You Can Turn Your Shop Vacuum Into a Leaf Blower
This has been known to happen: you’re suddenly hit with a torrent of leaves and you don’t have access to a blower (and a rake seems like too much work). Since leaf season can quickly catch up with you, or you may not want to purchase a special tool for maintenance just once or twice a year, clearing leaves quickly can be a challenge. Luckily, you can turn your shop vacuum into a leaf blower with these simple steps.
Unplug and open the vacuum cleaner
To begin, unplug your vacuum cleaner and remove the vacuum cleaner motor from the base. This is usually done by opening the vacuum in the same way as emptying it. There are usually one or two latches on the top of the vacuum cleaner housing that hold the housing onto the motor. You can remove it by opening these latches. Under the motor housing you should see either a waste container or filter, depending on what type of tool you have. With a backpack-style shop vac , you likely won’t have to open it to switch ports, but you’ll still need to make sure it’s empty before proceeding. Make sure the trash container is empty, otherwise whatever is inside it will be blown back out through the vacuum tube when you start blowing out the leaves.
Disconnect the vacuum hose
Next, disconnect the vacuum line from the engine where it is normally located. Most vacuum tubes are held in place by a twist latch, but they may also have a button to release the latch. If you’re trying to clean yourself, you can do it through a trash can or a rag—you’ll likely end up with debris in the tube.
Reattach the vacuum tube to the exhaust port.
After freeing the tube, you should find the exhaust hole for the vacuum cleaner. This is usually located opposite the intake port where you just disconnected the vacuum tube. In most cases, there is a way to attach the tube to another port built into the vacuum cleaner, but if this is not possible, adhesive tape will work to seal it. In backpack-type shop vacuums, the exhaust port is usually located on the back of the vacuum cleaner body.
Warning
Since shop vacuums are usually quite powerful, be careful to keep hair and clothing away from the now open inlet. For those of us with long hair, it can be a painful experience to discover how powerful a vacuum cleaner is when it sucks up our hair.
Use a recently converted vacuum cleaner/fan
When you turn on your shop vacuum, you can use the hose to blow away the leaves. Even smaller vacuum cleaners will be able to cover larger areas, such as a garage floor or patio, but for longer ranges, a larger vacuum cleaner is of course a better option. While using a vacuum cleaner as a blower in such circumstances can be very convenient, if you have larger projects, it can be a bit of a cumbersome option. First, if an unprotected intake port completely stalls, there is a risk of unintended objects getting into it. Plus, it may not be the most comfortable way to hold the hose or attachments, so if you have a large area to cover, you may want to choose the right tool for the job rather than taking a shortcut.