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Dustbuster Switch Repair

My Dustbuster vacuum - a CHV-1410, gets a lot of use.  We use it several times per day, every day.  It is a workhorse.

Sadly, it was becoming unreliable.  It would be fully charged, and I'd hit the switch and maybe it would begin to start and then stop, or it would lurch and stop - or maybe it would do nothing.
My CHV-1410 had a broken switch
At first I thought it was the battery, but then I found that by carefully wiggling the switch I was sometimes able to get the vacuum to work.  All that on-off action over the years made the switch unreliable.

Instead of throwing away an otherwise perfectly good vacuum, I decided to replace the worn switch.  It's an easy and worthwhile repair with the right part.

The one special part needed: A specific $5 Switch

There seems to be two types of switches used in these, based on the charging mechanism:
  • For the Lithium models (CHV-1410L and similar), I notice that there are only two conductors are attached to the switch: one for "common" and one for "normally open (NO).
  • For the non-Lithium model (CHV-1410 and similar), three conductors are used: one for "common", one for "normally open (NO), and one for "normally closed" (NC).  Evidently, this NC conductor is used to enable the "charging mode" feature on these models.
Here is a link to the switch that I considered to be a good match for both applications.  Just with the Lithium model, I wouldn't attach a wire to the NC terminal of the switch.   For the NiCad model, all three conductors are used.

The original 3 conductor switch in the NiCad version of my Dust Buster

The beauty of this part is that it fits perfectly inside all of my Dustbusters.  No modifications or cutting or any other weird changes were necessary to get it to work.

Tools Needed

The tools I needed to replace the switch were extremely basic.
Don't have these things?  Buy them.  They are essential repair tools, and should last for decades (mine are at least 40 years old). 

The Repair Procedure

WARNING: Before beginning, note that operating the vacuum with the housing off may make a huge and disgusting dust cloud.  Also, the battery may still have a charge, so is may be possible get hurt by the exposed fan or the battery voltage. 

This is what I did to repair my Dustbuster in about 30 minutes.  There are plenty of pictures below.
  1. Remove the vacuum bin from the Dustbuster.
  2. Remove all 6 screws from the Dustbuster shell (Yay, they're all the same size)
  3. Pry apart the dustbuster housing using fingers.  It takes some wiggling, but not much force.
  4. Temporarily unplug the battery pack to prevent accidentally starting vacuum.
  5. Slide the switch out of its socket
  6. On the Lithium version, I needed to cut the welded leads of the old switch.  On the non-Lithium version, it used regular spade connectors that required no soldering.  Yay!
  7. Solder the leads to the new switch, or push on the wires on using the pre-existing spade connectors.
  8. Slide the new switch back into the switch socket
  9. Plug the battery pack back in
  10. Test by tapping the microswitch button.  Beware of exposed motor and conductors... and dust!  Next time I will definitely take it outside so the remnant dust doesn't go everywhere.
  11. Reassemble shell.  This is a bit tricky.  Patience!  Make sure there are no trapped wires.  But if it is right, it will easily slide together without any bending or significant force. 
  12. Test again (outside).
  13. Throw old switch into electronics recycling bucket stored in basement.
CHV1410 Housing Screw Locations
There's the battery connector.  I'll need to disconnect the battery.
  There's a lot of fine dust inside.  Yuk.
The battery back has been temporarily unplugged and removed for easier and safer working
Here's the original switch, that has become unreliable with use.
My replacement switch (foreground) looks nearly identical to the original (background)

A "dry fit" of the new switch.  It fits perfectly!

The old switch has two red leads welded onto the switch.  I snipped them off and stripped them.
The red wires have been soldered to the terminals of the new switch.

The new switch is ready, and has been placed into its little socket.

Everything is back in place now, except for the white plastic switch control plate

The switch control plate is back in place.  Now it's just  a matter of putting on the shell and screwing it in place.

Results

It took me about 30 minutes to perform this repair.  The dustbuster now works great, and there was no need for an expensive battery pack or other parts.  Furthermore, there was no "hacking": The replacement switch is a perfect match, and the vacuum looks and operates the same as it did when new.  So far, the replacement switch that I bought on Amazon has lasted longer than the original switch that was delivered inside the Dustbuster.

My advice to Black + Decker engineering: Rethink the switch!  These switches should be good for 100,000+ cycles, but mine very likely didn't exceed 2000 cycles.  Either your design is putting too much stress on the switch, or the switch that you're buying doesn't meet the duty of the application.  Happily, the switch failure appears to be "fail-safe" - my switch failed in the open (off) position.  That's likely a lot better than the switch failing in the closed (running) position.

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