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Ash Vac as Shop Vac?

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Clive Foster30/11/2010 10:00:41
3630 forum posts
128 photos
Like many others my shop vacuum cleaner is the uquibitous Henry.  Although he is good at the suction bit the bag capacity can be limiting at times and makes swarf separation pretty much impossible so he isn't really the thing for primary machine cleaning.  Sweep and separate the swarf being the order of the day followed by Henry to pick up all the little bits.
 
Next Monday our local Lidl is offering so called Ash Vacuums which appear to be a simple steel bucket having a vacuum motor clipped on top with appropriate filtration to let the air through and keep the picked up stuff in.  The bin capacity is said to be 18 litres, much more than a Henry bag and, at first sight, it should be easy to clean things down with it then empty the collected swarf into the right bag for disposal.  At £30 a pop it won't break the bank but $64,000 question is will it work OK as a shop vac. 
 
Does anyone have any relevant experience, I get the impression that similar beasts can be found from normal retail suppliers.
 
Clive 
Steve Garnett30/11/2010 10:11:54
837 forum posts
27 photos
FWIW, I use one of these at present, along with the wet and dry filter - pretty similar arrangement to the Lidl description. Has some serious suck, but won't hold quite 18 litres. And it grabs pretty much everything - swarf, coolant, small tools, cat's tail, the lot. The real downside with it is that it's noisy, though. Be interesting to find out whether the Lidl one is any quieter.
Gordon W30/11/2010 10:15:45
2011 forum posts
I've always used that type of vac. I like 'em but wife doesn't. They can pick up liquids which is a big advantage, don't set on fire to easily if hot stuff is picked up, don't need expensive bags. If suction not high enough try fitting/making a reducer nozzle. Also big advantage, any little bit picked up accidentally can be retrieved.
Martin W30/11/2010 10:26:46
940 forum posts
30 photos
Hi
 
I used exactly the same model in my small workshop because it was cheap and powerful. Bought a second one when my wife started turning wood and throwing chippings around her shed. Fitted with fixed filter they are excellent.
 
Cheers
 
Martin
Peter G. Shaw30/11/2010 11:24:42
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1531 forum posts
44 photos
I use a Vax Powa 4000 - 8 ltr capacity/wet&dry function/cloth or paper bags/carpet cleaning function, but no blow function. Bought it in October 1992 at £180. A bit battered now, but still working superbly. Been used for all sorts of things - oily swarf, dryingout the TV after a vase of water got spilled, sucking out a street stop tap tube, sucking up daughters flooded carpet, cleaning the garage floor etc etc. Bought a replacement pattern hose which keeps blocking up - the original never did, but I did manage to break the plastic handle. Anyway, the hose locking parts are now permantly loose so I can simply pull it apart when it blocks up.
 
Otherwise, a superb bit of kit.
 
I have seen a Henry which had not been looked after - it barely worked due to all the gunge inside. I think that is important - keeping the inside clean. Incidently, I use the domestic vac to clean the Vax!
 
Regards
 
Peter G. Shaw
ady30/11/2010 11:44:29
612 forum posts
50 photos
I use an old hoover aquamaster from the 1990s, they seem to be almost indestructible and it picks up quite a few pounds of swarf before it needs emptied.
 
If you get a second hand one make sure it has its filter and isn't in water pickup mode.
Also make sure it has the pointy nozzle fitment, so the big long bits of swarf cant get unto the hose and block it.
The filter is a furry insert which lasts for the life of the cleaner, just bash it clean on a wall or scrape it into a wheely bin.
 
 
Clive Foster30/11/2010 11:53:47
3630 forum posts
128 photos
Thanks guys.  looks like the Wickes version would be a better bet, double motor power should mean more suction and I like the idea of washable wet/dry filters.
Hafta look next time I go into a Tunbridge Wells.
Like Peter I've seen a Henry which had  been used without a bag.  Not pretty.
 
Clive 
Stovepipe30/11/2010 12:02:16
196 forum posts
Also useful when the outside drain is clogged up with congealed detergent residue from the washing machine. In addition to all the uses already mentioned.
 
Dennis
Terryd30/11/2010 12:43:06
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1946 forum posts
179 photos
Hi Clive,
 
The Wickes version looks very similar to the Earlex which I had and wouldn't be surprised if it is either made by them or a copy.  The Earlex was very good and it is possible to get a wide range of accessories as well as extension flexible tubes and an adaptor for portable tools (sanders etc).
 
It only has a 13.5 L capacity but that was always plenty for me even when cleaning up after woodworking.  The crevice nozzle gets well into those little corners where the swarf cowers and hides.  But watch out for small tools it eats those as well. 
 
One of the other small supermarkets, I think it was Aldi had a special offer of a stainless steel version a while ago, it may be worth waiting to see if that comes round again soon.
 
Hi Steve, as for your cat's tail I have a funny anecdote about something similar but I don't think I should tell it as my post may be complained about by one of our august 'experts' for spoiling an ongoing thread and deleted by the censor.  Perhaps I'll pm you.
 
