Wet/Dry Vac Horsepower Needs?

I had tried a 5.0hp 5 gal craftsman. It was decently powered but I didn't like the shape of it so i returned it. I then bought a Ridgid WD4522 4.5 Gallon also 5.0hp and OMG. This thing was a beast compared to the craftsman. And do get the claw tool. It is amazing! The cool thing about the rigid is that it is a box shape. I have seen a lot of construction contractors use this. The fittings are stored inside the box and it can be used as a seat (a luxury for contractors). The filter was much larger (intake is intake :D). It was only $20 more than the craftsman but soooooo worth it. Only thing is you might want to get a longer hose. The original one works for me though :) Spend the extra 20-30$ and get a professional level vac. Homedepot does free shipping too!

RIDGID 4.5-Gal. Wet/Dry Vac-WD4522 at The Home Depot
 
stemyx said:
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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Man I have no complaints. I use APC on heavy stains followed with steam spraying the carpet directly and sometimes using a carpet brush if it needs further agitation than the steamer brush attachment. This vacuum pulls any remaining chemicals in the carpet fibers OUT.

If your on a budget like I was at the time of purchase consider this vacuum, with a few attachments its great for all interior purposes. My father in law used it in his truck bed and it sucked all the caked up sawdust and wet dirt NO PROBLEM.

I thought I would upgrade and use this as a "starter vac" and when money was better, upgrade. Not the case. I've used it a good 60 times or so in the last 3 months. It came with warranty, if it does ever take a crap on me for the abuse I put on it almost daily I'll just go buy another one. I work on a lot of neglected interiors ( I specialize in interior Restorations & am my markets goto professional). This vacuum won't let ya down. Check my Facebook or webpage for some before and after shots. Every one of those jobs were done using the above named ridgid vac.

Although I don't take pictures of every job (don't have the time in most cases). All the big turn arounds I do however, so you can judge for yourself if you care to take a peek. Some of them needed straight APC to lift the stains. I counted on this vacuum to pull it all out. Hope this helps with your decision.
 
T3 AutoDetails said:
Man I have no complaints. I use APC on heavy stains followed with steam spraying the carpet directly and sometimes using a carpet brush if it needs further agitation than the steamer brush attachment. This vacuum pulls any remaining chemicals in the carpet fibers OUT.

If your on a budget like I was at the time of purchase consider this vacuum, with a few attachments its great for all interior purposes. My father in law used it in his truck bed and it sucked all the caked up sawdust and wet dirt NO PROBLEM.

I thought I would upgrade and use this as a "starter vac" and when money was better, upgrade. Not the case. I've used it a good 60 times or so in the last 3 months. It came with warranty, if it does ever take a crap on me for the abuse I put on it almost daily I'll just go buy another one. I work on a lot of neglected interiors ( I specialize in interior Restorations & am my markets goto professional). This vacuum won't let ya down. Check my Facebook or webpage for some before and after shots. Every one of those jobs were done using the above named ridgid vac.

Although I don't take pictures of every job (don't have the time in most cases). All the big turn arounds I do however, so you can judge for yourself if you care to take a peek. Some of them needed straight APC to lift the stains. I counted on this vacuum to pull it all out. Hope this helps with your decision.
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Hey thanks a lot! Really helped :) going to definetly check out your Facebook!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AG Online
 
I want to thank everyone for their input. You all brought up vacs I didn't know existed and your expertise is a huge help.

richy said:
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
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Sorry I didn't see your link before. Thanks for this review. I had never heard of the P51 but I believe that's the one I'll buy...eventually.

I can't say money is no object but I'm a big fan of buying the best I can afford, even if it stings for awhile. I don't like buying something and then replacing it with the one I should have purchased in the first place.
 
I just use a standard crafsman 5.5hp wet dry vac, I would like get one of those extractors or steam cleaner things.
 
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