FocusCanada Forums

Euro-Pro Shark Hand Vacuum
MSRP: $29.99 CDN
Where to buy: Canadian Tire

Neat handy item for vacuuming out your car, especially for those of us with central vac and don't want to haul out the 30 ft hose.

Last I recalled this is $29.99 at Canadian Tire. When I got it, there was a promo for it being only $19.99. Comes with a 15 ft. cord, and I managed to use it in my 20 ft garage without an extension cord.

Overall, it's pretty good. The hose is a bit flimsy, so the two nozzle brushes can easily come off. But for the price, I really shouldn't complain. The nozzles and hose end are small enough to get into some tight areas. It's not noisy...sounds more like the girlfriend's hairdryer if anything. Cleanup is easy. Undo the front end to empty out the dust and stones. The filter just washes out under the tap.

You can get a Shop Vac for about the same price, but I really didn't want a huge canister vac taking up room. So, I went compact.

GapBoyPCS,Sep 7 2005, 01:46 PM Wrote:You can get a Shop Vac for about the same price, but I really didn't want a huge canister vac taking up room. So, I went compact.
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That looks pretty useful for car vacuuming cars, right price too.

I got myself the 1x1 (1hp, 1gal) ShopVac for doing my car, mainly for space issues since my garage isnt very big. The only complaint I have about the mini ShopVac is that the cord isnt very long, you have to use an extension cord all the time.

guilty,Sep 7 2005, 09:06 PM Wrote:

GapBoyPCS,Sep 7 2005, 01:46 PM Wrote:You can get a Shop Vac for about the same price, but I really didn't want a huge canister vac taking up room. So, I went compact.
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That looks pretty useful for car vacuuming cars, right price too.

I got myself the 1x1 (1hp, 1gal) ShopVac for doing my car, mainly for space issues since my garage isnt very big. The only complaint I have about the mini ShopVac is that the cord isnt very long, you have to use an extension cord all the time.
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Most pro's recommend a 5hp or more vacumm for doing car work.

Kool_ZX3,Sep 7 2005, 10:21 PM Wrote:Most pro's recommend a 5hp or more vacumm for doing car work.
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Good luck with that, a 5HP motor runs 16 amps running on 230V. :o

5hp, big bucks.

ANTHONYD,Sep 8 2005, 09:42 AM Wrote:5hp, big bucks.
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Id just get the biggest shop vac or ridgid vacumm crappy or home depot sells :D

Here is one of the recommend ones over on autopia



5.0Hp 4 gallon i believe

I have the shark, used it once.

Not impressed with it at all, but I ususally do use the 5hp shop vac, so my answer is bias since I'm comparing it to that.

Kool_zx3, How much would that one pictured go for? I need a new one and would like ot have all those attachments.....

Flofocus,Sep 8 2005, 02:19 PM Wrote:I have the shark, used it once.

Not impressed with it at all, but I ususally do use the 5hp shop vac, so my answer is bias since I'm comparing it to that.

Kool_zx3, How much would that one pictured go for?  I need a new one and would like ot have all those attachments.....
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That one there is like 80 bucks american i believe

Well that sucks....












Come on guys, someone had to say it.

Vanessa bought one of these at Canadian Tire for $9.99... she's happy with it... not that her car is ever clean... except for the trunk but that's only cause she's using my amp and subs and I don't let her get it all dirty

EDIT: As far as shop vac's go, I have one that's very similar to this:



And it's 5 hp, 110v... not 230v... not sure of the amperage... but it's 5 hp :P

Raine,Sep 9 2005, 02:23 AM Wrote:Vanessa bought one of these at Canadian Tire for $9.99... she's happy with it... not that her car is ever clean... except for the trunk but that's only cause she's using my amp and subs and I don't let her get it all dirty

EDIT: As far as shop vac's go, I have one that's very similar to this:



And it's 5 hp, 110v... not 230v... not sure of the amperage... but it's 5 hp :P
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Yup's that's what i need B) Suck the dirt right out, probably take the carpet with it
:lol: and :fluffy: agrees

Raine,Sep 9 2005, 01:23 AM Wrote:Vanessa bought one of these at Canadian Tire for $9.99... she's happy with it... not that her car is ever clean... except for the trunk but that's only cause she's using my amp and subs and I don't let her get it all dirty

EDIT: As far as shop vac's go, I have one that's very similar to this:



And it's 5 hp, 110v... not 230v... not sure of the amperage... but it's 5 hp :P
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5HP Peak is actually a misnomer.

1HP = 746W
5HP = 3730W

P (in watts)=I (in amps)x E (in Volts)
3730W=I x 110V
I=34 AMPS

You will never, ever pull 34A through a 15A breaker, inless it fused closed or malfunctioned .

CSA approval only allows a max of 12A for U-ground receptacles. (80% line ampacity to allow for inrush current)

The only way that you can get close to 5HP in a motor would be to 230V single-phase running #12 wire and a 20A breaker.

You can't get more power out of a machine than you put into it.
Any more than you can get 200HP at the wheels from your engine that only produces 150HP.
Law of thermodynamics.

(Psst, the name is OAC_Sparky, electricity is my living. :P)

5HP is a marketing tool.
Read here:
Deception in Vacuum ratings

OAC_Sparky,Sep 9 2005, 02:57 AM Wrote:

Raine,Sep 9 2005, 01:23 AM Wrote:Vanessa bought one of these at Canadian Tire for $9.99... she's happy with it... not that her car is ever clean... except for the trunk but that's only cause she's using my amp and subs and I don't let her get it all dirty

EDIT: As far as shop vac's go, I have one that's very similar to this:



And it's 5 hp, 110v... not 230v... not sure of the amperage... but it's 5 hp :P
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5HP Peak is actually a misnomer.

