I bought a Black and Decker dustbuster 2 years ago, and it was great for the first year. After that, it will only run for about 45 seconds and then dies. I've just kind of dealt with that, only using it for occasional small cleanups rather than actual use. The batteries are impossible to replace without also destroying the battery holder and circuitry (I tried).
Basically looking for a recommendation for a good dustbuster that sucks in the good way and, ideally, has batteries that can be replaced when they go bad.
I used to have a B&D dustbuster/vacuum combo that ended up the same way after sitting a while. Like you, I wanted to swap out the battery but the internals were so convoluted my odds of just destroying it anyways were pretty high.
I have a Craftsman 20v toolkit and they make a dustbuster/vacuum that takes that battery. It’s pricey at $200 but most anything would be better than my wife’s expensive RoboRock vacuum. It gets clogged moments into trying to vacuum carpet, granted its pet hair. Its no wonder they only do the robo-vacuums now.
I usually end up using my little handheld that I bought for around my desk for small messes or the corded Eureka for bigger cleanups, though that is a pain to lug up and down the floors. Hence looking at the Craftsman.