UPDATE 08-2020- After 1 month, the cord winder stopped working. I chose to live without it. After 2 more months, the switch would not turn the vacuum on. I called the customer service number and was told (by possibly the rudest person I've even encountered) they don't have, and cannot get, the parts. When asked what the warranty covers, she said: "Nothing really..." Huh? After much discussion I was told NO PARTS WILL BE SENT and there is no where to take the vacuum for repair.I was told to throw it out & nothing would be sent & no refund would be issued. I asked for a supervisor only to be told that there was no supervisor with whom to speak. I wrote to Cleva, the manufacturer, many times. I've received no replies. So, like a terrier on a pant leg, I called back the next day only to encounter the same person. Status: No Parts. No Warranty. A few days later, I tried again. Again, Ms. Evil answered & I was told the same thing. I had a brain storm and called late in the day, hoping to miss her shift at Crabby Vacuum Service, Inc. This time the call was answered by a different person. He said if I send him a photo of the cord cut off the vacuum and a copy of the receipt, he'd send a replacement power head with a working switch & cord winder. Yay! Success! Two days later, I received a whole, new vacuum, complete with accessories. The manufacturer, Cleva, apparently uses a 3rd party for parts. That parts company seems to be way messed up. And Cleva themselves sure are lacking in customer service, since they never bothered to answer my inquiries. However- This Is A Good Vacuum... First- This review is for the Vacmaster VF408 & VF409. Amazon sometimes lumps reviews for other models into a certain item's listing. The Vacmaster VF408 & VF409 are the same machine except that the VF408 does not come with the pet hair rake (as told to me by Vacmaster support). FEATURES- Vacmaster seems to have taken all of the bad things about wet/dry vacuums and eliminated or improved upon them. Some are mentioned below: SUCTION- The vacuum has very, very good suction. From more than a foot away, it can pick up sawdust, even with the cloth bag filter and a tank bag installed. The Torture Test of a vacuum is damp sawdust and talc on rough concrete. Neither of these items proved a problem, nor did the rust chunks that fell off of my truck. EMPTYING- All workshop vacuums that I have owned (about a zillion!) have a lip on the top edge of the bucket for stiffening purposes. This makes dumping the bucket difficult, as some junk remains. With the Vacmaster, the bucket has no lips, so 100% of the dirt gets dumped. And... There are bags available! Cleanup is super simple with bags. FILTERING OF EXIT AIR- One can set this vacuum up for up to 4 stages of filtering- A) Bag (optional) B) Cloth Bag over cartridge filter (optional) C) Cartridge Filter (required) and D) HEPA filter (optional). One bag, the cartridge filter & HEPA filters are included. The cloth bag is optional (but a large coffee filter or other vacuum bag cut-to-fit work). FINE DUST- A cartridge filter is available for filtering fine dust. It worked very well on plaster & drywall sanding dust. I would not recommend it for lead paint sanding dust. (It'll probably filter it, but lead should be handled more safely.) TIP OVER- This short & squat vacuum is oval shaped. When one yanks on the hose to move the unit, the thing refuses to tip over -even when empty. HOSE PULL OUT- Nope! The hose locks in so it won't come out & release dust all over the area. MANEUVERING- The rear wheels are large and the front ones swivel 360 degrees. Scooting this around is quite easy. The handle is large, so one can grab it with gloved hands. STAIRS- It is narrow enough to sit on a step while vacuuming other steps. The downside with steps is that the vacuum weighs 17 lbs./7 ounces with all of its accessories. REACH- The hose is 8 feet long and you get three extension wands of 18" each. That's a lot of reach! GENERIC SIZED TOOLS- The VF408 comes with a two-way wide nozzle. You can take the brush end off and it leaves teeth sticking down to dig into carpet. The floor head is nifty, too. There is a lever to step on to change from bare floor to carpet. The other tools aren't nearly as exciting as these, so I'll skip writing about them. PROMINENT SWITCH Another thing I like about this vacuum is that the On-Off switch is huge, but it did break in a few months, as mentioned earlier. The switch is smack dab on top and is paddle type so it can be found quickly and operated with winter gloves on. CORD RETRACTIFIER- There is a Cord-Sucker-Upper. It's button operated, too. I really like that part because the cord won't try to retract until you want it to retract. (It did break, as mentioned earlier.) HOSE HOOKS- The hose wraps on hooks, so it isn't dangling, but the hooks fall off often. Someday I'll hot-glue them in place. OTHER- There are a bunch of other nice features, but I'll skip them since you're surely bored by now! THINGS I'D CHANGE- I would make the Junk Bucket larger to hold more tools. I'd also remove the bosses where the tools snap on. (But if they were gone, I'd complain that the tools fall out...) WIEGHT- It is heavy, at 17 lbs/7 ounces with all tools. If there were a way to change that without making the thing wimpy, some people may prefer that. (I'd prefer to keep it heavy & strong.) UPDATE- A Complaint- When using the machine to pick up liquids, some liquid drips from the hose where it connects to the vacuum cleaner tank.. It is not a lot of water, but if the floor may be damaged by water, a pan, foil or plastic should be placed under the connector. A gasket is needed! SUMMARY- Very Good Vacuum. Very Questionable Warranty Service.
