Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum Review

As of this writing, there are 68 customer comments and 47 answered questions for the Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum.  I've read the customer feedback, and then condensed the results into this review.  I hope that this helps you when shopping for a shop vac.

Item Specifics

The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum has 320 air watts, 102 CFM, and 82.6 in. water lift.  It has an integrated hose, accessory and power cord organization, which saves on space and makes it easy to store.  Included is a 7 ft. x 1-7/8 inch kink resistant premium hose, utility nozzle, crevice tool, car nozzle, one extension wand, fine dust cartridge filter, foam wet filter, and air and noise diffuser.  It has over 25 feet of reach (7’ hose and 18’ power cord) which allows you to reach farther without unplugging the unit.  This vacuum quickly converts to a blower for your yard.  

No Wheels

Unfortunately, The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum does not have wheels.  This is really too bad, since other than that, it is a great vacuum.  Some customers such as this one installed their own wheel system - "Unbelievably powerful vacuum. 102 cfm with 320 air watts of suction. Just left the carpet right off the floor of the car. As a result I had to drill four extra holes 3/8" diameter at the car nozzle handle (part G) to relieve some of the suction. These can always be duct taped over temporarily if needed in the future. This vacuum is not called the "Beast" for nothing. It is a very fine machine. I added a dolly available at the nursery store in order to make it movable on the floor. The machine is held in place by means of one inch angle clips at four corners. Black Gorilla duct tape was wrapped around each clip. This however is not entirely necessary as the vacuum is light enough to be lifted anywhere."

Very Powerful Suction

One comment topic that kept coming up from customers was how very powerful the suction is on this shop vac.  Here is just one of the many similar comments, "Unbelievably powerful vacuum. 102 cfm with 320 air watts of suction. Just left the carpet right off the floor of the car.  As a result I had to drill four extra holes 3/8" diameter at the car nozzle handle (part G) to relieve some of the suction. These can always be duct taped over temporarily if needed in the future. This vacuum is not called the "Beast" for nothing.  It is a very fine machine.  I added a dolly available at the nursery store in order to make it movable on the floor.  The machine is held in place by means of one inch angle clips at four corners.  Black Gorilla duct tape was wrapped around each clip.  This however is not entirely necessary as the vacuum is light enough to be lifted anywhere."

May Pull Cleaning Head off of the Hose Because of Great Suction Power

It may be a minor detail but I thought it was worth mentioning that because the suction is so powerful, it has been reported that it might pull the cleaning head off the hose.  Here a customer explains, "This vac has great suction power. While cleaning masonry dust from commercial carpet the suction was so strong that it pulled the small cleaning head right off the hose end. You will learn techniques to get around this dilemma.  This is so far the best small wet & dry vac I’ve ever owned."

Extension Wands May Come Apart

A little annoyance is that the extension wands may come apart at times.  A customer reports, "Great vacuum. This is my first Vacmaster, I have always been an owner of competing brand (the orange one).  I like how compact and lightweight this unit is.  Furthermore, the suction is great. Picks up just about anything.  Since this is a smaller unit the surface area of the filter is slightly smaller.  If you are sucking up fine particles (like drywall dust) it will lose its suction quite quick. Not a problem for me, but something you should be aware.  For 10 more dollars,  you can size up to the 12 gallon Vacmaster."

"My largest complaint is the extension tubing they provide with this unit.  They work, but don’t twist and lock onto each other or hold onto each other by some other means.  In the event your nozzle gets stuck on something you will pull the two extension wands apart rather than pull the nozzle off the surface to which it is stuck.  A small problem that is easily fixed if Vacmaster listens to it’s customers. 🙂  Overall, I am very satisfied and will purchase a Vacmaster again, depending on how long it lasts.  I will update if the product fails."

Loud

You will have to decide if you are willing to make the trade-off of having a great vacuum that has super sucking ability, with a high noise level.   The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum is very loud.  A customer had this to say about the noise, "I love my vacmaster.  The suction on this thing is incredible.  The only negative is the noise, the vacmaster is extremely loud.  Even when using the noise reducer it’s still pretty loud, I can’t really tell the difference with it on or off actually.  On the other hand, the section power of this vacuum makes up for that.  If you have noise sensitivity I wouldn’t recommend it though."

Lid Clamps May Not Tighten Down All The Way

There was a comment about the lid clamps not fitting properly.  Still it was not a deal breaker by any means.  A customer explained, "Works great in my cyclone vac system.  Removed one star because the lid clamps did not work at all until I put a piece of rubber sheeting between the lip and clamp which tightened it enough.  Between the fact that the suction when turned on sucks down the top, and the fact that I don't move it at all from it's perch next to the cyclone tub, it holds well enough.  May be an issue if carrying it around a lot.  Great suction, and I wanted the small capacity since hardly any debris ever reaches it past the cyclone tub."

Great for Wet Messes

The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum does great for sucking up liquid.  A mother testifies to it's power here:  "This vac is really powerful.  My toddler's milk jug got spilled all over the back floor boards of my pickup truck.  I hear there's no sense crying over spilled milk... I didn't cry though.  I screamed.  I knew it'd be impossible to get out of the carpet and floor mats, and in no time it would smell like rancid dairy.  But I figured I have this vacuum that picks up water... why not milk?  I sponged off what I could into a bucket with warm soapy water and a sponge, and then used the Beast to suck the soapy water back up out of the carpet.  It worked like a charm.  The carpet went from sopping wet to just damp, and looking at it I couldn't tell there had ever been any milk there at all.  The Beast was so powerful it actually tried to suck the weather stripping out of the door opening when I was getting the milk out of the cracks where it pooled up against the doors."

The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum operates on 320 air watts.  It features 102 CFM and 82.6 inches in water lift.  It also has an integrated hose, along with accessory and power cord organization.  This saves on space and makes it easier to store this vacuum.  Also included is a 7 foot X 1-7/8 inch kink resistant premium hose, utility nozzle, crevice tool, car nozzle, one extension wand, fine dust cartridge filter, foam wet filter, and air and noise diffuser.  The Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum has over 25 feet of reach with the 7 foot hose and 18 foot power cord.  This unit also converts to a blower.   

Here are some top questions that I found for people considering buying the Vacmaster Beast Series Wet/Dry Vacuum.