Lately have been thinking on how to reduce the saw dust when working and also reduce cleaning effort after the work is over so I went ahead and bought my Minion . I think its a must for all those who do woodworking in small space. I did a lot of online search and finally decided on Karcher MV3. Karcher is a German company you can know more about it from the company website- www.karcher.com .
In terms of cost it is way cheaper than Bosch GAS 15 Professional and Skil 8715 dry/wet vacuum cleaner but it beats both the models in terms of specification. It costed Rs.6800 which is a great value for money. It has more air flow, pressure and holding capacity then Bosch and Skil also the power consumption is only 1000W when compared to 1100W(Bosch) and 1500W(Skil). Looking at the MV3 it reminds me of Stuart from Despicable Me and so I call it "My Minion".
 |
| Karcher MV3 |
MV3 is the only model which has blower functionality while this functionality is missing in MV2 and MV4 . When it comes to saw dust and even for regular house cleaning blower function comes handy so its always good to go for the cleaner that has it.
 |
| Accessories |
Karcher MV3 comes with basic accessories one crevice, one floor attachment, two extension tubes, and one flexible hose. Other accessories can be purchased separately if required. One dust bag and filter cartridge is also included. Though the MV3 can be used without the dust bag, I prefer using with the dust bag as it keeps the filter clean and extends its life.
Unlike Bosch and Skil you can find plenty of online stores selling dust bag, filter which are consumable and will require replacement at some point. It also has parking space on body to store all the attachments on the device itself, which makes it very convenient when storing the device.
It can be used for both both wet and dry cleaning, and the included filter as per the manual states can be used for wet cleaning. It has 17 litre dry and 10 litre wet capacity.
In the world where almost everything is made in China it was good to see that this vacuum cleaner is made in Romania. Build quality is excellent.
There are different variants of MV3 available internationally which give additional features like in MV3 P you can connect your power tool to the vacuum cleaner and the vac will start automatically as soon as you switch on the tool. Sadly here in India only the base model is available.
Specifications
Power | 1000W |
Air Flow | 68 litre/second |
Dry Capacity | 17 litre |
Wet Capacity | 10 litre |
Vacuum pressure | 210 Mbar ( 2141 mm of water column) |
 |
| Karcher MV3 power switch |
Filter Bag
 |
| Karcher MV3 replacement dust bag pack of 5 |
With a simple modification you can make the dust bag reusable. All you need is a stick file and a piece of wire. Cut the bag at one end fold the piece keeping the wire in between and slide the stick in.
This will create a perfect seal. After this you can empty the bag easily by sliding the stick out.
This way single bag can be used till it gets torn out.
 |
| Dust bag & Stick file |
 |
| Reusable dust bag ready |
 |
| Karcher MV3 with dust bag mod |
