Based on a phone call to Hoover: If you want your battery to last and work properly do not store the battery on the charger or in the vacuum. Fully charge the battery and use it in the vacuum. If the battery runs out, fully charge it again (3 hours and a light on the charger will pulse when ready) and then store it separately. If the battery has not run out you can choose to recharge it so it fully loaded (again, take it off the charger when the light pulses) and then store it separately. Since a full charge only takes 3 hours an overnight charge is not recommended. Hoover LINX Cordless Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery, 18-Volt, BH50000
The thing about lithium batteries is that they run out of power without much warning. Sure there's a gauge/light on the vacuum, but if your not paying attention it can stop in the middle of vacuuming. Recharging a battery can put vacuuming on hold for an hour, but with a fully charged spare battery in the charger you can quickly swap batteries and resume vacuuming.
this hoover LINX cordless rechargeable lithium battery is a 'must have' if you're buying the LINX vacuum. You don't want to get frustrated and run out of "gas." I understand that you CANNOT leave the battery in the charger after charging or it won't work. Short and simple.... always be prepared. oh, easy charging unit, easy battery installation in vacuum!
I bought this for use with my Hoover Linx stick vac, which I LOVE. Cannot live without that thing. The battery lasts about 15-20 min and so I wanted an extra so that I'd always be able to finish a job. I was finding that I'd forget how much power was left in the battery, how much time I had on the battery. Sometimes I'd have 15 min, sometimes just 5. And since I use the vac so much, it made sense to have the back up battery. One thing I'd encourage everyone to do is get a timer switch for your wall outlet. I got the Belkin Conserve Socket F7C009q Energy Saving Outlet which was tendollars on Amazon. Basically, plug the charger into the Belkin outlet and you can push the 3-hr button when you put the battery in. It turns off power supply at 3 hours, just when the batt is fully charged. That way there's no risk of battery drain.
We got the LINX at the recommendation of a friend, who did a great demo and explained the merits of an extra battery. It's really simple: the LINX has a swap-able battery, so when the battery that's in the vacuum runs low on charge, you swap the run-down battery with a fresh one you grab out of the charger and--presto--you keep right on running the LINX until you vacuuming is done.
So, we got the extra battery with our LINX and swapping it the way our friend described works like a charm for my wife and I. It's a lithium-ion technology battery, so it charges pretty fast, and runs the vacuum a good while (15-20 minutes or so) before the light on the vacuum blinks indicating the charge is running down.
Bottom line: when you buy a LINX be sure to get an extra battery. It's that simple.
I have purchased this item not more than a month ago so the longevity of this item will remain to be seen. I purchased this item as a second item for the Hoover Linx cordless vacuum. It offers great power but battery life is somewhat short but having the extra battery makes these two purchases a must.
In fact, I don't know if this battery was bad or the one that came with the vac was bad. In any case, someone else wrote here about a battery failure and Hoover replacing it, so bad batteries may be common. Here's my battery experience with two batteries.
The vac has indicator lights showing charge status: 3 lights full or nearly full, 2 lights lower, 1 light lower still, 1 blinking light-almost dead. Hoover's official position on battery life: 12-15 minutes. My test results with vac only, no beater brush running:
Battery 1 goes from 3 lights to 2 in 5 minutes, 2 to 1 in 3 more minutes, and 1 to blinking in 4 more minutes. Total running time 12 minutes.
Battery 2 goes from 3 lights to 2 in 1 minute, 2 to 1 in 2.5 minutes, and 1 to blinking in 3 more minutes. Total running time 6.5 minutes.
I just spent 30 minutes on the phone with Hoover. The first CSR treated me like I was a moron, and then when I explained my tests, she said, "OK. Send it to us and we'll check it out." Gave me an address. Then put me on hold, came back, put me on hold, came back and said, "I'm transferring you to another department." (It was like that light company ad on TV.) After another 10 minutes on hold, a guy came on the phone with no knowledge of why I was calling, heard the story again, and then said, "Ship it to us, and we'll check it out." Frankly, I'll be surprised if I ever see that battery, much less a replacement battery, again.
My advice. Charge your new battery. See my test results above. If you can't duplicate the better results, send it back right away as defective. If it's the battery with the vac, send the whole thing back. - Hoover Platinum Collection - Cordless Vacuum - Hoover - Stick Vac'
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