When we say “cordless handheld vacuum” there are many different types. A shop vac could have a much larger battery pack and higher powered motor than a small hand-vac that is half the size and power capability. The larger pack could be like a cluster of 4 18650 cells in series.
I still have an older laptop that takes a removable battery pack, that contains 6 18650 cells wired up in a combination of serial and parallel circuitry. When the battery pack charge level won’t last more than 30 to 60 minutes after a full charge, I have to buy a new pack. When harvesting the cells from the old pack, I usually find it’s just one cell that can’t get to 4.0v or above, while the others are fine. The battery management circuitry inside the pack (a small mcpcb) doesn’t have the sophistication to manage this change in the power dynamic, or, it’s some kind of failsafe to simply not try to fully charge the pack as a precaution. [At least I can harvest the good cells and use them in flashlights!]
Based on this, I have to wonder if something similar happens in cordless devices like handheld vacs.
Unfortunately this is not uncommon. I’m harvested a number of 18650 out of packs with a BMS where one cell is ‘bad’, so the BMS seems to end up catering to the weakest battery. I’ve even recovered all the cells from a whole pack where they’ve just gotten so out of balance that the BMS can’t deal with it.
I’ve opened the pack on my cordless vac, and it’s pretty much the same setup, so likely prone to the same problem.
yeah, of course. I inherited a hoover freejet 3in1 from my mother. She used to leave it in the charger and had it for a couple of years and used it all the time. I’ve had it for six years and use it all the time for smaller regular jobs. I only charge it when it needs charging. It is still very good and lasts what seems to be a long time. I have the brush spinning on it while it’s in use too. I can easily recommend this.
I hate to be the first to just suggest just dropping the cordless requirement. I have grabbed numbers of the small Orecks that came with the original oreck sweeper . The little portable vacuums claim to fame was it could lift a bowling ball .
Great little vacuum to keep in the garage for cleaning cars.
Every few years you just buy a new one, take the new battery out, put your old battery in, and return it. Life hack lol. But ya that’s why I always tell people to never buy used tool battery packs. That happens so often.
And everyone is so scared of lithium ion you could fill a battery pack with rocks and return it. Nobody is going to open it and check.
Garlic chopper, but works for hot peppers, onions, etc.
Got it with a vipon for like 8bux, but there are tons of them out there slightly different, but basically the same under the hood.
Easy to clean, chops into sesame-seed-sized bits like the graminated garlic you buy in a jar, only it’s fresh.
Were it not for the “easy to clean” part, it’d be a chore (like the sort of slap-chop doodad which is a pain in the arse to clean, so I rarely use it), but it’s only 3 pieces of the head, the bowl, and the blade.
Been working fine for the past 2yrs, and I use it fairly often.
There was a really good thread here on BLF in the past about epic budget? Christmas items . ?
It’s a great topic if only you throw out that vacuum part of it
I’m a fan of the small spatulas at dollar tree . A decent stiffer small spoonula is a very handy tool if you can find a good one .
I highly recommend the Pentax Papilio II Binoculars. They are on sale for about as low as I’ve seen. They have a close focus of about 2 feet!
I decided to buy the Nicebay hand vac using a Vipun deal for $40. It works quite good but has the small capacity factor and requires the charging stand. I haven’t used it enough to highly recommend. Of course the Vicsonic went on sale shortly after my purchase and it has the advantage of USB-C charging but claims to have less suck power. It can be had for ~$45 right now.
I recommend buying older used business class hardware (laptops, desktops, phones). You can get them relatively cheap if you look around. They are built at higher standards with more features than consumer grade hardware and have pretty great performance for their age. I have a Dell Optiplex 7010 with a AMD 6400 RX that streams content from another pc for the living room and a Lenova P50 laptop with a dedicated m2000 graphic card.
I recommend Restor-A-Finish, it is hit and miss on some furniture but it when it works it’s like magic, you can save a considerable amount of time of refinishing furniture.
I recommend knock off magic erasers. They’re not tuff and they won’t last long but they are easily the best cleaning tool I own…as far as surface wipes go. I have bought these through the Amz but I think you can get a better deal on the 'bay. ‘Must have’ as far as I’m concerned.
I also recommend giant tweezers. So useful and precise.
The Vicsonic is still on sale, for about $50 USD after coupon applied. I’ve had mine for a few months and it’s still working very well. The Nicebay model has just 2kpa more, which I don’t expect will be noticeable, but it also seems like it has a smaller debris chamber. Still, for these prices, I don’t think you can go wrong. As for the charging stand, I can see it useful if you’re using the vacuum very often and needing to recharge every week. I charge up my vacuum like once a month, sometimes 2 months. USB-C is nicely flexible.
From R.E.I.
I remember when they only sold climbing and packing gear.
I have/had a set of crampons from them - that I haven’t seen in decades…
When I give my REI # at the retail stores. The kids that work there look at me like I should have been dead years ago.
LB, a clean bear is a happy bear!
All the Best,
Jeff
