Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

I had a Black and Decker electric blower for four years before the motor started to give out. At that point, about three months ago, I read reviews and decided to go for this Greenworks model — reasonably good reviews and longer warranty than others. It was very easy to assemble and worked fine — similar to the Black and Decker — for cleaning up our back patio. I used it three or four times (about once/month) for about 15 minutes each time. Yesterday it died. I waited a few minutes, tried again, and it only powered on for a second before shutting off again. I tried a different extension cord and a different outlet. Same. Ok, bummer, but it has that 4-year warranty, I thought, so no big deal! Big deal. I called the toll free number. No technical assistance to see if there was an easy fix or I was doing something dumb to cause it to shut off quickly. All they wanted to know was my zip code, and then explained that I take it in person with receipt to the authorized service center. Well, for me the closest one is 45 minutes away… and I live dead in the middle of Houston, the 3rd or 4th largest city in the U.S.! So then I would have to drive round-trip once to drop it off in some hinterland area, then again to pick it up when repaired. Three hours of time and gas to get a blower fixed! Seriously? So, yes, it’s a great warranty — free repair for four years — if you *happen* to live near a repair store that has applied to be certified on their products. Otherwise, you can’t even ship it back to Greenworks. “We don’t do repairs.” Lame.

I did some pre-sale research on this and thought I’d share my findings.

Look them up at GreenWorksTools – and the Support line is 888-909-6757, Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm EST.

If something goes wrong with this unit while its under warranty you need to take it to an authorized service center. They WILL NOT permit you to ship the unit to them for repair!!! You will need to call GreenWorks to have them direct you to one. For me, in Battle Ground, WA, the nearest one is in Portland, OR. – 21.4 miles away, 33 minutes according to Google Maps.

The bag is the most common issue with these blowers. There have been complaints about the zipper, and, in fact, that may be a problem with the bags, but the most common problem with the bags is that they tear. Not sure if this is an issue with all blower bags, but after all, they have to be porous to permit air to pass through them which weakens the bag. BUT, if the bag were made of a nylon mesh, they would last far longer, and this seems to be one of those maintenance items that will drive you crazy – like small inkjet containers for your printer, where you constantly have to refill or replace them.

Greenworks sells these bags for – not *too* bad, but where they get you is with the .50 flat shipping rate. Anything you order – .50. So, make sure you order enough stuff to make the shipping worthwhile!

World Headquarters

319 Oates Rd, Suite C Mooresville, NC 28117
1-888-90-WORKS (888.909.6757) | info@greenworkstools.com
United States Distribution

1830 Statesville Ave Charlotte, NC 28206 | sales@greenworkstools.com
International Distribution

Room 713, No.8-9, Lane 1500, South LianHua Road
Minhang District, Shanghai, 201108 China

This is my first vac and I prefer it any day over raking leaves.

It seems to work best when you point it directly above the leaves instead of going at it at an angle.

My biggest complaint is that I could not get comfortable with it really. I kept adjusting the bag shoulder strap but could not get it to feel just right. This blower/vac feels best when using as a blower. It is on the heavier side.

I am not having troubles like others with the zipper. It stays shut for me. It does blow a lot of dust through the bag. My shirt and pants were coated!

Wet leaves were pretty difficult so I basically ruffled them up with a rake for them to dry first.

Now this was a nice surprise for me, it picks up deer droppings! Put the nozzle right over them and away they go.

As far as durability goes some of plastic is turning white…the parts that snap the pieces together. If you have ever bent plastic back and forth you will know what I mean. This was only after using it a few hours and going from blower to vac a couple of times. If the snaps break that’s pretty much it.

Oh yeah one last thing that bugs me…It has a cord about 4 inches long built in and this is where you attach your extension cord. It would have been nice to have the cord a bit longer so you could tie the cords together in a knot so it would not come undone. You can still do this but another couple of inches would have been nice. The manual recommends doing this as well.

5 speeds using a thumb type of dial but always needed it at 5 for the vac.

I picked up a ton of leaves today and filled up 1 trash can. I am guessing it would have been at least 10-15 bags of leaves normally.

Not bad for .98.