My RV 10 builder buddy took my advice and mounted his Shop Vac outside the back wall of his Garage/Shop to minimize the noise and exhaust air.  He was really making dust sanding on the fiberglass top half of the fuselage when about an hour into it the Vac slowed and stopped.  He checked the circuit breaker……..then he smelled smoke.   Fortunately he walked around to the back of the shop just in time to see the Shop Vac burning rather well. 

The filter had plugged up with fine dust so the motor slowed down enough with the load to no longer cool itself, then “we have ignition”.   He got it away from the wall before the wall caught too. 

This really hit home, since my vac is under my glass room floor with about a 3’ crawl space.  Moral? Clean your filter frequently and consider what would happen if you had a melt down.

Steve Colwell,  Legacy N15SC reserved