Customer Reviews

Fein 9-77-25 Turbo III 15-Gallon 1.5-Horsepower Wet/Dry Vacuum with Auto-Start

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have always been impressed with Fein quality,and this vac fulfills that impression again. I never had any of the problems some of the other reviewers stated. I have a full basement shop where I build furniture on a part time basis. It keeps the dust down, cleans up well, and I can run it with my kids in bed. Concerning that the auto/manual switching not working, the reveiwers probably did not have the switches set so that you can do that, you need to set both switches to use auto or manual, not just one. Although expensive and relitively exp. bags, the noise level, etc. is cheap compared to losing hearing or other problems like fine dust, I love the idea of disposible bags. I used a shopvac, cleanstream HEPA filter that I had for the HEPA filter, just made an adapter, cheaper than using the Fein one. Would buy another in a minute if something happens to this one. In my real job, I'm a safety manager and have measured the dB output, and it falls in the range of advertising.

I have used a Sears shop vac for over 20 years and this Fein Turbo III was a real improvement. Oh so quiet! I compared the two vacs side by side and the noise difference is dramatic without loss of vacuum performance. The 1200 watt or 10 amps at 120 volts motor equates to 1.6 hp. Not as high as the 5hp models I have seen advertised but that rating means it would would require 31 amps! Horsepower ratings are not all equal. I waited for this model to come out because of the 2 1/4 hose size rather than the 1 1/4. Initital assembly was very easy, push on the casters, put in the bag and latch down the top. Since my shop is in my basement dust control is a real concern. The auto on/off feature is one I will use to capture the dust while sanding or routing. I like the positive lock on the hose connection to the vac. My Sears would always come off. The hose is longer as well as the power cord than my Sears model. I find that the Fein hose OD is slightly less than the Sears. Some of the attachments like the small brush and others that rely on a friction fit work on the Fein hose. The bag filter is different. It has a plastic ring that mates up to the top lip of the vac body. When the top is removed, the bag remains inside the vac. The Sears and others have the filter attached to the top so when the top is removed to empty the vac dust gets out everywhere from the filter. Looking at the height to the width of the Fein makes it appear top heavy or easy to tip over. I have yet to tip it over while tugging on the hose to move the vac around. To me what keeps this product from getting a 5 is that despite the price no attachments are included. Also no product information was provided other than a customer response post card and a statement of warranty. Neither of these two shortcomings take away from the vac's performance.

I purchased the Fein Turbo III to replace a Porter Cable and to shift from a 15 foot, 1.5 inch hose to a 25 foot, 2.5 inch hose. This allows me to reach every part of my small shop without pulling the vacuum around. I was concerned that the suction power would either stay the same, given the stats, or decrease.

I was very surprised that the suction power increased.

The design is elegantly simple. Instead of numerous possible leakage points (like in the PC), the circular top of the Fein with the motor and controls sits on the bottom and clamps tight with no air loss. The top can be rotated to accomodate a configuration separate from the bottom and the direction of the hose. While the filters are expensive, they are durable and not as fragile as the PC and many others that are either plastic or paper. A Hepa filter is also available. Both are easily installed.

The only down-side is that the Turbo III arrives only with the vacuum and a 10 foot hose. Accessories (read nozzle) are extra. For my part this was not a problem. I purchased a better hose from a third party and at half the cost. Oh! Did I mention it is the quietest vacuum on the market for it's size?

I can't explain how uncomfortable I always felt when I had to use my other wet/dry vac in the house. Like most wet/dry vacs, mine is ungodly loud. It's so loud that when I was using it outside one day, my neighbor, who lives about 450 feet from my house, commented on how loud my vacuum sounded all the way from his house! Now that's LOUD! I wear hearing protection for everything, but if I wasn't one to do that, my vac would force me to wear ear plugs. Otherwise, I'd stand a better chance of retaining my hearing if I was sitting right next to the speakers at a Who concert!

Using that vac in the house was a huge inconvenience for my wife and my dog. Most times, I would ask my wife to go to a friend's house with our dog until I finished using my wet/dry vac in the house. Well those days are gone now!

The Fein Turbo III wet/dry vac is nothing short of a miracle. It has all of the suction of my other "screaming" wet/dry vac, but is no louder than a quiet "home" vacuum -- if not more quiet. I own a Dyson full-size vacuum and the sound levels of the Dyson and this Fein vacuum are very close. Actually, I think the Fein vac is more quiet. You can carry-on a conversation with someone else while this vacuum is turned on, and I don't even wear hearing protection with this vacuum! No need to!!

