Outdoor vacuum cleaner

Numatic do a wet and dry Henry (approx £125). There are also larger wet and dry vacuums in their range.

I've owned a couple of wet and dry vacuums and they have all been the same type of construction. The lower 2/3rds is a plastic bin and the upper third a lift off motor with a captive plastic ball that when the vacuum is full of water floats and stops water from entering the motor or when the vacuum is accidentally tipped on its side is sucked up block the hole to stop the water entering the motor.

Loads on Amazon

Ah the old Vax. Very reliable, and now available used cheaply.

NT

I still have mine, but a look at their website doesn't show vacuum cleaner any more.

Yup. I've got one of those. His name is George. Does everything that Henry does but the lower half is literally a bucket with a handle so after you've sucked up all the mucky stuff it is easy to carry to the disposal point. And, because it is a wet'n'dry machine it doesn't come under the low energy regulations governing ordinary vacuum cleaners and consequently has much more suck than the current version of Henry.

Nick

But nothing proposed so far is bagless - or is it normally bagfull but with some mode in which one uses it without a bag. I want to do what you appear to be implying. Suck up the stuff and then at the disposal point, tip it out of the "bucket".

Yes. In "Henry" mode it has a bag but when you use it in wet mode the bag comes out, a different hose with spray attachment goes on and the muck goes directly into the bucket. As Alan said there's a small tank for carpet cleaner/detergent/degreaser/weed killer or whatever you might want to spray onto your surface but spraying is not compulsory. And a ball valve to prevent you overfilling the bucket with crud. Google numatic george parts to see how it all fits together and comes apart.

Nick

Ah, now we're cooking with gas - thanks.

George from Numatic. We have one and it works well, although I've really only used the wet feature (we have a Henry too).

It gets used as a carpet cleaner - it includes a water tank (can be omitted) where you squirt water on the carpet and then vacuum it up No bag.

In the dry mode you can use a bag.

Do the Aldidl ones have bags - or those cheap suck/blow ones from e.g. SF?

You use it without the bag for wet. Usually fitting an attachment internally with a float valve to stop liquid entering the motor when the liquid level gets too high. With Numatics there may be an additional mesh filter over this float attachment to prevent solids entering the motor in its wet mode.

Use dry you fit a bag which acts as a dust filter.

For the general idea .....

The numatic hepa-flo bags claim to be a 3 layer filter.

Some models come with an internal water/shampoo reservoir where the motor is also used to pressurise it so that you can spray water/shampoo at the same time as sucking it back up in the same attachment for carpet washing etc. You don't necessarily have to use this facility for unblocking sinks, mopping up spills/leaks or vacuuming up pine needles.

For wet use remove the bag

There is actually a separate pump. Basically a metal slug in a cylinder, with a coil fed by a diode from the mains, together with a one way valve (ball bearing and spring in suitable seating). Noisy but effective.

Users need to make sure the thing is run through with lots of clean (non soapy) water before packing it away, or the slug seizes in the cylinder and the pump has to be dismantled.

DAMHIKT.

I have both wet 'n' dry versions of Nilfisk (bit smaller than the link above) and Numatic (George). The Nilfisk is a lot simpler to change over to wet and also seems as if it would be OK for bagless, dry use in wet mode (I've never tried it). No choice now - I 'lent' George to next door (really gave it, but retained use) and now she's moved to Devon), but if I need wet use in a hurry it's simply bag out, wet filter on, use, not all the bits for George.

In message , Tim Streater writes

I like simple, so use a Karcher which operates exactly as above. Two clips, motor lifts off, empty bin, job done. No bags, no nothing. It is not a true wet/dry with a ball to protect the motor, but is fine with damp garden rubbish, gutters etc., as long as it is just damp, and not standing water. Cable tidy is manual - a recess around the top into which the cable is wound. Cable is much longer than standard domestic, and came with the usual hose and attachments. 1100w, and grey rather than the current bright yellow. About 5 years old, and very highly recommended.

I have an old large but good wet or dry. And use it for this sort of thing. But with a bag. No bag which sounds nice results in blocked filters in short order. Remove those filters and bits get to the internals. So I just empty the bag and re-use - it lasts a few goes.

The wet and dry vacuums that I've had have been bag less for wet and for the pick up of building dust and small rubble and despite a massive amount of abuse they have lasted many years.

I still have a Hoover model and despite it sounding like its about to fall to bits it still sucks (in a good way).

Yep, and the drum being plastic it doesn't rust. Far more suck than a Henry(*). Mine has the power tool socket so it'll automatically switch on off with the tool. The weak point is the plastic castor spindle mounts, I think all mine are bust.

Yes, but makes a heck of a difference if you've been sucking up plaster dust...

(*) Not overly difficult mind. Best vac I've encoutered was hired by my Dad to vacum out the loft from 50 odd years odd accumalated dust (no sarking). Two motors, three switches, a master and one for each motor. It would instantly blow a 13 A fuse if both motors where "on" and you used the master. It could pick up bricks, and any loose nibs didn't stand a chance.