Visit our Popular Forums

Excalibur5 · 17-02-2018, 13:05

Our boat came with a central vac custom installed. The vac itself was a craftsman 5-gallon wet-dry unit that ran off our inverter. The problem we had is there were too many bends in the permanent piping and it clogged more than it worked.

We removed the big boy and bought a Milwaukee M18 wet dry vac. It works so well and it is used all over the boat for cleaning and sucking out small amounts of condensate to keep the bilges dry.

We love the unit. It takes the same batteries as my tools, the battery charger works on our inverter (and a 12v charger is available, we just haven't bought it yet.). One thing we do note though is it is a battery hog. With the extra capacity batteries, it runs 10-12 minutes on a charge.

However with the size of our catamaran, that is enough to vacuum the whole boat, easily.

CaptTom · 17-02-2018, 13:06

For shop vacs, I have a 12V unit that I never use, and a "bucket head" 120V type that goes on any 5-gallon bucket.

The problem with the 12V one is that it's too small. Easily tipped over, and if used to suck out bilge water or the like, it fills too quickly and moisture gets in the motor. These are problems with the bigger one, too, but to a much lesser degree.

I second the idea of extra hose. Nothing worse than tipping the thing over by pulling the hose that list couple of inches to finish the job. It can also be difficult to get the vac into tight spaces, and even worse trying to get it out when it's full of water.

**a64pilot** · 17-02-2018, 13:27

Good vacuums use a tremendous amount of power, our home vac uses 10 amps AC, 1200 Watts

NRbar · 17-02-2018, 13:43

We use Milwaukee M18 cordless shop vac. A black dog and two cats on 53’ sailboat. We vacuum a small pet every couple of days. One battery does the whole boat. Before the boat we built and remodeled homes and had Milwaukee for our cordless. On board we have vac, whole hog right angle drill and circular saw using the big M18 and drill and impact driver using small M18. The small batteries will run the big tools but not long. 120 volt charger off the inverter. Very happy. The vac switch was touch and hard to turn on. Sent it to Milwaukee for repair and got a new vac back.

Rob

jkindredpdx · 17-02-2018, 13:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Mini shop vac, about the size of a gallon of milk+... The mini shop vac is powerful. and works well, although the designers need a lesson in ergonomics!

I use this too! I even suck dirty oily water out of my bilge well.https://sednahr35.blogspot.com/2017/...hop-vac-r.html

Caleb C · 17-02-2018, 14:30

Hi, we have a Carrand 94005AS AutoSpa Bagless Auto-Vac Hand-Held Vacuum that I ordered via Amazon.
Like it, but always use with hearing protection because it's loud. The rubberized tools will wear off at the tips rather quickly. Takes up little space, sucks like crazy, and the cloth bag is cleanable. Have used it for 2 years via the inverter with no problems.

Library70 · 17-02-2018, 15:15

Dyson hand held from Walmart ($99-worth the money) and a Bucket Head from Home Depot (snaps onto a five gallon bucket).

Maka · 17-02-2018, 15:50

Small, Wet / Dry shop vac.
Shore power, inverter or generator.

Dust is removed w wet rag or mop.

IslandHopper · 17-02-2018, 16:04

Picked up one of these a little while ago, working great so far....

https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy/...m_medium=email

98blackbell · 17-02-2018, 16:28

We just go a Milwaukee cordless 12v cordless. Works great. Corded we use the shop-vac from big box store.

steamgoat · 17-02-2018, 16:34

Small shop vac,also use it on my multi tool and sander and for blowing out lines pre winter storage. Cheap and effective.

Dave22q · 17-02-2018, 17:10

Planned usage is everything. Dust Devil is good for general duty, lousy for pumping bilge or inflating dinghy.

skippermalolo · 17-02-2018, 18:02

Black & Decker 16 V lithium battery - lasts a good 20 min - charges fast enough. Ha e had it onboard 2 yrs and love it.

SV Sailfish · 17-02-2018, 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by northbay

Second the mini Shop Vac, plugged into shore power or the inverter, it will empty the bilge faster than pumping, put the filter back in and your cleaning, put the hose on the exhaust port and you have an inflator. We use ours to inflate the dingy. Takes up less room than a five gallon bucket.

Same here.