Sucking, Blowing, and Cursing – A Shop Vacuum That Should Have Been Better

I have often bought Craftsman tools, and they in general have served me well.  I have had the shop vacuum in the photo for several years, and I did buy it for a very reasonable cost, and it does indeed suck and blow well and handle most jobs I assign it, but it occasionally requires me to kick it and speak to it in obscene terms in order to avoid becoming overly angry with it. The photo shows it waiting to make my shop immaculate.

 It is a 9 gallon wet or dry vacuum that proudly proclaims to be powered by four horsepower and blow at 140 miles per hour.  That seems to be quite a bit of horsepower for what it does, and I am not sure what blowing 140 miles per hour refers to or means in terms of moving dirt, but electrically it has so far been completely dependable.  I use it for cleaning everything from my shop to machinery and vehicles, to sucking occasional errant rainwater out of my basement and blowing dirt, dust, and remnants of rat nests out of corners. And unlike some other shop vacuums I have encountered, it does have a plug at the bottom to drain out the water it collects if used “wet”.

 My annoyances with this vacuum  could have been solved by a few simple changes in the design, and the fact that they weren’t made before production leads me to believe that maybe the designers didn’t prototype and test enough, or maybe didn’t live with shop vacuums.  I have not bought and tested a brand new one, so for all I know, these changes have been made.  But I like to comment on products that have had some usage, since many problems only become apparent after the thrill of the new wears off.

 To mention a few, the wheels are not large enough to roll over the cord.  Since it is very difficult to use a device such as this without running over the cord, this results in the need to either pick it up or pull on the hose hard enough to either tip the machine over or if the tiny hose clip is not fastened, pull the hose out of the tank. My former Craftsman shop vacuum had no clip at all, depending on the tight fit between the hose and the tank.  But if the hose was pushed into the tank sufficiently hard to remain, especially when blowing with a reducing tip, it was a pain to pull apart.  The clip is an improvement, but it is only on one end of the hose, with the result that the hose must be wrestled around until the clamp end goes into the tank, and then the nozzle tends to blow off. The hose should have been equipped with larger and stronger clips on each end and rims on the appliances as well.

 The handles on the blower portion serve to lift either the top or the whole unit.  But the catch to separate the top and the tank are integrated, so that often when picking up the unit, one accidently separates the two parts, with the result that the tank falls either part way or completely off, with the potential of either tripping  the user, spilling obnoxious substances on them, or allowing them to start all over again.  The latches could have been physically separated from the handles and made more positive.

  And  there should be a better way of coiling up the hose and the electrical cord.  Typically the plastic unit that is supposed to fasten the hose when coiled gets lost early in the game, and the hose ends up taking up large amounts of space and getting stepped on.  The electrical wire is not happy if wound around the top of the  vacuum and therefore falls onto the floor to assist the hose in trying to trip  the user.  The vacuum came with a horde of accessories, most of which I never use and which tend to fall out of their holders.  Seems like there might be more thought on securing the cord and hose, even if a couple of accessories were not included (they could be bought separately, thus bringing more shoppers into Sears.)  The photo shows some of the attachments from previous vacuums I have never used and a couple left over clipless hoses.  I am keeping them because perhaps some day I will make a marvelous musical instrument from them — or maybe a construction toy for kids.

 Also, the ports for sucking and blowing should be clearly marked.  When the vacuum is used by people who do not use it much and who do not stop to figure out the principle of the thing (like my wife) the hose often gets put on the wrong port and the user is amazed when they turn the machine on, only to see the pile of filth they thought was going to disappear into the machine be blown all over the room.

 And as a minor point, there is a label on the vacuum that reads “Is your filter dirty?  Visit Your Local Sears Store for a Replacement.”  Shades of so-called  quick oil change places.  Filters are supposed to have dirt on them.  That’s what they are for.  The filters in my vacuum can be easily removed, beaten on the inside of a garbage can or hit with a stick, brushed, and even blown off with the vacuum itself.  It would be nice for Sears if everyone who found dirt on their filter came running in to buy a new one, but Jeez—one shouldn’t prey on innocents.