I really labored over whether I should buy the Fein vacuum, the Festool, the Bosch or the Porter-Cable. For me, I think I made the right decision choosing the Fein. It has a simple design, but seems to be very high quality. I listened to some of the other reviewers here and bought the Cleanstream HEPA filter for the Craftsman "Red" vacuums at Lowes for around $25-$30. This filter is very durable, OK to rinse in water and has a very snug fit on the Fein Turbo III vacuum. Best of all, it really does filter fine particles. I sanded drywall spackling in my finished family room without hanging plastic barriers to contain the dust. This filter in the Fein vacuum let me do this without spewing dust everywhere. I used a simple drywall sander, which I purchased at ACE Hardware, that has a vacuum hose attached between it and the Fein vac. There is no need to buy Fein's expensive HEPA filter -- you'll be wasting your money. To cover the hole in the bottom of this filter, I spent a few bucks on a stainless steel bolt, washers and a nut from Home Depot. Use the rubber washer that comes with the Cleanstream filter also. Slide the s.s. washer onto the bolt first, then the rubber washer. Insert the bolt thru the hole. Attach the s.s. washer and bolt from the inside of the filter. I used stainless steel so it doesn't rust over time if I rinse the filter in water.

One thing this vac should have is a suction adjustment control. Some jobs may require that you reduce the suction, but there are ways around this. The $22 drywall sander I mentioned had it built-in to the handle and worked perfectly. You can also buy wet/dry vac hoses and attachments that have this capability. It basically varies the size of a hole in the hose fitting.

One last thing -- and at least one other reviewer mentioned this: if you can afford it and you do a lot of wood or drywall sanding, buy a cyclone kit to attach to your wet/dry vac -- they DO work! I bought the Oneida Dust Deputy for $160. It seemed to contain about 95% to 99% of the plaster dust in its own drum, and very little of this dust could be found in the Fein vacuum. This keeps your HEPA filter clean all of the time and ensures full suction from your Fein Turbo III while you're working. I would use the Oneida even with the wet/dry vacs that have the filter shaker or scraper (Bosch and Festool) --which the Fein does not have.

The Festool seemed like a very high quality vac as well, but it is much more expensive. Even the price of the optional Festool handle is outrageous. If the Festool has advantages over the Fein, I would say that its larger wheels and lower profile make it more convenient if you frequently move the vac around over "rough terrain". Also, if regulating the amount of suction is important to you, the Festool has this feature built-in. The Festool sounded just slightly louder than the Fein in the store.

While the Fein Turbo III may look like a typical wet/dry vac that you've seen over the years, it is truly a much-improved, high quality, very quiet and somewhat reasonably-priced wet/dry vac that even comes on automatically when you start your sander and other tools. It also has a larger capacity than the Festool. I wondered if I was foolish by not choosing the Festool because of all of the hype I heard about Festool, but I have found that the Fein is doing everything I demand of it, and admirably. My Fein is just fine to me...I'm very pleased with it.

I just started using this vacuum and it really is quiet. My previous shop vac was very loud, even with an exhaust muffler added. The Fein is quieter than most of my other shop tools that I would connect it to, and when I am using it by itself its quiet enough that I can still hear the radio.

The bags are expensive, but I really hate cleaning out conventional shop vacs! I tend to cut fiberglass, and also clean up metal working tools with sharp chips, and having to brush that stuff out of conventional filters was a very annoying job.

The suction seems more than adequate for my needs. It is certainly better than my old shop vac.

Basically, this vacuum is a plastic shell on wheels with a removable top which encases the motor. No frills, only the 2 1/4" x 10' hose and cloth filter came with vacuum. (I ordered the 3-Pack of Dustbags and 1 Micron Filter from Coastal Tools.com due to their lower cost and with shipping it was still a better deal. Coastal Tool also included the Turn Screw and Flange which are required items to secure the 1 Micron Filter at no additional charge).

The main reason I purchased this vacuum is twofold. First, the $50.00 off and free shipping incentive from amazon.com which brought the final price down to $299.99 and two, I needed to replace my 16 gallon 14 year old Craftsman which sounded like a jet engine.

This particular vacuum has been used primarily around drywall dust. When used with the MAGNA Sand & Kleen, item #MT800 found on page 96 of the Tool Crib August 2005 catalog, I was absolutely overtaken with its performance. Very little and I mean very little drywall dust to deal with. Suction is outstanding. Also while sanding, I can hold a coversation with the person next to me without raising my voice.

Here is a little bit of information if on a tight budget for accessories...the Craftsman 2 1/4" hose and friction fit accessories can be used with this Fein Vacuum. This was another plus for purchasing this vacuum.

So far, so good. At this point I highly recommend this vacuum. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

After using Craftsman and Shop-Vac 'shop vacs' for many years, and after the breakdown of my latest 'screamer' shop vac, I decided it was time to give the Fein Turbo III 'dust extractor' a try (it was an early Father's Day gift).

