[UnionPacific]

Has anyone installed a central vac in their sailboat? I have been toying with the idea. We have two labs, a cat, and a lot of fur to clean up.

 

[deltaten]

Whenever I need to vac the boat, I consider the same idea.. Shouldn't be a whole lotta trouble to mount a small wet'n'dry vac underneathy somewheres and tube to a convenient loc. Moreroom to maneuver while vac'cing.. Less roomto stow hose conveniently..

No. animals aboard, so I just use a decent. HH, 12 v car-vac. It*is* amazing how much sand/debris/dust collect in a weekend!

 

[UnionPacific]

No. animals aboard, so I just use a decent. HH, 12 v car-vac. It*is* amazing how much sand/debris/dust collect in a weekend!

Right now we have an awesome rechargable vac, works good, but its no shopvac. I was thinking of hanging a 15 gallon in the laz, and placing a hose to the bottom to drain off water. It would have to be a wet/dry so the dirt devil is out.

 

[SVAuspicious]

I had a central vac on my Chaparral 350 Signature during my foray into power boating. I don't remember the brand. This is the link I have: Marine Vacuum .

 

[svHyLyte]

Has anyone installed a central vac in their sailboat? I have been toying with the idea. We have two labs, a cat, and a lot of fur to clean up.

That would seem to be rather more brain damage than the problem merits. A good smaller shop vac has lots of uses aboard. We use ours for cleaning up below and, sometimes above deck (especially when sanding for bright-work), for clearing out any traces of water in the bilge when we've had a wet sail, for scavenging hoses when that's necessary and, with a 2-gallon plastic jug, for suctioning oil out of our engine and generator for oil changes. As we do have an English Cocker Spaniel that sometimes sails with us and also sheds (as does my much better half who seems to insist on brushing her hair in front of the mirror in the salon despite having two heads to choose from!) we have a small hand-held "Dirt Devil" vac with a beater-bar brush that, together with a lint roller follow-up, is very effective at removing hair/fur etc. from the cushions and area carpets and easily powers off our inverter. (One of my daughter's jobs was the daily vacuuming when she was cruising with us--considering she's the one that insisted on bringing the puppy along.)

FWIW...

 

[bvander66]

Seriously?
We have rechargeable shop vac, uses same bty as power tools.
Small easy to use, stow and empty, acts as a blower to get leaves, cobwebs off above decks.
Why all the work installing hose, wiring and end up with something lesa convieniant?

 

[UnionPacific]

I wouldn't call it less convenient to plug in a hose and flip a switch. We vacuum daily, so its a chore.

 

[Tanley]

Has anyone installed a central vac in their sailboat? I have been toying with the idea. We have two labs, a cat, and a lot of fur to clean up.

Central vac on a sailboat? Sounds like something you'd find on a Jeanneau...

Kidding aside (and FWIW), this little unit has worked flawlessly for over 5 years on everything from dog hair to sea water.

DEWALT DC515K 1/2-Gallon 18-Volt NiCd Cordless Wet/Dry Vac - Shop Wet Dry Vacuums - [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@41QmInMTk5L

 

[UnionPacific]

Central vac on a sailboat? Sounds like something you'd find on a Jeanneau...

Kidding aside (and FWIW), this little unit has worked flawlessly for over 5 years on everything from dog hair to sea water.

DEWALT DC515K 1/2-Gallon 18-Volt NiCd Cordless Wet/Dry Vac - Shop Wet Dry Vacuums - Amazon.com

What would you compare the suction power to? at least a 2 gallon shop vac? or much less?

 

[tdw]

Seems to me the hoses installed would take up more space in the various lockers than benefit would be gained.

We have a five outlet ducted Eberspacher heater on ours and quite frankly I don't see the point on a 42'er. One outlet in the main saloon is quite sufficient to heat the entire boat and we could rid ourselves of all that tubing.

Yes a vac hose is not the same diameter as our heater but even so it seems both overkill and a waste of space. We use something a bit similar to Tanley's De Walt and find it quite sufficient.

Then again we don't have any animals on board (myself excluded of course) and the Wombet has short hair.

 

[Greenhand]

We use this Stinger 2.5 Gallon Wet/Dry Vac - Shop Wet Dry Vacuums - [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51avxqiE2oL

But if it works well, that 1/2 gallon one looks great!

 

[JimMcGee]

We have two labs, a cat, and a lot of fur to clean up.

I'm still trying to get my head around two labs and a cat on a sailboat !

That's a whole lot of mischief :laugher

.

 

[Minnewaska]

Central vac on a sailboat? Sounds like something you'd find on a Jeanneau...

Kidding aside (and FWIW), this little unit has worked flawlessly for over 5 years on everything from dog hair to sea water.

DEWALT DC515K 1/2-Gallon 18-Volt NiCd Cordless Wet/Dry Vac - Shop Wet Dry Vacuums - Amazon.com

Hey!! Wise guy. We do have a central vac.

It's made by Beam for RVs. I don't think our model is made anymore, because I have trouble find bags for it. I'm sure the RV market has a replacement. It's fairly small, fits under a settee, with the intake right below. The hose will reach anywhere in the boat. It requires 110v, but we just vac at the slip or when the genset is running to charge batts or make hot water.

We also have the 2 gal model dewalt wet/dry vac, in the corded/cordless version. We use this mostly for wet vacuuming and it would be difficult to clean/dry the bin to go back and forth.

The central vac has a beater, just like a regular vac, which does a much better job on rugs. Take the beater head off and the 4 ft rigid wand allows you to get to every corner, without bending over.

It was in the boat when we bought her and, admittedly, I would never have thought to install one. But just like remote car door locks that it originally thought were a gimmick, I'm not sure I would go without again, if I had the room.

 

[UnionPacific]

I'm still trying to get my head around two labs and a cat on a sailboat !

That's a whole lot of mischief :laugher

.

They like motoring better then sailing.

 

[JimMcGee]

The phrase "spoiled rotten" comes to mind -- as it should be.

I do have a serious question though. We had to exercise our lab twice a day, every day or she would build up all this excess energy that would sometimes come out as harmless mischief and sometimes as destructive behavior (chewing, getting into trash). Three straight days of rain and she became "crazy dog" and would run around the house just to bleed off energy. That's not unusual for labs.

How do you keep your guys content on a boat? (Sorry for the thread drift)


Full disclosure: we're the kind of people who keep bacon treats on board even though our pup has passed. Every dog in the marina knows our boat. :laugher

 

[UnionPacific]

The phrase "spoiled rotten" comes to mind -- as it should be.

I do have a serious question though. We had to exercise our lab twice a day, every day or she would build up all this excess energy that would sometimes come out as harmless mischief and sometimes as destructive behavior (chewing, getting into trash). Three straight days of rain and she became "crazy dog" and would run around the house just to bleed off energy. That's not unusual for labs.

How do you keep your guys content on a boat? (Sorry for the thread drift)

Full disclosure: we're the kind of people who keep bacon treats on board even though our pup has passed. Every dog in the marina knows our boat. :laugher

These girls have both been inside dogs for their entire life. When I bought an estate I fenced in an area for them to go outside and run about. They wanted nothing to do with it. They enjoy the couch, and when they want to play, they do. They do enjoy going on deck thou, and barking at things.