Review: Ridgid WD4070 Wet/Dry Vacuum + VT2534 Car Cleaning Kit

[Hydrocket]

I needed a new wet/dry vac for the garage/cars, so after consulting our resident detailer (Canuck), I went ahead and purchased the Ridgid WD4070 Pro Series vac. It's a 4 gallon, 5HP "pull along" style vac. I chose it because it has a small, compact footprint, it's light and best of all a lifetime warranty. Some may gripe at the only 4 gallon capacity, but it will be used almost exclusively for vacuuming the car..so 4 gallon is plenty. The compact design makes it a breeze to store and the wheels on it pull along effortlessly even on gravel without fear of tipping. The cord wraps around the top handle, and there is small caddy in the back to hold your attachments. There's also a tube on top that holds you main attachment. It's a slick, compact design and it's a nice change from the bulkier, upright styles which are a PITA to store and can tip. The cost was $110 CDN from Home Depot.

It's very powerful too! I didn't find it extremely loud...but it's definitely louder than a house vacuum. It has the same power as much larger vacuums, so it's plenty powerful for cleaning the car. In addition to the vacuum, I also bought the VT2534 Car Cleaning Kit at $50. And am I glad I did! For starters, you get a fantastic hose. It's much, much more pliable than the standard corrugated plastic hose. It seems to have a somewhat rubber coating and is much softer than the standard hose...so it's less likely to mar any surfaces. The 11 foot length is just great! No need to have the vacuum unit right up close to the car because the hose is sooo long. You also get a wide claw nozzle like you find fitted on the industrial car wash vacuums and a soft dash detailing brush. My favorite pieces are the crevice tool and the stiff carpet brush. The crevice tool is an impressive 14" long and has a rubberized section on the end that is flexible. Best crevice tool I've used, mainly because it's so long. No need to have your hand jammed between seats ever again! But the best is the stiff carpet brush. It's a very stiff brush...just about as stiff as a fingernail brush. The stiff brush stir and lifts up the dust/dirt and makes it a breeze to pick up. I would do long sweeping passes to get the bulk dirt, then circular brushes to finish, then one more long pass to leave that just shampooed look on the carpets. The is by FAR the best carpet/upholstery brush I've ever used and gets the carpets far cleaner than any other too. It nearly looks as if they've been just shampooed. So despite the somewhat high cost of the accessory kit, I think it's worthwhile.

All in all, I'm VERY pleased with this vacuum and I would highly recommend it to any fellow enthusiast for their car cleaning needs.

[onewhippedpuppy]

One side note, after looking at the Rigid and Craftsman vacuums I think they are nearly identical. I just bought a 6.5 HP Craftsman with Jenny McCarthy levels of suction (golf ball through a garden hose). Craftsman has a very similar vac to the one posted but it hangs on the wall and includes car accessories, worth a look for a dedicated car cleaning garage vac.

[gshase]

It might suck like a pro, but I don't see anything close to 5 H.P. on a 110 volt machine. 745 watts to 1 H.P. = 3725 watts.

[Iciclehead]

....hmmm.....Ridgid tool calendars.....hmmm.......


Dennis

[JAR0023]

I've had this model shop vac for a couple of years now. Small size makes it handy and whether it's really 5hp I don't know but it's better than anything else I could find that size. I didn't know about the car kit so that's in my Amazon cart now. -J

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by JAR0023

I've had this model shop vac for a couple of years now. Small size makes it handy and whether it's really 5hp I don't know but it's better than anything else I could find that size. I didn't know about the car kit so that's in my Amazon cart now. -J

Please let is know how you like the car kit!

[look 171]

Most of those vacuum hoses are too rigid, so we always end up getting something a little easy to deal with. I have one, but don't use it often. Now, we have a bunch of those vacuums, big ones, but I have no knowledge where they are.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

One side note, after looking at the Rigid and Craftsman vacuums I think they are nearly identical. I just bought a 6.5 HP Craftsman with Jenny McCarthy levels of suction (golf ball through a garden hose). Craftsman has a very similar vac to the one posted but it hangs on the wall and includes car accessories, worth a look for a dedicated car cleaning garage vac.

