Von Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 I use an old Craftsman 16G shop vac for dust collection for most of my portable power tools, primarily my ROS but also routers and other small stuff as well. I've decided it's time to replace this guy. The replacement will still need to serve as a general purpose shop vac from time-to-time (e.g. deal with flooding disasters and weird spills), so I'm not ready to get a dust extractor at this point. I'm eyeing a RIDGID with a HEPA filter as a compromise of handling fine sanding dust while still being a shop vac and wondering if anyone has experiences to share? TIA. Von Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 I have two of those. I use the Gore HEPA filters with them, which are easy to rinse out with a water hose. Mine are older models that weren't designed to take bags. They work great with router tables, drill press, and other such things that work better with small diameter high velocity hoses better than a big DC hose. One of them ran all day, every day for a week cleaning out the attic in an 1828 house in 2009. That one is still in use. The old Craftsman shop vacs were the same as the Rigid ones. I wore out several of them over the years, but don't find the newer Rigid ones any slighter built. For fine dust, I use the large model Shop Vac, sold in Lowes, that take the yellow fine particle bags. That was bought before the Rigid ones were designed to use bags. I use those for plaster, sheetrock, and other fine dust. You have to be careful not to overfill the bags, or it will break clogging up the last chance filter that you have to take the bottom off the motor to clean out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 Von, I have had one of the 16 gal, big wheel units you linked in my home shop for about a year and persuaded the highschool to buy one for the wood shop a few months ago. I would buy again. I have the green HEPA pleated cannister filter and the regular yellow bags (I'll switch to green bags at the next change). I can't give you numbers, but it has both strong suction and abundant air flow as compared to the Vacmaster it replaced. The wheel design rolls more easily, too, and there's better attachment storage. In fact my only issue with it is that the vac is too powerful, e.g. it will suck up power cords that are several inches a way. I bought a handle attachment with an adjustable vent to solve the problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 Here are the filters I use on them. We keep several for each vac so we can always have a dry one to use while the ones wet from cleaning are drying. They were all bought before they came out with the green ones. Even the filters I bought as long ago as 2007 are still in use. https://www.oneida-air.com/gore-cleanstream-pro-hepa-filter-dome-top-design?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlPWgBhDHARIsAH2xdNdYnYobSFZoqBAnmG9O6F6UNiztCMlTFrTg-nUulp75mFALc3VpNVQaAjxZEALw_wcB Home Depot used to sell these in the store along with the vacs. The reason these say post 2013 is because their vacuums before then required a plastic nut to hold the filter on. I have one of each type, but there is no difference in performance. These newer filters just slip on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted March 25 Author Report Share Posted March 25 Thanks @Tom King and @Mark J! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 25 Report Share Posted March 25 Von, I have the same Craftsman that you described and use mine for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I have a central dc system for my major tools. Why are you replacing yours? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted March 25 Author Report Share Posted March 25 On 3/24/2023 at 9:46 PM, Coop said: Von, I have the same Craftsman that you described and use mine for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I have a central dc system for my major tools. Why are you replacing yours? Just for clarity, I have a Sears 16 Gallon Wet/Dry Shop Vac 113.178490. It's >20 years old (my wife bought it before we met). A few reasons I'm replacing it: The main reason is it won't take any sort of bag that I can find. The inlet comes in through the top, as opposed to the sidewall, and splits into a Y for some reason. This concerns me with regards to how much fine dust it is passing through and also makes emptying it a very dusty experience. I'm hoping a bag will also keep the filter cleaner longer. The wheels are tiny, catch on everything and won't go over its own power cord. The hose is getting pretty beat up, has a couple of kinks, and the end has several cracks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 25 Report Share Posted March 25 On either the Rigid or ShopVac, if you use a bag and it ever breaks getting dust outside the bag, take the top off, the screws out of the bottom of the motor cover, and there is another filter protecting the motor. It's open cell foam that can be washed out. If it ever seems like the vac is not working like it used to, take that filter out and clean it. Air is sucked through it to keep the motor cool, and flow for the whole system depends on it. The older model Rigids don't take a bag either. If the one that does take a bag is like the Shop Vac, don't throw the little plastic piece away that goes inside the hole of the bag. The one for my Shop Vac got thrown away once, and I had to order another one off ebay. I'm not sure if the Rigid is like that or not. Shop Vacs were using bags a long time before Rigid started with them You can't fill the yellow bags up with fine dust like sheetrock or plaster dust more than about 1/4 full. IT seems like they will hold more, but I think the inside of the bag gets coated to the point that it won't let any air through, and the bag will rupture, causing a required cleaning of the whole inside of the canister, and that filter inside the motor cover. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted March 31 Author Report Share Posted March 31 Got the RIDGID HD1800 with the HEPA kit. Have only had time to assembly it so far, and it assembled well and seems well made. Getting the HEPA bag on the inlet felt a little "is this right?" but no major issues. And, it should go without saying but I feel like I never know, it has the same size 2.5" hose as my Craftsman so thanks goodness all my adaptors fit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennL Posted March 31 Report Share Posted March 31 I have a couple of the Rigid 4 Gal portable vacs and a full size one, probably 10 gal, and really like them. I recently purchased a Stainless Steel Dewalt, 10 gal, 5HP at Costco. I'll admit it was an impulse buy! LOL If you want to "Super Charge" your shop vac...get an Oneida Dust Deputy 2.5!!!! The shop vac internal bags are a PITA, especially when they get overfilled. Without a bag, the filters get clogged up fairly quickly with wood dust. The Dust Deputy remove 90+ percent of what enters the vac!!! I needed to clean out my cabinet saw, despite having the DC connected to it, a fair amount of dust does get trapped in there. I used the new setup and filled the HD 5 gal bucket just about a third full. Next to nothing but really fine "powder" dust got into the shop vac. The shop vac filter stays really clean! I use it along with the DC on the bandsaw and it does an amazing job. There's practically nothing in or on the saw!!! I liked the Dust Deputy so much I bought it's big brother!!! Replaced my cyclone trash can lid and it is awesome! Milled some poplar last night and it worked great! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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