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Fein 9-55-13 Turbo II 9-1/2 Gallon 1-1/3 Horsepower Wet/Dry Vacuum with Auto-Start | List Price: $435.00
Discount Price: $333.46
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Brand: Fein
Binding: Tools & Hardware
Features: - Auto start for dust extraction when connected to your power tool
- 2-stage motor with bypass cooling for a longer life
- Quiet operation at only 57.8 db
- 9-gallons solid, 6.8-gallons fluid capacity
- 16-foot long hose, and a fabric boot filter collects dust down to 5 microns
A Great Vac But Not for Everyone [Posted on 2007-12-12]
As a recreational woodworker and a home improvement weekend warrior, I value a good shop vacuum. I use them for three basic tasks: general clean up (sawdust, wood chips, small chunks of plaster, concrete, bits of wire, the occasional nail or screw), dust extraction from small power tools, and drywall sanding. Having burned out my trusty Shop Vac after 7 years of dedicated hard service, I decided to upgrade to the Fein Turbo II. I've seen these all over the woodworking shows, and the reviews are consistently good. This is my initial impression.
The Good: It is reasonably quiet and powerful, generating about the same noise as my wife's Electrolux, though with a lot more suction. Unlike your basic home center Shop Vacs, I can run this thing without ear protection. The unit is nicely designed, with the weight distributed low to prevent tipping. It tucks nicely in a corner, or in my case, under my outfeed table. Metal buckles hold the motor assembly to the lower body. Switches are solid. It has a long, high quality electrical cord and good castors that actually roll. The unit is lightweight, plastic throughout (except for the buckles). The auto feature is nice for use with handheld power tools. There is enough hose to hang yourself (16 ft!), making it easy to maneuver around a crowded garage shop without dragging R2D2 with you. The hose is narrow (1 1/4") and lightweight, making it easy to handle with handheld tools such as an orbital sander. The positive lock mechanism on the hose is helpful, as shop vac hoses tend to "disconnect" at inopportune moments.
The Not-So-Good: The hose does not appear to be terribly robust. I wouldn't want to step on it. This makes it light and maneuverable, an asset when using a sheet rock sander overhead, but could be a problem over the long haul. For the greatest shop vac hose on the planet bar none, get the orange Wet/Dry Vacuum Accessory Kit from Lee Valley Tools. You can stand on this hose in work boots, yet it's flexible and light. Unfortunately, it's available only in the standard 2 1/4" size, which you can slip fit into the Turbo II's inlet, but I'm concerned about breaking the hard plastic locking mechanism. Why oh why does Fein fit their vacuum with a non-standard hose? We know the answer, but it bears asking here. Be sure to buy Fein's rubber adapter; you're going to need it.
The Bad: The hard plastic hose ends and hose lock mechanism do not inspire confidence. My old ShopVac was made out of some indestructible plastic and everything was more or less jammed together. I'm concerned with how this one will hold up under hard use. The unit comes with nothing in the way of accessories. You would think for $300 Fein could throw in at least a brush or a crevice tool or some token tool. All you get is a hose and a short piece of rubber tubing that acts as an adapter for the Fein sander. Fortunately, all my old accessories (including those from the Lee Valley kit) can be made to fit using the Fein rubber adapter (sold separately). The unit ships with a useless cloth bag designed to blow the most dangerous dust particles all over your shop. I bought the 1 micron filter kit and intend to upgrade to an aftermarket HEPA filter as others have suggested. Speaking of aftermarket, I'm hoping that some home center bag will fit this puppy, because Fein bags go for $5 a pop.
Summary: The Turbo II looks like a good choice for the woodworking shop and weekend warrior. I'll leave it to the contractors to comment on how well it fares in the field. What you get for the big bucks is quiet and power. We'll see if it lasts as long as my old ShopVac.
One of my favorite tools [Posted on 2008-03-07]
Spend the extra money on this Wet/Dry Vac. It's quiet, powerful, and does not release dust back into the air. I use it for "auto-start" dust extraction, shop clean-up, cleaning water out of the basement, and vacuuming the oak floors in our house. Really, a super tool.
Quality product [Posted on 2008-04-02]
I bought this vac for drywall dust for a large project. I used it with the HEPA filter. After filling up a few bags with drywall dust the vacuum gave up and made a ton of noise. I got it serviced for free under warranty. I did not replace the HEPA filter after each bag change which was a mistake. I recommend that users replace the filter after every bag change if you're using it for drywall dust. I switched to the 1 micron filters for this purpose and have found that they work great, even for drywall dust. Hope this is helpful.
pieces not included [Posted on 2008-04-29]
The vacuum is powerful and compact. I felt ripped off when the price ended up not including the hoses and attachments. I had to spend an extra $150 or there abouts for the extras.
In use for 6 years, comments also on using with Festool [Posted on 2008-07-31]
I bought the Fein to replace an old Craftsman shop-vac that was as loud as the deck of an aircraft carrier. Instant improvement, with the first discovery being that you will actually use a vac all the time if it's not too loud! The Fein has several endearing features: it's light, it's quiet, it's relatively hard to tip over, it has a long cord, and the cord stores on the body (by wrapping it around the top groove). I don't understand some reviewers' comments on the strength of the suction. These vacs do not have anything close to the level of suction developed by the cheaper and louder vacs. In fact, if they did, they would be a lot harder to use attached to tools like sanders. There is plenty of suction for any reasonable use, though.
I've never bought the wet-vac parts for the Fein and never used the vac with a bag. I just dump out the contents into a trash bag. Moreover, I've never replaced the filter and am careful when cleaning it - I don't over-clean the filter, and I'm careful not to damage it. A well-used filter with a reasonable amount of filter cake built up on it is very efficient, typically yielding much better filtration than the nominal micron rating listed. Among other things, I find I can use mine for drywall and for cleaning out my pellet stove without dust or soot escaping from the vac, though I'd buy a purpose-built vac if those were my primary uses. (Don't try this with a new filter!)
I agree with other reviewers' comments on the hose and attachment parts. They are lightweight and shouldn't be abused.
The bottom line on my review goes back to the starting comment. I found that quiet overwhelms every other consideration. Having a quiet vac turns it into something you use as you work instead of an end-of-day chore.
Don't be oversold on the hyped superiority of Festool vacs for their tools. While they are excellent vacs (I own one in addition to a Fein Turbo II) with tons of features, strictly from a vacuuming standpoint they don't offer any better performance than the Fein - and that includes any supposed advantage of the Festool vac's variable speed.
The one use for which I prefer the Festool vac is for sanding. But that's because I have a Festool vac with a HEPA filter, and I do not have the HEPA filter for my Fein. There is also one really good reason to prefer the Fein vac over Festool, and that's the exorbitant cost of Festool bags! Unlike sanding dust, chips from a tool like the Festool Domino will fill a bag in a hurry. Do yourself a favor and attach the Domino to your Fein instead!
The Fein stepped rubber adapter can be trimmed to fit any Festool power tool and will store nicely in the Systainer. It is as flexible as the end of the Festool hose, so will adapt to either the round or oval dust outlets on Festool tools. You can get the adapter from Amazon or from Woodcraft.
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