Recommend me a quiet wet/dry vac
October 25, 2016 6:21 PM Subscribe
I'd like to purchase a wet/dry vac (aka shop vac) that is effective, well made, and relatively quiet. Can you help me?
I have up to about $200 to spend, although less would be better. I don't actually care very much about the size; anything in the 4-to-8-gallon range would be fine for my purposes—the capacity/portability tradeoff is pretty much a wash for me. I'm not tied to any particular brand, I just want it to have good build quality, be able to pick stuff up, and be as quiet as possible.
The reason I want it to be on the quieter side is that I intend to use it as a portable dust extractor as well as a vacuum, so it may sometimes be running for extended periods—and also I and others in my household have noise sensitivity issues. I've not had very good luck finding credible reviews or comparisons that focus on this aspect of the picture, so I'm asking here. I am open to suggestions for less-traditional solutions as well; if there is some kind of similar product that does most of what wet/dry vacs do without being so damn noisy, I'll consider it.
I am also interested in strategies for further quietening the shop vac, once I have it in my possession. Can you put a muffler on these things? Is it worth it to build some kind of isolation chamber for it to live inside of when it's doing dust extraction duty? Suggestions along those lines would be very welcome. Thanks very much in advance, everyone!
I have up to about $200 to spend, although less would be better. I don't actually care very much about the size; anything in the 4-to-8-gallon range would be fine for my purposes—the capacity/portability tradeoff is pretty much a wash for me. I'm not tied to any particular brand, I just want it to have good build quality, be able to pick stuff up, and be as quiet as possible.
The reason I want it to be on the quieter side is that I intend to use it as a portable dust extractor as well as a vacuum, so it may sometimes be running for extended periods—and also I and others in my household have noise sensitivity issues. I've not had very good luck finding credible reviews or comparisons that focus on this aspect of the picture, so I'm asking here. I am open to suggestions for less-traditional solutions as well; if there is some kind of similar product that does most of what wet/dry vacs do without being so damn noisy, I'll consider it.
I am also interested in strategies for further quietening the shop vac, once I have it in my possession. Can you put a muffler on these things? Is it worth it to build some kind of isolation chamber for it to live inside of when it's doing dust extraction duty? Suggestions along those lines would be very welcome. Thanks very much in advance, everyone!
So, I work in a lab that produces large quantities of plastic and synthetic dust which we have to mitigate. We do this with normal shop-vacs with frequently changed dust covers and filters, and these vacuums often have to run 10 hours a day solid. The lab is already also extraordinarily loud when fully running, which means that noise mitigation is a major concern. A few things I've learned:
All vacuums are loud. This has to be taken as a given. A quiet vacuum is a weak vacuum. Finding a durable and powerful vacuum is better. You can always quiet a machine, but not make it more powerful.
Enclosures is how we deal with the sound of 6 shop-vacs running at once on top of the rest of the machinery at work. Our stuff is medical custom-made, but I cannot see any issue with a home-made plywood box enclosure with a hinged lid. For bonus portability, you can build the box over any wheels, as the base is the quietest part, and for extra dust capture and sound muffling, thin acoustic foam can be used to cover the inside of the enclosure. On our most frequently used vacuum, there is actually a double enclosure, a box inside a box. That vacuum is almost silent 30 feet away. For a vacuum that might be mostly stationary, consider that. Sound waves bounce or can be absorbed with some work.
Depending on how much dust you expect to need to capture, and how long the vacuum needs to run, I don't think a specialized dust catcher is necessary. Many basic shop-vac designs have HEPA or better quality filters for them, and we only change ours about once every few months with weekly cleanings. We professionally (as a side effect) produce fine plastic dust for a living and only need to dump a 20 gallon drum about once a week as well. This all depends heavily on the particle size you expect to have to deal with, of course. If it's very fine that gets much more complicated.
posted by neonrev at 9:11 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
All vacuums are loud. This has to be taken as a given. A quiet vacuum is a weak vacuum. Finding a durable and powerful vacuum is better. You can always quiet a machine, but not make it more powerful.
Enclosures is how we deal with the sound of 6 shop-vacs running at once on top of the rest of the machinery at work. Our stuff is medical custom-made, but I cannot see any issue with a home-made plywood box enclosure with a hinged lid. For bonus portability, you can build the box over any wheels, as the base is the quietest part, and for extra dust capture and sound muffling, thin acoustic foam can be used to cover the inside of the enclosure. On our most frequently used vacuum, there is actually a double enclosure, a box inside a box. That vacuum is almost silent 30 feet away. For a vacuum that might be mostly stationary, consider that. Sound waves bounce or can be absorbed with some work.
Depending on how much dust you expect to need to capture, and how long the vacuum needs to run, I don't think a specialized dust catcher is necessary. Many basic shop-vac designs have HEPA or better quality filters for them, and we only change ours about once every few months with weekly cleanings. We professionally (as a side effect) produce fine plastic dust for a living and only need to dump a 20 gallon drum about once a week as well. This all depends heavily on the particle size you expect to have to deal with, of course. If it's very fine that gets much more complicated.
posted by neonrev at 9:11 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
The quietest shopvac I've ever heard was made by Festo, who make the best woodworking tools. Sometimes also labeled as 'Fein' you could try finding one used.
