Black & Decker CS100

Like it a lot, light weight, great for small jobs ! – Had my CS100 B&D 12v cordless broom for a few years and replaced battery about 4 times. Good for what it’s designed for. My charger put out 15.9 VDC not 13.5, last battery lasted no time at all. Could excess voltage have burned up a new battery? Show details

Switched it to Lithium Polymer battery and now it's a supercharged blower! – As with other reviewers, when new mine delivered 'full' power for about 7-8 mins then gradually tapered off for the next 5-6 mins. Then with each following year it gave less time at full power and a quicker fade. After the third year, the battery was only giving 2-3 mins of okay power at full charge, then tapered off quickly. I was close to… Read more

throwing it out like a lot of people have.

However, being a tinkerer, I have some high-current Lithium Polymer (LIPO) battery packs in 12v and 16v for my R/C planes. So I opened up the blower and removed the 1.78kg lead-acid battery, charging circuit and back plate. I soldered on a R/C battery terminal and lined the inside cavity with velcro to attach my LIPO battery.

Results? With the original battery, when new and fully charged, the blower would have put out about 130 watts of blowing power and tapered off quickly. On a 12v 3A LIPO battery weighing less than 300gm, I was seeing a steady 150W power for around 10 mins. Instant upgrade!

But since the motor was still cool to the touch, I HAD to try the 16v LIPO pack. I'm glad I did. The blower now puts out a whopping 360W power drawing 25A! And with my 8A 16V battery weighing around 800gm (less than half the weight of the original), I get this massive blowing power for over 15 minutes and the motor is only moderately hot to the touch. So now I love this blower - it is very light, stupid powerful and blows for ages!

Excellent product except for the battery – Found this product a handy blower for those smaller areas, an excellent amount of blowing power with about 15 minutes of run time on a full charge. More than enough for most jobs. Lightweight and easy to use. The major flaw is the battery, an excellent machine but battery only lasted 18 months or so before losing power. The genuine battery costs… Read more

around the same price as a new blower so is not practical. I liked the blower that much I purchased a non genuine battery from eBay to replace the original and is still going strong. 2 stars for the battery 4 stars for the machine. Rating of 3.

crap – Cheap product, battery life does not last 2 minutes. As soon as warranty period is over it turns to porridge ! Now I know why it's off the market. I would not buy ANY black & decker product. My suggestion is look for a better brand which would not take much to beat this brand.

Maybe not the battery – I was given a B & D CX100-XE cordless broom because it was no longer working,would no longer charge and presumably the battery had died. Before disposing of it I decided to check the charger with my basic voltmeter and found it was not functioning. Changed charger and presto , all good  Show reply

Reasonably good for what it was designed for – My experience with this unit is similar to other reviewers. It worked well for 3 yrs or so and then the original battery (BB HR5.5-12, of 5.5Ah) died, the battery replacement in US seems to be at a good price but a bit pricey in Australia. I found in the net that the new replacement battery model to suit the dimensions of the broom's inside is… Read more

of ~5Ah. The whole unit, new, was only about $100 from hardware store so I decided to change to a petrol unit.

Pros: (i) B&D12V broom is pretty quiet and (ii) Light, very portable - easy to carry around, especially to the balcony (iii) the air intake is at the bottom so the air intake does not suck your clothing (eg trouser) in, in comparison to other petrol unit with air intake at the side. Cons: (i) Not so powerful (ii) Battery replacement is not economical in Australia.

Poor battery – Worked like a dream until the battery died (about 2 years of use) Unfortunately the replacement battery is more expensive than a replacement machine. For this reason I could not purchase another Bosch nor could I recommend to anyone which is a shame because it was great when working minimally for 2 years Ease of use and light weight battery that died

Batteries die very quickly – When I purchased the item it worked well but soon the battery started to fail and will not hold charge longer than a few minutes. If the batteries were a better quality then it would be a great tool. You would be better buying a quality more expensive item that have great reviews. Poor quality batteries that fail after a short time.

Black and Decker (Don't bother) – The portable broom is really only for light duties (it certainly did not like moving wet leaves) the battery now has a signature so it will charge to 12.3 Volts, however, it drops to 6.5 under load and discharges pretty quickly. I have enquired about putting in a new battery, but, as yet, not a great deal of return contact from B&D. Looking at a… Read more

sthil, a bit pricey, but it starts really well and should last my lifetime and probably that of my sons. I.E. it"s not made in china!!!! It's light Doesn't do it's job very well

Poor service and batteries – I have purchased 4x 12 volt blowers and 1 x 18 volt for family , all batteries have died , Contacted Black & Decker and was told Bad luck , They offered to replace batteries for $80.00 each , New machine $99.00 Very annoying , Warning Do not buy this brand Great for a month or two Batteries all rubbish

Would never buy a black and decker product again – Yes they might have a 4 year warranty however the battery only has one year. Had problems with the battery soon after purchasing with a charge only getting approx 5 minutes blower vac time. Took it back to bunnings eventually to find the battery had only the 1 year warranty. Since the battery built into unit it was not worth getting a… Read more

repair.

My advice buy a more expensive unit or a much cheaper one that is disposable.

Battery life very poor

The battery dies too soon – When it was new, and held a charge for up to 15 minutes, this was a great little machine. However, the battery started to degrade after only a few weeks until you could only get a couple of minutes out of it. If you can do what you need to do in a couple of minutes then well and good, but for our purposes we need a minimum of ten minutes. It is… Read more

nice and light and blows well while it is working. The battery is not up to the task, and you can't get replacements. If you could get a replacement battery for less than $30 then I would recommend it.

Hopeless - Don't Buy It – Used it twice only - never held much charge. Now it is dead and wont recharge at all :-( Buy something else. Apparently I am supposed to write at least fifty words but I think I have already summed up this product. Silly me did not check this site before buying it - other products have more reliable ratings from more site users. Hopeless

Brilliant – Have 3 of these units at work and am so impressed with them I recently bought one for myself when my 19 yr old petrol unit died. Wall mounted charger unit, always ready for use and no more mixing petrol. And a full 4year replacement warranty. Impressive performance, inexpensive.  Show reply

short battery life – This works well when it is charged but lasts only about 15 minutes at the best on a charge and then dies. Exchanged it twice but each one had the same problem. Needs two batteries or a better battery life as 15 minutes barely gets half a job done. I would try something with a little more life than this one. Works well when charged Battery only lasts 15 minutes on a charge and then there is the downtime to charge.