Which shop vac? Rigid 14 gal vs. 4 gal

[fotomatt1]

Hi all. I'm in the market for a new Shop Vac. I've heard really good things about Home Depot's Rigid brand. I'm looking at both of these:

RIDGID 14 gal. 6.0-Peak HP Wet Dry Vac with Auto Detail Kit-WD1451 - The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-14-gal-6-0-Peak-HP-Wet-Dry-Vac-with-Auto-Detail-Kit-WD1451/203820088)

and

RIDGID 4 Gal. 6.0-Peak HP Wet Dry Vac with Detachable Blower and Bonus Auto Detailing Kit-WD4081 - The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-4-Gal-6-0-Peak-HP-Wet-Dry-Vac-with-Detachable-Blower-and-Bonus-Auto-Detailing-Kit-WD4081/207069023)

Both the same 6.0 HP, but one is 4 gal and one is 14 gal. Not sure which one to get! Ughh!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

14gal for at home use. 4 gal for mobile use.

[Setec Astronomy]

That 4 gal one has the detachable blower, there is another 4 gal that doesn't and is cheaper. Beware the 4 gal takes a shorter filter than the others and there are less filter options.

[fotomatt1]

Is the detachable blower useful? If not, might as well just get the 14 gal.

[Setec Astronomy]

I don't know, I've looked at the regular 4 gallon but never pulled the trigger because you can't get the HEPA filter...I'm not sure I would use it, but it bugs me that you can't.

Personally I'm tired of lugging around a large shop vac (mine is 12 gal or something). I don't have room for it in my garage so I keep it in the basement and it's a nuisance bringing it in/out and up/down, which is why I was looking at a small one.

[Just02896]

I've got 4 of the ridgid 4 gallon / 5hp vacs that have been used daily for the last 4 years for construction and they haven't let me down yet. Well worth their cost.

[fotomatt1]

My only issue with the 14 gallon is the size. I have a small garage and that takes up a ton of space. I don't think the capacity is much of an issue for detailing, and fingers crossed, don't plan on sucking up much water.

[Setec Astronomy]

The (non-blower) 4 gallon is nice and compact and should hold plenty for detailing purposes. I'm not sure how big a deal the lack of HEPA is since I would use a bag with it, anyway.

[dudley07726]

I recently purchased a Rigid 4 gallon which also converts to a blower. It's great. I really like it. Fits perfectly for the small garages here in SWFL that many new homes have ( how I miss my garage in Central NJ where you can open the door without touching the other car). The blowers also works well for drying the car.
Sanction is surprisingly strong for such a small vac.

[Eldorado2k]

I have the 14 gallon vac.. I bought it back when it was offered for $99.99. It's a great vac and does a great job, but it is big, borderline too big at times.

If I were you, I'd get the smaller vac. You'll use the detachable blower to sweep the patio. Also, that blower attachment is quite rare, and you can't purchase it on its own so it's nice to have. [I have 1] I believe you still need to buy a muffler/air diffuser for an extra $12 to hook onto the back of that little vac, in order for the air not to blow out the rear.

As far as capacity, it's not really going to matter because I can do several vehicles and the dirt & dust is still at a minimum inside the 14 gallon drum. The blue filter does a great job and lasts a good long time between cleanings. Great vacs.

[Sharply Dressed]

I have the 4 gal with blower. I'm mobile so love the size and power. I've used the blower to dry cars.

[rmagnus]

Mine are from Sears. Basically the same sizes (have both) I never use the larger vacuum. Actually has a water heater take a dump in my garage and I used the larger one as a wet vac to clean up the flood. Smaller one serves the purpose. I'm not inclined to use a machine used for a vac as a blower. I've got air compressors, leaf blowers and now the McKees Turbo Dryer for that.

[Setec Astronomy]

A little update to this thread...since I complained several times about the Ridgid green HEPA filters not being available for the 4-gal vacs, well they are now, at least through HD; they don't show at the Ridgid site. I also found a similar 4-gal vac at Sears that has the green HEPA available and also has some other nice features and kit contents at a very competitive price to the 4-gal Ridgid.

[Eldorado2k]

A little update to this thread...since I complained several times about the Ridgid green HEPA filters not being available for the 4-gal vacs, well they are now, at least through HD; they don't show at the Ridgid site. I also found a similar 4-gal vac at Sears that has the green HEPA available and also has some other nice features and kit contents at a very competitive price to the 4-gal Ridgid.

Stupid question but what's the real advantage of upgrading to the hepa filter? The purity of the air that gets blown out of the rear exhaust? Prolonging the motors life? Or?


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[Setec Astronomy]

Saving my lungs from the concrete dust in my garage? Not aggravating the wife's and my allergies? Putting more money in the pocket of the Ridgid CEO by buying a filter I don't really need?

As I said earlier in the thread, one of the things that kept me from buying that vac was the HEPA filter wasn't available, and even though I might not ever buy one, I felt like I wanted the option.