Vacuum cleaner for DIY

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yeah, well. The best of todays batteries are still a hundred times heaviuer per unit energy thgan petrol...even if the motors are more efficient and cheaper.

[ma005724]

The thing to bear in mind with this type of arrangement is that the socket is only rated at 13A... about 3.1Kw total. Each watt that goes into the vacuum is one less for the power tool...

Andy.

[Christian McArdle]

Henrys have *very* long cords. (ducks).

Christian.

[Flat Eric]

Just bought one from Machine Mart for just under £40 - think Earlex must make them for Wickes(?)

Put straight to task sucking up cement rubble - works excellently. Have previously borrowed a Henry. The Earlex looks fantastic value for money against the Henry. Sorry to all Henry fans/owners. Yes they are great, but I now have an Earlex and quite a bit change out of the price of a Henry.

Admitedly you dont get the fancy flex retraction and the flex and the hose are shorter than Henry's, but as a workshop vac that's not a problem.

Couple of points though. Seals not quite as good as Henry's though, against cement/plaster dust. Need to be v careful fitting foam filter

- it is pretty fragile. Other than that excellent.

For 'heavy' jobs I notice they even do a 60mm wide bore hose kit, which looks pretty useful at £11.99

[Peter Ashby]

I have the Earlex version (£70 from B&Q a while ago) and bought the wide bore kit when they had in the bargain bin. It sucks plane shavings off the floor far more easily than the standard hose and it plugs directly into the dust port on my Trend MkII router table without an adapter. It would be great as a garden vac. I love the power take off too. Cutting big dadoes with the router is now so much easier as all the dust just vanishes and I only have to think about one switch. It is bloody noisy though, but since I usually have the ear defenders on against the power tool noise I don't notice, the neighbours probably do though. The PP pro ones B&Q have now would be more convenient size wise but I have no idea about performance.

Has anyone tried a Wickes filter on an Earlex or vice versa to confirm they are exactly the same size? I ask since our local Wickes is more convenient than buying it remotely from Earlex.

Peter