This is not your Grannie's Dust Buster!

Years ago I sold my Dust Buster in a moving sale and I've regretted it since. Sure, the old one only had a 6 volt battery and it didn't have much suction. But there were times when it came in handy. I missed my Dust Buster.

I decided now was the time to replace it. I first purchased a wet/dry vac I found in a chain drug store. "Perfection" it wasn't - it only had a 6 volt battery and at full charge it didn't perform any better than that original dust buster I had a long time ago. Right back it went.

Ok, what to do? I turned back to Black & Decker - the company that came out with the original Dust Buster. The box for the CHV1560 implied it had a 15.6 volt battery. Wow! That has to be better than a 6 volt model. It is. This is a two speed model and at high speed it comes close to the suction power of a canister vacuum. It sure picks up dust, cat hair, paper - all manner of things a weaker Dust Buster wouldn't even bother trying to suck up. Large paper clips? No problem.

To that point: Do not ignore the filter. It's easy to do because the filter is hidden behind a plastic cone. You can't tell how dirty the pleated filter actually is until you disassemble the filter assembly and remove that plastic cone protecting the filter. Brush the filter off frequently, preferably outdoors. If it didn't have such strong suction that filter wouldn't be getting so dirty... This model has a "filter cleaning wheel" - you turn it when the vacuum is off and it sort of knocks loose dust that has collected on the filter. But realistically, if the filter is clogged with dust this filter cleaning method doesn't seem to do much good. A novel feature, but it may be false hope at best.

The CHV1560 comes with a crevice tool and a brush that fit into the base of the vacuum. A nice touch to both keep the tools with the vacuum and prevent them from getting lost.

It you want a battery hand vac with real suction this is it. But you pay a price for that suction. The unit is heavy, weighing in at about five pounds with a 13 cell battery pack. It is also large, making it difficult if not impossible to get into tight spaces. And because the unit is not well balanced, most of the weight is forward of the handle, it is tiresome to hold onto for extended periods. Even with "man hands" it's a bit of a stretch to hold onto the vacuum by the handle and use the slide switch to turn it on with one hand. People with small hands or arthritis may find this vacuum too heavy and/or may have to use two hands to turn it on and off. (If only Black and Decker had moved the on/off switch to either side of the body of the vacuum they could have moved the handle forward a good inch, resulting in better weight distribution.)