Quiet Ridgid shopvacs?

[Suanne Lippman]

There have been posts in the past about how quiet some of the Ridgid shopvacs are.

Is the 16-Gal 6.5hp one of them? How many amps is it, anyone know?

[Meat Plow]

Peak HP is a marketing gimmick. That motor probably draws 8 or so amps.

[Eigenvector]

I've never seen a quiet shop vac before. I suppose everything's relative though.

[ransley]

about how quiet some of the Ridgid

No its not quiet, none are, but it has a lifetime warranty and mine is a leaf blower too, so its a best buy

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The new ones though are MUCH quieter than the ones of years ago. I'd say that are now tolerable.

[Steve Barker]

If it's quiet, then it's not moving much air. You want a vacuum to SUCK, not be quiet.

[John McGaw]

>

Quiet shop vacs exist and have existed for some time. The likely reason that few have seen them is that they are expensive. And because they are expensive they are not sold as commonly as the junk peddled by the borg stores. My Fein Turbo III is quite quiet. For even more money the large Festool vacuums are quieter yet. I decided to spend the extra money after years of buying junk that lasted for a year or three and were noisy enough to justify the sort of hearing protection I wore on the flightline around fighter aircraft.

[The Ranger]

Not just "expensive" but "EXPENSIVE!" US$550 (~US$400 On Sale) is a bit much for most DIYers...

I am also a big believer that the hearing protection I've invested in has allowed me the continued pleasures hearing after using my shopvac. I have a Genie and a Craftman that certainly sound like jet aircraft before takeoff but I couldn't justify that type of expense for a shopvac. A whole shop dust collection system, yes; but not a shopvac.

The Ranger

[dpb]

See

Seems to be same motor, ...

Specifications Gallon Size 16 Motor * Peak Horsepower 6.5 * Voltage 120 V * Amps 12.0

No idea on noise levels--I'd ask Ridgid for rated dB levels if of concern.

On "peak HP" since another respondent brought it up -- I agree it's a way to get bigger number for advertising purposes. Somewhat surprised to see Ridgid doing so, but more than likely given the market for the object they've been pretty much forced into it by Sears in order to seem to be in the same league... :(

--

[Joe]

know?

Still using my current Sears shop vac after some 8 years or so. Rated

5 or 6 (optimistic) HP and it was noisy as all hades until I installed the outlet muffler. IMO the Sears vacs are the best ones around. Have another one I bought maybe 15 years ago still in service at a friends commercial auto shop. Have to give Sears credit for having a decent selection of tools and adapers to get a lot of use out of their machines. I use mine with a Magna Sand trap for drywall joints and it makes a nearly dust-free job out of the usual mess. HTH

Joe

[Rick Brandt]

I have a 10 gallon QSP "Shop-Vac" that I paid about 70 or 80 bucks for. Very quiet compared to others (quieter than our Hoover upright carpet vacuum) and more than powerful enough for everything I have ever used it for. This was purchased at least 5 or 6 years ago.

What you give up is an exhaust hole that accepts the hose for blowing or for clearing the hose. Most of the noise comes from the exhaust and in these quieter units that have a series of slots instead of the single large hole.

[mm]

know?

I like Sears shop-vacs and Shop-vacs sold by other vendors (but obviously made by Shop-vac becasue they are so similar and use the same accessories), because I like the company. Manufactured in the USA, in Pennsylvania. When I called because I needed a pair of legs, a human being talked to me, sent it out for FREE even, and I had it in about 2 days from calling.

(The rear legs that came with it also held a big tool holder, that I thought might get in the way. Maybe I should have said that I already had a pair but I didn't expect the conversation to go so quickly.)

The manual had a parts list that gave the part number for the front legs. VEry easy to order.

I only use mine for a little bit of vacuuming and lots of floods, but it's going fine after 10 years. I think a more quiet one would lessen my sense of panic when my basement is flooded. :)

[George]

A properly designed tool never needs to be noisy. If you need hearing protection to vacuum you are using a big box quality vacuum.

[Dave Martindale]

There's an in-between option too. Some workshop vacs have a 2 inch exhaust port with a removable muffler in it. For normal vacuuming, the muffler stays in place, and the exhaust is quite a bit quieter than without the muffler (though perhaps not as quiet as the slot-type outlet). But when you want to blow instead of suck, you just remove the muffler and connect the hose to the exhaust port.

Dave