I have a shop vac that hangs on the wall with a long hose. Very nice for in the garage. Need the car kit though, that looks nice

[onewhippedpuppy]

I had a Shop Vac and took it back, it was a horrible little POS that could barely suck up Sheetrock dust. Try one of these others, they are exponentially better.

[billybek]

From Garagevac.com
The Truth About Horsepower

Subject: Peak Horsepower (PHP)

Most manufacturers of garage vacuums and shop vacuums are marketing their vacuums as 4 to 5 Peak Horsepower (PHP). Lately GarageVac had no choice but to follow this trend.

No matter what you call it, PHP, HP, or horsepower, it's all just horse hockey when it comes to the performance of a vacuum cleaner.

To put it into the simplest terms:

· When it comes to vacuum cleaners, horsepower is a bogus, fictitious number having no relationship to the performance or cleaning ability of the product.

· It is not based upon the nominal operating current of the vacuum cleaner, but on the in-rush current to the motor when first turned on.

· The peak in-rush current lasts no more than 0.008 to 0.012 seconds. It is often inflated by chilling the motor to temperatures as low as -20F.

· Four horsepower equates to 2983 Watts, or 24.9 Amps, at 120Volt under ideal conditions. This would greatly exceed the voltage supply circuits and blow the circuit breaker in a home.

· It is 100% a marketing gimmick. In other words, it's just horse hockey.

For the technical person:

· Horsepower is not based upon the normal operating current of the motor. It is calculated using the maximum in-rush current. In-rush current is the current a motor sees when first started up, before the effects of winding inductance come into play. A motor with a nominal operating current of 12A can easily have an in-rush current of 30A to greater than 50A, depending upon the windings. It typically lasts for only 8 to 12 milliseconds (0.008 to 0.012 seconds). Some manufacturers attempt to maximize the in-rush current by conditioning the motor at very low temperatures (as low as -20F). This lowers the motor resistance, thus increases the in-rush current.

· Power is equal to volts times amps. Even ignoring the efficiency and power factor of the motor, a motor with a nominal 12A current @ 120V will only produce 1, 440 Watts. There are 745.7 Watts per horsepower. Thus, under the best of conditions, the motor will only produce 1.9 hp. A motor touting 4 hp would have to produce 2983 Watts. With that power, the motor would be drawing 24.9 Amps. Horsepower is determined for the motor (without any fan blades), not the vacuum cleaner system, and does not take into account any normal system losses (air leaks, restrictions, piping and the like).

This became such an issue in the late 1980s and early 1990s that Underwriters Laboratories and the Canadian Standards Association put wording into the vacuum cleaner standard prohibiting horsepower from appearing on the products electrical rating label.

Horsepower has no bearing on the performance of the product.

[vash]

i like that car kit!!

that step down hose thing would be awesome to hit the spots under kitchen appliances.

[74-911]

As I already have a shop vac and don't need another one, I think I will look into this car cleaning kit. The price is right anyway:

Sears.com

[Nickshu]

I've been eyeing that car kit at Home Depot for awhile, will adapt to my existing Rigid shop vac.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by 74-911

As I already have a shop vac and don't need another one, I think I will look into this car cleaning kit. The price is right anyway:

Sears.com

You might want to investigate ebay - I bought a (brand new) 20 foot hose a few years back for about 35 bucks.

Money well spent.

[JAR0023]

Originally Posted by Hydrocket

Please let is know how you like the car kit!

Double checked Home Despot today and they had the car kit for $40 or $12 less than Amazon, so I picked one up. Just back from a road trip in the wife's car so I owed her a cleaning. It would've been cheaper to just buy the fan tool and a reducer but after using the kit, I like it.

The reduced diameter hose is nice and flexible with swivel ends. Less fighting the hose, doesn't kink like the cheap 2.5" hose that came with the vacuum. Crevice tool is nice and long. The fan tool works much better that what came with the vac. Two brushes and a couple of adapters I may or may not ever use. Can't say it's money well spent. More just money spent on a nice upgrade. -J