Hi everyone, I been dealing with some messy garage and also do little woodworking so I finally decide its time to buy a proper wet/dry shop vac. I did a lot of searching last week, spent hours on blogs like Wirecutter, New York Times product reviews, Lifewire and also scrolling thru different from what I see most people keep talking about these two models again.
Both of them have really solid feedback and tons of reviews but I am stuck between which is better for long term use. I like the DEWALT because it looks more heavy duty but Shop-Vac also has strong reputation and is little smaller so maybe easier to handle.Anyone here tried both or have experience which one sucks better for dust, wood chips and maybe little bit of water clean up?
Both have tons of reviews and features are amazing but I just can’t decide. I need your help to choose the right one, thanks in advance.
My highest priority would be to buy the quietest shop vac possible which is the Dewalt StealSonic. This thing will be running for hours in your shop. The last thing you would want is to listen to a very loud shop vac along with the loud router.
It also helps a lot to have a dust separator like the Dewalt separator. This will dramatically reduce the number of vacuum bags that you will go through. I would consider my separator to be a must have assessory.
After the CFO heard the Dewalt Stealthsonic for the S5 Pro she directed the purchasing department (me) to get the smaller version for inside the house. Pick the size you need based on your requirements, its absolutely wort it. Get a cyclone as well.
Another vote for the Stealthsonic, I have the 6 gallon model. I no longer have to wear ear protection when using the vacuum, the suction is louder than the motor! And the suction is great, much better than my old Craftsman.
My only niggle is that it doesn’t exhaust through a hose-connectable port. I can no longer show kids how a non-vertical airstream can support a ping pong ball via Bernoulli’s principle.
If a shop vac fits your needs great. For me I have a Jet DC1100 dust collector. I use for all my machines in my shop. Some of them are massive dust creators. I have a Grizzly 20" planner, a Dewalt 13" planner, an SCM 16" bandsaw and of course table saw, router table, drill press etc. But a shop vac would not work for me. Now my Jet is loud and I have an Onieda cyclone dust separator but it does remove dust efficiently. Even having a shop vac a cyclone dust separator keeps your system at peak efficiency. Without a cyclone separator your filter is clogged in about 5 minutes. The shop vac still works but its efficiency is greatly reduced.
So if a shop vac will suit your woodworking needs seems like the advise here on the forum is the Dewalt Stealthsonic. However if you are doing woodworking on other dust creators a real dust collection system would be better for dust collection but worse for noise levels. It is always give and take on everything.
I am pretty sure that OP is a spam bot or something along those lines, hence the odd links (which have since been deleted) — the account has been silenced, so we shouldn’t see more of this sort of thing (until such time as they use a different e-mail address and possibly IP address to sign up).
The stealth sonic is not the only vacuum I have so I still have one with an exhaust port, the exhaust port design is one of the reasons it’s so quiet.
I use a cyclone inline, so not much, if anything gets to the shop vac. So I want to remove the filter in the shop vac to increase suction/flow, and any micro particles, if any, can then be vented to the outside via the exhaust port. This is my current setup, and honestly considering the router noise, the shop vac noise isn’t over the top, and I use hearing protection when in the shop. But I do like the idea of a quieter vac, and if I found one like the Dewalt with an exhaust port, I would buy it.
the filter can be shaken clean from the outside, it has a switch power outlet for tools (I use a multi outlet power extension, since I always olny use one tool at the same time there is no overload), what is really convenient, it is the square cover in the middle on top, the blow port is on the left side of the picture:
Makes sense, I have the internal bag installed with the inline cyclone. I can tell you there is way more than enough suction/flow with the Stealthsonic as well as the Rigid vacuum to remove debris from the S5 Pro. I have the spindle and even with the Stealthsonic I still wear hearing protection when they are running in the shop.
I was using a Ridgid, however, the noise drove me out of the shop. I switched to using a Fein Turbo 1. Cut the noise down by half (so my ears say). Also, I noticed more dust pickup with the Fein. I use it with a dust cyclone to save on the cost of the vacuum filters. I am super happy with how the Fein works.
I picked up the Stealthsonic for my 5 Pro the other day. But now I’m trying to figure out the hose connections. I currently have a Rockler 2-1/2" hose for use with my general shop vac and separator. However, the end fitting only works on the CNC dust port (Sweepy) end not on my Harbor Freight separator end. End fittings always seem to be the hardest part to figure out to get everything fitting correctly. What is everyone else using for hoses between your vac and/or separator and the Sweepy fitting?
