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  1. #1
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    Default Shop vacs which don't cost the earth?

    On my SCMS I have a small cyclone connected to a powerful little vacuum cleaner, one of those used by contract office cleaners which is fitted on a frame and is worn on the back of the cleaner. Noise level is not too bad either.

    Sadly, after a few years, the motor on this 2nd hand vacuum cleaner has given up the ghost, and I am looking around for another small unit with a good vacuum pull.

    Tried one of the cheap Bunnies shop vacs, handles wet and dry, but nowhere near as much much vacuum pull and screams like a banshee. Leaves a lot of sawdust around the saw too.

    Can anyone please recommend a good little vacuum cleaner with a strong vacuum?
    regards,

    Dengy

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  3. #2
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    Default

    Most of those industrial vacs are repairable you can most likely replace the motor for a lot lees than a new unit, I can recommend these guys unfortunately they are in SA I don't know if they have a presence in other states Electrical Motors Online - Royce Cross Agencies

  4. #3
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    Default

    I bought this one for about $90 and it works well through a cyclone.
    Swarts Tools Wet & Dry Shop Vacuum (SWB3000) - Swarts Tools
    It makes plenty of noise and the exit vent is probably not ideal. Neither issue is a big problem for me because I built a cart for it. I roll the cart outside and use a long 50mm flex. Although it is still plenty loud but can't expect too much for under $100.
    Vacuum power is really good.




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  5. #4
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  6. #5
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    Vacuum cleaners in the US have been claiming increasingly ridiculous power (and other) ratings for many decades.
    It's fairly standard to see claims of 5HP from a VC connected to the equivalent of a 240/10A socket.
    Sometimes the fine print says it is peak power which is meaningless.

    A more reliable spec is the vacuum rating usually given in Pascals (Pa) but sometimes in "Inches of Water Column" ("WC) which is easily checked with a manometer..
    It's interesting to see that some DC manufactures have started to inflate vacuum ratings as well.

    However the vacuum rating is not the end of the line - what is more important still is the fan curve, or how well the vacuum is sustained under restriction. A cheap VC may have a high vacuum rating but as soon as the hose becomes even partially restricted the vacuum drops off far more than it should.

    Talking about vacuums, our main house vac is a Rhoomba robot. It's not too bad at keeping general dust levels down and is able to sneak into places like under furniture and up against clear walls etc but n a cluttered house like our it simply does not get into enough corners etc so there are lots of dust and hair bunnies from our 2 Border Collies.

    To pick up this corner stuff SWMBO bought one of the purple and silver Dyson compact cordless stick things. It's supposed to be suitable for pet hair but they must be talking about pet mice because Border Collie hair chokes this thing in about 2 minutes of use which is usually well before its 1/2 baked bean can capacity dust reservoir is anywhere near full. The Rhoomba dust reservoir is about the same size but at least it fills up. We have to empty it about 5 times during a full house vac.

    I've done some preliminary testing of the Dyson.
    It is supposed to filter out 99.97% of dust (as they put it) as small a 0.3 microns.
    The best I could get was 96% of dust above 5 microns and only 68% of dust between 0.3 and 0.5 microns.
    This makes it about the same as an unconditioned needle felt filter.

  7. #6
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    Default

    Thanks for the link, DaveMan, much appreciated.
    0% vacuum = 760 torr = 14.7 psia = 29.92 inc mercury abs = 101.4 kPa abs.
    Just looking at the specs, 17kPa does not appear to be a big vacuum pull. Checked a Nilfisk commercial vacuum cleaner, specs showed 23 kPa, which I assume is much better.
    Perhaps BobL can enlighten us please?
    regards,

    Dengy

  8. #7
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    Given that a Nilfisk commercial vacuum cleaner is going to be 4 or 5 times the cost it had better be better.

  9. #8
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    Default

    Having another look at it, the lower the kPa of vacuum, the better, which means the cheaper $100 Swart unit pulls a stronger vacuum than the randomly selected $300 Nilfisk commercial unit, assuming, of course, and it is a big assumption based on BobL's post above, that the manufacturers spec figures are to be believed.

    ​Edited: Well , I got that wrong !​ ( see below)
    regards,

    Dengy

  10. #9
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    The high the vacuum the better.
    The Festool CT26 is 24 kPa.

    Anything above 20 kPa is plenty. But as I said that is only one aspect.
    The real test is does any airflow when you stick a long hose and choked power tool on the end of the hose.

  11. #10
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    In the case of my Swarts, I fitted it to a cyclone then a 3m 50mm flex, then 30mm RO sander port and the suction was too much.

    First it crushed the collection bucket. I solved that problem but then I still had to add holes to reduce the suction at the tool.

    I would imagine the other options mentioned in this thread would have even more suction but I'm just guessing.

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  12. #11
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    See if you can find a second hand Makita 443 or Festo SR-151 (same machine, different badge) on ebay or gumtree; loads of suction through a 50mm hose and just about indestructible.

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