MacGregorSailors.com

Is anyone keeping a shop vac down below? I'm thinking of buying the Harbor Freight battery-powered guy to keep on the boat permanently.

https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-cordl ... veEALw_wcB

I'd love to see what others are using.

Yes, actually I have that same one - almost. I have the Craftsman version rather than the Bauer (Harbor Freight) brand, but I assume it's similar

https://www.craftsman.com/products/cmcv002b

It takes some space but fits just right under my aft dinette seat in my . It's worked well for me

..I also have a v20 battery charger permanently mounted on the port side bilge opposite that, connected to an inverter so I can keep that battery topped up especially mid day when I've got more solar coming in than I can use. I keep a drill on board that uses that same battery. I also have a cool little mini AC inverter/usb charger that takes that same battery as well:



https://amzn.to/4lbe7Qu

I have the 18V Ryobi 1 gallon shop vac. I also keep a charger onboard, and also donated my Ryobi drill to the boat tool kit. I'm in the process of upgrading my home cordless system to Dewalt 20V. Figured the Boat will do fine with the less-nice Ryobi 18V, and gave me excuse to upgrade home system over time.
Trying to figure out a good place to securely stow it on the M. Ryobi has racking system that vac attaches to, thinking of getting a piece of that to stow it somehow.

v/r

I just don’t think units that powerful and large are needed below deck.

I use this rechargeable Shark, it’s all that I need. It empties quickly and has more than adequate suction.


Now we don’t anchor away from a power source; when we go on extended cruises, we are in marinas every night, but if one has a charger onboard, problem solved.

For me it was worth it in case of a water tank leak or other spilled water situation. Nice to be able to suck a bunch of water up if needed. Plus, it doesn't HAVE to remain in there. When I need more space, I can always leave it out.

Another multi-purpose option is the ol' Home Depot Bucket Head. It's a wet dry vac head that snaps onto a 5 gallon bucket. So, if you were already to have a bucket on board for other purposes, it could make sense:



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head ... /202017218

I have one of these.

https://www.wyze.com/products/wyze-handheld-vacuum

Works pretty good for most loose dirt and stuff.

That shop vac looks small enough and would be a great tool for many places.

LordElsinore wrote: ↑Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:12 pm For me it was worth it in case of a water tank leak or other spilled water situation. Nice to be able to suck a bunch of water up if needed. Plus, it doesn't HAVE to remain in there. When I need more space, I can always leave it out.

Another multi-purpose option is the ol' Home Depot Bucket Head. It's a wet dry vac head that snaps onto a 5 gallon bucket. So, if you were already to have a bucket on board for other purposes, it could make sense:



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head ... /202017218

On Bear Hunt we have a hand-held rechargeable car-vacuum mounted in the head, that charges on the 120V inverter. For up to a week's trip with daily use, it's never needed re-charging.

In the marina I keep a small corded shop-vac on board powered by shore power, but we take it out for trips because we trip with 5 or 6 people and the boat packed to the gills.

I have a small $40 self-priming RV water-pressure pump mounted under the aft dinette seat, with lengths of clear pvc tubing, that will pump out bilge water or spills if needed. Our boat collects rain water when the cockpit enclosure isn't up, so after towing through a storm or winter storage I wanted a permanent 12V on-board solution.

Oh, and 2 bilge pumps independently discharging out either side.

Hi All!

While we really the idea of a rechargeable battery operated wet/dry vac but we utilize a 120vac one gallon Craftsman as we have access to shore power in slip, at home or when camping with Over Easy. It’s small but quite powerful! The one gallon volume is useful but doesn’t take up much space. The three foot long integrated hose let’s us get wherever we’ve ever needed to get to.

When we installed our three primary bilges ( one each port & starboard outside the ballast transfer tubes and one in the center section amidships) we also installed companion suction lines. The bilge pumps have all been live demo tested and work great but as they are centripetal impeller types they leave a 1/4 inch of water when they finish. The companion vacuum suction lines are there to remove that last residual amount that the bilge pumps can’t get. The vacuum ports are on either side of the central walk and are readily available.

We added a dedicated A/C condensate collection bowl and bilge pump for when we run the A/C instead of having it drain into one of the hull bilge areas. This minimizes any collected condensate volume to a small area so that bilge pump can work most effectively. It minimized any potential wetted area which is important in warm climates like in SC to preclude any mold/mildew. This has really worked out well.

Early on we had some minor leaks by the chain plate penetrations. Those were easily fixed by removing the deck cover plates, cleaning and re-caulking. Last year we had a leaky starboard side window that we fixed my removing and re-caulking it. Those were our only leak points. Having the wet/dry vac has made cleaning up around the boat much more efficient and effective. Both for the wet and the dry needs.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

That Bauer unit looks really tempting at $49. I'm thinking maybe a portable dust control solution for my ad-hoc wood shop.

I recently had to replace my Dewalt battery powered tools (lost to theft) and decided to give the Bauer line a try. The quality seems to be there (all-metal keyless chuck, solid performance, reasonable battery price and performance), but only a 90-day warranty.