Craftsman 16 gal, 6.5 Peak HP, Detachable Wet/Dry Vac Reviews

I just replaced by 30+ year old 16-gal Craftsman vac, because the motor was failing. I loved my old vac and I love this one.

The blower features is new for me and is very effective. The vac is about the same - very good.

The old vac has a roller cart/attachment caddy that separated from the vac tub. This one is a single unit so that when I dump the trash the attachments will fall off into the trash if not tightly attached.

Overall I am very pleased and expect this one to last a long time too.

I bought this unit to deal with cleaning the basement and cant believe how good this one has been .Just recently bought a second one for the garage and outdoors the leaf blower itself is worth the money first one is five years old and gets almost daily use as a dust collector in my shop

The Craftsman 16-gal, 6.5 hp wetvac is without question THE most powerful and dependable wet/dry vac we've tried in years. And at just $119, it's a steal compared to others in its power class. The detachable blower is icing on the cake--and it really works, too, at 265 mph.

Our basement floods every spring, despite our sump pump. In years past, we've been lucky enough to have an industrial-strength Clarke 600A to handle it, including wetvac cleaning of the basement carpet. But last week, after 33 years' service, the old Clarke finally croaked. Dilemma: how to replace it.

We were spoiled, didn't...

I actually have a similar machine, 10 years old now.  Everything is still intact and working. The best part of having the detachable blower, besides being a blower, is that you will be able to get the filter super clean, merely by using the blower to blow off all the dust that will be stuck to it. You must do this outside, it will make a dust cloud about the volume of a 2 car garage in 3 seconds. To keep high suction, the filter must be cleaned after picking up about 4 inches of dust, with larger sized particles you can clean for a longer period.

To set a preface as to why I decided to purchase this vac...this year in Iowa we have seen a record amount of rain.  Everything had been great and no water had come up in our basement until the power went out and the sump pumps stopped running.  This vac sucked up standing water like a champ.  After that, it stood up to the challenge of sucking enough water out of the soaked carpet that by the next day, the carpet was only damp in the corners.  One of the best parts too, was that it comes with two wands that can be put together so that all was accomplished by standing...no crouching.  There...

The wheels on this unit are TOO SMALL. They won't bump over the cord or any small obstacle. Very bad if you are not on a smooth surface.

The clip on the hose that keeps the hose attached to the unit is badly designed. The hose always works itself off the unit whether you are vacuuming or blowing.

Before you buy a shop vacuum look at Shop-Vac. Wish I had. They have large wheeled units with hose that stays attached and a tall handle to move the unit around.

Powerful, versatile, and a good value for the money.  Bought mine on sale (of course), and couldn't be more pleased with it.  I have used it to excavate clay-dirt from around my pool and it has amazingly strong suction.  Also used it for wet jobs and I really like that I can detach the motor unit and use it as a blower too.  Comes with a nice assortment of attachments.

I have to agree with other Reviewer. He is 100% right on. I have had 4 blower wheels (Impeller) come apart on the blower in 4 years. If only used as vac it seems to last because most people do not use vac very often. We use blower daily to clean barn aisle and the Blower Fan blade (Impeller) is thin cheap aluminum and breaks off where it attaches to the motor. I have yet to have either the blower wheel or the on/off switch last a year. Sears has replaced them but last time they said they would not replace it again because the warr on my first vac has expired. Meaning that when they replace it you...

The Craftsman 16 gallon wet/dry vac is a very versitle vacuum that I used for the first time today in my garage to sweep up a very messy irregular garage floor with eroded sand, stones and sawdust. It did an excellent job. I also detached the blower and cleared my blacktop driveway and side walk. Also used the blower to blow the driveway stones from the lawn that my craftsman snow blower blew on to the grass while snowblowing this winter. A lot easier than trying to rake the stones out of the lawn. I also plan to hook this unit to my sanders and table saw to control the dust and mess on the floor....

I first saw this shop vac back in the early 80's when my mother and I bought one for her home, and garage. I thought for sure this would be one of those tools that would be the fad of the year and then disappear. To my amazement I saw it again earlier this month when I went to go do some winter shopping. By george when I see on sale to boot I had to have it. This Vac does everything a man could want to do in his own house, shop, or on the job. The blower is relativelt quiet as well and blows harder than most gas powered blowers. I would recommend this Vac to nay woman wanting to please her man....

I bought this vacuum to replace my old craftsman vac. I needed a drain and a larger capacity since my old one was small. I was amazed at the suction power that this thing has. I can clean car interiors like never before. It is quiet for its size and the "muffler" attachment is great for not creating extra dust. It is large so storage is a pain but the advantages of a quality and high power vac far exceed the disadvantages. I will be picking up a hose extension. bjut othe rthan that this thing rocks!!!

I bought this for my husband to be!  I think he knew what it was before he opened the box.  Needless to say it was the one he wanted, he uses it all the time for work!  It doesn't look so new anymore, but he isn't like me...he just cares about its preformance, so I would say to any wife or girlfriend, if you want to get your guy something this would be something he could use and it's good to  always have around, I have used it a few times to clean out our pellet stove, no dust!  I give this 5 stars!!! And he gives it a 10!  Enjoy!

Like others have said, the weak link is that the detachable blower unit must be disassembled and the blower wheel (impeller) replaced every few hours, or so, of blower run time. I'm about to reorder another (3 total for ~$21 for the part!).