Wet and Dry

[Memories]

I have been living aboard for about 5 months now and there are various pieces of kit that I find are necessary for making life aboard easier.

 

1) a dust and ash vacuum, I bought a Vonhaus one recommended by AI

 

2) A good quality high voltage cable hook-up, burn a standard one out with an air fryer.

 

3) A good quality high performance wet and dry vacumm cleaner.

 

I have not bought this yet. I would like, and am asking for your input, regarding which ones boaters find to be not just adequate but good for sucking the water out of the first step into the engine bay. I am told this water  accumulation is most probably blocked drainage holes from the deck, not sure if this is correct or not but either way the water keeps on accumulating and requires emptying regularly.

 

So....those of you that use one, tell me about it's performance brand and where to get one, there are loads on Amazon and eBay but I would like to buy one recommended by boaters.

[LadyG]

I think you need to stop water ingress. 

Of course if on shorepower you need not worry too much about using electricity, though the power is likely to be restriced.

 I find that storage of stuff is something that gets more difficult as the years roll on 

 

Edited February 21 by LadyG

[blackrose]

I bought a Screwfix special.

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb774vac-1300w-16ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-220-240v/826kh

 

It's very good and now 10 quid cheaper than I paid for mine a few years ago.

 

As Lady G says, ideally you should try to prevent water getting down there in the first place. I tried lots of things but the channels & downpipes the builder had fitted under my cruiser stern deck boards just weren't adequate for heavy downpours. I ended up putting a large 5mm thick rubber mat over the entire deck, cut to size with decent scissors. I just roll it up when I need access. Available on eBay but go for 5mm thick if you can find it. 3mm will tear too easily.

Edited February 21 by blackrose

[Tonka]

Wet and dry is a must when you want to take the signwriting of the side of cabin. Make sure the paper is wet and rub away. 

[Memories]

57 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I bought a Screwfix special.

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb774vac-1300w-16ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-220-240v/826kh

 

It's very good and now 10 quid cheaper than I paid for mine a few years ago.

 

As Lady G says, ideally you should try to prevent water getting down there in the first place. I tried lots of things but the channels & downpipes the builder had fitted under my cruiser stern deck boards just weren't adequate for heavy downpours. I ended up putting a large 5mm thick rubber mat over the entire deck, cut to size with decent scissors. I just roll it up when I need access. Available on eBay but go for 5mm thick if you can find it. 3mm will tear too easily.

You are obviously correct about stopping the water ingress, when we get a decent dry spell my intent it to lift the boards and see exactly what you s going on, but at the minute I am simply dealing with what I have, the rubber mat idea has been floated previously and would possibly work, my stern is very small, just a platform to pilot the boat from, no seats as it is too small, but I think the mat may work.

[Momac]

For extracting any bilge water use my vacuum extractor 

Fortunately the marina has  disposal tanks for oil and oily water .

[BEngo]

From experience the current Screwfix Titan Wet and Dry vac is rather flimsy and the tank goes out of round if you are not very gentle with it.

The motor etc. are fine and it sucks well if you can keep the tank round.

[blackrose]

16 minutes ago, BEngo said:

From experience the current Screwfix Titan Wet and Dry vac is rather flimsy and the tank goes out of round if you are not very gentle with it.

The motor etc. are fine and it sucks well if you can keep the tank round.

 

I've never had a problem with mine going out of round. The only thing I did find was that the clips that hold the motor side to the base aren't very tight so I put a couple of layers of duct tape over the part the clips go onto and that tightened them up.

Edited February 21 by blackrose

[Memories]

4 hours ago, Momac said:

For extracting any bilge water use my vacuum extractor 

Fortunately the marina has  disposal tanks for oil and oily water .

 

[Memories]

I had something similar to this , a manual pump, not very good.....

The Titan, 'screwfix special'.., has reasonable reviews, but with the two posts already supplied, thanks for you input, I think I will pass.

 

Still open to comment.

[JoeC]

My boat came with a B&Q branded wet vac that gas blow and suck. Good fir blowing out the dirt from drainage tubes.

[Memories]

6 minutes ago, JoeC said:

My boat came with a B&Q branded wet vac that gas blow and suck. Good fir blowing out the dirt from drainage tubes.

Do you have a make and model number? So I can investigate.

[pearley]

Whatever model you get, exchange the foam filter for the extra cost washable pleated filter.

[Memories]

31 minutes ago, pearley said:

Whatever model you get, exchange the foam filter for the extra cost washable pleated filter.

Noted. Thanks

[Slim]

Basically "what you pay for is what you get". When I had the boat I had 3 over the years. In ascending order of cost they were Titan, Kratcher and Milwalkee. All 3 sucked up oily water and leaves and all 3 wound up covered in oil. In my opinion more important than quality is size. Where will it be stored?  After a few engine bilge cleaning sessions you won't want it in the cabin.

