Customer Reviews

Shop-Vac 401-04-00 400 Series Wet/Dry Shop-Vac

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This vacuum works fairly well for lighter duty use, but don't expect to suck up large rusty nails or similar nasty jobs with it. The horsepower is only adequate for smaller jobs, and the smaller dhose iameter (1.25") is a limiting factor. On the plus side, it's a great compact size that doesn't take up too much room in my shop, and is easy to carry around the house. I wish it came with more attachements like a crevice tool...

For an inexpensive shop vac, this does the trick, the hose is very flexible and does not pull out of the canister as in my experience the Sears model does. Light and easliy pulled, buy it and you will not be dissappointed.

Having one of these around saved me when my basement flooded recently - it sucked up the first gazillion gallons of water with no problems, and I was totally impressed with its capacity and power. It's got a nice squeegee attachment that really gets the last drops off the floor, and the other assorted nozzles should cover most day-to-day needs.

The dry "suck" is good too - basically a brute force vacuum that'll gobble everything in its path (beware - it'll pick up stuff you'd never see your regular vacuum get). That's what this was originally about: attach it to a router or a sander, and save yourself dust and woodchips flying everywhere. The simple filter/bag system works fine, and converting from wet to dry and back is a cinch.

Couple of problems with the shop vac design: it's top heavy, with a big heavy motor assembly sitting above a flimsy plastic bin. Since the hose you pull to get it to move is attached up top, you'll find yourself tipping the whole thing over time and again. That's a real pain since it causes all the dust inside the bin to get blown out the exhaust. Other problem is the wheels: they're too flimsy and attach poorly - screws would've gone a long way to stabilizing the vac. Also, when sucking up lots of water, you'll soon get annowyed with having to disassemble the thing entirely to empty it - hose must come off, engine clamped off the top before you can tip the contents out of the bin, which is no mean feat when it's filled with 6 gallons of water. Oh, and pulling the vac by the hose when it's full of water is not a good idea - the vac won't budge, and instead you risk tearing the hose off, or even worse, tearing the hose in half. Finally, a longer power cord would be nice - the four feet or so provided doesn't go far.

It would have been nice if you could attach the hose to the exhaust and use it as a powerful blower, but that's not possible. It would also have been nice if you could attach an additional hose at the bottom when using it as a wet vac - essentially that would've allowed it to function as a mobile emergency pump.

Still a great deal by any standard; every home really should have one.

I probably go through one shop vac yearly. I don't know why but they all burn out no matter what brand or what size motor. I change filters according to guidelines monthly needed or not and mainly suck up saw dust from saws and sanders. I occasionally suck up water maybe twice a year with an over flowing drain or what ever but i have tried all vacs big small weak and powerful. Help? nothing's working. They just keep buring up around thanksgiving every year.