I've been researching vacuums. I want to stay under $200. I have read where CFM is more important than inches of water lift. I also called a few local vacuum repair places and they said WL is more important than CFM. The main thing I want it to do is to pull as much water out of carpets as possible. I think that lends itself to WL although I think the diameter of the hose is an important factor as well. It gets confusing. Anyway, this first unit is leading the way in terms of specs. The thing is, I have never heard of it. Has anyone here? The company is in Texas. It has 114 CFM and 100" of Water Lift. Great specs indeed! $19 to ship to Detroit. $119 on sale right now: 5 gal. polyethylene wet/dry vacuum - Powr-Flite? The other option is this one: 50" of Water Lift 169 CFM RIDGID Professional 14-Gallon Wet/Dry Vac - WD1450 at The Home Depot $99 at Home Depot or this one: 50" of Water Lift (I emailed Ridgid and asked them) RIDGID 16 Gallon Wet/Dry Vac - WD1851 at The Home Depot $159 at Home Depot as well The 1851 has almost twice as much CFM as the Powr Flite one but 1/2 the water lift. I am really unclear as to which unit would be better. The other thing to consider of course is the Ridgid is a local purchase, lifetime warranty which makes a big difference. The size of the tank is not a big deal for me.
I have been looking at the powr flight also, really like the price and water lift. It that or a Metro Pro. I'm going for dry performance so that's why the Metro is in the running. Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Sure, it would be no problem, you'd just have to pay the shipping to T.O...unless you want to do a road trip!!
I use commercial grade vacuums and extractors at my detail shop and the WL for mine is about 170" on one and 97" on the other. With 50" of lift just make sure to not over soak the carpets because the vacuums you are looking at do not have enough lift. I used the rigid for many years before I stepped up to my bigger units
I cannot wait until you review it. I might wait to make my decision BC of this. Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
The difference between a cheaper unit making those numbers and a more expensive unit with the same numbers will be noise. A lot of noise. Most extractors will have at least 100" of lift. If you are using a vac with less than that for extracting, you'll need to throw a heater in the car to help it dry out.
Are you referencing Ken that the Rigid vacuum will be quieter than the Powr-Flite vacuum, or something like the Fein compared to the Rigid? I acquired the Fein a couple weeks ago and it is much quieter than my Rigid. I think part of the reason why it is so quiet is the amount of insulation around the motor on the Fein and that the Fein doesn't have a typical exhaust port like the standard shop vacs we know. I don't know if the Powr-Flite will be quiet, they give no dB numbers on the website, but if it is made remotely close to a Fein it should be quieter than the Rigid floating around I would think.
Any of the more expensive vaccums like Cobalt, Fein, Wap etc will be much quieter than the ones bought at Home Depot etc. When I switched from a Shop Vac to my Cobalt, it was like a deaf person getting their hearing back. Expect to pay around $250 and up for a quiet vacuum.
Ken, I ordered the PF today. They have an awesome return policy and I asked the guy straight out "If I don't like it b/c it's too loud, can I return it". Absolutely was his answer. I am looking forward to truly testing this machine. $138 delivered is a damned good price for a machine of its specifications.
Matt, I ordered it today and am hoping it arrives in Detroit on Friday (not sure how long to ship it from Texas). I will be doing a review on it after I've played with it a bit. Meanwhile, I did something interesting. I replaced the hose from my 5.5 gal Shop Vac with a smaller diameter hose from my old Shop Vac (I never throw stuff away, LOL) and it fit snugly in the hole. No question, the suction increased. I will be using that to finish this GT-R I'm working on. Don't think I'll have the PF in time for it? But for sure I will post a review on L2D as well as here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/richyrichrocks#p/u/1/Bf1SLY8UP-Q http://www.youtube.com/user/richyrichrocks#p/u/0/ag7M9gGsiyU Hey Richy, have you compare suction power on your Gaia vs shop vac vs PF51?
No, and those videos are only a part of the whole review which I'm going to post after I get caught up on my missed threads.
