Use wet dry vacs for cleaning inside PC?

[Childs]

I decided to get one to mainly for the blower feature to clean out my machines. I was using compressed air, but I've had bad luck with the trigger mechanism failing or just going through it too fast. I've seen small wet dry vacs with a blower function for like $20-30, which seems more cost effective.

I'm looking at these:

Stinger 2 Gal
Shop-Vac 2.5-Gallon

Anyone using one or using something else to do this?

 

[sdifox]

get a bigger one. when you are vacuuming water it fills up quickly

 

[deadlyapp]

You're not going to get much pressure out of a wet/dry vac blower. Even if you try to direct the nozzle it's not going to do much for you.

 

[JulesMaximus]

They are great for vacuuming out your car or cleaning along base molding around the house. I have a small one and since buying it I haven't used the bigger one I have in the garage since.

 

[gururu2]

I had a slightly bigger shop vac. Those things are durable and powerful. I messed up the filters a couple times by pulling water with the paper filter installed and made lots of messes when pulling dry materials without the paper installed. After a while I stopped using it for liquids and mainly used it for dry with a heap filter. These are great bangs for your buck in the garage.

 

[Humpy]

I have a 5 or 6 gal Ridgid that has worked well as a leaf and sawdust blower on occasion. Overall it's been fine as a vac too and would work well to keep your Japanese blow job machine cleaned out.

I hate shop vacs in general though, so loud and cumbersome and messy to empty. When I used to work inside customers homes I had a couple 30' hoses and a remote switch to keep the shrieking POS outside, sometimes still in the van.

 

[JEDIYoda]

experience??? In what way.....

 

[Childs]

experience??? In what way.....

Experience using these small vacuums. Do they vacuum well, blower works well, reliable brand/model, recommendations, etc.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Experience using these small vacuums. Do they vacuum well, blower works well, reliable brand/model, recommendations, etc.

Its not like Yoda stuck his weener in the nozzle to test the suction or anything.

 

[twinrider1]

I think a small pancake compressor is better suited to your primary task of blowing dust out of machines. Concentrated, high pressure air will do a better job and get into the nooks and crannies.
Your best bet it taking the box outside. But if you have to do it inside, I like to use a compressor to dislodge the dust and a vacuum hose to suck the dust out of the air.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

get the biggest that you can. Just spend the damned money. You'll regret it when you need it. The bigger motor alone is the reason. I'd take 1 gallon shop vac if it had a motor from a 6 gallon.

 

[Childs]

I think a small pancake compressor is better suited to your primary task of blowing dust out of machines. Concentrated, high pressure air will do a better job and get into the nooks and crannies.
Your best bet it taking the box outside. But if you have to do it inside, I like to use a compressor to dislodge the dust and a vacuum hose to suck the dust out of the air.

I was going to take the box outside to blow the the whole case clean. The idea of a air compressor led me to these guys:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J4ZOAW
http://www.amazon.com/XPOWER-Airrow-Multi-Use-Duster-Dryer/dp/B00SI67YRU

Although now I'm thinking about it a hair dryer that doesn't blow hot air would probably work just as well. I actually had travel one that I gave to my mom the last time she visited.

get the biggest that you can. Just spend the damned money. You'll regret it when you need it. The bigger motor alone is the reason. I'd take 1 gallon shop vac if it had a motor from a 6 gallon.

Its not about money, its about space.

 

[local]

They suck.

 

[XavierMace]

You're not going to get much pressure out of a wet/dry vac blower. Even if you try to direct the nozzle it's not going to do much for you.

If you're not getting enough pressure out of a shop vac to blow out your PC, you're doing something wrong. I use my 12 gallon Shopvac and it works great. It also works as a leaf blower.

 

[Childs]

CFM wise:

Stinger 2 Gal 2HP = 40CFM @ $20
Shop-vac 2Gal 2.5HP = 60 CFM @ $25 ($30 - 5 online coupon)
Armor All 2.5HP is 110CFM @ $33
Datavac = 70CFM @ $57
Xpower = 90 CFM @ $50

Now stepping up to a 6Gal 3HP Shop-vac is 143CFM for only $35 ($40 - $5 online coupon). And to make an even tougher decision, there is the Rigid 16Gal 5HP for $40. CFM is unknown, but I seen a video on youtube and the reviewer used it like a leaf blower. Its huge though.

 

[Fire&Blood]

I use this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J4ZOAW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

It's been working great for me. It does get hot after a few minutes of continous use, just give it a little break between blowing out your machines, you can definitely clean out at least one before it gets hot. And it's made in the USA.

 

[balloonshark]

I use this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J4ZOAW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

It's been working great for me. It does get hot after a few minutes of continous use, just give it a little break between blowing out your machines, you can definitely clean out at least one before it gets hot. And it's made in the USA.

This is what I use and it's plenty powerful enough to get the job done. It's also pretty loud if that is a concern but you shouldn't have to run it very long.

 

[JTsyo]

I think a small pancake compressor is better suited to your primary task of blowing dust out of machines. Concentrated, high pressure air will do a better job and get into the nooks and crannies.
Your best bet it taking the box outside. But if you have to do it inside, I like to use a compressor to dislodge the dust and a vacuum hose to suck the dust out of the air.

Compressor is the way to go. And definitely do it outside. I was surprised at how much dust came out of the case.