The sample featured in this review was supplied by Channellock Products, a part of Do it Best, a network of over 4,000 independently owned hardware and home improvement stores.
When I was asked to review the Channellock wall-mount wet/dry shop vacuum, I was a bit skeptical. After all, Channellock makes hand tools, not wet/dry vacs. But doing a little digging around, I learned that the vac is based off of (or identical to) the Vacmaster VWM510. The vac has some nice features – it’s wall-mountable and comes with a remote on/off switch – and it comes well equipped, so I agreed to test it out.
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The vac has a 5-gallon capacity and is powered by a 5HP (peak) 2-stage industrial motor.
First, let’s talk about the hoses and cords. The vac comes with a 10′ flex/extendable hose and an 11′ standard hose that you can couple together to create a 21′-long hose. Both hoses are 1-7/8″ in diameter. The cord is 20′ long, which is a huge step above the 6′-long hoses that usually come with smaller vacs.
Okay, so the remote on/off switch… I LOVED it! In using the vac to clean up wood chips, metal shavings, dust bunnies, gravel, and all kinds of random debris, I greatly appreciated the ability to activate the vac without having to walk over to the unit itself.
It is an immense convenience to be able to turn the vacuum on without having to go back and forth, especially when the vac is mounted to a wall and attached to the end of a 21′ hose. I would like to see this feature on other shop wet/dry vacs. My air cleaner has a remote control and my dust extractor turns on when an attached power tool is turned on. So why not more remote-activated vacs?
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Of course, you don’t have to use the remote on/off if you don’t want to – there’s a full-on option as well. According to the product specs, the switch is dust sealed.
The vac is pretty powerful, and will grab onto fabrics and other typical vacuum-clogging materials. If you need to clean such materials, sliding open the vent on the handle should relieve part of the vacuum power at the end of the nozzle.
The hoses attach to the vacuum canister via a twist-lock mechanism. It’s not Fort Knox-secure, but I tried to “accidentally” detach the hose without success.
The vac comes with a very nice array of accessories and attachments – 2 extension wands, round dust brush, crevice tool, car nozzle (bottom right), floor/utility nozzle with a separate brush and what feels like a squeegee, and an air noise diffuser.
The air noise diffuser muffles the air return. This doesn’t make the vac silent or whisper-quiet, but the diffuser does quiet things down a bit.
Also included is a foam sleeve and a washable cartridge filter. Ever since I bought a CleanStream filter for my Shop Vac, I’ve been a fan of washable filters. It’s nice to see such a filter included with the vac rather than offered as an expensive add-on.
The wall-mount can be secured to a single stud via 3 mounting points. Since I’m in transition now between shops, I did not mount the vac to the wall, but did fix it to my soon to be disassembled workbench.
The vac docks with the mount via the top and bottom, and is easy to remove. The mount also features a detachable rail that the hose can be draped over for storage.
The 2 extension wands can be stored on opposite sides of the vac. On the left side, a spring-loaded tab must be pressed before you can lift the vac off of the mount.
Accessories can be stored via nesting points on the lid, or in a small bucket that can be attached to the vac, keeping everything neat and self-contained.
Pros:
- remote on/off
- flex-hose and standard hose included
- large carry handle
- sufficient suction power
- wall-mount is easy to install
- washable filter
- full complement of accessories
- heavy-duty plastic tank
Cons:
- no wheels for conversion to mobile unit
I must say, I really enjoyed testing the Channellock wall-mounted wet/dry vac. There are a lot of pros and features I really appreciated. Nothing is perfect, but it did take me a minute or two of thought to come up with the one con. If I had to offer another complaint, I would say that hose management could be improved, but on the other hand that would make the unit less compact.
The Channellock wall mount vac is currently $110 via Channellock Products, with free shipping to any local Do it Best hardware store location. Shipping to your home or shop will run you about $37.
Buy Now(via Channellock Products)
As part of their new site redesign, Channellock Products is giving away one free wet/dry vac per week. Contest details.
Thank you to Channellock Products and Do it Best for providing the review sample unconditionally. Review samples are typically given away, donated, or in some cases retained for benchmark and comparison purposes.
rob
I purchased the Vacmaster version of this vac and LOVE it. It’s so great when you want to vaccum the cars out, clean up around the garage, or the other thing I really liked was you could convert it to a blower if need be for clearing the garage. As Stuart mentioned the remote is really a great thing to have so you don’t have to listen to it run when you’re not using it. One word of caution on the remote, don’t leave it on “remote” all the time mine has turned on a couple of times at night and I had read it can also cause a problem sometimes with garage door remotes as well.
My only complaint is I wish the hose was longer, I am debating purchasing one more length of hose so I can reach all of my garage easily. I will say it sure beats dragging out the shopvac for a quick clean up or as I often do taking the shopvac to clean out the cars on the driveway but the driveway is on an incline so the vac likes to make a run for the gutter quite often if I don’t watch it.
