# Small, Powerful Shop Vac



## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

I have a Craftsman shop vac that works pretty well, It's a 12 gallon, 5.5 HP model. I haven't had any issues.

But i've been vacuuming up so much dusty, dirty **** since I bought my house, I decided to buy one of those dust deputy cyclones. And that little thing is awesome. Everything goes into the dust deputy, essentially nothing goes into the shop vac any more. Which is great since the stuff I was vacuuming would pack the filter with **** in no time. Now I can run all day.

Did I mention that the shop vac is technically my mothers. So at some point, I do need to give it back and get my own...
But since I have this dust deputy that I'm loving, I really don't need a large shop vac. In fact, I don't really need any holding capacity in the vacuum at all, so the smaller it is, the better. I've seen some really small 2.5 gallon vacs that would work great since all the dirt is going in the other device. And if it's small, I can make my own little cart, and put the vacuum and the dust deputy on together was one single unit.

BUT, while the smaller the vacuum volume, the better; I still want a very powerful one. My current one is 5.5 HP, I'd like at least 5 HP if not more, with a 5 gallon or smaller volume. I've been looking around for something like this but I haven't had much luck. The power and volume seem to be locked together, they go up and down together. 

And this is the point of this thread. There's a million shop vac models out there, maybe someone knows of some models that are very small in volume, but still pretty high powered? That's what I need!


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## landfillwizard (Feb 21, 2014)

This is what I use with my dust deputy. So far no problems

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-6-gallon-3-peak-hp-wet-dry-vac/p-00912004000P


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

Vacuum power is set as much by hose diameter as engine power.

Your 12gal vac most likely has a 2 1/2 hose.
Landfillwizard has a smaller hose and less hp. However it may actually have a higher air velocity in the hose which could give it superior performance, especially on dust, dirt, etc.

Larger hoses generally provide superior performance when picking up larger items, and need the higher hp to obtain hose velocities near those obtained in the smaller hoses with the smaller motors.

There is a point where Too large of a motor (and fan) on a small hose will actually reduce the performance.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

I'm not sure the diameter of my current hose, but 2.5" sounds about right. It's also a custom hose I bought thats something like 15' long, which is really nice since you don't' have to drag the vacuum around so much, and I can vacuum my boat without having to put the vacuum inside, I can leave it on the floor. I can pick up large items and smaller items and there is tons of suction on the current one. It seems like CFM is the most meaningful spec on a vac like this, but it also seems like most brands don't list the CFM rating.


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## paintdrying (Jul 13, 2012)

Sears still makes a nice shop vac.


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## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

Not really the answer to your question, but...

After putting up with the noise of a small off brand wet/dry vac, I bought a Fein Turbo 1. It has got to be one of my favorite power tools. Works great, not too huge and quiet enough to leave on while you are doing something else. It cost too much and the accessories are expensive. But a treat to use every time. It looks like there's a new model. If it is as quiet as the old one, I'd spend the money again.
http://www.zoro.com/fein-wetdry-vacuum-7hp-58-gal-9a-151-cfm-92027236090/i/G6080322/


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

I was going to suggest the Fein. I want an auto start, and it's very reasonably priced, compared with the others. If you pair that Dust Deputy with it the bag should last a long time. The Festool vacs are great also, you can even vary the suction, but wowzers, they're expensive.


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