Craftsman CMCV002B Review

While there are several high-quality wet/dry vacuums on the market, we found that the Craftsman CMCV002B's general performance, wet cleanup capabilities, long battery life, and reasonable cost set it apart from the rest of the class. While we think that the external hose storage is a bit awkward, we were pleased with the stock HEPA filter and the liquid overflow shut-off that protects the electrical components from a short. All in all, this machine proved itself to be a reliable goto when you want quick and easy cleanups of your home, shop, or auto.

Performance Comparison

Dry Work

Given that canister models are designed to pick up what even some of our favorite vacuum cleaners cannot, we tested them on the most challenging material to find their limits. The Craftsman CMCV002B did not disappoint. This unit sucked up washers, nuts, and screws without hesitation. Heck, it even gobbled up a 100-gram weight we put in its path. The only difficulty we encountered was with very large items such as 1 ½" bolts and 1" lag screws. In the Craftsmans' defense, this was not due to lack of suction or airflow but rather to the narrow aperture of the hose end and the hose's spiral interior.

In addition to the heavy hardware tests, we looked at loose debris pick-up, crevice penetration, and suction reach. We used 9 cups of sawdust produced by a chop saw for the loose debris. The Craftsman ate up the pile in 15 secs. While this is not a record-setting time, it is above average, and the machine showed no sign of struggling in the process. As for the crevice test, the vacuum comes with an attachment that allows for 6 ¾" of penetration which is on the shorter side. However, in our built-to-purpose crevice testing apparatus, the vac's focused suction could pull in rice grains from ⅝" away, a performance that is among the best in the class.

Wet Work

As the name suggests, the wet work metric analyzes the vacuum's ability to clean up liquid messes. It is in this evaluation that the Craftsman outshined the competition. This model can suck up 2 gallons of water in just 9 seconds! A time matched only by the Ridgid WD0319 and Ryobi P3240. We also performed a puddle on a hard surface test using the floor attachment. Here, too, the vacuum did very well by slurping up 3 cups of water in 27 seconds. The class average was 50 seconds. A well-designed floor attachment facilitated this quick cleanup by allowing for plenty of airflow through the notched leading edge of the tool.

Conversely, the CMCV002B slowed down a bit when tackling wet sawdust. We laid out 9 cups of sawdust mixed with 6 cups of water and let the vacuum have at it in this test. It took the machine 42 seconds — a bit faster than the class average — to eat it up. The real problem that this test revealed was the tendency for the material to stack up at the intake of the canister. Had we collected more sawdust, this could have been a problem over time.

We also saturated a floorboard mat from a car with 2 cups of water and measured how much the vacuum could pull back out. The Craftsman removed almost 2 cups, leaving behind just the tiniest bit of moisture. Finally, we measured the suction produced by the motor. You might be wondering what this has to do with wet work. Well, suction is measured in inches of water lift. The measurement is standardized, and we used a gauge attached to the vacuum, and it showed the CMCV002B to produce 19 inches of water lift. The class average is 22.25. While this is not that impressive, suction is not the whole story of vacuuming performance.

Battery

The Craftsman has a high-quality, long-lasting battery. Perhaps you're starting to see a trend here, but in case you missed it, this machine kicked butt in almost every test we ran it through. To assess the battery quality of this model, we charged the battery and, using a clean filter, ran it without a load (just pulling air) until the unit died. The vacuum ran for 34 minutes 15 seconds or 8.56 minutes per amp/hour. The class average was 5.7 minutes per amp/hour.

Convenience

The convenience metric is a grouping of analyses that focuses on how the user interacts with the vacuum. Ease of use is the one area where the Craftsman delivered an average performance. The main issue we had with the vacuum is that its 13" x 18 ¾" x 10 ½" (HxWxD) dimensions are a little bulky and its hose and battery stick out awkwardly, making it hard to store. We prefer compact and self-contained products like the Ryobi.

On the bright side, the unit has a crush-resistant hose that stretches and retracts from 26 to 94 inches. It is also reasonably light at 7 lbs 8 ounces, and its noise output is below average at 77 dBa. Finally, the CMCV002B comes standard with a washable HEPA filter, so you can be sure that the air discharged from the machine is reasonably clean.

Should You Buy the Craftsman?

The Craftsman CMCV002B is one of the top-performing wet dry vacs we tested, and in our opinion, is a good choice for almost any type of cleanup job. This machine checks all the boxes with above-average performance in nearly every test metric. The only reason we can think to not buy this vacuum is if you are looking for a niche product for a specific application.

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