The DeWALT DC500 Heavy Duty 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner packs powerful suction into a portable size that's perfect for cleaning almost any small project. Get into tight spaces with ease thanks to the five-foot hose and on-board tool. And since it runs on batteries, you can take it where other vacuums can't.
The DeWalt DC500 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Wet/Dry Vacuum has powerful suction packed into a portable size that's perfect for cleaning almost any small project. With a five-foot hose and on-board tools, you can get into tight spaces with ease. And since it runs on batteries, you can take it where other vacuums can't easily go.
Our test vacuum came in a DeWALT Retail cardboard box. In the box are vacuum cleaner, 1-1/4 inch hose, crevice tool, wide nozzle and filter. No assembly is required other than installing the filter on the bottom of the vacuum motor and inserting the accessories in place in the onboard storage. It should be noted that while this can be a cordless vacuum, it is your responsibility to provide your own 12-18V DeWalt battery and charger to make this happen. We tend to think that if you already own a line of DeWalt battery-operated tools, this vacuum would be a welcome addition to your collection. For those of you who are just looking for a compact corded vacuum, this will also serve your purpose without investing in a separately available battery and charger.
The build quality of the DeWalt DC500 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Vacuum is exactly what we expected it to be. Despite the fact that the entire vacuum is made almost entirely of yellow or black plastic, it weighs quite well considering its compact size. The lower tank is fully removable and has a drain so if you are using it as a wet vac you can easily empty the tank without removing the bottom of the tank from the vacuum. There is an intake and exhaust hole on each side of the top of the unit, and the hose will fit into each hole, so you can use it effectively not only for vacuuming, but also as a blower. In the center of the back of the vacuum is a hinged battery door that opens to accommodate batteries for wireless operation. We love that not only did you lock in the 18V battery size, but that any DeWalt battery from 12V to 18V will work in a vacuum.
Next to the battery door is onboard storage for the included tools and where the hose ends are stored. What's unique about the hose is that in its natural state, it's only about 20 inches long, but when you pull on it, it expands to 60 inches, easily snapping into place. When you loosen the hose, it returns to its original size again. There's a five-foot connecting power cord that has its own cord wrap that doesn't get in the way when it's not in use. We do wish the power cord was longer, though. DeWalt claims the included filter has the efficiency of filtering particles as small as 0.3 microns, or place it in a job site environment and it will capture up to 99.97% of drywall dust. To help you understand how small 0.3 microns really is, a human hair is about 100 microns thick. The HEPA grade filter can also be cleaned with plain tap water.
DeWalt DC500 2 Gallon Vacuum Test and Use
The results of our initial testing of the DeWALT DC500 Heavy Duty 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Wet/Dry Vacuum was that it was really bad, we tried it on a number of occasions and found it did exactly what it was supposed to do. We started by doing some light cleaning on one of the benches and the concrete floor beneath it. There was sand, nails and some other trash from one of our projects on the floor. Needless to say, it has enough power to soak it all up. On one of our trucks, we decided to use it to clean the interior as well, and we found that we could leave the vacuum on the floor in the front seat and not have to move it to reach the opposite floor. That's thanks to the 5-foot extension hose that has proven to be very effective.
In our testing, we noticed that when we switched from an 18V battery to a 120V power supply, we did notice a slight increase in the overall performance of the vacuum cleaner. We figured this might be because our battery wasn't fully charged, so we made sure to test it with a freshly charged battery, but still found that plugging it into a power source only seemed to require a little more power. This was also borne out by our noise level readings, which were about 2 dB louder when the vacuum was plugged in than when running on battery power. Don't let this warn you, because in either case, we still found the suction to be adequate for most cleanups.
We went to a few job sites and got some of our contractor friends to try out the DeWalt DC500 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Vacuum for a while to see what kind of feedback we could get from them. What they told us was that while there are larger sized shop vacs that can do sawdust collection and large-scale cleanups, what they like is that this vacuum is great for end-of-job cleanup and punch list type jobs where , with less mess and no need for a full-size corded shop vacuum. Examples of where they use it are when they cut small holes in slabs for retrofit switch or receptacle cleanup after installation, and when they clean up shavings after installing cabinet or door hardware. The only real complaint we got was that some people wished the power cord was longer.
The DeWALT DC500 Heavy Duty 2 Gallon Cordless/Corded Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner packs powerful suction into a portable size that's perfect for cleaning almost any small project. While some may be disappointed that it doesn't come with a battery or charger, existing DeWalt tool owners won't mind being able to pick up the tool for less. We think most people will find this vacuum handy for simple household chores. It should be noted that this is not a replacement for a full-size shop vac when it comes to big cleaning, but a handy portable solution that can handle smaller-sized messes. For our performance rating, we gave the vacuum a 7/10 because it's great for cleaning up small projects and has features that make it versatile. For our value rating we gave the vacuum a 5/10 as it does cost as much as some full size shop vacs and some may find the lack of any included batteries or chargers may not justify the price Reasonable.