Black and Decker VPX Cordless Hand Vacuum with Cyclonic Action (Vacuum Only)
Black and Decker VPX Cordless Hand Vacuum with Cyclonic Action (Vacuum Only)
Black and Decker VPX Cordless Hand Vacuum with Cyclonic Action (Vacuum Only) Reviews
I purchased this 14.4V vacuum simply to keep on my truck when small clean-up jobs don’t warrant my dragging the large shop vacuum off the truck and into a customer’s home. As an example, maybe I had to drill a couple of small holes into wood or drywall to mount something and there’s a little bit of drill dust to pick up off of the floor. Makes sense, right?
Regrettably, this is definitely NOT a hand vac for anything other than normal household dust, the occasional hair and large particles of dirt. It’s NOT worthy of being called a tool by any stretch. Finer particles sail right on through the vac’s filter and straight on into the motor and switch. On two occasions, one with some masonry drill dust, the other with drywall drill dust, the vacuum just stopped working and the switch bound up after about one minute of operation. I had to disassemble much of it, use compressed air to blow out the dust from within the vacuum and then use some expensive non-conductive spray cleaner/lube to get it back up and working again. Now, it sits idle most of the time and just gets used to pick up larger particles like wood chips, shavings, etc.
So, I wasted roughly $95 total on it with the extra charger/battery purchase and yet another individual battery purchase. That’s simply not practical thinking or good design on B&D’s part in my opinion. Why make a 14.4V $40 hand vacuum that then requires at least one charger and two batteries – all to be purchased separately for another $55- as part of an integrated tool system when the vacuum’s motor, switch and filter design cannot stand up to minimal shop type of use? Truthfully, any one of the numerous handheld Dustbuster types of rechargeable vacuums would no doubt perform as well, if not better, and for much less than this costs.
This handheld vacuum is clearly an expensive clunker in the otherwise creative and well-thought out VPX line. Shame on B&D for designing and marketing a handheld vacuum that does not stand up or perform as it should. The benefit of having interchangeable lithium ion batteries over built-in Nicads is negated by its ineffectiveness.
In direct contrast, however, their 7.2V VPX hand saw is well worth the $60 I paid for it, and that price included the charger and a battery.
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