My shop vac died mid-cleanup at a job in Nashville

I was vacuuming out a dusty return duct in a house off West End and the motor just started smoking. I had to dump the whole thing and use a broom for the rest, which took me an extra hour. Has anyone else had a shop vac give out at the worst possible time?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley38519d agoMost Upvoted

Did you ever find out what made it smoke up like that?

ivan_mason19d ago

Nah, that's what you get for using a shop vac like it's a pro tool.

grantp2819d ago

Dusty return ducts in Nashville, that's a special kind of mess. I bet that motor just couldn't take all that fine drywall dust or whatever was caked in there. Those shop vacs are good for a lot of things but they really don't like being the main tool for cleaning out HVAC systems, that's more of a job for a HEPA vacuum. Makes you wonder why they call them "shop" vacs when they can't handle a little construction dust, right? Sounds like you just got the unlucky end of the stick on that one though, timing couldn't have been worse.