On Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:44:06 +0100, Tim Streater wrote:

You don't use the cordless to vacuum the whole house. You use it for
jobs that would be inconvenient or awkward with any mains powered
machine, such as the top of pictures, picture rail, top of doors, that
sort of thing.

Which is what the soft brush tool on a mains vac is for... B-)

We do have a battery vac but it's next to useless. Principally down
to a cheap and nasty "charger" ie. mains to low voltage AC, a series
diode and current limiting resistor. Needless to say the NiCds where
shagged within 12 months. There is no indication of charge and no
fall back to trickle.

The switch is also sliding soft brass, which wears and deposits a
metallic film on what should be insulation. this gives a leakage path
to discharge the battery in "off" and path that is always there.

One day I'll recell it with NiMH, give it a proper charger and think
about what to do with the switch. It may then actually be useful but
even new the runtime was barely long enough.

I'm not getting the big vac out just to suck up 10 dead (or live)
beetles in the kitchen.

Dust pan and brush. Quicker, more reliable.

--
Cheers
Dave.