Water, rubble, workshop · review
A 1.5 gallon wall-mountable vac that converts to a blower, at thirty-six dollars.
Where this ends up Thirty-six dollars, two kilos, wall-mountable and it blows as well as sucks. Its four-foot hose and six-foot cord give ten feet of reach in total, which is the shortest on this shelf.
2087 g is the lightest machine on this shelf by a wide margin:
this 2087 g · Bissell 18P03 2835 g (which cannot be right — see below) · Kärcher 3629 g · Armor All AA255W 4985 g · Vacmaster VOC508S 5300 g · Vacmaster VFB511H 6985 g · Shop-Vac 6804 g · Craftsman 17040 7257 g · Bissell 2035M 7303 g · Giraffe Tools 27,216 g and 27,302 g
Two kilograms is a vacuum you carry up a ladder in one hand, lift into a car boot without thinking, and hang on a hook by the garage door. That is a different kind of object from a 27 kg (59.5 lb) wall unit, and it is worth being clear about which one you need.
The Bissell 18P03’s catalog figure of 2835 g (100 oz) is not credible: that is 6.25 lb for a wall-mounted 4-gallon vacuum with a 12 amp motor, and a 12 A motor alone weighs more than that. The two Giraffe Tools listings, by contrast, publish “60LBS, needs team lift” and their catalog figures agree exactly at 60.0 and 60.2 lb.
Wall mountable at thirty-six dollars is the other half. The alternatives that mount on a wall here are the Bissell 18P03 at $249.99 and the two Giraffe Tools machines at $297.49 and $331.47.
Two peak HP is 1490 watts. A 120 V American socket on a 15 A breaker supplies about 1800 W at maximum.
So this claim is at least physically possible, which is more than can be said for some on this shelf. The Craftsman CMXEVBE17040 claims 5.0 peak HP — 3730 W — and the Vacmaster VFB511H claims 5.5 PHP, which is 4100 W. Neither can be sustained from a domestic socket; both are measured at stall or over a fraction of a second.
What settles the whole question is that Vacmaster publishes both scales on its two machines here:
VFB511H — “5.5 PHP” and “320 Air Watts of Power, 20kPa” VOC508S — “4 Peak HP” and “135 air watt motor”
Going from 4 to 5.5 peak HP is a 37 per cent rise. Going from 135 to 320 air watts is a 137 per cent rise. The two scales do not track each other.
Air watts is the honest figure — airflow multiplied by suction, which is the useful work at the nozzle — and only Vacmaster publishes it on this shelf. Three other machines publish kPa (both Giraffe Tools and the VFB511H, all at 20 kPa) and two publish amps (Bissell 2035M 11 A, 18P03 12 A).
Seven of twelve listings here, including this one, publish only peak horsepower.
1.5 gallons of tough polypropylene.
A gallon and a half is 5.7 liters, which is a few minutes of wet pick-up or a car’s worth of dry debris. The shelf runs 1.5 to 6 gallons — the Bissell 2035M at the top with “6 gallon capacity” and a stated “Dirt Cup Capacity: 23 L”, which checks out.
And there is a caution about every gallon figure here that only one listing admits. The Craftsman 17250 footnotes its own: “Gallons indicated reflect drum volume, not necessarily [usable capacity].” The motor housing and filter occupy the top of the drum, and nobody fills a wet vacuum to the brim because water reaching the motor is the one failure that ends it.
So 1.5 gallons is a small tank honestly described, and the asterisk in the bullet — “1.5-GALLON*” — suggests the same qualification applies.
Polypropylene is the right material at this size: light, and it will not dent or rust. The Vacmaster VOC508S at $74.99 publishes a stainless steel tank, which is the step up and the cheapest 5-gallon machine here.
“BLOWER CAPABLE… blow away debris with a quick conversion.”
Six of twelve machines on this shelf do this: both Armor All models, both Bissells, the Craftsman 17250 and the Kärcher.
The ones that do not are the Vacmaster pair, both Giraffe Tools machines, the Shop-Vac and the Craftsman 17040.
For a vacuum used a few times a month, a second function is real value — leaves off a drive, sawdust off a bench, water out of a door track. The Bissell 2035M gets unusually specific about it: “even to blow up inflatable mattresses and toys with the included tools.”
“INTEGRATED STORAGE: Store attachments on the powerhead for easy access.”
A small thing that decides whether a vacuum stays complete. Six loose nozzles in a garage become two nozzles within a year.
Three listings here address it: this, the AA255W with “integrated hose and accessory storage… keeps the hose, cord, and nozzles in one place”, and the Vacmaster VFB511H with “complete vac organization with on-board hose, cord and accessory storage”. The Craftsman 17040 has an “attached organization caddy”, and both Giraffe Tools machines mount the attachments on the wall alongside the vacuum, noting that it “reduces accessories missing”.
No air watts and no kPa, which are the two figures that would let you compare this with anything. See above.
No filtration rating. The Vacmaster VFB511H is the only listing on this shelf with a number: “Capturing Fine Dust Particles Down to 1 Micron”. The Bissell 2035M publishes “2 stage filtration”.
No filter detail. This says six accessories without listing them, where the maker’s own AA255W names both filter types it needs — a “reusable cloth filter” for dry work and a “foam wet filter” for water.
That distinction matters more than it sounds, and it is the mistake people make: running water through a dry filter destroys it. The Vacmaster VOC508S spells it out — “a cartridge filter for dry pick-up and a foam wet filter for wet pick-up” — and the Kärcher at $172.99 is the only machine here claiming one filter does both: “the top-mounted cartridge filter ensures seamless cleaning without removing the filter - no matter if wet or dry dirt.”
No warranty. Both Craftsman machines publish “3 Year Limited Warranty” and both Giraffe Tools machines “24-Month Warranty”. The other eight listings here publish none.
