Fax: 01444 414813
Email: info@airstream.co.uk
by Peter Brett - June 2008
For more information call Christine
01444 440188
01444 440188
Good Value and Amazing Suction
The Silverline 1500W Wet and Dry Vacuum is one of those tools. I suspect that it has a few jobs lined up for it before it is packed up ready to return.
On the face of it, it looks like the run-of-the-mill vacuums that one sees everywhere in DIY sheds and shops. It has four sturdy plastic wheels that are easily attached to the bottom of the bright steel vacuum container and they enable the necessary stability and mobility. But the rest of the accessories seem to be particularly well chosen, whether for a DIYer, light tradesman or householder. These consist of a long 3m dust hose, a clever telescopic vacuum tube, an adjustable floor nozzle, a crevice nozzle and a stepped adaptor (that fits a variety of outlets for power tools very well).
To protect the motor, two optional reusable filters can be placed over it. The first is for cleaning dry stuff and saves the motor filter from the inevitable clogging associated with fine dust collection. The second is a foam filter for cleaning up wet stuff and this helps to protect the motor from stray damp. A bit of a surprise for me, there is also the option to use a paper dust-collection bag. In the past these have not worked well for me, but in the Silverline it proved to be a real bonus, lots of cleaning power and simple disposal of all the collected dust.
The motor is housed in a businesslike black plastic housing that fits on top of the tank. There are a couple of switches to get to know. The first is a simple on/off switch, but the second allows the user to use the plug as a power take-off for a power tool. This switches the vacuum on when the power tool is switched on - Very convenient.
Now that householders are becoming aware of the dangers of fine dust as well as the mess that it creates, a machine this versatile is a very good solution. A dust proof screw fitting is used to attach the dust hose to the cylinder so nothing escapes into the atmosphere.
If it is necessary to blow dust away, (you never know!) there is also a blow facility on the back of the motor housing.
I routinely use a vacuum attached to my freestanding and portable power tools and have got used to the advantages that they confer. At the most mundane level it saves an awful lot of cleaning up, but I also know that my lungs are not being exposed to high levels of dust in the atmosphere. My current vac is showing its age a bit and recently, when I tested a small planer thicknesser, it failed to collect the shavings particularly well. I put this down to the small (38mm) diameter dust hose and a less than good home-made adaptor. The first task I put the Silverline to work on was on the same machine doing the same job I had done previously. I fully expected to empty the collection hood by hand when I had finished and was truly astonished to find not a shaving present. Checking the dustbag, it was all safely in there. The excellent suction power of the Silverline vac really was well demonstrated in this application.
I then used the vac connected to an electric planer via the brilliant little stepped adaptor supplied. This is quite flexible, so despite the planer port being an oblong shape, I was able to make it fit well enough to ensure that most of the shavings ended up in the vacuum.
Similarly, when connected to the router table, the volume and speed of suction available was enough to pick up the small but very rapidly produced chips from the router.
At the end of the session in the workshop, I reached for the telescopic tube, connected the floor nozzle and cleaned up the escaped chips. Even on a hard painted concrete floor the vac had more than enough suction to make a really good job of cleaning.
There are usually some downsides to most tools and I admit that I did look hard for some with the Silverline. I needed to find where the corners could have been cut. Apart from a few very tiny niggles about the plastic bits here and there, the quality control was very good. The vacuum tank itself appeared strong and clean, and with its shiny surface, not that prone to rust. The plastic adaptors were strongly made and very practically designed so that they did the job they were supposed to do very well. Switchgear was well protected by plastic covers and in the end the only things I could find to criticize was that the powerful 1500W motor made quite a bit of noise, more than my own vac does anyway, and that it would be nice to have a slightly longer power cord.
On googling the typical price that a consumer would pay for the machine I found that it is around £89.00 and that includes a 3 Year Guarantee. At that price, and having had the chance to try one out, I will certainly be looking at the Silverline as a replacement vac in my workshop.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications