Porter-Cable 20V Max Wet/Dry Vacuum

Porter-Cable recently announced its new 2-gallon Porter-Cable 20V Max Wet/Dry Vacuum. Sold as a bare tool, it features a 7.8-foot hose, nozzle and crevice tools with onboard storage, and delivers up to 34 CFM for vacuuming woodchips, sawdust, debris, and wet messes. The vacuum is compatible with all Porter-Cable 20V Max batteries.

Our Take

We admit that sometimes we make a big mess (even intentionally), but most of the time we make small and medium-sized messes. We can clean those up much more conveniently a small vacuum rather than the big, rolling dust collector that we have to drag out.

That’s what’s so handy about handheld, battery-operated vacuums like the new Porter-Cable 20V Max Wet/Dry Vacuum. Just pick it and start cleaning. In addition to the workshop, they are exceptionally helpful with spills in the kitchen or a quick car detailing.

It seems like a good bit of power and capacity in a small package at 34 CFM, but Porter-Cable isn’t aiming to change hearts and minds with the vacuum as it’s only available as a bare tool. It’s simply providing it as an extension to its 20V Max line for customers that are already on the platform. That’s cool as it shows a commitment to the lineup and jumps on board with the small vacs most brands are adding to their lines.

So where does it fit? For a comparison, the Porter-Cable comes in around $20 cheaper than the Milwaukee’s latest compact hand vac, is 6 CFM less powerful, but has greater capacity. DeWalt also has a new one, but it’s also going the way of smaller capacity.

One Gripe

We like the onboard storage for the nozzle and crevice tool and the nearly 8-foot hose length is great. But one slight gripe we have about this style of vacuum is the omission of at least a couple feet of solid hose extension (like Ridgid’s handheld vac) so you can stand up and use the vacuum.

As it is, you have to bend or kneel to vacuum on the floor and it would just seem pretty slick to have a compact wet/dry vac that eliminates that. We’d be more likely to use this vacuum for more messes in that case. But even so, we think this will be quite a handy addition to those of us on Porter-Cable’s 20V Max system!