OUR REVIEW – RIDGID 14 Gal. 6.0-Peak HP NXT Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum (HD1400)

When purchasing a shop vac you should really pay attention to the motor size and get the biggest you can afford. The bigger the motor the happier you will be with the vacuum’s suction power. This RIDGID vac has a 6.0 max HP motor which provides you with very strong suction on both dry particles and liquid. The amount of power here is amazing for the price and you will be presently surprised at how well this machine handles cleaning up large messes.

In our tests we did both dry and wet vacuum tests and were blown away at how fast this machine could suck up a 5 gallon bucket of water. If you would like to see this test check out our Youtube video here.

This vacuum is offered in both a stainless steel drum (10 gallons) and a hard plastic drum (14 gallons). We inspected both vacuums and really liked the plastic version as it was a lot more durable. The stainless drum felt too thin where as the plastic drum felt solid and less likely to break. We were afraid with the stainless drum being so thin it would bend if we laid it over on it’s edge to dump out a full load of water. We don’t think it would have handled the weight too well.

Connecting the top piece of the vacuum to the drum is very easy on the plastic version and we found the side clamps worked well. Keep in mind the top piece can only go on one way (tub drain facing forward). The tub size of 14 gallons seems perfect as it’s not too heavy to empty and still provides plenty of capacity.

These shop vacs use a 3 layer dust filter that is inexpensive and easy to purchase from your local Home Depot or online. That was a major selling point for us because we could pick up a new filter while we were grabbing supplies for a new project at the store. There is nothing worse than having to special order filters from a manufacture and waiting for them to come in the mail.

Filter Numbers: VF5000 (Fine Dust Filter), VF6000 (Hepa Media Filter) and VF7000 (Wet Filter)

The cord was plenty long and it stayed nice and wrapped up on the top of the machine away from the vacuum hose. We like this design because it keeps the power cord away from the vac hose and reduces the change of them getting tangled up if the cord comes undone. The plug on the cord has a notch where you can attach the plug to the cord to hold it tight. Overall very happy with this design.

The vacuum comes with 360 degree casters making it easy to pull around via the hose while you’re vacuuming. Be sure to make sure the casters are fully inserted when assembling out of the box and consider adding adhesive to them if you do not plan on taking them off. This will make sure they don’t work their way loose after extended use.

There is an exhaust port allowing you to use the vacuum as a blower if needed. It’s easy to attach and only takes a few seconds to switch the hose over to the exhaust port.

There is a side clip that allows you to secure the hose to the machine while traveling. This works well and is easily reachable, so you’ll find yourself using it a lot.

There is a drain valve on the bottom allowing you to drain liquids out of the tub to make more room for physical debris. This is great when you’re working in wet areas and don’t want to constantly drain the tank.

For example, we had a sprinkler valve break and it leaked a ton of water in the sprinkler box making the area unworkable. We were able to suck up the water with the shop vac and then crack the valve to drain the water without taking the top off. We did this multiple times while working on the new valve and it saved us a lot of time not having to disassemble the vacuum each time to empty it.

You will get an extended wand making it easy to vacuum while standing as well as two attachments for vacuuming floors. The main wand attachment narrows down the hose to a rectangle shape which gives it more suction power.