wingless' DeWALT DXV10SA 10 Gallon 5 hp Stainless Wet Dry Vacuum

[wingless]

My ancient Craftsman 6.0 hp 16 gallon shop vac has been doing fine (after multiple repairs) over decades of usage.

 

A recent Costco visit had this DeWALT DXV10SA 10 Gallon 5 hp 10A 90 cfm stainless wet dry vacuum on sale and I determined something smaller would be waaay more handy for cleaning the car and inside house projects, relegating the 16 gallon Craftsman to the workshop. It turns out that was a good decision...

 

This DeWALT vacuum has lots of nice features and a few minor points that could be improved.

 

These are things I REALLY like:

1. All four wheels are 2.2" OD 360° plastic swivel casters. This thing is super easy to move around.
2. The power head to tank retention has two large arc lever latches. This provides a VERY secure attachment and easy release.
3. The bright yellow rocker power switch is HUGE (1-3/4"x1-1/8"), easy to see against the black background and easy to use.
4. The rubber pull / stretch hose retention tether works well.
5. The tool bag is great. I was initially apprehensive about not having slots for each tool, but I have come to like just tossing everything into the bag. The bent hoop just plugs into socket receptacles on the vac.
6. The crevice tool opening (business end) is well designed. The vac works by air flow. The crevice tool has half circle side bumps that not only space away from the surface but are also handy for working the surface. Something like removing dog hair embedded into car carpeting is better w/ this crevice tool.
7. The LARGE central tee handle on the top makes carrying the vacuum easy, balanced and intuitive. It also permits winding the power cord for storage. (Unfortunately the power cord attaches to the power head below the hose and the wind is above the hose, so extra steps are required for proper cord storage.
8. The retained partial twist knob on the DXVC6910 general purpose filter works well for easy removal / replacement. They also offer the DXVC6912 fine dust filter and DXVC6914 HEPA filter, but I was only able to find aftermarket versions of those parts.
9. Easy to use tank drain w/ nice rubber seal.
10. Note I did not use the filter bag. My plan is to only use the central canister filter.

 

Here are areas for improvement:

1. Raise the power cord attachment to the power head to above the hose to make winding the cord onto the handle easy.
2. Put a 360° swivel onto the tool end of the hose. There is already a 360° swivel on the tank end of the hose.
3. The 9.8' / 3m power cord would be waaay better if it were a little longer. As an example, when vacuuming the SUV I need either an extension cord, or need to unplug / feed under the vehicle to plug into the adjacent receptacle to clean the other side.

 

The DXV10SA vacuum kit includes these parts:

1. 6.8' / 2.1m 1.9" OD hose
2. Open top tool bag, 11"x4"x12" deep
3. Instruction manual
4. Filter, DXVC6910 general purpose filter 
5. Filter bag, DXVA19-4101
6. Two 19½" long wands
7. 8" long crevice tool
8. 3" OD brush tool
9. 7"x2½" rectangular tool
10. 10½"x2½" rectangular tool w/ removable brush / squeegee insert
11. Circular tool w/ three reducer attachments. End OD: 1.22"; 0.89"; 0.67" and 0.25"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wingless]

Lately I've added using the concentrator nozzles blowing dust out of tight locations as part of my interior cleaning process.

 

The best response to this additional step is WOW!

 

The steps I follow is to vacuum, brush the carpet for uniform nap w/ my Libman 15 Small Scrub Brush, then blow away any dust from tight locations. If required I might need to spot vacuum any dislodged specs.

 

The only thing is the concentrator nozzle will fly off the blowing hose like a projectile, so I hold it in-place during usage.