Replacing the filter on a Craftsman 5 Gallon Clean 'N' Carry Wet/Dry Vac.

[David Farber]

The model number is 113.179255.

A picture of the filter is here:

The nut you see at the top of the picture won't budge. Thus, I cannot remove the filter. I called Sears and they said it should come off easily without any tools. The vacuum is less than a year old and only used a couple of times. I don't think I ever removed the filter before. You can see how mangled that plastic nut is now after trying every tool the in drawer to remove it. (Why would they use a plastic nut?) I must be missing something really obvious. One other thing I should mention, the owners manual shows the parts blow up which includes a "filter nut lever." I didn't see anything like that attached to or near the nut.

Thanks for your replies.

[Han]

"David Farber" wrote in news:j2qbm4$aj2$ [e-mail]:

If his is anything like the old, old SHopvac, you don't need the nut. All the filters I have had were frictionfit (some fell off easily, though!). I just bought a replacement at Home Depot since the guy I had lent the vac too gave it back so filthy, I chewed off half the filter trying to clean it with a garden hose :-(

[trader4]

-email.me:

I have a Craftsman that is probably 20+ years old at this point. But it uses a similar filter and looks like the same or similar design. On mine the filter is held on by a special plastic wing nut, if you will. That wing nut is large and has only one side, more like a lever. Sounds to me that could be what Sears is describing.

If that is what you had, almost all of it is gone at this point. The special plastic wing nut is likely formed around a steel nut and in your case almost all of the plastic is gone.

Something must have been very wrong with this from the factory for it to have gotten stuck on there like that in less than a year. My 20+ year old one still works perfectly.

Have you tried spraying it with penetrating oil and letting it sit for a day? If it won't come off with pliers at this point, the only thing left to do would be to carefully cut it off with a hacksaw, grinder, or try a nut splitter. Then you can get a new nut from Sears.

[Home Guy]

What are you doing?

That filter is extremely clean. There is no need to mess around trying to remove it.

Yes, I agree that eventually (when you start putting it to some real use) that you'll want to remove it to slam it against a tree trunk or brick wall to get the fine dust out of it.

But at this point it simply does not need to be removed.

I have a 10-year-old Rigid (sp?) shop vac (the large size) and I keep re-using the same filter. The filter looks like a cross between brown cardboard and really thin leather. Once every year I'll rinse it under warm water, opening every fold and flushing out the fine mud. Then I'll put it outside on top of the AC unit where it dries.

[trader4]

If he wants to use it to vacuum up water there is.

If he wants to use it to vacuum up water there is.

[Home Guy]

He can still use it to vacuum up water - with the filter on. I've done it.

Once you're done, just turn it upside down (like he has in the picture) and let it dry out. Sit the whole thing on top of the outside AC unit and let the hot air dry it out.

[willshak]

David Farber wrote the following:

Because the vac is sometimes used to suck up water and a metal nut on a metal rod would rust solid.

I must be missing something

Did it look like that before you took the tools to it? This is what a filter nut should look like. This one is white, yours is black.

nut should only be put on and taken off with your fingers, no tools required. Did you remember righty tighty, lefty loosey?

[Han]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Even then, the Home Depot "MultiFit" filter fit fine for my similar vintage Shopvac. ~$20 for the HEPA one.

[Rick]

Take a look at a new filter....

Looks like the lever nut was already off, the filter is just stuck, and you've mangled the stud...

[David Farber]

Now that I see the photo from your link above of what the nut should look like, I had nothing like that. I probably should have taken a "before" photo but that would have meant I knew I wouldn't have been able to remove the nut. There was just that black rubbery knob at the end of the filter. It used to have some sort of edges to it. I tried fitting it with a socket but nothing would grab it, sae or metric.

Yes, I'm pretty good with the left loosey stuff. (-:

Thanks for your reply.

[David Farber]

I can spin the entire filter if that's what you mean but whatever is securing it at the end of line does not rotate when I spin the filter. Is that what you meant?

Thanks for your reply.

[David Farber]

I see the new filter with the hole at the end. I really can't see the end of the stud on what I have here. Is it metal? Wouldn't it have threads on it? That would be pretty easy to notice if the nut were missing, no?

Here's a scenario I could imagine. If the vacuum cleaner does not come preassembled, then I mount the filter on the stud. Next, I cannot find the wing nut in the parts bag or it just gets lost. Needing to secure the filter onto the stud, I grab something from my workbench that fits securely on the end of the stud. On the other hand, if it does come preassembled, I really can't think of any explanation for this.

Thanks for your reply.

[krw]

>

Should be, but as others have said, the nut is a one-armed "wing nut". It should be pretty easy to notice that it's not there. ;-)

You're probably close. Someone lost the nut (mine has fallen off, into the muck below) and replaced it with something close. ...and stripped the mess. You'll likely have to force it off, somehow, or cut it off and replace the parts necessary. Parts should be available because they built millions of the things (and those with the same parts). Here's a link to the manual:

[JimT]

Cut the whole thing off. It looks like it's made of plastic and paper.

What usually do is cuss a lot and mangle until I get the results I want. :)

[David Farber]

Yes, epic fail. (I always wanted to use that term on the internet (-;)

Ok, I just kept twisting until the "nut" came off. Scroll down and see the results.

Then see what turned up a little while later hiding in a pile of papers. Didn't anyone at the two Sears stores I called AND their parts department know about this?

Thanks for your reply.

[JimT]

OOPS!

Too much mangle and not enough cussing. Maybe you should have used an "angle grinder". LOL

[David Farber]

Angle grinder? Could I have seen how the filter was installed on that so I could have figured out how to replace the filter on the vac? (-;

[JimT]

That was a dumb joke.

Actually, I was thinking if you cut off the filter you might have figured it out. Couldn't you access the manual online or is this a good case for "reading the manual"?

[David Farber]

I did access the manual online. It showed a nut with half a wing as one previous poster, willshak, pointed out in his link:

When I called the Sears parts department, they confirmed the same thing. It was only that one piece of paper I posted online that was tossed in with the vac somewhere that shows the correct parts blowup. Must be a well kept secret at Sears.

[JimT]

I bought a Ridgid vacuum for $20 on sale at Homedepot. They were almost giving them away. It uses that wing nut and works fine. I clean the filter with my other vacuum but I only use it in my backyard for picking up leaves. I've never replaced the filter in about 5 years.