
Air Flow: 120 (CFM)
Sealed Pressure: 52 (inches)
Electrical Ratings: 120V 60Hz
Peak Air Watts: couldnt find it

Both of these are portable and in the same price range...
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Have you gotten one of those "extractor-shaped" attachments for it?
Click to expand...

Probably, somewhere. It doesn't feel like it has enough suction though in general to lift much regardless of the attachment. Yes I did clean the filters. Hah.

I do understand horsepower to a certain extent. It's like wattage. Wattage indicates how much power something uses, not how much power it puts out. People still have trouble grasping the concept of the new light bulbs compared to the old.

I was looking at this:

Vacmaster VBV1210 Detachable Blower Wet/Dry Vacuum, 12 Gallon, 5 Peak HP

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any actual specs on it but the reviews say it really sucks.

EDIT: Found specs on another site. It looks to come in at 133CFM. I don't see anything about "water lift" unless that's another term for CFM.
 
dchawk81 said:
Probably, somewhere. It doesn't feel like it has enough suction though in general to lift much regardless of the attachment. Yes I did clean the filters. Hah.

I do understand horsepower to a certain extent. It's like wattage. Wattage indicates how much power something uses, not how much power it puts out. People still have trouble grasping the concept of the new light bulbs compared to the old.

I was looking at this:

Vacmaster VBV1210 Detachable Blower Wet/Dry Vacuum, 12 Gallon, 5 Peak HP

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any actual specs on it but the reviews say it really sucks.

EDIT: Found specs on another site. It looks to come in at 133CFM. I don't see anything about "water lift" unless that's another term for CFM.
Click to expand...

Water lift is sometimes notes as Sealed Pressure or SP.
SP (Sealed Pressure)
Suction pressure represents how far up a glass tube a vacuum motor will lift a column of water. This function is measured in inches. Maximum suction pressure or sealed water lift is obtained at zero air flow. Suction pressure decreases as air flow increases.
 
I have a Ridgid 3.5 HP/ 9 gallon wet/dry vac and am beyond pleased.

Have the crevice,brush, claw attachments and have had no problems what so ever! Makes me a little money too sucking up change in very hard to reach places like its paper! All together it was just under $100 for my setup.
 
I have a 2 hp Shop Vac that I have been using to clean my house carpeting, and it isn't enough. I use the crevice tool to concentrate the suction and it still isn't enough. You can hear the water gurgling up the hose, but the removal is not fast enough.

I was considering the 6.5 hp Shop Vac in stainless to replace it, even though what I really need is an extractor, but that is a $1500 tool. Extractors have between 102 and 137 inches of lift, from what I have read.
 
Wow... well for a small portable shop vac, while also bearing in mind the price, the heavy duty 5.5hp shopvac brand yellow one seems to have the highest SP and CFM...
 
Blackthorn One said:
I have a 2 hp Shop Vac that I have been using to clean my house carpeting, and it isn't enough. I use the crevice tool to concentrate the suction and it still isn't enough. You can hear the water gurgling up the hose, but the removal is not fast enough.

I was considering the 6.5 hp Shop Vac in stainless to replace it, even though what I really need is an extractor, but that is a $1500 tool. Extractors have between 102 and 137 inches of lift, from what I have read.
Click to expand...

You don't need to spend a ton unless you want too on a vacuum. Here's what I have and its 60 bucks without some add ons .RIDGID, 9-Gal. Wet/Dry Vac, WD0970 at The Home Depot - Mobile

The reviews speak for themselves, And I'm here to tell you this vacuum performs. I have the detailing kit, but in the future going to upgrade that hose to the yellow 25' flex/ non kink non bend hose. Worth a look.
 
T3 AutoDetails said:
You don't need to spend a ton unless you want too on a vacuum. Here's what I have and its 60 bucks without some add ons .RIDGID, 9-Gal. Wet/Dry Vac, WD0970 at The Home Depot - Mobile

The reviews speak for themselves, And I'm here to tell you this vacuum performs. I have the detailing kit, but in the future going to upgrade that hose to the yellow 25' flex/ non kink non bend hose. Worth a look.
Click to expand...

I've been wanting to get this one, how does it perform on sucking up cleaners and products from carpet?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AG Online
 
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