1. I ordered the Fein from Amazon and was able to get it delivered the next day by signing up for a three-month trial for Amazon's "prime" service. The cost for next-day shipping came to just over $7.00.

2. The box was delivered by FedEx and was in perfect shape.

3. It took about five minutes to install the casters and read the instructions. Contrary to some reviewers, I didn't have any difficulty reading nor understanding the directions. The part about which filter to use for different applications was clear to me. The Fein came with a hose support - I found the instructions clear as to how to 'snap' that support into place. I chose not to use it for the hose, but instead hang the coiled power cord on it. As with my previous ShopVac and Craftsman shopvacs, I either coil the hose around the top of the vac 'turban style' or simply remove it and hang it on a hook in the shop. The power cord is heavy duty and quite flexible - I HATE stiff power cords on any device!!

4. After reading all the Amazon reviews for the Fein Turbo, I fully understood that it came with minimal accessories. That was not an issue for me as I knew up front what would, and would not, be included with the vac. After ordering, but prior to receiving, the Fein, I looked at the ShopVac and Craftsman accessories (hoses, attachments, etc.), but went away confused about what would really fit (i.e. 2-1/2", 2-1/4" fittings). I simply decided to wait until I received the Fein and then go looking for accessories that will truly fit. A little web research shows that Fein accessories are readily available and, based on my shopping for ShopVac and Craftsman accessories, are not overly costly.

5. The prime factors that led me to take the plunge for the Fein Turbo III was its supposed lack of 'noise' and the auto-start feature. When I first turned on the Fein, I was able to easily converse with my wife standing right next to the machine. I have several sanders with dust collection outputs that I'm anxious to try using the auto-start function.

6. I didn't intend for the Fein to be my primary dust collection device (i.e. being attached to a planer, etc.). I will leave that duty to a larger dust/debris collection.

7. So far, I am extremely pleased with the Fein and would highly recommend it to anyone who's tired of the 'screamer' shop vacs.

8. I had occasion to use the Fein's wet pick up capability when I needed to suck up some water on the floor of our concrete well pit. The Fein pulled the water up an 8' vertical lift with no problem whatsoever.

I purchased the turbo III mostly because of the claims on how quiet it is. They were right, this machine is very quiet. I don't need to test it with fancy decibel meters or anything, just turn it on and listen, it's quiet. After using it in my shop, my favorite feature is the auto on. I use this little vacuum as a dust collector for every tool in my shop.

The only negative comments I can make is with the packaging. They just stuff the vac inside a box with no filler or bracing at all. Not surprising that it arrived with a broken hose lock, but Fein immediately sent the replacement part. This vacuum does cost alot (about three times as much as my 5hp craftsman), it you need auto on feature and a quiet machine this is the best. If you just need a shop vac, save your money and stick with a Craftsman.

After reading the review of shop vacuums in Fine Woodworking, I narrowed my search down to the Fein and Porter Cable. After checking them out at a local woodworker's shop, the decision was easy.

The Fein is far and away the quietest shop vac available. Its 2.25" diameter hose makes it far less likely to clog with large shavings from your planer or jointer. This coupled with its 15 gallon capacity and auto-on feature make it a great addition to my shop. I get absolutely *no* dust when using a 4" ROS.

A number of people have complained about the expensive attachments, but I found inexpensive ones at Home Depot, targeted for their line of Ridgid vacuums.

It's expensive, but if you buy the best, you only cry once.

Yes, the Fein is too expensive and it is indeed kind of strange to have to buy the cheap plastic tools separately. Then there are the expensive paper bags, better filters, HEPA filters, foam filter for wet use, etc.

I put together a dust control system that uses the Fein, a small cyclone separator and a system of clear plastic tubes, blast gates and hoses connecting my power tools. One gate controls the Fein 1.25" hose I purchased separately and this hose is used with a random orbital sander.

All of these tools plug into a power strip that in turn plugs into the Fein. When I turn on the tool, the vac fires up, I open the appropriate gate and it all works great.

The Fein is quiet, not irritating, and its power capacity is 19 amps, so you can even run big tools like table saws through it. There are other vacs that have the auto turn-on feature, but with far less capacity so that only the smallest tools will safely work through them. The 2.5 hose was also a necessary feature for my dust control system.

I simply could not find another vac that had all of these features and cost less. For what I needed, there was really no other choice.

I did save some money by using a Sears vac HEPA filter. It slips on nicely, but be aware that the Fein retaining screw will not work with the Sears retaining plate. Other reviewers have rigged up other bolt arrangements. The friction fit alone is probably fine.

The Fein is really a simple device, made in Italy like a lot of other good tools, and you can be pretty sure they are not losing any money selling these for the price they do. There are some even more spendy vacs out there, but for my use, the Fein is the best. 5 stars for utility, minus one for the price.