In my experience over the past 5 years or so, Black & Decker haven't made a decent electric tool/appliance. I have bought one of their small drills, then returned it when the motor seized up after 2 months. The replacement worked for a year, then the motor developed an open circuit. Same for a small jig saw -- the blade moved up and down at about a 5-degree angle off vertical. The same for a small electric screwdriver.
The company must have been taken over by some Wall Street group to suck the assets out of it, I don't know. Their stuff used to be quite good, but now I wouldn't touch any of their stuff, sorry to say.
Hi Fred Black & Decker only mfe. light duty power tool,thus only for small litte job. If you need long lasting tool you should have buy heavy duty tool eg. AEG power tool I have one AEG 1/2"power drill use for twenty five years, which do not have any problam,untill my friend did not return back to me after he borrow from me.
I push their corded electric lawn mowers to people with small yards (like myself).
I have taken my mower in twice for warranty work and was VERY well treated (they put in a new blade gratis etc.). On the second visit I asked when my warranty expired (two years theoretically) and they said it had already expired two months back but they were extending it as a courtesy. So I have to say I am quite pleased both with the mower and how warranty work was handled. Regarding the need for warranty work: the first time the motor would freewheel - I used to use the mower to mulch fairly 1/2-3/4" sized branches and am not sure if it contributed to early failure. The second visit needed new brushes.
Black & Decker hasn't been any good throughout my lifetime, or most of it anyway. Perhaps they were decent back in the 60's and 70's but I've had some of their stuff since the 80's and while some hasn't broken, it all feels cheap.
My mom has one of those B&D cordless electric mowers and it actually works very well, but when I picked it up (for free mind you) the stupid cable operated switch was all messed up. I built a little controller with some high current MOSFETs and screwed a microswitch to the handle so it's activated by the original deadman bar, been working great ever since.
If it was truly good quality, it would not have to go back in for warranty service. Twice.
Good to hear they have good customer service though. B & D is no longer the quality it was years ago. Serviceable stuff the the light user, but nothing of interest for a tradesman.
| > The company must have been taken over by some Wall Street group to suck the | > assets out of it, I don't know. Their stuff used to be quite good, but now | > I wouldn't touch any of their stuff, sorry to say.
| I quit buying their stuff long ago.
Is it a real company, or just a brand for "Made in China"?
My neighbor had the same problem. Then his wife pointed out that he only turned on for about two minutes, moved up and down at the wrong angle, and could never seem to get the job done to her satisfaction.
Good to hear you found a good service shop. But taking in stuff for a repair a year is not what I call good quality workmanship/design. I have a Ryobi electric mower and have never had one single trouble with it other than having to replace the lead-acid battery about 5 years ago. I can cut my grass twice on a single charge - 5,000 square feet each time. Good quality mower, excellent manual and reasonably priced parts.
I have a Dremel-like tool by Ryobi and it's definitly not as nice as the real thing. On the other hand, I got a cheap Ryobi router a few years ago and while only used lightly I've never had any trouble with it. Overall they seem to be about the same as B&D, some of their stuff is decent, some is crappy, it's all relatively low end Chinese stuff.
You were lucky to buy your Ryobi when you did. These days Ryobi does not exist except in brand name only. The Japanese company closed down their power tool manufacturing business around 1999 (I think), and sold the brand name to Techtronic Industries in Hong Kong. Prior to that they made a general purpose range of tools and also a "Tradeline" series. All of the Tradeline tools I had were excellent value for money and would give many years of troublefree service.
It was shortly after Techtronic bought the name that all the junk tools with the Ryobi brand name appeared on the scene. I had several problems with their handyman belt sander and also a cordless drill so much that I was eventually reimbursed for the cost of the sander (which I put towards a Makita), and Ryobi "gave" me one of their newer so-called "professional" or trades series cordless drills as a replacement for the junk drill. I had to direct my complaints directly back to management in Hong Kong before this occurred though.
I suspect you will find that B&D is no longer the original company (much like Ryobi) and consequently their products are now largely "junk". I remember using one of their compact aluminium framed Holgun drills back in the 1960's, and boy, could these drills take a hammering without any problems for year after year. That was when B&D was really a good power tool.
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