[Peanut]

On the hook-up cable, I bought one of these,

Leisurewize 25 Metre Mains Extension Lead Hook Up (2.5mm Cable)   Cost £36.95, plus postage.

https://www.grasshopperleisure.co.uk/leisurewize-25-metre-mains-extension-lead-hook-up-25mm-cable-12150-p.asp

Also, available from other suppliers, such as Halfords, at £40.00. (They were£50.00 when I was buying.)

 

It's a caravan site cable, orange to show up in the grass. 25 meters is long enough most of the time, and 2.5mm wire gives a lower voltage loss. I would avoid 1.5mm cable. 25 meters might give a 10-11 volt drop.

 

Some use blue arctic cable, but neither of the cables are strictly correct, you are supposed to use the black hno7 rubber cable, for power distribution around a site, but it is beastly expensive, so almost no one uses it.

[Memories]

17 minutes ago, Slim said:

Basically "what you pay for is what you get". When I had the boat I had 3 over the years. In ascending order of cost they were Titan, Kratcher and Milwalkee. All 3 sucked up oily water and leaves and all 3 wound up covered in oil. In my opinion more important than quality is size. Where will it be stored?  After a few engine bilge cleaning sessions you won't want it in the cabin.

Yes, I looked at all of those, you may have noted that I took the AI recommendation for the ash and dust vac, that being the Vonhaus, I asked AI about the wet and dry vacuum too and it's recommendation was the Milwaukee M18 fuel, but seeing the price I thought, rightly or wrongly, that the best people to ask are boaters as they deal with the same issue as me.

[Ronaldo47]

A rubber or arctic grade extension cable is petty well essential if you are going to need to use it in sub-zero temperatures, where ordinary PVC insulation loses its flexibility and becomes brittle. 

 

These days, I have found it difficult to find extension sockets with cable entries that will acceptable cable  greater than 1.5mm.  I made my own long extension lead in the 1970's using 2.5mm rubber cable with string reinforcement between the conductors, and am still looking for a new rubber extension socket to replace the original one which, while still serviceable,  has had a hard life. 

[jonathanA]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo47 said:

These days, I have found it difficult to find extension sockets with cable entries that will acceptable cable  greater than 1.5mm.  I made

I can't recall having that problem recently, although I tend to use 16A blue commando plugs/sockets on my extension leads and just convert to 13A with short leads at each end. Have a look at CPC for extension sockets. 

 

In terms of wet and dry vacs I buy the wickes own brand one about 45 quid. About another 15 quid for the better filter. Sucjs and blows and I've used them for sucking up brick/plaster rubble,  water etc and even diesel out of a bilge due to a split  fuel return pipe. But mostly for sucking up water out of bilges especially that last 3/4 inch that the bilge pump can't suck.up...

 

They don't last forever but are cheap enough to replace every 5 or 6 years..

[Memories]

10 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

I can't recall having that problem recently, although I tend to use 16A blue commando plugs/sockets on my extension leads and just convert to 13A with short leads at each end. Have a look at CPC for extension sockets. 

 

In terms of wet and dry vacs I buy the wickes own brand one about 45 quid. About another 15 quid for the better filter. Sucjs and blows and I've used them for sucking up brick/plaster rubble,  water etc and even diesel out of a bilge due to a split  fuel return pipe. But mostly for sucking up water out of bilges especially that last 3/4 inch that the bilge pump can't suck.up...

 

They don't last forever but are cheap enough to replace every 5 or 6 years..

Thanks, your recommendation is actually proof that coming to boater with the question was the correct way to go, simply because the Ai didn't even mention Wickes own brand, it did mention the 'screwfix special' mentioned by another contributor but not the wicked one.

Thanks

[Slim]

3 hours ago, Memories said:

Yes, I looked at all of those, you may have noted that I took the AI recommendation for the ash and dust vac, that being the Vonhaus, I asked AI about the wet and dry vacuum too and it's recommendation was the Milwaukee M18 fuel, but seeing the price I thought, rightly or wrongly, that the best people to ask are boaters as they deal with the same issue as me.

As did I for 28 years😁 and I'm real not AI. Did AI consider storage?

Edited February 21 by Slim

[Ronaldo47]

The ones I have got from CPC recently are only good for up to 1.5mm.  I may end up fitting a cable gland to a Metalclad socket screwed  to a small square of plywood. 

[Memories]

29 minutes ago, Slim said:

As did I for 28 years😁 and I'm real not AI. Did AI consider storage?

AI wasn't provided storage data to analyse as in my situation it is irrelevant, I have sufficient storage space for the vacuum in the engine room.

[Quattrodave]

Yeah cos AI is the answer to everything isn't it..... How about use your own intelligence.... Do some research and a little intuition?!?!

[pearley]

12 hours ago, Memories said:

Thanks, your recommendation is actually proof that coming to boater with the question was the correct way to go, simply because the Ai didn't even mention Wickes own brand, it did mention the 'screwfix special' mentioned by another contributor but not the wicked one.

Thanks

Ours came from Wickes too.