Originally published at: Hand Vacuum with batteries that hold a charge | Boing Boing
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It’s also the priciest one I’ve bought. In the long run, it’s also the cheapest, since I have not had to replace it.
The Samuel Vimes Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
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I bought this vacuum, also in 2015, probably after reading about it from you back then. You reminded me that it just died on me and I’ve been meaning to purchase a replacement.
My only gripe about this is that the battery pack isn’t replaceable or user-serviceable without a soldering iron. All it needs is a fresh battery pack but instead I have to replace the whole unit.
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A removable/replaceable battery is the most important feature, IMHO. This one is great: Hoover ONEPWR Cordless Hand Held Vacuum Cleaner
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Ok, so either https://amzn.to/3lWWbM7 at 20 USD plus a solder iron at 10 USD
here is the tuto EASY DIY Replace 16v Black & Decker Hand Vacuum Battery How to CHV1410L lithium Cordless Vac - YouTube
or a new one at 150 USD and the old go to a pile of garbage for the next generation to enjoy…
Honestly, I did look at that. I pulled out the battery pack and started unwrapping the batteries, and prying off the metal connector bar. But then the battery pack started sparking on me, and I just decided this was more than I wanted to take on for a hand-vac.
Plus the whole unit is $60, and the batteries, iron and solder were going to be $30+. B&D could easily sell the battery pack unit as a replacement part, but they don’t. A commenter above pointed me a hand-vac with replaceable batteries so I’ll check that out rather than buy another one of these.
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Thanks tinman, I’ll check that out. I like it when you can use the same batteries in different things.
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Agreed.
Some of the cordless tool sets that are mostly about drills and saws will include vacuums that use the same batteries. The Ryobi set that I bought 20 years ago came with a small hand vac, and I have since purchased a larger shop vac. I think they also make a rolling shop vac and a stick vac that all use the same batteries.
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Love me my Ryobi collection. As a weekend hacker, no a pro, their “18Vone” or whatever program keep me buying their stuff. My first cordless drill has to be 25 years old, but still works fine with the brand new batteries.
More topically, I bought the stick vac for small jobs. Works well, but they messed up on the on/off button (way to easy to hit when in use) and how the trap door is opened for emptying… at least 1/2 the time I put it back on the charger, the trap door opens. Solved that by putting a garbage can under the charge station.
I also have a ~2012 B&D Dustbuster hand vac that has the same magical battery. Perhaps it’s an early Lithium ion battery? Still works as well as it did day 1.
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I have met some pros who like the Ryobi stuff because they know if they break one while out on a job, they know that there is pretty much always a Home Depot not that far away.
The lunchbox-style shop vac is pretty powerful, but if you are going to use it for any length of time you had better have one of those high-capacity or super-capacity batteries in it because it burns a lot of juice. It’s the best vacuum I’ve ever used to clean out a car interior.
The thing I use the hand vac for the most is cleaning up little piles of plaster dust after I drill into a wall to hang something. Sure is handy to be able to just switch the battery from one tool to another.
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My parents had this one. The battery died and can’t be replaced. They basically make you break it to get the battery pack out and since it’s not meant to be replaced you need tools and skills to do it. It was a great hand vacuum when it used to work but I wouldn’t buy another that is designed to prevent you from replacing the battery.
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Got one of those last year and am really pleased with it.
Does what it is supposed to do, and in a reliable, uncomplicated way.
AEG CX7-2-35Ö
I dig the Ryobi 18v range of tools. Batteries are great and they make all kinds of hand tools, vacuums, blowers, etc.
Many cordless tool systems have a vacuum that works with their batteries- Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid, Ryobi, etc. I’m loosely in the Ryobi ecosystem so looked at their Evercharge vacuum, but it had mixed reviews, as did their much cheaper standalone (no battery) version, so I went with a Makita XLC02 series. It was a big investment since I wasn’t already in their ecosystem: $180 for the vacuum with 2AH battery, charger, and cyclonic attachment. Home Depot’s search sucks (heh), search for “Makita cyclonic vacuum kit.” Dropping that last word shows a different product.
I knew going in that the XLC02 has friction fit nozzles. I found out that they can slip loose, or cause cracks around the main body if pressed in too hard, but it hasn’t broken yet in a year of low use. From what I gather, the XLC03 series upgrades to a brushless motor and latching nozzles and extension for $110-120 more. The XLC04 upgrades to 3-speed for an additional $30 and the XLC05 is like the XLC04 but uses bags- either paper or cloth.
Any of them can fit the appropriate cyclonic attachment to the extension tube. The nice thing about that is it keeps most of the larger debris from reaching the filter, but fine dust still gets through and really large stuff gets stuck either before or in the attachment.
It isn’t as convenient as the Ryobi Evercharge since I occasionally need to pull off the battery to put it in the charger, but it has been reliable and easy to empty.
Right on Mark! I have the same model perhaps years older than yours (?) that is used almost every day.
I like mine so much I convinced my work to buy some too.
Cheers.
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