As for controlling the sound of a non-Festo/ hurricane style shop vac - you could make your enclosure out of 'Sonotube' with accoustic-dampening foam on the inside - the tube will be higher than the vac (by how much? say the height of the vac again) but should help.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:18 PM on October 25, 2016
As for controlling the sound of a non-Festo/ hurricane style shop vac - you could make your enclosure out of 'Sonotube' with accoustic-dampening foam on the inside - the tube will be higher than the vac (by how much? say the height of the vac again) but should help.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:18 PM on October 25, 2016
I bought Albert at least 16 years ago. Albert is a Fein Turbovac. The latest models cost somewhere between 2 and 3 hundred I think. Unlike my previous vacs Albert is quiet and has a fantastic long hose. It has a receptacle so that you can plug your sander into it when using it to collect dust from the tool. When you turn the tool on the vac turns on. When you turn the tool off the vac runs for several seconds to clear the hose and then turns off.
I once had a Shop Vac brand vac that was a QST or something like that, it was quiet. I had a sears combo blower vac that was hideous. I have had shopvac brand vacs that were awful in noise and others that were reasonable, (not QST branded.)
When you say dust collection do you mean from a table saw and such? If thats the case you really need something pretty powerfull to get the dust. A shopvac will only help a little. If you mean sanders than thats a different story.
If you get a screamer you can put it outside and run the hose/pipe in through a window. I don't know what the vacs at lowes and Home depot go for but you could buy one and if its too loud just take it back and say its too loud.
posted by Pembquist at 10:18 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I once had a Shop Vac brand vac that was a QST or something like that, it was quiet. I had a sears combo blower vac that was hideous. I have had shopvac brand vacs that were awful in noise and others that were reasonable, (not QST branded.)
When you say dust collection do you mean from a table saw and such? If thats the case you really need something pretty powerfull to get the dust. A shopvac will only help a little. If you mean sanders than thats a different story.
If you get a screamer you can put it outside and run the hose/pipe in through a window. I don't know what the vacs at lowes and Home depot go for but you could buy one and if its too loud just take it back and say its too loud.
posted by Pembquist at 10:18 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Shopvac does not equal dust extractor. A vac is high pressure low volume and an extractor is the opposite, they cannot be turned into each other as they work quite differently.
I'm assuming that by dust extractor you mean something with a 4" or so inlet that deals worth wood shavings and so forth.
posted by deadwax at 11:26 PM on October 25, 2016
I'm assuming that by dust extractor you mean something with a 4" or so inlet that deals worth wood shavings and so forth.
posted by deadwax at 11:26 PM on October 25, 2016
My Rigid vac has a muffler, it's not much help. Running it for extended periods is just annoying and loud.
posted by fixedgear at 3:40 AM on October 26, 2016
posted by fixedgear at 3:40 AM on October 26, 2016
Came in here to recommend Festool's dust extractors (I have the CT-22), like From Bklyn. Pretty sure they are different from the Fein dust extractors, but I'd expect similar build quality from Fein.
But they're not under your $200 threshold.
posted by straw at 7:03 AM on October 26, 2016
But they're not under your $200 threshold.
posted by straw at 7:03 AM on October 26, 2016
I'm a remodeling carpenter. Coworkers swear by the combination of a Dust Deputy (brand name product) and quite small shop vac as a dust collection system.
posted by Makwa at 7:32 PM on October 26, 2016
posted by Makwa at 7:32 PM on October 26, 2016
It's not luggable and won't handle liquids, but I built a one-tool-at-a-time dust extractor from the cheaper HF model and I am very pleased with it. I made a stand to hold the extractor over a garbage can using scrap wood and the casters that came with it (which I ended up replacing because they were too small). Then I built a Thien style chip extractor (also from scraps and parts from this HF dust collection kit) and replaced the factory bag with this one which captures much finer particles. I used the usual 20% off coupons for the HF parts and it came in under $200 not including the wood that I already had. I've been using mine for a year now and have yet to empty the bag while I've emptied the can dozens of times. This was all done as an upgrade from a shop vac and it uses half the energy, is significantly quieter, and does a better job capturing chips and dust.
posted by Poldo at 7:59 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Poldo at 7:59 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'm a hobbyist wood-worker. For $200 I think I would probably get a cheapish small shop vac and a harbor freight dust collector. Probably this one. It says $220 but I am pretty sure that via a sale or coupon, both of which they do non-stop, you can get it significantly cheaper
It is *way* quieter than a shop vac. I actually keep mine in the attic above my garage and run PVC tubing to my machines. I can't hear it when it's on and neither can anyone in the house. It's also much more effective than a shop vac at collecting dust.
The smaller/lower HP DCs at HF might be OK or they might be crap, I don't know. They do make a portable one that is cheaper and might be OK. There is a huge community of HF buyers so basically I usually just do some googling to find out with model numbers have been found to be OK.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:52 PM on October 25, 2016