Ridgid Cordless 18V Wet Dry Vacuum Review

October 15, 2019

Ridgid Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum Offers a No-Compromise Battery-Powered Solution

While there are options in the cordless vacuum sector, most brands shy away from going full-size. The Ridgid cordless wet/dry vacuum bucks that trend with a 9-gallon design that’s surprisingly powerful.

Pros

Uses Ridgid 18V power tool batteries, including Octane
Powerful enough suction to pick up nails and screws
Sucks 5 gallons of water in less than 10 seconds
Two battery ports extend runtime beyond an hour

Cons

No kit options available

Recommendation

The Ridgid cordless wet dry vacuum is a no-compromise battery-powered replacement for a corded 9-gallon vac. It has the power to clean up wet and dry messes effectively and is capable of well over an hour of runtime when you use both of its battery ports.

We love this model as a primary option for mobile car cleaning and jobsite cleanup where power is unavailable or at a premium. Its convenience also makes it a great option for any garage or shop.

Suction Power

The Ridgid cordless wet/dry vacuum runs on any Ridgid 18V battery from the power tool side of the business (not the Ridgid Emerson plumbing tools). Every battery from their 1.5Ah packs all the way through 9.0Ah Octane batteries will work. It’s not a hybrid AC/DC model, though.

Home Depot lists the airflow at 82 CFM, which isn’t much more than we saw with Ryobi’s cordless 6-gallon shop vac. They don’t list a water lift number and that’s an important part of the suction power equation.

I went in with the expectation that I’d be able to vacuum up dirt, sawdust, and maybe smaller wood chips. What I found is that its brushed motor is capable of much more, even clearing 3″ nails and screws that I thought would be too heavy for it to move.

Unsurprisingly, it does a fine job sucking up wet messes, too, taking just 9 seconds to clear 5 gallons of water.

Pro Tip: Remember to remove the filter before clearing large wet messes.

What we end up with is a very effective wet/dry vac for hard surfaces.

Runtime

Runtime is going to vary with the size and number of batteries you use. The Ridgid cordless wet/dry vacuum only needs 1 battery to run, but you can use 2 to get more runtime. The second battery is just a runtime extender and doesn’t boost the performance.

Since the motor uses one battery before switching to the other and doesn’t drain them simultaneously, you can use any combination of Ridgid batteries, even if they’re not the same amp-hour. You can even pair Octane and non-Octane packs.

I popped an Octane 9.0Ah battery in the slot to see how long the vac can run. 34 minutes, 25 seconds later, we had our benchmark. You can do a little math to extrapolate from there. A pair of 9Ah batteries get you around 69 minutes. Here are some estimated runtimes for Ridgid’s suite of batteries (these are for 1 battery, double it if you’re using 2):

1.5Ah: 5-1/2 minutes
2.0Ah: 7-1/2 minutes
3.0Ah Octane: 11-1/2 minutes
4.0Ah: 15-1/2 minutes
5.0Ah: 19 minutes
6.0Ah Octane: 23 minutes
9.0Ah Octane: 34-1/2 minutes

General Design

Aside from the battery ports, the Ridgid cordless wet dry vacuum looks like most all of their corded models. The motor assembly snaps onto its 9-gallon canister with a pair of latches and it has the same fit and feel that we’ve come to expect.

When you take the vac out of the box, you only need to pop the casters into the covers, slide them into place on each corner, and connect your hose. It’s a completely tool-free installation process.

Each of the caster covers has a slot cut into it to store wand extensions and accessories.

Two points on either side of the handle let you manage the hose if you don’t want to store it in the canister.

Included Accessories

7′ x 1-7/8″ hose
3 extension wands
Utility nozzle
Car nozzle
Wet nozzle
Standard filter (preinstalled)

Price

You can snag the Ridgid cordless wet/dry vacuum at Home Depot for $119 as a bare tool. There aren’t any kit options at the moment, so you need to supply batteries and a charger separately.

There aren’t any other cordless shop vacs in this size class as a direct comparison. Here’s a quick look at some that are at least in the ballpark for comparison.