Shop-Vac 4-Gallon 4.5-PeakHorsepower Wet/Dry Vacuum for All-Purpose Cleaning, Gray

Bárbara Coelho Melo: Is this really what people call powerful? Awful suction, clunky design (the hose just lays sprawled n the floor when you're not using it), mediocre at best. I really wanted to love this vacuum, but it sucks, and not in the good way it's supposed to.

Canada on Dec 24, 2019

Perky: This is a great vac.

Canada on Oct 20, 2019

J Anand: Bought as a replacement. Really like the long electrical cord, old one had a 3 foot cord. With this new one I can do my whole bsmt without changing outlets. The onboard storage for tools is super handy, no more looking for attachments.

Canada on Apr 10, 2019

PascalF1: Work well same as all Shop Vac stuff.

Canada on Sep 07, 2018

A. Waddoups: I set up a woodshop in the living room of my 800 sq. ft. apartment and I've put a lot of effort into dust control because I don't want my landlord complaining about sawdust in the carpet. This vacuum is at the center of it because it is an excellent balance between small, cheap, and good specs.

When choosing a vacuum, horsepower is irrelevant. Some have a huge motor and terrible suction. The things to look at are Cubic Feet Per Minute, and Sealed Pressure. The first is how much air it moves, and the second is how strong the suction is (measured by how many inches of water it'll lift in a sealed glass tube). Dust collection needs the highest CFM possible in order to remove the fine dust that damages your lungs from the air. You need high sealed pressure in order to overcome the resistance from narrow hoses, long hoses, bends, and small dust ports on tools. An actual dust collector is much better than a shop vac for this purpose (and possibly less expensive if you put care into it) because even the smallest and cheapest moves 3 times more air, but only if you have 4" or bigger hoses to accommodate that airflow since they have very little sealed pressure. Even 4" hose is...

United States on Jun 21, 2018

reddogs: After 2 years of service, this vac had nowhere near the suction it had when first purchased so I checked the manual for troubleshooting tips:
1. Loose hose connection 1. Tighten hose connection
2. Filter clogged 2. Clean or replace filter
3. Full tank 3. Empty tank
4. Hole in hose

The hose wasn't loose. I cleaned the filter. The tank wasn't full but I emptied it anyway and decided to install the bag that was included with this vac. If there was a hole in the hose I couldn't find it. Since nothing I did improved the suction I literally threw the vac into my trash container yesterday and started looking for a replacement. One of the reviews for a different Shop-Vac vac mentioned problems with the hose clogging. Hmmm. Out to the garage I went to retrieve the hose from the trash and, sure enough, the end of the hose that attaches to the vac had a clog that was at least 4" long! (Mostly dog hair though I don't use this for general cleaning around the house. :) Cleared out the clog, carried the vac back into the house, plugged it in and, lo and behold, the suction was back to being excellent. This is a great little shop vac and I've had occasion to use every one of...

United States on Sep 02, 2016

Greg Lindauer: I have an 8 gallon 4.5hp Craftsman (Sears), model 338-179370. I decided to also get a more portable vacuum, and this shop-vac fits the bill nicely. I did have a concern about how well this will pick up chunks of wood and nails in the shop, and am pleasantly surprised to find out that the 2.5" screw on vacuum hose for the craftsman is an exact fit for this vacuum, so I can use the craftsman's larger accessories and hose, as well as the 1.25" accessories that come with this vacuum.

Other improvements in this shop-vac over the Craftsman:
-- much better accessory storage
-- many more accessories, even a nice wide floor brush with carpet/hard (wood, linoleum, tile) settings like a regular vacuum
-- cord pegs to wind the cord around for storage
-- no need to "flip" the diverter when switching from wet to dry (though some versions may come with that kind of diverter, the instructions discuss both)
-- Easier to clean. The craftsman had inner lips which folded inward and caught debris when you tried to empty it; this shop vac's tank is like a mop bucket, with smooth sides that cleanly empty wet or dry debris. As a matter of fact, I could use the tank as a handleless...

United States on Mar 11, 2012