I bought this to replace a truly crappy Shark rechargeable vacuum. The DeWalt was one of four that I had decided on (the other three being the B&D PHV1800, Eureka 71A, and B&D CHV1500 in descending order of price). I ultimately chose the DeWalt because it uses a standard DeWalt power tool battery, has a washable filter, and was the only wet/dry vacuum of my selections.
The box contains the vacuum itself, rechargeable battery, fast charger (will charge a completely flat battery in about an hour), and a thin but complete owner's manual.
The DeWalt's design is all business. It's about the size of two irons or half a shoe box. The top has a very grippy rubberized handle that's set above a large (but not stiff) responsive power switch. It's very easy to turn the vacuum on and off with one hand and very difficult to do so accidentally. A plastic vacuum hose runs from the back of the unit over the top (the handle) to the vacuum nozzle on the front of the unit. You can easily pull the hose out of the nozzle to get into smaller crevices; put the hose back in and it's a normal hand vacuum. Underneath, in the back you've got a black plastic debris bin that's held in place with a beefy (but, again, not too stiff) latch. In front of that is the standard DeWalt battery pack.
Although it's one of the heavier vacuums out there, the weight is well balanced. You can easily tilt the vacuum in all directions without feeling like you're fighting the weight of the battery and/or the vacuum motor. You can vacuum vertical surfaces just as easily as horizontal ones. You CAN use the vacuum vertically if there's water in the collection bin; the bin seals tightly enough to the base that leakage isn't a problem. However, having too much water in there could make it splash into the motor assembly. So the moral is: If you've got water in the collection bin, empty it out before doing anything vertical (or hold the vacuum horizontal and use the detachable hose).
So, how well does it work? Quite well, in fact. The motor is very powerful and was able to easily pick up all manner of bits that I threw at it including drywall dust, small finishing nails, screw anchors, and cat hair from a wood floor. It also did an excellent job removing cat hair from upholstery despite its lack of a power brush or upholstery comb. In the car, it easily picked up all the sand, dirt, pebbles and occasional penny without any complaints, including bits that were embedded in a damp carpeted floor mat.
Emptying the bin is simplicity itself and takes less than five seconds to complete. The filter seems to be doing an excellent job so far; even with a bin full of drywall dust, there's no "cloud" when you turn the vacuum on again. I haven't yet needed to clean the filter but it's easily removable and is washable. (EDIT 03-24-08: I finally had to wash the filter. It lost about 70% of its suction after pulling up a buttload of spackle dust, so I removed and tapped the filter against the inside of a trash can. A HUGE cloud of dust was released. About a minute at the sink with a small stiff bristled scrub brush and the filter came clean. I let it dry overnight before reinstalling it; meanwhile I rinsed out the collection bin and cleaned up the unit itself. By morning it was back to its old self again, sucking up everything and scaring the cats.)
The battery lasts friggin' forever. Out of the box the battery had a partial charge on it that lasted about 20 minutes. After charging for about half an hour in the included charger I was able to vacuum pretty much every corner and edge in the house, plus my car, without losing any vacuum strength. A big selling point for me was that it uses standard DeWalt power tool batteries so finding replacements will be incredibly easy.
My only real issue with the vacuum is one that has been mentioned before: This vacuum is LOUD and does emit a power tool-like whine which some people can find annoying. I doubt it's any louder than my full-size vacuum cleaner but since it's held in your hand rather than being dragged on the floor, it's closer to your ears and therefore might sound louder. So far as 18v handheld vacuums I compared it against this one is about average in noise, and compared to all handheld vacuums I looked at this is definitely one of the louder ones. I therefore wouldn't consider this to be "bad design" but simply a consequence of a larger and more powerful motor. Even so, since there are other 18v handhelds out there which aren't as loud, I think DeWalt could have done a little something to quiet it down just a little more.
I also would have liked to have a transparent debris bin so that I could see how full it was. This feature exists on at least 2/3 of the handheld vacuums out there today. I recognize DeWalt's "yellow and black" design decision here probably overrode this as a possible feature.
The only other thing I would have liked to see on this vacuum is a few more accessories; namely, a shoulder strap (so you can walk around using the hose to clean things like window sills and such) and a few hose accessories like an upholstery brush or pinhole nozzle. Still, even with these minor shortcomings I'd definitely buy this one again.
I was excited to get this vac as I needed a commercial quality portable for the random handyman jobs my boss sends me to in between regular framing gigs. Having an extra battery and charger to use with my other Dewalt 18 volt tools made this the vac to buy. I'm on the fence as to whether or not I would buy it again.
Did you read in any of these reviews that it is LOUD? Well, it is. It is not just that the vacuum is loud, but that it is an extremely high-pitched whining kind of loud. If I use it without earplugs I begin to get irritable like when I have to listen to a broken car alarm, a yapping poodle (oh, isn't he so-o-o cute!), or a toddler who isn't getting what he wants in the supermarket candy aisle. I have tried to adjust the pitch by SLIGHTLY covering the air intakes and outputs with blue painters tape to no avail. It is like an 18 volt motorized whistle. The fact that the vacuum operates at a mere arm's length from your ears exacerbates the problem.
