5 Black & Decker Power Tool Users Say You Should Stay Away From – SlashGear

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Black and Decker is one of the best-known names in the power tool industry and has been around for over a century. The parent company, Stanley Black and Decker, now owns more than a dozen different tool brands, including DeWalt, Craftsman, Stanley and Irwin.

Black and Decker is often seen as the budget option for power tools in this family of brands. Most black and orange products are significantly cheaper than their black and yellow siblings. But while Black and Decker may not have the same reputation for strength and quality as DeWalt, the company is widely considered an excellent option for those looking for a solid cost-performance ratio.

That said, not all Black and Decker power tools are as good as others. Some of them have left buyers less than satisfied. There could be a number of reasons why this could happen. The tool could easily break, have a fundamental flaw in its design, or simply not be as powerful as expected. One of the best ways to figure out which tools to avoid is to look at customer reviews on digital stores and see which of them have consistently received low reviews for the same issues. Sometimes even items that have generally high scores receive dozens of one-star reviews citing the same problem. This is a fairly reliable indicator that it may be more than a simple one-off error.

Corded electric lawn mowers have some inherent advantages and disadvantages. You may be tethered to an electrical outlet, but they’re quieter and easier to maintain than gas-powered models, and they’re cheaper and have a longer runtime than battery-powered models, making them a solid option for those with light gardening needs close to home. The Black and Decker EdgeMax 20-inch 13 Amp Corded Electric Lawn Mower initially seems like a solid option in this niche. It has a winged blade designed to lift the grass while mowing, improving cutting power and collection capabilities. It also has six height adjustment settings and a folding handle for easy storage. However, some customers have experienced some issues that indicate you may want to pass on this mower.

The EdgeMax 20-inch 13 Amp Mower is rated 1.7 out of 5 Black and Decker’s own websitea 4.1 op Home Depota 2.8 op Lowe’sand a 1.6 op Acme Resources. That’s not exactly consistent, but some of those scores certainly raise a few alarm bells, and the reasons why this mower gets so many low scores are quite concerning. There are several reports on all of these shopping sites claiming that the mower’s engine stopped working abruptly, often within just a few months of use. “I couldn’t even manage to mow a small front garden before it died,” said one. “Was able to fill the bag twice, emptied the bag the third time and then the mower refused to start.” There are also some scattered complaints that the mower feels light and cheap, that it stalls often, and that the bag door sometimes gets stuck.

The Black and Decker Mouse Detail Sander is an oscillating sander with corner palms. The sanding pad has a roughly triangular shape, with the front ending in a point that is perfect for getting into tight corners or narrow gaps, such as the spaces between stair railings. This model features a hook-and-loop fastening system for sanding pads, a three-position handle for control, a dust extraction system with microfiltration, a built-in dust storage container and a separately supplied detail finger attachment that allows you to reach even smaller spaces.

Unfortunately, the Mouse Detail Sander was not so well received. The tool has a weighted score of 3.6 out of 5 Black and Decker websitea 4.1 op Home Depota 4.1 op Lowe’sa 3.9 op Walmarta 4.1 op Ace Hardwareand a 3.8 op Acme Resources. While most of these scores aren’t outright bad, they aren’t particularly good either, and there are an alarming number of one-star reviews on each site reporting issues regarding the tool’s durability. Most reported problems seem to stem from the sander’s excessive vibration during use. Several users report that the plastic at the nose of the sander melts due to the high friction. “The tip gets so hot that the plastic around the screw holding it in just melts and the tip falls off,” said one reviewer. “The doily is also coming loose. Do not buy.” This seems to be a common problem and the main source of negative reviews, although it’s worth noting that there are also some scattered complaints about noise levels, the finger attachment breaking and the dust extraction system not working properly.

A good cordless drill from a major brand is the cornerstone of any power tool collection, so it’s important that you get a good one. Black and Decker offers a wide range of different battery systems, from the small 8V Max model to the company’s flagship 20V Max Powerconnect model. Most of these are rated quite well, but it seems the middle child of the lineup hasn’t been received with the same enthusiasm by buyers. The 12V Max cordless drill has a lot to offer on paper. It’s compact and lightweight, has an 11-position clutch, a keyless drill chuck, an LED work light, a soft-grip handle, and many of the other features you might want in a drill.

