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On my birthday last year (2002) my dear wife bought me a wet/dry vacuum, the Shop-Vac LM500, so that I could keep my shop a little cleaner. The shop door leads right into the dining room and she is fairly unappreciative of the little trails of dust and chips that occasionally follow me into the house. I can understand her grief and, for reasons of my own, I was very happy with the new addition to the shop.
For several months this machine cleaned and sucked happily when asked. Then, a couple of months ago, it developed a problem. Shop-Vac machines sold by Lowe’s are covered by a four year warranty that appears to be quite good. I lost the original purchase receipt from Lowe’s so the repair shop wouldn’t touch it for warranty repair. If I had the receipt, I have no doubt the repair would have been made to my satisfaction. However, after talking to the repair shop I have serious doubts as to whether the repairs are done in a timely fashion as the shipping of replacement parts apparently takes at least a month. I’ll get back to the problems I had with my machine after I describe the LM500 in detail.
The Shop-Vac LM500 is described as a 12 gallon, 5 horsepower, wet/dry vacuum for contractor use and it sells for under $70 at Lowe’s. (I am not sure of the availability of this exact model at other retailers.) The pleasing gray/blue color scheme isn’t hard on the eyes and the machine is simple to operate. It comes with a washable drum filter and you can buy a variety of different filter bags and drums to suit your taste and situation. I like the lower drain in the tub for removing water and other wet crud , and switching from wet use to dry use is simple and fast.
The unit comes with a small assortment of the most useful tools and the hose and extension cords are of reasonable length. The wheels are well placed and stable. But, the bucket that is meant to hold the attachments falls off and I think it is a pain. There is a plethora of different attachments you can buy for this machine to induce you to spend even more money on keeping the shop clean.
In operation the machine is not overly loud and picks up small wood chips and dust quite efficiently. Unfortunately the suction is not great enough to pick up a two and a half inch drywall screw other than to hold it part way up the hose. It develops enough suction to lift the screw, but not enough to move it all the way into the tank. The corrugated hose is also hard to clear as small wafers of wood, waste pieces from crosscutting and other operations, jam sideways and block the flow. The hose could be a bit wider but them the vacuum would need a more powerful motor.
I used the LM500 as a dust collector when testing out the Akeda dovetail jig and it performed reasonably well. Two or three times the chips created when routing dovetails backed up in the Akeda jig, a problem that was partly the fault of the jig and partly because the vacuum does not produce enough suction.
Since I had a problem I had to solve myself I have taken the unit apart completely. If you have to do the same be warned that you will need a set of Torx screwdrivers or some cursing may ensue.
The unit was easy to disassemble and once apart you realize how they can sell these things for only $70. All of the electric components are of substandard quality and gauge for an alleged contractor’s vacuum. I realize no-one really believes that they make these things extra heavy for rugged use, but I was shocked at the flimsy electrical connections and the deceptively small motor. From the bulky motor cover on the outside you naturally should expect a much more substantial power plant but what you find is startling. The disappointing suction I experienced was no longer a surprise once the motor was uncovered, and I had a small laugh to myself at the "5 hp" written in large letters on the top of the motor shroud.
I’m sure it comes as no shock to you that manufacturer’s commonly overstate the power of the electric motors they place in power tools and other shop equipment. Most woodworkers are not taken in by the numbers produced by whatever lopsided testing they must use to come up with these claims. Just looking at the size and heft of the motor in the Shop-Vac LM500 you have to conclude that the horses they compared it to when rating it’s power must have been the most pathetic, underdeveloped specimens ever to stagger laboriously under their own body weight. And the motor wasn’t the only jolt in store for me.
Although the machine proved satisfactory in use I was appalled by the wimpy little blower fan that provided the suction. Looking like it was just cut out of a Campbell’s Soup can by a four year old with a pair of tinsnips she stole from Daddy’s shop, I was astonished that it produced any suction at all. But this wasn’t my main concern. As mentioned before, the reason I opened it up in the first place was because I had a problem to fix.
I was cleaning up the floor one fine day this past summer when I leaned over to switch on my Shop-Vac and nothing happened. As I already stated, having lost the sales receipt I had no choice but to fix the machine myself. After talking to the service person it became obvious, by the way he chose his words, that these machines are known for blowing motors. He was certain that was my problem. A quick check on the Shop-Vac web site produced a troubleshooting guide that listed my problem as, you guessed it, a blown motor. However, they also stated it could be a bad switch. Armed with my multi-meter I decided to find out which.
It turned out that I didn’t need the multi-meter as it was obvious right away that one of the contacts melted right off the switch. The switch itself, and the connectors used with it were of deplorable quality. You can see right off that the usual standards organizations have allowed the manufacturer to place their logos on it but that makes me question their precision. I am shocked that something so flimsy can be certified to carry 120 VAC current through it. It had to go.
Because the vacuum is used in combination with dust and water, I chose to mount a new switch on it similar to the one I used in my bandsaw upgrade. After pulling the unit apart and excising the sickly, burnt switch, I wired up a weatherproof exterior switch and box and mounted it to the top of the power head assembly. I had to alter the wiring a little but the wiring inside was so basic that it was not a problem. In fact it bears mentioning that working on the machine was quite easy. However, if you should decide to do this yourself, only undertake the work if you have an understanding of and experience with electrical circuits. A trip to Home Depot and an hour of fiddling and the LM500 was back in operation. The new switch will outlast the rest of the unit and works well.
I don’t want to make this overly long so I will try to sum things up for you. You must understand that I am not Donald Trump so $70 is quite a bit of money to me. If you are well enough off that $70 isn’t a big deal then, by all means, give these Shop-Vac models from Lowe’s a try. If you are impecunious but willing to place your trust in the four year warranty, then I think you will get satisfactory service from this unit – but I wouldn’t expect too much after the four years. If you have kids and like to buy things that last, look for some other brand. I hear good things about one of the Fein models that costs around $160. I can’t vouch for the machine but if it is a good one you might be better off buying the best and crying once, as the saying goes. The bottom line is that I won’t be a repeat customer. I can’t recommend the Shop-Vac LM500 on either quality or performance. I can only recommend it on price and that wouldn’t be enough to convince me if I were out shopping for a shop vacuum today.
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