You figure that if you buy an 18 volt vacuum made by Dewalt that you are going to get some serious suction, right? Not the case with this vacuum, or at least the one I bought. My 7.2 volt Dustbuster is much stronger than this vacuum. When I'm on the job I usually need to pick up sawdust, wood chips, drywall dust, and small screws and finish nails. The Dewalt leaves something to be desired when it comes to these materials, requiring me to go over and over the dirty area to get all the dust, and leaving me to pick up the bigger debris by hand. It isn't a clogged filter either, as I keep the filter meticulously clean on this, and on all my vacuums. I find it hard to believe that the engineers on this project were content to let a Dustbuster outperform this cool looking vacuum in suction strength.
There are some solid points about this vacuum. First off, the thing seems to run and run on a fully charged battery. If it does have 1/2 the suction of the Dustbuster, at least it runs several times as long. In the end that may equal as much or more dirt being picked up per charge.
The batteries and charger are compatible with your other dewalt tools.
The vacuum is made of thick, heavy duty plastic that, so far, has endured all the rigors of commercial use, including being at the bottom of the Jobox under a heap of other tools. It is not fragile.
I have not had it clog up yet, even when the canister is full up solid to the dustport it keeps on vacuuming. I know this doesn't sound quite possible but it is my experience. It can deal with drywall dust which is the bane of many vaccums.
It vacuums liquids. It can be used to clean up while wet polishing counter tops or wet cutting concrete in a situation where water can't be allowed to go all over the place. I have used mine to drain the water from a low spot on a wet, leaky roof so that I could perform repairs.
The collection bin can be emptied and reinstalled in about 6 seconds. The HEPA quality filter is easy to access and rinses off under the tap. (I don't think that you are supposed to scrub this type of filter with a brush or anything as you may damage the rather delicate-and expensivemembrane.)
It looks way cool.
There you have it. The vacuum performed less well than I expected as far as its suction strength goes. It is annoyingly loud. On the other hand it is useful for wet tasks and I'm not afraid to let it get knocked around, it'll probably last many, many years. I just ordered a Makita 14 volt vacuum, which received glowing reviews here on Amazon, before I wrote this review. I plan on using the Makita to keep my client's floors clean of dust and debris and will use the Dewalt on other, task specific jobs.
Hope this review helps you in your decision making process.
Buy DEWALT DC515K 1/2 Gallon 18-Volt NiCd Cordless Wet/Dry Vac Now
Dustbuster that runs on my 18V batteries....hard to beat for convenience. Good battery life and pretty good suction, but it is LOUD with a really high pitched sound that buzzes in your ears. It comes with one XRP 18V battery which is about $60 so the cost of the vac is $70 or so. Was great to use in my attic rather than dragging out the big shop vac. I tried and returned the 2 gallon vac. This one has about the same suction and is cheaper and smaller. Hose detaches for cleaning in corners etc. Other than the noise...I love it.
Read Best Reviews of DEWALT DC515K 1/2 Gallon 18-Volt NiCd Cordless Wet/Dry Vac Here
For a handheld cordless vac, this works well. Suction is adequate for picking up sawdust, small nails, screws, drywall dust, etc. Used for the first time today on a wet clean-up and it worked great. No it won't replace my full size shop vac, but that isn't why I bought it. Its great for bringing into the house to clean up work messes that don't justify the large plug-in vac, or when you don't want to junk up the house-vac with work debris. Battery life is really good. Bought it about a month ago and have used it about a dozen times without charging again until today. None of the clean up jobs were significant just various wood dust and chips... but still impressive battery life.
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I purchased the DeWalt vac to replace an older Dustbuster. The power of the DeWalt is considerably better. The hose function works well and is great for corners and tight areas. Many reviews raise concern about noise. Here is a comparison measured at 36 inches:
DeWalt cordless vac 87-90 dB
Black and Decker Dustbuster 80-82 dB
Porter Cable wet/dry shop vac 87 dB
Dirt Devil 84 dB
Simplicity home floor vacuum 80 dB
Hearing damage occurs at 90dB over time. Ear muffs for hearing protections store nicely on the handle of the DeWalt and, I believe, should be used. I do not find this to be particularly inconvenient. I own other DeWalt tools and have found them to be consistently high quality. This one is no exception.
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Own a unlighted version of this charger. Bought this model as a gift for a relative. They preform their function well. Very durable and dependable. Although not as quick charging as higher amp models, it seems to add a bit of longevity to battery life when using low amp charge. The 6 volt side is a plus for garden tractor 6V batteries and the older dual voltage diesel truck batteries. Just a added note that these types of chargers are NOT waterproof. The lighted charge indicator meter is a plus for low light use & letting you know the unit is plugged in. This is a "Manual" charger; one has to check the progress of the charge every so often. It did charge a fully drained group 42 12V battery in 7.5 hours. One thing the other solid state chargers won't do is charge a drained battery. The charging cable and power cord is long enough to use with most under the hood applications. The case is stamped thick sheet metal that is durable to hard bumps and dings. Highly recommended to those who don't need a "super-quick/booster" charger or a "hook & forget" charger.
