Ten years or so ago, I bought this Shop-Vac combo wet-dry vacuum/leaf blower, and I’ve been very happy with it since. A couple of weeks ago, I removed the full bag to put in a new one, and somehow I’ve lost a critical part.
See the red cylinder above the word “blower”? That’s where you thread the hose onto the body of the vaccum; the back side of it has a flange into which you slide the cardboard neck of the bag. Somehow, this part has inexplicably disappeared.
Yes, I’ve looked everywhere, including the last place I saw it, and a bunch of other places it couldn’t possibly have got to. And unlike @slicedalone’s tire cap, or my own wedding ring, it hasn’t turned up again. It’s not in the freezer.
The only thing I can think of is that when I was changing the bag in the garage, the part fell into a trash bag or box that I later threw out without noticing.
I called Shop-Vac and they gave me the bad news: the model has been discontinued, that red thing was not even a separate part number – it was part of the main tub – they don’t have any spares any more, and they don’t use the same part on any other model. And no non-OEM parts place that I checked has it either.
What to do? For now I’ve bodged the thing together with gaffer’s tape, but 1) that probably won’t last very long under real-world use, and b) even if it did, it would be a pain to undo and redo next time I have to change bags.
So what’s the best alternative? Before you suggest using 3-D printer (never mind that I don’t have access to one), please go out and find me the object file I’ll need.
Hand-make one? I don’t quite see how I’d do that without a prototype to work from, even if I had the skills, tools, and materials to try. And I’m pretty sure I’d come up short on some part of that, even if I had a prototype. And if I had a prototype, I wouldn’t need to make another!
Failing that, and since I need a working shop vac, it seems my only option is to throw the thing out and buy a new one. I would keep it as a leaf blower only, except for the fact that I just bought a new battery powered one last summer. (I guess I could donate the leaf blower part to Goodwill. That would be less wasteful.)
The only good news seems to be that if I buy a new one, it won’t have to be as expensive, because I don’t need the leaf blower part and I realize I’ll be fine with a smaller unit than this one.
Do you fine people have any better ideas? (Commiseration, sympathy, and similar tales of woe are welcome, too.)
Thanks.
