Old Shopvac with new Dust Deputy died...coincidence?

[Don Morris]

I have a 15 yr old 2.75hp 12gal craftsman shopvac. Just got a new Dust Deputy and connected them. Have had this setup since Christmas and done this once or twice before, no problems. I was putting some pocket holes in a panel (forgot to do it ahead of assembly, only mistake I've ever made). Started to smell that definite smell of electric motor burn out. Looked into the top of the shopvac and saw sparks that I never saw before, the sparks got worse, it started to smell worse and slowwwed down. Cut it off before it really got bad. Told LOML, I may need a new shopvac. She of course said it must be the new Dust Deputy. Too much coincidence. I can't think the Dust Deputy would put that much strain on it to cause this. A 15 yr old craftsman has earned it's rest. Now, the question is: replace the motor, cheapest solution. Get a new shopvac, which is costly after looking at the magazine ads. The old craftsman did the job I needed it for well. But I haven't been in the shopvac market in the last 15 yrs. What say you?

[John Coloccia]

re: strain

The worst you can do to a compressor motor is let it run wide open. That's when it's going to be working the hardest and drawing the most current. When the inlet is completely blocked, the motor is completely unloaded and drawing very little power. This is why when you block the end of a vacuum cleaner hose, the motor speeds up. Every thinks, "Oh, listen to that...the poor thing is working harder...you're gonna burn it out!", but actually it's speeding up because it's completely unloaded and quite happy

The only thing a DD could do to the shop vac is constrict the airflow even more, unloading the motor. It's possible that restricted air flow is causing the motor to overheat, but I don't believe that. If I had to guess, I would guess you finally killed the bearings. The thing IS 15 years old, after all.

[Paul Atkins]

Pull the motor and check the armature and see if the thing is burnt up. The cheapest thing is to clean the contacts and put new brushes in. I've done this to motors all the time, altho I'm kinda tired of fixing these now and I'd look for a new machine. Time is money too.

[Don Morris]

OK, I'm on the way to the BORG to look at Rigid and Sears to look at a new Craftsman. I just can't justify a Fein or Festool for what I do. The reviews on a Shopvac, weren't impressive at all. Although if you look at the Oneida ads, they show the Dust Deputy hooked up to a Shopvac. Hmmm.

[Cory Hoehn]

If it helps, I've bought a few shop vacs from Lowe's in the past year for work and they're doing a great job. They're a little loud, but other than they pull both air and water very well.

[Don Bullock]

...Told LOML, I may need a new shopvac. She of course said it must be the new Dust Deputy. Too much coincidence. I can't think the Dust Deputy would put that much strain on it to cause this. A 15 yr old craftsman has earned it's rest. ...

Tell your wife that she's fortunate that you were able to get the Craftsman to last 15 years. The DD isn't putting any extra strain on the motor. It will save you far more than its initial cost in bags.