How Many Uses For a Wet/Dry Vac Aboard?

I've seen a wet/dry vac mentioned in other threads but haven't seen one dedicated to the many uses for one aboard...
I'll start it but sure there are many others out there

List your common and uncommon uses for a wet / dry vac aboard

Mine are

Normal cleaning

Bilge cleaning - gets the residue bilge pumps can't get

Water pump impeller replacement - my impeller lost all of the vanes when it went - lots of rubber pieces downstream - the shop vac sucked many back from the pump housing - then used it on "blow" in the heat exchanger outlet to blow back pieces - then suck at the pump again - repeat - did an amazing job

Works well at cleaning diesel, fresh water & holding tank vents...I avoid blowing in the fuel but can use both on other tanks - and remember diesel only - DO NOT USE ON GAS as they are not ignition protected

Dock mate used it to retrieve admirals mascara top that she dropped down the head sink & blocked the drain - easy - 10 sec job

I've heard but not tried (yet)

Can be useful to pressurize tanks to find leaks

Vac applied to fuel vent or fill (other openings closed) can help reduce spills if you have to add / replace a valve in a partially full diesel tank (again not for gas)

Is it snowing in NY already?

Use it to suck a string through a wiring chase so you can use it to pull wire.

- Inflate pull toys and floatables
- Initial fill volume on larger dinghies
- For winterization to remove water from domestic water lines
- To clear blocked scuppers and lines
- When replacing zincs in coolers to limit salt water leaks

Capt.Bill11 said:

Is it snowing in NY already?

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Not yet but leaves are starting to turn and on the look out for geese heading your way... another season just about over

Sucking or blowing out AC drains.
Cleaning out the AC pans.
Cleaning strainers.
Stray water in the bilges.
Cleaning of the tops of the batteries after filling.
Sucking out water lines for repair.

How many use the head that drops on a 5 gal plastic bucket?
I've often looked at them while wandering around HD.

Sucking out shower sump when the pump needs to be serviced.

Cleaning the bilge.

Cleaning up fire extinguisher powder.

I don't have one on my boat. If I think I may need one, I'll bring it from home. The last one I had had wheels on the bottom and it rolled off the floating dock because of a wake and went into the river. I pulled it back out by the cord but it was never the same after that.


After trying several different vacuums to just clean up the inside of the boat, I settled on a small canister vacuum that cost me $6 at a thrift store. It uses replaceable paper filter bags. My wife likes it and that's what counts.

Used it to suck water out of voids in the keel and skeg.

Used it to suck reeved deck seams of small bits of deck calking.

Used it to clean the interior of the car after grinding off all the cetol from the swim platform.

mbevins said:

How many use the head that drops on a 5 gal plastic bucket?
I've often looked at them while wandering around HD.

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I use one from time to time.

They also make a handy blower or inflator for tubes and such.

Because I live in New England and am thinking about winter storage:
Sucking the water out of the engine water strainer
Sucking the water out of the shower sump
Sucking the last bit of water out of the bilge

I would hesitate to use it on diesel. It might just atomize it enough to cause ignition. Probably not.

Now while saying that and the same poster warned of using it on gasoline....one such lad decided it was a good idea in our marina about 5-7 years ago. He is no longer with us. If you look into the vents of the motor, you will see a continuous blue spark that runs the electric motor. One laborer died....the other seriously injured.

mbevins said:

How many use the head that drops on a 5 gal plastic bucket?
I've often looked at them while wandering around HD.

Click to expand...

I do.

Washer leaked all over aft cabin when hose let go. It helped with the mess. Use for dog hair on upholstery and rugs too. We have a small one.

I use a drop in 5 gal bucket type. Even though lately I have been using the 3 gal buckets.

I have 2.

One dedicated dry, one wet. When the wet dies, rotate as 5 or so years of heavy service and they all start to die.

The dry has a 25 foot cheapo pool vacuum hose so no part of the boat is unreachable.

The both do dozens of jobs that are only partially done by other kinds of vacs.

The most recent use out of the box....bought the cheaper combustion coolant leak detector...and used the vacuum instead of a vacuum line on the engine (don't have one on my diesel) or gand pump....worked great.

Can't imagine a liveaboard without one or two shop vacs..whichever type you choose.

In addition to things already suggested, we use ours to vaccum the cabin. We have a small upholstery beater brush head from our home Dyson that fits on the shop vac hose and works great. Due to limited space, it is the only vaccum that lives on the boat. We do bring our Dyson cordless down once in a while for a more thorough vaccuming.

