New Shop Vac - RIDGID WD1450

Sean Wright

Member
Messages
902
Location
WNY, Buffalo Area
With some HD gift cards I upgraded my freebee shop vac to something more substantial.... RIDGID 14 Gallon Pro Vac WD1450. Its not a Fein or a Festool, but I have to save the real money for that new bandsaw.:thumb:

When we bought our house, the former owners left all kinds of junk in the basement. One thing that they left was this dinky little shop vac. I didn't have a shop vac so, I kept it. I was Ok....before I got in to wood working. :rolleyes: Now it seems that my clean up needs have grown substantially.:D

It had good user reviews online and Popular Mechanics rated highly. With the gift cards, the price was right.;)

Popular Mechanics Magazine Wet Dry Vac Reivew:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/how_to/4220931.html

This is the part of their Pro line, which for the most part seem to have something they call "scroll noise reduction technology". It is supposed to make it run quieter. When I fired it up it ran a lot quieter than what I was expecting given its size. I actually think my freebee vac is quite a bit louder. This will be a big plus when I hook it up to my router or ROS.

It also comes with a decent filter, down to 1 micron... or so they say.

Vac Info from HD's site
Ridgid 14 gallon pro vac 6 peak horsepower includes 2 extension wands, utility nozzle, car nozzle, wet nozzle and storage basket. This vac also offers new patented scroll noise reduction (SNR) technology which allows for powerful and quiet performance.

Filter Info from HD's site
Double pleated design captures fine particles at 99.5% efficiency like dust, drywall sanding and fireplace ash. Filter also offer microban™ antimicrobial treatment which protects and inhibits growth of mildew and bacteria which can shorten filter life.
 

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Congrats, Sean. You'll like having a good vacuum in the shop. I don't know what I'd do without a shop vac.
 
I have the 16 gal SNR and it's a great machine. Take an old pair of your wife's pantyhose over the filter and it will last about 10 times longer than without. If you don't, the pleats in the filter will pack full of material and the filters aren't cheap. Also, the generic 14 gal filter bags sold by HD will fit you machine (much less expensive than the Ridgid bags) and they are a real luxury when vacuuming dust.
 
Will the panty-hose trick work on most shop-vacs?
I would think so. I bought a CleanStream for my big Ridgid. You can hose them off although I have never had to do more than tap it on the inside edge of the trash can. I have a seperator so the stuff that gets to the filter is really fine. If I am lazy about cleaning it out the fines will pack in kinda tight.

BTW, congrats Sean. You'll enjoy having that.
 
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Sean, you made a good buy. I bought that model back before Thanksgiving and like it a lot. :thumb: I recently added the HEPA filter....
 
How does it work? I need to upgrade my old 12 gallon 3.5 hp one. The bearings are shot and it well, lets say it doesn't suck.:rofl: It gets used way to much.
 
How does it work? I need to upgrade my old 12 gallon 3.5 hp one. The bearings are shot and it well, lets say it doesn't suck.:rofl: It gets used way to much.

Al,

I have been happy with it. I have hooked it up to my ROS as well as my CMS, and have used it in conjunction with my DC on my new bandsaw (it has hookups for both shopvac and 4in DC).

It has done a good job cleaning up my shop and also when connected to my tools. The lower noise of this model is greatly appreciated especially when using the bandsaw. (1hp bandsaw, 1.5hp DC & the vac all at the same time)

I can't say how it does with liquids as my usage has been only dry dust & wood chips.

If you are still in the market, I recommend it! :thumb:
 
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