Recommend me a vacuum for DIY use

[fasimew]

I've got a cheapy bagged titan wet and dry vac I picked up from screwfix a few years back. It's been 'ok' for use in clearing up swarf, sawdust and general crap in the garage, but I find it lacking when it comes to DIY in the home. The hose is too short, it sucks at sucking, and it flings clouds of fine dust out of the exhaust.

Recommend me something that sucks like a we but won't break the bank. Is it worth going bagless?

P.s. i'm invested in dewalt 18v gear, and i've seen they make a small handheld vac. Seems versatile. Anyone have experience with it?

Edited by fasimew on Saturday 25th May 18:13

[JohnnyUK]

I have Charles, who sucks hard - both wet and dry!

https://www.thehenryrange.co.uk/the-henry-hoover-r...

[Milner993]

Henry all the way!
Long reel and plenty powerful.

[trickywoo]

A dedicated builder vacuum is a great thing to have. Long hose, automatic switching on when you run a tool and connection to dust ports.

But you are looking at £300. It wouldn’t disappoint.

[fasimew]

Hmm. Henry has been about since jesus was a foetus. Have there been no advances in that time? Bagless perhaps? I don't need the ability to wet vac.

[CheesecakeRunner]

Titan from Screwfix. Wet/dry/bagged/bagless, take your pick. Cheap and sucks well. Can blow for you too.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb774vac-1300w-1...

[fasimew]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Titan from Screwfix. Wet/dry/bagged/bagless, take your pick. Cheap and sucks well. Can blow for you too.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb774vac-1300w-1...

Did you bother to read the post, or do you look at thread titles and hit reply?

[Tymb]

I've had a NILFISK MULTI II 30 T for a couple of years with no issues.
It is quite big, I think the 22T is the same just a bit smaller.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/nilfisk-multi-11-3...

[s p a c e m a n]

You can run Henry without bags if you want, bags are pennies on eBay though and are a piece of piss to swap out. I only leave the bag out when I'm sucking up wet stuff

My Henry sucks up chiseled out bricks, lumps of plasterboard, mud and st and I hook it up to my big arse orbital sander thing when I'm doing ceilings.

There have been no advances on Henry because he is king of the £100 do it all sucking machines

Argos has always got deals on them, the long hose reach one is £140 at the mo

B&Q has got the XL 15 litre one for £140 too, just buy a Henry

Edited by s p a c e m a n on Saturday 25th May 19:08

[CheesecakeRunner]

fasimew said:

Did you bother to read the post, or do you look at thread titles and hit reply?

Exactly that. Actually reading the thread is so passé.

[Rollin]

Tymb said:

I've had a NILFISK MULTI II 30 T for a couple of years with no issues.
It is quite big, I think the 22T is the same just a bit smaller.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/nilfisk-multi-11-3...

I have the smaller one and its been great despite huge abuse...brick/plaster dust, rubble, mud etc.
Just make sure you have a spare washable filter to swap when needed as they take a while to dry when washed through.

[x type]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364524147045?epid=18048...

had one of these for 5 years it takes a hammering in workshop with dust and allsorts never get any dust out the exhaust uses paper bags but you can get cloth bags wich I empty regularly

[Pheo]

If you want a relatively cheap option look out for a park side one from Lidl, they do them occasionally. I’ve been pleased with mine. Its obviously more on the budget end of the spectrum but has coped well with our renovation work

[fouroaks]

I've been using one of these for chimney sweeping for years and it just won't die.
https://www.cleva-uk.com/products/vacmaster-wd-l38

[kambites]

fasimew said:

Hmm. Henry has been about since jesus was a foetus. Have there been no advances in that time? Bagless perhaps? I don't need the ability to wet vac.

In my experience, bagless vacuums just don't work for DIY use. If you try to a hoover up something fine like plaster dust, either the filter is too coarse in which case the dust goes straight through it and out the back, or it's too fine and the filter instantly clogs up. I've never found anything at a sensible price which is better than the cheap Titan that you're saying isn't good enough.

If you want better, you'll probably have to go for something aimed at professional tradesmen.

[hotchy]

I actually got a free Henry from work. It wouldn't suck at all anymore. I washed the filter even though it says "don't wash the filter!!!" And it now picks up perfect! It's currently filled with approx 3 million spiders from the garage and shed, a family of mice droppings and destructions and I stick it on the end of my tools when cutting or sanding and works for that aswel. Great we thing.

It does take up space though. Only downside. They do a cordless one though. Tempted but I doubt this one would ever break anyway.

[kevsmev]

Had a Titan W&D for around ten years and it has been faultless. Wet sucking for plumbing, gutters and drains. Coupled to a cyclone and bin for dry stuff, including cleaning the car and with adaptors for all the power tools with an aftermarket 5mtr hose.

[Pistom]

I don't get why the OP is getting fine dust thrown out of the back? Is he using the right bags in the Titan?

I find the Titan wet n dry models are great if used correctly with the correct bag or cyclone depending on what you're using it for.

You should only use it bagless for wet use.

[gotoPzero]

We had 3 dogs and thus have a large collection of vacuum cleaners.... vax, dyson (x3!), miele, henry, karcher.

What I have done is repurpose our old miele cat and dog as my DIY vac.

Its perfect imo. Has variable power from virtually no suction all the way up to rip your face off. Way way more powerful than a henry.

The filtration seems to be spot on, so long as you keep the filters replaced every few months. Yes its a bagged machine and thats a bit of a PITA and its not got anything like the hose diameter of a proper commercial unit but for home use which is mostly saw dust etc its totally fine.

I still get the henry out from time to time for more messy jobs but only when there isnt much dust as the filtration seems very poor.

Karcher wet vac is also a very good tool.

[Sway]

The better titan (metal body, class M) is superb for the dosh.

Long hose, good storage, pto works well - only slight irritation is more to do with variable dust outlet fittings on my kit!

Should probably look up some decent universal adaptors, especially for my sander which has a strangely short connection so difficult to get a reliable fit.