Black & Decker Dustbuster Flexi Questions & Answers

No idea. Why not ring Black n Decker?

I've had exactly the same problem, several times in fact! I'm on my 3rd unit after 2 replacements from Amazon, but I've owned it over 2 years so they won't replace it anymore. Without being able to clear the filter it effectively becomes useless as it has no suction at all when the filter is full of dust.

However... I've just managed to get mine open. I detached the hose at the end where it attaches to the main unit. There are a couple of tabs that need pushing in to pull the hose out. I completely failed to do this though, so just used a screwdriver to scrape the tabs flat with the rest of the hose tube (easy as it's soft plastic). Once I removed the hose, the filter compartment rotated again and opened easily. I guess something on the hose was sticking inside? Anyway I just cleaned the filter and it works fine again now. The hose comes out fairly easily now having scraped the tabs flat, but it's not falling out while I'm using it. If it becomes a problem in the future I can just tape it back on, so not a biggy and I can remove it easily in the future. I'll hopefully get a few more years out of the dustbuster now.

Since posting I discovered the cause of the poor suction. The flexible suction tubing is quite narrow. It is easy for dust/lint balls to form and occlude it over time (unlike other larger vacuum tubing). If they form in the middle (which is what happened to me) it is not possible to see it due to the conduit being opaque. To overcome this, it is necessary to shove something along it to dislodge anything which might have formed if suction drops and you have done the usual other maintenance of cleaning the filter etc. Of course, B & D could just choose to make the conduit transparent to enable easy detection and timely cleaning - a pretty obvious design feature which is missing really.

i would contact the manufacturer, sounds like a faulty product

If you go to www.blackanddecker.co.uk and put in the model number which is PD1820L someone there should be able to answer your question. It sounds like a problem with the Lithium battery.

press button on top, rotate barrel forward and pull out. hope this helps.

If above suggestion from fanaticcook does not work contact Black and Decker direct at www.blackanddecker.co.uk and put in the model number which is PD1820L and someone should get back to you from there.

There is a small catch which locates in the small dents around the circumference of the nozzle. Press the catch to disengage the nozzle and pull it out.