Can't tell you how many holes drilled, cuts with a saber saw, and sanding with a Dremel tool, I've done with the shop vac nozzle in the other hand. It's easier to suck up the mess as you make it.

Ted

Stinger wet vac - Can use it to inflate vac and blow. Have a few of them always one on the boat. Works well stores easily and cheaply replaced if necessary.


Stinger 2.5 gal. 1.75-Peak HP Compact Wet Dry Vac-WD2025 - The Home Depot

Capt.Bill11 said:

Is it snowing in NY already?

Click to expand...

For us northern folks, that comment was really out of line.


Theres some great ideas here.

Ken

Dry my hair

X3 for the Bucket Head. I also use it to inflate the AB RIB that has a slow leak. Takes seconds.

Suck start a Harley Davidson. Or maybe that was someone I once knew.
We have a compact Shop Vac, I`d like a larger one but it is easier to store, and does a multitude of jobs. Our marina mechanic is always cleaning/drying bilges with his.

I have one on board that I've used for several of the above mentioned uses.


A funny story about a small shop vac that happened last week. I'm having a new swim platform built. We had to remove the cleats from the area around the transom so the fiberglass guy could wrap the gelcoat up the sides of the transom.


To get to the back of the cleats the fiberglass guy (he's about 5'5", 125#) crawled down into the lazarette and found an opening that he could fit through to get to the cleats. What he found was a space back there that was large enough for him to easily move around in.


While in there he also found a small shop vac that must have been left behind by the yard that put on the swim platform that I'm now replacing. He brought it out and asked me if it was mine. I told him it wasn't and gave it to him.


I didn't even know that space existed let alone that it was big enough for a person to move around in.

mbevins said:

How many use the head that drops on a 5 gal plastic bucket?
I've often looked at them while wandering around HD.

Click to expand...

I have a "bucket head" on Cheers and have used it to vacuum up casual water in the bilges, collect loose dust and dirt in hard-to-reach spaces, pick up "stuff" from the carpet. I like it better than a dedicated shop vac because of its flexibility; having a bucket around is always helpful. Good $20 investment IMO.

GFC said:

I didn't even know that space existed let alone that it was big enough for a person to move around in.

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The smaller the man, the larger the boat.

One of the best reasons to have the shop vac is to suck up spills on rugs. Most anything can be sucked up if you pour water on the spill. Plenty of it. Suck it up and repeat. If you're fast you might even save a light colored rug from red wine. Perhaps cleaners like Simple Green would even be more effective but flammables would probably be too exciting.

Nomad Willy said:

One of the best reasons to have the shop vac is to suck up spills on rugs. Most anything can be sucked up if you pour water on the spill. Plenty of it. Suck it up and repeat. If you're fast you might even save a light colored rug from red wine. Perhaps cleaners like Simple Green would even be more effective but flammables would probably be too exciting.

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I agree, Eric, but first I try to treat those stains and spills with Wine Away and Folex. Both of these products are amazing. Watch the stains disappear before your very eyes!

Inflating your girl friend... via Google Streetview

Nomad Willy said:

One of the best reasons to have the shop vac is to suck up spills on rugs. Most anything can be sucked up if you pour water on the spill. Plenty of it. Suck it up and repeat. If you're fast you might even save a light colored rug from red wine. Perhaps cleaners like Simple Green would even be more effective but flammables would probably be too exciting.

Click to expand...

FlyWright said:

I agree, Eric, but first I try to treat those stains and spills with Wine Away and Folex. Both of these products are amazing. Watch the stains disappear before your very eyes!

Click to expand...

Try these inexpensive & readily available alternatives...

We have dumped red wine on white upholstery and removed easily...

Dump salt on the wine ASAP and let it work - soaks up the liquid
Vacuum up the red salt
Repeat if salt is still drawing red wine
Apply hydrogen peroxide - let stand and watch any remaining red disappear then blot dry w/ a towel

Hydrogen peroxide works equally well on blood stains and other organic stain
Safe on most fabrics and doesn't bleach colors as many believe
We keep a bottle on board as it has many uses - see...

Surprising uses of Hydrogen Peroxide

Bacchus said:

Hydrogen peroxide works equally well on blood stains and other organic stain
Safe on most fabrics and doesn't bleach colors as many believe
We keep a bottle on board as it has many uses - see...

Surprising uses of Hydrogen Peroxide

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Injected it into hot water tank this summer in attempt to remove sulfur smell. Worked.