Is a wet/dry vac the same as a shop vac?

[Zearla]

I'm wanting to repaint my bathroom ceiling. I plan on buying a vacuum sander for the job but I'm unsure if my wet/dry vac will work with the sander or do I have to buy a new vacuum as well

[Brad]

I use a BigW Vacuum with a dust separator to stop the big bits and a master/slave power board. A shop vac would have the master power connection built in for automatic switching on of the vacuum. Works reasonably well up to 50mm hose sizes.

Once I buy or make a drum sander it will need 100mm hoses and that will need a 2hp extractor to cope.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Zearla. It's fabulous to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

It's great to see you've already received a helpful reply from @Brad.

The term "Shop-Vac" is a brand name that has become synonymous with wet/dry vacuums. Wet/dry vacuums are a specialised vacuum that is designed to collect larger pieces of debris and liquids in workshop environments.

Most vacuum sander units will come with an adaptor to suit standard wet/dry vacuum hoses. It might be worth taking a measurement of your hose and verifying in-store if the unit you are interested in will fit the hose. If the wet/dry vac is one of our brands it would be worth enquiring if there are any pre-filters that can be purchased separately. These are normally washable overcovers that save your filter clogging up with fine plaster particles.

Please let me know if you need further information or had questions.

Mitchell