However, there are a few issues that could make it a bad buy. This exercise has a 3.3 out of 5 Black and Decker websiteA 4.5 at Home Depota 3.5 op Lowe’sand a 4.1 op Walmart. Those scores are a bit spread out, but the complaints on each site are fairly similar. Most critics of the drill seem disappointed with the power and ability of the included 1.5 Ah battery to hold a charge. “No matter how much you charge it, what holes you drill before putting the screws in, and how much pressure you put into it, it won’t screw wood together,” said one reviewer. “Spend the extra money and buy something other than this.” Several others complained that the battery wouldn’t hold a charge for more than 10-15 minutes of use before the drill stopped working. This makes it a hard sell, even for those who just want a light-duty drill.

The Black and Decker 20V Max Cordless Leaf Blower is a bit strange, as it seems like it’s designed more for floor sweeping tasks than actual garden waste control, despite its name. Black and Decker’s website states: “Lightweight and quiet, this electric sweeper clears driveways, sidewalks, patios and garages of leaves, grass clippings and dirt.” This particular utility is accentuated by the nozzle design, which is narrow, with a slight curve at the tip to direct the airflow along the ground. According to the tool’s specifications, it can reach speeds of up to 130 mph at a volume of 100 CFM and weighs only 3.7 kg.

This blower has a 3.8 out of 5 Black and Decker sitea 3.9 op Home Depota 4.0 out of 10 Amazona 4.0 out of 10 Walmartand a 3.8 op Lowe’s. There are many additional reviews commenting on the light weight, but there are also a significant number of reviews from less satisfied customers regarding the power and battery life. “This thing has no power, one stated. “I’d like to know where they get the 130mph from. It’s more like 10mph. The battery life lasts about an hour. If the battery does get to 130mph, the short battery life would probably be okay. But if you have to charge it six times to blow half a meter, then no.” The blower is often sold as part of a kit with a 20V Max 1.5 Ah battery, so it’s not really a surprise that such a small capacity battery won’t last long, but it’s certainly seen as a strike against the blower for many users.

Buying a good electric trimmer and edger can be very useful for cleaning and maintaining the parts of your garden that a mower cannot reach, such as the areas next to fences, garden beds and walkways. Even better if the tool is a two-in-one, right? The Black and Decker 20V Max 10-inch cordless grass trimmer and edger combines both functionalities, capable of trimming grass and cutting hard edges along driveways and paths. It has an automatic feed spool, weighs just 2.2kg and is marketed as being easy to convert from trimmer to edger, but there are a few issues that owners aren’t too happy about.

The tool has a 3.3 out of 5 Black and Decker sitea 4.0 out of 10 Home Depota 3.9 op Walmartand a 3.7 op Lowe’s. As with many of the other Black and Decker 20V Max tools we’ve reviewed so far, customers don’t seem thrilled with the battery life, with some claiming you’ll only get about 10-20 minutes of use per charge. However, apart from that, there are also many complaints about the build quality of the tool. Some mention that the string housing and automatic feed system malfunction or fall apart completely, some mention that the electric motor is defective, some mention difficulty switching between trimmer and edger modes, and others simply claim that the tool feels cheap and poorly made, even for the low price. So there isn’t one specific problem, but it seems there is a general sentiment about poor build quality, which seems to be reinforced by the numerous reports of broken and malfunctioning components.

I have been collecting and using power tools for decades, and I am very experienced in identifying both the desirable and more problematic qualities that set them apart. In creating this list, I started by looking at the lowest-rated Black and Decker products on the manufacturer’s website and on the digital stores of third-party retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon, Walmart, Ace Hardware, and Acme Tools. I looked for models that repeatedly received low reviews across multiple platforms, and made sure they were reviewed enough times that the total score could reasonably represent user sentiment.

After picking out a few tools, I dug into the reviews themselves and looked for reports of build, design, and performance issues that were mentioned often enough to suggest that they were problematic for a significant number of users. I then used this information to describe the tools and explain why user reviews indicate that potential buyers may want to avoid them and look for alternative products instead.