Terry
 
 
Ian S C30/11/2010 14:59:08
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
I built my own about twenty years ago when I was into wood turning, the main body of it is a 12 gallon drum with the motor unit on top, its just about warn out now, it needs a rebuild. Ian S C
John Olsen30/11/2010 18:59:16
1294 forum posts
108 photos
1 articles		I don't know about the ash vacuum, but I do know that if you buy a vacuum cleaner for he workshop, make sure tjhat it is not a type that will only work with disposable bags. Such bags turn out to be remakably expensive, so the cleaner i bought sits idle while I use one of two free ones that turned up shortly afterwards!
Peter G. Shaw30/11/2010 21:27:48
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1531 forum posts
44 photos
My Vax uses either disposable paper, or by separate purchase, a cloth bag - and that's what I use. Empty it into the weekly blag bag when it gets full - turn it inside out and give it a good shake/bang on the house wall/ vacuum with the house vac, and back it it goes. Occasionally I might wash it. But I do have paper bags for when the cloth bag eventually wears out - which they do - i'm now on my second in 18 years.
 
Cheers,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Stub Mandrel30/11/2010 21:30:37
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4318 forum posts
291 photos
1 articles
I have had a Wickes wet/dry since 2002 and agree it is the same as Earlex. It's outl;ived a Dyson and  Hoover in the house*. Mine really needs a new hose as I've worn 1 1/2" off the end rubbing it on swarf-infested carpet. I will probably just swipe the hose off the dead hoover.
 
Funny things vacuum cleaners - we now have two in the house my wife's Henrietta and my Vax upright. Well, a man can't be seen using a pink vacuum cleaner, can he?
 
Neil
 
*Even though it gets used for all the nasty jobs.
Steve Garnett30/11/2010 21:43:49
837 forum posts
27 photos
We don't have a pink vacuum cleaner, but SWMBO has a number of pink tools just so that the kids don't nick them. Actually some of them are pretty good, one way or another, so I nick them occasionally instead. But there again, I'm not proud.
 
We've never had a Henry - are they actually any good in workshops?
John Stevenson30/11/2010 23:36:03
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5068 forum posts
3 photos
Years ago I bought a Black and Decker Dusty Bin which was based on a 5 gallon drum with the rolled edge.
These were not wet and dry, just dry and had a large paper filter inside, ironically for me it was the same size as a Bedford TK air filter so I had an endless supply of part used ones.
 
The hose was a full 2" and it was the only Black and Decker product I bought that did suck
It finally died after a hard life and I got a secondhand one from a car boot, again hard life and it died but both did good service.
 
None of the replacement I have had are as good, probably because they are on 1 1/2" hose ?
 
Does anyone know if this Lidl one has a 2" hose ?
 
John S.
 
 

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/11/2010 23:36:53

Terryd30/11/2010 23:43:35
avatar
1946 forum posts
179 photos
Hi John,
 
Not sure about the Lidl one but Earlex do a 60mm hose as an accessory.  Not sure if it fits the basic model but certainly fits the larger one, but that's about £95.00 a bit too much for me, but they do last.  The one I lost in the fire was around 20 years old and still perfect.
 
It doesn't use a bag either.
 
Terry
John Stevenson30/11/2010 23:54:23
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5068 forum posts
3 photos
Never heard of them so did a search. It says the big bore kit fits both but it's only 1.5 m long.
The Pro cleaner has a 4m hose but in both cases it doesn't give a size.
 
1.5 M is no good for me as I'd have to keep moving it all over.
 
John S.
Ian S C01/12/2010 10:43:51
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
Just don't suck up inflamable liquid, a bit of petrol accidentally sucked up turns it into a jet engine for a very short time, then it dies. I saw it happen when a vacuum cleaner was being used to clean under the cabin floor of a Cessna 185 that had crashed and was in our hanger for a rebuild. ian S C
Peter G. Shaw01/12/2010 10:51:10
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1531 forum posts
44 photos
Hose length is pretty important. The Vax is (guessing) about 2 metres, maybe slightly less (it's too blasted cold to go and measure it), but then there is the rigid handle and nozzle stuck on the end. All of which means that cleaning the lathe is slightly awkward in that I can't easily get round to the back of the 4-way tool post which is where a lot of swarf collects.It's usable though.
 
I do have a hose from an old Hoover vac. A jubilee clip on one end and it fits the end of the Vax nozzle which means I then have an extra however much and this time it is stretchily extendable (the Vax although flexible, does not stretch). I've kept the tools from the old Hoover as well, but memory tells me that the nozzle ends on both the Hoover and the Vax are the same.
 
Diameter wise, the Vax is about 1½ " or 38mm.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
 
 

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 01/12/2010 10:51:56

Martin W01/12/2010 10:55:33
940 forum posts
30 photos
John
 
A slightly different slant on cleaner hoses, how about using flexible nylon wiring conduit in its place. To give some idea of what I am thinking about see Conduit . They supply it up to 50mm dia and lengths of 10m. If that won't reach round your workshop then I am really envious . I know that the smaller bore is highly flexible as it writhes about like a demented snake when being used.
 
Cheers
 
Martin

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