Nick
What is the Country of origin of this product?
Scott
Hello Nick,
I bought mine and it was made in China. Overall, the quality is suberb. I was reading online that Channellock approved the design as well as set the quality standard. I found out this item is only available through Do it Best because it is an exclusive item. Overall great quality and very cool that it is Channellock branded!
Mike
I was looking at the sears website tonight, and see that there is a Craftsman wall mount shop vac that appears identical to this one. Not sure if it has the same reusable filter, but the price is $113.99 now on sale.
Mike
Meant to include this link to the Craftsman version of this vac.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00916825000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
Nick
Scott, Made where? I thought all Channelock products were fiercely made in USA? That was the case last time I checked, but that was years ago.
I own a dry vac that is over 30 years old and is fully made in the United States of America. I was looking at this Channelock and thought this was also made in USA.
Times sure have changed, I remember a time when any tool Channelock made was in the USA.
Stuart
I tossed the box, so I cannot confirm where the vac was made.
All Channellock pliers and cutters are made in the USA. Their adjustable wrenches are made in Spain (great quality, BTW), and their levels, screwdrivers, and nutdrivers are imported.
Channellock itself doesn’t make this vac.
Many (all?) Shop Vacs are made in the USA, but some of the more inexpensive models are pretty low spec’ed.
Steve R.
Stuart–I just purchased (12/7/2012) the Vacmaster version of this unit from Amazon, as it is still on sale for $108.00. As “rob” mentions above, there seems to be a problem of the vac starting up (via the wireless remote on the handle)when you or a neighbor uses a garage door opener, so it should also be turned off at the motor itself each time when you’re through. I didn’t hear mention of it (nor see one in the photos), but it doesn’t seem to have a pull-out plug or other means to empty the unit of water when using it as a wet vac. I believe the head removes easily, though, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The other issue that occurs to me is that there is a “sliding door” on the flexible hose, just below the on/off remote switch. That is cool at first glance, as it cuts down on the suction when vacuuming lightweight materials (drapes, etc.) that could be sucked into the hose. However, what has been your experience (and that of others) with this feature spewing dust (or water) out at you or into the room? Does it power through without problems, or is there a venturi effect redirecting some material back out? Also, over time, I’ve heard the sliding door can open during use, so you need to keep an eye on it. Anyway, thanks.
Hanque T Myers
I would love to buy one of these from my Do-It-Best, but… I have been using ShopVac brand vacs for a couple of decades now because they have filter inserts to catch dust and debris before it makes the motor filter clog. There by allowing the motor to continue working a some-what normal load. I do not like to clean filters, I prefer to just throw the disposable filter bag away, thus saving time. I use the filter bag because I do a lot of drywall and drywall sanding, but have continued to use the filter on everything else, why? Because it is easy cleaning.
Now, Ridgid vacs have fancy and expensive filters that get clogged sitting in my truck. So I have no use for that garbage. I haven’t seen this MasterVac brand, and not sur about the Craftsman line either. My customers rave about how clean I work and how clean I keep the jobsite, so the filter bag system is an absolute must!
I have viewed many videos, and read great reviews about this vac, but could someone tell me – DOES THIS VAC ACCEPT INSERT FILTER BAGS?????
Because if it does, I’ll buy two! If not, I will stay with my simple, powerful, clean sweeping, and relatively dust free Shop Vac.
Please – someone let me know. Thank you for your time.
P.S. My Do-It-Best guy doesn’t keep one of these in stock, and I don’t want him to order it if I might not want it.
Stuart
Seeing as how this vac is functionally identical to the Vacmaster VWM510, it *should* be compatible with the same bags.
Vacmaster does offer bags that fit the VWM510 vac ($7.90 via Amazon), so they *should* fit the Channellock version of the vac that Do it Best carries.
Doug Vigh
I bought the Channellock Wall Mount and fell in love with it. The biggest reason was reach with the long power cord and hose as it was easy to take off the wall. The second reason was quiet operation and suction which I think was due to a higher end motor. All tools fit easily on the unit too. Over all loved it.
Carol Rawle
I absolutely love my Channel Lock vac. But I’ve had a weird thing happen with it. On three occasions, all in the middle of the night, the remote switch gets activated and the vac turns on. I blamed it on my cat jumping on top and hitting the on switch, but it happened again since the cat died.
Could be a satellite moving overhead is triggering the remote switch. I have no other explanation since I live miles out of range of any neighbors likely triggering it with garage door remote openers.
Has anyone heard of this happening to others with this vac or similar ones?
Deborah R. Holliman
It’s great when you want to vaccum the cars out, clean up around the house and cleaning the most difficult places. I am very comfortable about it