QUIET Ridgid WD1451 vacuum

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TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
I’ve been meaning to post a review of my Ridgid WD1451 vacuum for some time and a Dust Deputy question got me motivated.

From what I can tell, the WD1451 is Ridgid’s quietest vacuum. How quiet is it? I called it “game changing” QUIET. You have to hear it to appreciate just how quiet it really is. What I don’t understand is why Ridgid doesn’t market it more and offer other models with the technology.

A while back I did research into which shop vacs are the quietest. The premium vacuums by Fein and Festool are excellent vacuums and they are reputed to be very quiet. They appear to be excellent vacuums but you pay a hefty premium price for them. Or, you can get the WD1451 which has all the performance of a typical 6.0hp shop vac, but very little of the noise. That’s the beauty of the WD1451, it’s works as well as any shop vacuum you’re used to, except it’s so quiet you can literally have a conversation with someone while you are using the vacuum. Try that with any other shop vac!

Lastly, there is a Ridgid WD1450 vacuum. It is the exact same model but it does not incude several accessories that come with the WD1451. The extra accessory kit that is included in the WD1451 would easily cost $50-100 dollars. The accessories are items that most of us will use. Oh yeah! When I got my vacuum, the WD1451 was less expensive than the WD1450. Promotional pricing, but my local store didn’t carry this model so they shipped it to my door for free.:D

If you need a shop vac, look into the WD1451. It is tried and true technology. It has almost 2,400 reviews and is basically a 5-star product. HD will let you try it at home. I personally wouldn’t vacuum with it and then return it used, but I did listen to it at home and compare the performance to the four shop vacs I already have. I certainly did not need another shop vac at my house, but this thing is so quiet that it was a no brainer to keep it.

If you’re not impressed by the WD1451, I think HD will allow a return after a crazy length of time. Maybe 90 days.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Mark, I called Ridgid to see if I needed to register the vacuum for the lifetime service. They told me it was automatic and there was no warranty card to send in.

Of course, that policy could have changed the very next day. I’ve never used their warranty so I can’t speak to how well it works out.

I ‘ve tried to exercise other “lifetime” service/warranties and like many others, had mixed results.
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
Of course, that policy could have changed the very next day. I’ve never used their warranty so I can’t speak to how well it works out.

I've used Rigid's warranty twice. First time was on a vacuum that I bought on black friday for $30. After about 10 years it died, I called up, they had me try a few things, send them pictures, and then they shipped me complete brand new vacuum that was superior to what I had that retailed around $100 at HD (since they didn't have that model anymore) so I was very happy with that service call.

Second time was a drill motor fan exploded into a million pieces. I called in, they told me to take to a local repair shop off Capital Blvd, who fixed it for me, and Rigid covered it under warranty.

So I've been very happy with Rigid when I've called for service.
 

MarkE

Mark
Corporate Member
Mark, I called Ridgid to see if I needed to register the vacuum for the lifetime service. They told me it was automatic and there was no warranty card to send in.

Of course, that policy could have changed the very next day. I’ve never used their warranty so I can’t speak to how well it works out.

I ‘ve tried to exercise other “lifetime” service/warranties and like many others, had mixed results.

I recently replaced my 20+ yo Craftsman shop vac with a Ridgid WD1680. It did have the lifetime service agreement, some other models did not.
I had to register the product on-line to activate the service agreement. This is the same process required for several other Ridgid tools I have.

I have used the service agreement once for batteries for a cordless drill. At the time, I was told to bring the batteries in to Home Depot to get them replaced. Home Depot wasn't sure how that all worked, but they did get it figured out and I left with 2 brand new batteries.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Is this vacuum really 6 hp? It would definitely be quiet because the breaker would blow when I turned it on.

Roy G
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
Comment is probably tongue firmly in cheek but definitely not. Universal motors are often rated at peak torque and operating rpm ignoring the fact that these cannot simultaneously occur (peak torque occurs right before they stall out after they have slowed down to near nothing). So called "6hp" vacs pull about 12 amps. If it really outputted 6hp, it would have to pull over 40 amps.
 

Raymond

Raymond
Staff member
Corporate Member
Quiet is a relative term when measured against known values.

This model of vacuum has a decibel rating average of 76-79 db with a max of 96 db - overall still loud enough to do permanent hearing damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FesNz42ui80

Always protect your hearing - no matter how low you think it is.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Is this vacuum really 6 hp? It would definitely be quiet because the breaker would blow when I turned it on.

Roy G

When the McD lawsuit over the Qtr pndr comes in, you can upgrade your electrical to handle all 6.0 peak hp:D


Strangely enough, my electrical system soldiers on under the full 11 amps.

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JimD

Jim
Senior User
My new SawStop table saw is quieter than my Ryobi BT3100 that I've used for many years. I needed hearing protection with the Ryobi so I didn't mind the Rigid shop vacuum's noise. But the SawStop seems quiet enough I could possibly not use hearing protection if I quiet down the shop vac (going to try it anyway for dust collection on the SawStop too).

Assuming the shop vac does OK with the new saw, I think I will modify the cart that the shop vac and dust deputy is on to enclose the shop vac to muffle the sound. I haven't studied it yet but I don't think it will be hard. I have the cyclone above the shop vac so it already had plywood above and below it. It will need some more sides and baffles to let air out without allowing direct transmission of noise.

My shop vac is a really noisy Rigid with a 10A motor and a 3 gallon capacity. Other than the noise, I consider it ideal with the cyclone getting almost all the dust (as long as I empty out the drywall bucket when it gets full).
 
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