Makita BCL180W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless Vacuum Kit (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

For some 10 years or so I have been using the earlier Makita cordless stick broom with the 7.2 volt nickel cadmium, removable battery.It works well, and in fact I still have it.The big problem is the very expensive, low-quality batteries that Makita and competitors sell. It doesn't matter whether you buy branded or non-branded batteries. Over the ten years I must have spent over $300 on them. The vacuum is designed for a 7.2 volt battery but it also takes the 9.6 volt version, which I used for the extra suction.But after 6 to 9 months, the battery would go flat in a week, even when not in use. Soon after that it would not hold a charge for even a few days, and I had to buy another, for about $40.So now I have bought the Makita BCL180 kit. It was on sale from Amazon for about $140, including the charger and one 18 volt, 1.5 Ampere-hour battery. This was the lowest price around, by far.As soon as I began using it I saw that it had been designed for a short, Japanese user, and I, at 5ft 9in, was too tall for it, and had to bend over it to run it.Not good.But there is a solution: Home Depot sells a stick vacuum made by Ridgid, and you can buy the parts for it. The wands for both vacuums are identical in diameter, and are therefore interchangeable. So, for $6.50 each I bought 2 extension wands and pushed them together for a perfect, friction fit. I set the Makita wands aside, in case a shorter person volunteers to do the vacuuming!.Note: Because the vacuums are not made in America, they use metric dimensions for their wands. Our regular 3/4 inch and 1 inch PVC pipes won't fit.But with the two, Ridgid extension wands, Voila! Plenty long, and in fact too long, so I sawed some 4-1/2 inches off one of them, and the result, for me, is perfect. A shorter person would just use the Makita wands that came with the kit.This friction-fit of the two wands -- both the Makita and Ridgid versions -- results in their separating in use, and the whole thing collapses. So I locked them together with a simple, self-tapping screw where the wands join, and that was the end of that problem.Battery Life:From experience with the earlier stick vacuum I knew I would need a spare battery, so I bought one from Amazon while I was at it. I didn't know it, but the one that is sold separately has twice the capacity of the battery that comes with the kit, so this should give me lots of power. Even so, I'll use the charger to top up the battery that's not in use. The charger allows this.Note: Makita says don't let the battery run flat, or its capacity will be reduced. They mean it and you have been warned, so when the vacuum slows down, STOP. Either recharge the battery or switch to your spare.General:The filter can be washed and dried, although it may be a good idea to have a spare. They're only $2 or so.The Makita BCL180 has good suction, and I have noticed an improvement in the appearance of rugs, for example. I recommend it.

Overall, I like this vac, but I expected more for the price.First, the Pros: 1) longer handle than other cordless models by Black & Decker, Eureka, etc. I was able to reach the floor with the long section attached with a little bending (I'm 5' 11"); this is a big convenience, as opposed to crawling on the floor or constantly bending up & down to reach low spots.2) the suction got weaker pretty fast, which I thought was some kind of problem, but when I checked the dirt bin, it was full; I'm amazed at how much it sucked up so quickly.3) it's easy to get the dirt bin off, just twist & pull. Fortunately, it has a raised edge in that area, which allows easier gripping of the section to be removed.4) the swivel head of the floor piece makes it easy to maneuver quickly.5) the battery charged quickly in about 20 minutes, very good compared with some other vacs.Next, the Cons: 1) I received multiple shocks to the finger that was gripping the on/off switch, & some were pretty painful. Dry conditions? Possibly, but who cares? That's the condition I have to use it in, & I'm sure that there are far drier environments than Long Island in the spring. The shocks did reduce & then disappeared after a few minutes of use, but quite an unpleasant experience. None of my other cordless vacs have had this problem.2) the wand/extensions/tools all collected debris due to static, which is common to many other devices that use plastic materials; for this money, I somehow expected a material that wouldn't produce as much static, but it's the same as the cheaper models in this regard.3) the instruction manuals (one for using the vac, & another for charging the battery), are written in grammatically poor English, which makes some parts difficult to understand. Makita is a big enough company to afford manual writers with a better command of English.Overall, I can't recommend this product, due to the shocking issue. If someone has a solution for this, I'd appreciate hearing about it.