# Dead Shop-Vac (Re-Cycle,Up-Cycle, Re-Purpose)



## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

How have you used your dead and expired Shop-Vac to make another useful item in your shop or home ?
(this is not for pulling photos or info off the internet - this is for how you have actually done it yourself).


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

I've had two ShopVacs die for me. Oddly enough both from worn out upper armature bearings. The first had a steel tank and it had also begun to rust inside. The second had a plastic tub. I cut the nice long power cords off for other uses and saved all of the hoses and tools for future use. I joined the 6' hoses together to make 12' hoses, which work nicely in a small shop. The small garage vac also got longer hoses from the cast offs. Casters from the two tubs were salvaged for other uses. The CleanStream filters were also saved for use in the other vacs so a clogged filter can be switched out for a clean one and the dirty filter can be washed and drying without holding up the use of a vac. What remained was disposed of in the community's large item disposal program.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

John Smith_inFL said:


> How have you used your dead and expired Shop-Vac to make another useful item in your shop or home ?
> (this is not for pulling photos or info off the internet - this is for how you have actually done it yourself).


Mine was a Craftsman, All I did was cut/saw the top portion off and made a large plastic trash bucket on casters. I pitched the power head. 
Actually, it rolls great is is quite handy. I'll take a photo if you'd like?


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## Doug C (8 mo ago)

I did the same as woodnthings. Makes a great wheeled trash can.


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

I made a thien baffle dust collector out of my neighbor's shop vac
Not at my PC or I'd post pics


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

funny that i don't have a pic of the whole unit, here's what i have
neighbor had a jobsite vac that mice had invaded and stuffed the motor full of nest
i cut the top back to a 1" lip and made thein baffle on top, i connect my vac to it

this is before i cut up the vac, test fit of the baffle top made out of wood










underside, tophat is glued up, top cover is on, the intake tube is an extension wand for the old vac
by cutting the intake into the side, i eliminated the 90° elbow typically in the intake
i bought a couple 2.5" vac ports for dust collection and used one on top to connect the vacuum










baffle and tophat installed










for my test, i dumped out my shop vac on the floor, blew out the filter and then sucked the entrails back into the vac using the thein baffle. blue tub is the thein baffle with sawdust in it, very little got thru to the vac filter










i'll post a pic of the whole unit when i get a chance


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)




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## Colosnoball (Oct 16, 2021)

I've yet to kill a shop vac. When they start running weird or the switch seems to be deteriorating, I give 'em away. But I admire those of you who create re-purposed lives for your equipment.


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## Andrew LB (Oct 30, 2012)

Every few years if you take apart the motor and re-oil the felt around the upper bushing, they'll last forever. As for the dead one i once had, i put a piece of MDF on the top of the 14 gallon tub and use as a mobile bench for a few different bench grinders and polisher.


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## 4DThinker (Mar 13, 2013)

I've only had one shop vac stop running, and after buying a new one to replace it I thought I'd take it apart to see what killed it. Turned out with some new brushes (that were easy to find but a bear to replace) it came to life again and now shares cleanup duty in the room I have my CNC in. I've got older models that still run fine in my garage shop but the big demand is handled by a more industrial sized collector that I share between my drum sander and table saw. I like the idea and potential use of a tub with casters that has a padded seat to replace the failed motor. I'll keep that in mind. 
4D


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## Olwoodguy (1 mo ago)

My beautiful wife wanted a Kirby or some super sucker. It pulled so hard she didn't like to use it. I thought about using the motor to hook up a vacuum system. It has a bucket for dirt that would adapt easily to a 5 gallon bucket or bigger dust bag .


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## rogerh (Sep 13, 2020)

I built my dust collector on top of a 20 year old Craftsman shop vac. One day my wireless switch activated by itself and it ran for hard telling how long. Not long after that, it died so I needed to build another dust collection system, or repair the motor on the old Craftsman. I took the motor apart and found one of the brushes was warn down to nothing. I was able to find the right size brushes on the internet and filed the armature smooth and to my surprise it worked. It’s been running, with my repair for about 6 months and I cross my fingers, every time I turn it on.


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