An Easier-to-Lug Shop Vac
By Chuck Cage
Jason writes: “The Stinger mini shop vacuum is tiny but packs a hell of a lot of suction. I have a bigger shop vacuum but find myself reaching for this thing more often. It’s smaller, lighter, and more convenient than its big brother. Plus, if I leave it around the house it doesn’t bug the wife (as much).”
I love the idea of a small-but-functional shop vacuum. We use the hell out of our big one in the Toolmonger shop, but I hate dragging it out and putting it away — especially for “smaller” tasks like cleaning up the workbench after some Dremel carving or metal drilling. And at $30, this would almost qualify as an acceptable impulse buy.
One drawback: it looks like this is only available via Home Depot. Do any of you have experience with other small vacs? We’re pretty serious about picking one up, and we’d love to hear what you’ve got to say in comments.
Stinger 2.5 Gallon 1-3/4 Peak HP Wet/Dry Vacuum [Home Depot]
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
I’m partial to the wall-mounted models. I can totally see a wall-mounted small shop vac like this one being very useful. If you need to vacuum up the workbench, you can do it right where it is.. just pull out the hose and you’re golden.. and then if you need to take it into the driveway to vacuum the car, or into the house to clean up after a job, it’s still portable. The one I linked to is twice the size of the one above, but has gotten excellent reviews. The 12 foot hose it comes with could be good, but I’m sure you can get longer ones, and I think there’s “aftermarket” hoses that are smooth on the inside to improve suction.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:58 am
I recently picked up a similar Craftsman vac for $25 on sale. There’s no tool storage except to stick them in the tank. It’s hard to tell what’s happening with the Stinger photo tools. The Craftsman also has molded hose detents, but these offer minimal grip and the hose comes loose too easily. Hard to say if the Stinger’s setup is any better.
One of the main reasons I got the tiny vac is the blower capability. With a power inverter (direct battery hookup Zantrex Xpower 700) I can use the blower to inflate whitewater rafts very quickly.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
For air mattress duty, I picked up a little 12-volt inflater and it’s served me well. Also makes a great campfire accelerant!
If I were in the market for a 2-gallon vacuum, I’d be looking primarily at the DeWalt DC500. It’s more than twice the price, but the convenience of built-in batteries would be pretty sweet, especially for car cleaning and jobsite stuff.
Thirty bucks though… boy, that doesn’t take much convincing!
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I’ve got the exact model pictured that I use daily at work. It is darn near perfect. Great suction. Can’t beat the price. Love it for sucking out the bottom of toilet tanks before popping them off.
Quick changing cheap filter bags. Easy cord/hose storage. Opens and closes easier and more secure than many shop vacs I’ve used. Tools pop out of their holders when banging around, I don’t treat it gentle; but I rarely need them, and if you’re using it hard they’re easy to throw in the canister.
Bought one after a buddy recommended his. He’s got an earlier model, mostly cosmetic update, that’s going on it’s 2nd year, only bought his after he saw his uncle’s run for longer than that.
Think they are only Home Depot, only place I could find one. But no question a great pick-up.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
In addition to my Ridgid I have one of these (the second one I’ve bought, the first “disappeared” at a jobsite). I did buy it as an impulse, but find it useful when I don’t want to wheel out my “good” vacuum.
Only problem I’ve had was when I dropped a small chunk of oak on it in my shop and cracked the black casing. Nothing a little Gorilla tape couldn’t fix though.
My kids love it. They like to use it to vacuum out the Suburban.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I have a full size Rigid and a 2 gal. Shop Vac branded vac. I went with the Shop Vac branded model for parts (filter) availability. Even on my Rigid at HD I can’t find the correct replacement filter for it (I’m using a generic “fits all” type).
It was around $30 and it works great!
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
I almost picked one of these up a while back. I ended up simply buying some pieces for my existing Ridgid vacuum.
The post didn’t mention it, but this vacuum is made by Ridgid, which is why it’s only available at HD. If it’s anything like the Ridgid I already have, it’s solid and worth the money.
Rob: HD stocks the Ridgid filters in the same place as the vacuums. All you have to do is find your model number, which should be on a yellow sticker, and find the replacement with that model number on it.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:28 am
I got mine to supplement the big Sears shop-vac. The hose is smaller and allows me to get into tighter places with good suction.The attachments all store in the rounded cutouts around the top of the unit. The only beef I have is that the hose is too stiff and defies all attempts to coil it up.
Rick where can I get that smooth walled hose?
April 4th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Tim:
I can’t find where I had read about the smooth walled hose. I’ve tried googling and checking amazon and no dice. The only thing I remember was that the hoses weren’t cheap.. Sorry..
April 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I bought one of these to use as permenant dust collection for my DeWalt chop saw. It lives very happy under my chop saw bench and does a great job keeping the sawdust clear until my shop can afford a real dust collection system.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:17 am
James, Thanks for the tip. I could find the filters, just not the one for my model (it’s probably 10 years old and uses one of those pleated paper type filters). I just couldn’t find the right replacement part there.
July 11th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I have one of the little Stinger vacs. I like it a lot. I got it very cheaply on ebay, and it was worth every penny. I’m looking to buy another now.
If you don’t need a lot of capacity and find a compact, lightweight shop vac ideal, the Stinger is a very good choice.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I have one of these little Stingers, just bought it.
I do have an issue with it, while the suction is awesome, I can’t stop it from blowing out the other opening opposite the hose end?
I just tore out all my carpets and vacuumed the grunge that was left underneath, had to use my house vac because fine dust was coming out the blower hole.
Am I doing something wrong?
March 29th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Where can you find replacement filters for the 2.5 Gallon Stinger wet/dry vac?
November 16th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Thread back from the dead!
San Jose: try this link - http://tinyurl.com/yhcubkh