1HP = 746W
5HP = 3730W

P (in watts)=I (in amps)x E (in Volts)
3730W=I x 110V
I=34 AMPS

You will never, ever pull 34A through a 15A breaker, inless it fused closed or malfunctioned .

CSA approval only allows a max of 12A for U-ground receptacles. (80% line ampacity to allow for inrush current)

The only way that you can get close to 5HP in a motor would be to 230V single-phase running #12 wire and a 20A breaker.

You can't get more power out of a machine than you put into it.
Any more than you can get 200HP at the wheels from your engine that only produces 150HP.
Law of thermodynamics.

(Psst, the name is OAC_Sparky, electricity is my living. :P)

5HP is a marketing tool.
Read here:
Deception in Vacuum ratings
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We all just got deca owN3d :lol: Damn you sparky :lol:

Just to remind you OAC_Sparky it is 5hp peak and therefore you should not be using 110 V since this is the rms value. You need to be using the peak voltage. It would still require about 24A to achieve this 5hp peak, but just wanted to point this out since you did say it was your living.

As well I believe they do take into consideration what is called air watts, deals with the efficency of the fan or something like that. Sorry vacuums are not my thing and never will be.

Blackzx3,Sep 14 2005, 08:14 PM Wrote:Just to remind you OAC_Sparky it is 5hp peak and therefore you should not be using 110 V since this is the rms value.  You need to be using the peak voltage.  It would still require about 24A to achieve this 5hp peak, but just wanted to point this out since you did say it was your living.

As well I believe they do take into consideration what is called air watts, deals with the efficency of the fan or something like that.  Sorry vacuums are not my thing and never will be.
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RMS voltage is what you measure at the outlet. Peak voltage, for most practical applications, is a theoretical number that has no use.

RMS voltage is used because in actuality the voltage extension above the .707 point is so fractional compared to the rest of the sine wave that next to no extra work is performed, because an equal part of the wave (in the same cycle) is under the .707 .

When you use a meter to check your voltage at the outlet, if it's 110V the actual peak voltage is 155V, but the actual time above that .707 (ie.110V--->155V) is cancelled out by the time it's UNDER the .707 point (ie. 0--->110V) . That's why it is a "mean" ie average value.

When a motor is giving a peak rating, it means that in its duty cycle it can give a greater value than its normal operating output. ie. It can produce extra power for a short burst to start a high static load, for a short time before the windings overheat. But during that time, it still draws the current based on (746xHP)/RMS voltage.

There are no such recognized "air watts" or such nonsense like that (sorry, no offense, I'm sure you mean well). That's just more marketing hocuspocus.

Power in (watts)x efficiency (decimal percent) = Power out (watts)

You can't produce more power than you put in (no matter what you call it) because if we could we'd be using that technology to power everything. It would be one step better than a perpetual motion machine. Horsepower is horsepower. 1HP =746 Watts

Please forgive my crappy artwork, I just pounded this off in paint.



Hey, I never claimed to be an artist :P

OAC_Sparky,Sep 15 2005, 09:40 AM Wrote:Please forgive my crappy artwork, I just pounded this off in paint.



Hey, I never claimed to be an artist  :P
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Awesome OAC :lol: Your like electro man or something :D

now everyone check out my wax review LOL B)

I'm not saying that you are going to get that horse power, but when your in a lab environment it is possible to measure peak readings, and that is why they say peak horse power, and not continuous horsepower.

It is the same for an amplifier they have a peak output and an rms value. And many companies in amplifiers do the same thing they will push the amplifier to limits that are never going to exist since at that point in time the amp is clipping the signal, but the output is at the extreme and has the most gain.

What I was trying to convey was that you were not taking into account that the companies are saying peak which means they are using the peak values (not that its right to do this), but that is what they do and many other companies as well.

When you are calculating values (from all my learning and text books) you must keep with your units therefore if you are using rms everything has to be in rms, and if you are using peak you stick with peak. They are not interchangeable due to the units. Ofcourse when you are dealing with peak values and peak to peak it is only used for theoretical and calculations, very seldom would it be used for real world applications, but to companies like these whatever makes them look best is what they will use. This way of thinking is found everywhere from treadmills, vacs, etc.

Blackzx3,

We're really straying off topic, but to summarize, you would never, ever, ever use peak voltage in any horspower calculations, the amount of work done is the RMS.

Peak HP has nothing to do with peak voltage. At all.

Peak voltage is reached on a 120 Hz basis (60 Hz frequency x 2 peaks per cycle). Unless you have a pulsing motor speed (which you could with a variable frequency drive, which doesn't exist in a shopvac), it will never ever produce the "peak horsepower" you suggest because motor speed would have to change 120x a second. Even in a lab.

And because of inductance in the windings it never even makes it to peak.

You can talk about peak values in electronics and audio because you deal with frequencies and capacitance and integrated circuits. But not in inductance motors.

If you're reading this out of a textbook, I think you may have misinterpreted it. Again, no offense):)
Talk to a prof, he should be able to explain it better than I.

I just bought this guy from Canadian Tire. Has a nice blower function too to clean off the patio!

Not the biggest, not the most powerful, but ideal for small jobs around the house and car cleaning. On sale right now for $74.99 with some accessories.

Canadian Tire Shop-Vac on special

Won't quite suck the @$$ out of the cat, but will try... :rolleyes:

Ryan