Wet & Dry Vacuums
Wap
vacuums are industrial quality, manufactured in
Germany to the highest standards, and engineered to
last many years with daily use in a workshop,
construction or manufacturing environment. ALTO (of
Denmark) acquired the Wap company approximately 7
years ago and effective April 2004, Nilfisk Group (a
company known for its own industrial & commercial
vacuums) has acquired 100% of Alto. I'm optimistic
that the merger of these quality companies will yield
some interesting products.
Contractors
here in the US have been using Wap vacuums for years,
some unknowingly under the Festool, Stihl and Fein
brand names (Wap no longer private labels for Festool
or Stihl). The square bodied yellow Turbo series was
replaced by the rounder SQ ("Super Quiet")
series in the late 90's. At the beginning of 2004,
the current Attix series was introduced and there
have been no significant evolutions since. Ultimate
Garage stocks consumables, accessories and repair
parts for all 3 generations of Wap vacuums.
Most
of us are accustomed to the Shop Vac units (sold
through Sears and other Home Centers) which are
extremely noisy and seem to spew as much dust into
the air as they take in through the nozzle. WAP's
exhaust is filtered to 1 micron (.3 microns with the
optional Hepa filter) and the exhaust air from the 2
stage bypass motor is directed away from the canister
horizontally so the surrounding dust is not
disturbed. In addition, WAP's noise levels (58-59 db
@ 1 meter) are the quietest of any commercial vacuums
in their class.
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| Attix 8 |
Attix 12 |
Attix 19 |
Attix Series Vacuums
For
most home, contractor and industrial applications,
the new Attix models should prove to be excellent
performers. All come equipped with a washable
PET-fleece (Plain polyethylene terephthalate) filter
element, capable of filtering particles to 1.0 micron
in size and providing a long service life. If you're
planning to use the vacuum for dry-only applications,
the supplied filter bag will capture all the debris
for easy disposal, keeping the mesh filter perfectly
clean for future wet use. An optional Hepa filter is
recommended for work with Corian and other fine
dusts. Competitors vacuums claim to filter to 5
microns which may not sound like a discernable
difference from WAP's 1 micron. Unfortunately, its
the small particles between 1 and 5 microns that can
do the most damage to one's lungs.
With
the exception of the specialty models, Alto continues
with their Small, Medium, Large product offerings.
Previously, there was an Aero 5/7 gallon (a
"consumer" rated product), the SQ10 &
SQ15 ("commercial grade" - home and
contractor use-popular with the rental houses) and
the large stainless steel canister SQ17 models (for
use with industrial cleanup applications ,well suited
for wet pickup).
We
now have the Attix 8, 12 and 19 models. All are
considered "industrial grade" and they use
the same 1000w motor with the exception of the
"Extreme-Clean" models which have an
upgraded 1200w motor (some of this additional power
is required to activate the solenoids in the auto
clean system).
Series
details and model variations can be seen through the
links below......
 Attix
8
Attix
12
Attix
19
Testing
the Alto/Wap Vacuums
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