Hi AJfish,
Thank you for your inquiry. Please be informed that RIDGID® Wet/Dry vacuums are covered by a lifetime warranty against manufacturing and material defects from the time of purchase. Hence, failure to register the vac will not affect your warranty rights. With that being said, if you need assistance registering your vac on the www.ridgid.com website, note that the vacuum is under Professional Trade Tools. Additionally, this model is rated at 76 CFM and there are several factors that can affect actual airflow, including turbulence in the hose and wands. Lastly, as the manufacturer of the Vacuum (not the batteries) we're only able to give you rough estimates on how long this vacuum might last of a new battery. This can vary based on a wide variety of attributes from actual capacity of the battery, the number of charges cycles the battery has been put through, electrical draw from each vacuum, temperature of the battery, how the machine is being used to vacuum and the type of debris to name a few. Nevertheless, if you're unhappy with your purchase, you may return or exchange the product at Home Depot within 90 days. For any other questions, please feel free to call our Customer Service at 1-800-474-3443 from Monday to Friday between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Time or send us an email at info@ridgidvacs.com and we'll be glad to assist you.
Thanks,
RIDGID