No hose diameter, which the maker’s own AA255W publishes as 1-1/4 inch. Bore matters: the Craftsman 17040 uses 1-7/8 inch, which is 2.25 times the cross-section — far better on wood chips and plaster, and worse at pulling fine dust out of a crevice at speed.
Read on the day this page was built: $36 at the American Amazon shop.
Read from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and price both move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-04. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Reach | 6 ft cord + 4 ft hose = 10 feet in total — the shortest on this shelf |
|---|---|
| Tank | 1.5 gallons, tough polypropylene |
| Rating | 2 peak HP — which is a catalog convention, see the FAQ |
| Wall mounting | Yes, for storage |
| Blower | Yes, by quick conversion |
| Storage | Attachments store on the powerhead |
| Accessories | Six included |
| Weight | 2087 g (73.6 oz) — the lightest machine on this shelf |
| Dimensions | 231 × 201 × 292 mm (9.09 × 7.91 × 11.5 in) |
| Air watts | Not published — see the FAQ on why that is the real figure |
| Suction in kPa | Not published |
| Filtration rating | Not published |
| Warranty | Not published |
| Amazon reference | B0BFXN155H |
| EAN | 0814953010869 |
Very little, and the proof is on this shelf. Two peak horsepower is 1490 watts; the Craftsman CMXEVBE17040 claims 5.0 peak HP, which is 3730 W, and the Vacmaster VFB511H claims 5.5 PHP, which is 4100 W. A 120 V American socket on a 15 A breaker supplies about 1800 W at absolute maximum. So the larger figures cannot be sustained power — they are measured at stall or across a fraction of a second, which is a catalog convention rather than a measurement. What settles it is that Vacmaster publishes both scales on its two machines here: the VFB511H gives "5.5 PHP" and "320 Air Watts of Power, 20kPa", while the VOC508S gives "4 Peak HP" and a "135 air watt motor". So going from 4 to 5.5 peak HP — a 37 per cent rise — corresponds to going from 135 to 320 air watts, a 137 per cent rise. The two scales do not track each other at all. Air watts is the honest measure: airflow multiplied by suction, which is the useful work at the nozzle. Only Vacmaster publishes it.
For a car, yes. For anything else you will be carrying the vacuum, and at 2087 g (73.6 oz) that is at least easy. The bullet publishes "a 6-ft cord and 4-ft hose", which is the shortest combination on this shelf by a clear margin: Bissell 18P03 has a 32 foot hose, both Giraffe Tools machines a 30 foot retractable one, the Vacmaster VFB511H publishes "25 feet of cleaning reach", the Craftsman 17040 a 15 ft cord with a 7 ft hose, this maker’s own AA255W a 12 ft cord with a 6 ft hose. Only the Kärcher has a shorter hose, at 3.9 feet — and that one is battery-powered, so it has no cord to worry about. What ten feet means in practice: inside a car it is fine, since you set the vacuum on the seat beside you. Along a garage floor it means unplugging and moving every few minutes, and an extension lead is the obvious answer — though a long thin extension costs you a little suction through voltage drop on a motor this size.
A gallon of tank, eight feet of reach and seven accessories. The same maker’s AA255W publishes a 2.5-gallon tank against this 1.5, a 12-ft cord and 6-ft hose — 18 feet against ten — and 13 accessories against six, including three extension wands, a floor brush/squeegee nozzle, a deluxe car nozzle and a detail brush, plus both filter types: a "reusable cloth filter" for dry work and a "foam wet filter" for water. Both are rated 2 peak HP, both have polypropylene tanks, both convert to a blower, both store accessories on the machine. So the thirty-two dollars buys capacity and equipment rather than power. What this one keeps is weight: 2087 g (73.6 oz) against 4985 g (175.8 oz), which is the difference between a vacuum you hang on a hook and one you stand on the floor. And it is wall mountable, which the AA255W does not claim — the two Giraffe Tools machines and the Bissell 18P03 are the other wall-mounting options here, at $249.99 and up.
Measured against the median of its own aisle here — not against everything on sale.
cleaning machines from the same category, at nearby prices. Only what all of them publish is shown: a column with holes compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Tank | Rating | Blower | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor All AA155 | $36 | 1.5 gallons, tough polypropylene | 2 peak HP — which is a catalog convention, see the FAQ | Yes, by quick conversion | Not published |
| CRAFTSMAN CMXEVBE17250 | $45 | 2.5 gallons | 2.5 peak HP — a catalog convention, see the FAQ | Yes | Three year limited — one of only four warranties on this shelf |
| Armor All AA255W | $68 | 2.5 gallons, durable polypropylene | 2 peak HP — a catalog convention, see the FAQ | Yes, with a dedicated blower nozzle adapter | Not published |
| Vacmaster VOC508S | $75 | Stainless steel — the only stainless tank on this shelf | 4 peak HP, which the same maker pairs with 135 air watts — see the FAQ | Not published | Not published |
Details checked on October 4, 2026.
A car interior and a small workshop bench, kept on a hook by the door
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 4,000.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for cleaning machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
1,250 W · 65 l/s airflow · 200 mbar · HEPA filter
The only machine here that publishes both numbers that matter — airflow and suction.
Best for: Trade use, or a home workshop where the vacuum runs alongside tools most weeks
1,000 W · 15 l · five paper bags included
The small, cheap, sensible one — and the bags in the box are most of the value.
Best for: A flat, a car and light workshop use, where storage space decides more than capacity
L class · HEPA filter · button filter cleaning · 2,000 W tool socket
Einhell's site-grade answer: dust class L with a HEPA element and a socket rated for a real power tool.
Best for: Site and workshop use where the vacuum runs off a saw, and where L-class filtration with a HEPA element is the requirement
