The Black and Decker string trimmers are actually pretty cool for yardwork. I find them easy to use; they get the job done and are common for a good reason.
But, if your Black and Decker trimmer keeps stopping when you’re trying to use it, that’s obviously no good.
Read: Troubleshoot Black and Decker Trimmer Auto Feed Not Working Issue
What To Do If Your Black and Decker Trimmer Keeps Stopping
- Battery Problems
I’ve always noticed that most of the issues me and other people tend to have with these tools are because of the battery if yours is the cordless model.
It’s a pretty high power tool, so it makes sense that it has a pretty big charge requirement.
The battery is one of the most common black and decker trimmer problems.
It doesn’t hold charge for a super long time, especially if you have a 1.5AH battery and not one of the higher end ones.
But in case the batteries are OK and the charger is the one which has the problem, the troubleshooting methods for fixing a Black and Decker charger discussed here will surely be helpful.
I recommend at least choosing something with 2.0AH or higher, like this one I have here:
Plus, it also goes bad after some regular use, holding less and less charge as time goes on.
Eventually, you’ll get less than half an hour of runtime, and then the battery will stop working altogether.
The point of me saying all this is that weak battery might be leading to your Black and Decker trimmer stopping randomly.
Before you’ll have to purchase a new battery to get the tool working perfectly again, I recommend you to try to “Reset” your Black and Decker battery to see if this trick can bring it back to life.
As shown in the video above, you would need another similar Black and Decker battery, use two wires to connect as below:
- Positive terminal to the Positive terminal
- Negative terminal to the Negative terminal
This should reset the battery and fix most of the battery related problem.
If it is still not working, I would recommend getting 2AH or higher batteries because they work for longer than the 1.5AH.
It’ll cost you more, but in the long run it’s a suitable investment and personally, I suggest you look into it.
- Overheating
If you’re working on your lawn during a hot summer day, or were just using the trimmer for a long time at once, overheating issues are possible.
Like any other device put through prolonged use without care, Black and Decker trimmers can overheat, which leads to serious issues.
If yours keeps stopping, I suggest that you quit using it and immediately check around the motor for any signs of overheating.
If you feel a notable amount of warmth or smell burning, your tool’s motor might have overheated.
My trimmer motor was once burned and I have to replace the trimmer motor as shown in the video below.
You’re going to need a repair on some components, or even a replacement if things are too bad.
- Debris or Grass Stuck
Since you’re using it to trim grass and weeds, it’s not uncommon for debris or grass to get stuck inside of the trimmer.
I’ve had it happen to myself a couple of times, and the fortunate part is that it’s not impossible to deal with.
Between the motor, blade, and other components on the head, things like dirt, debris, and pieces of grass can start accumulating.
I suggest you give the device a good cleaning after unscrewing its top every now and then to prevent things like this from building up too much and causing issues.
Besides, I would to mention that there is one “Hidden” part on the trimmer that is very difficult to clean unless you remove the cover (Too many screws though!).
As shown in the image below, the dry grass can build up and stuck at this part, around the gear.
This was one of the reasons that caused the my trimmer to stop working long time ago.
I normally would use a plier to pull out all the stuck dry grass, it is much easier in this way from my own experience.
Plus I’ve noticed that the trimmer runs a lot smoother and efficiently when you give it a good cleaning, so that’s another bonus to this.
- Trigger Problems
Speaking of things getting stuck, your Black and Decker trimmer’s trigger can also get stuck in place and stop the device from powering on as you need it to.
This usually has to do with the spring on the trigger getting less functional as time goes on.
I suggest you make sure this isn’t the case by checking on a little red button near the trigger after removing the covering from the tool.
You can do that by taking off these screws I’ve highlighted on the handle.
With these off, you’ll have a clear view of the inside. Take the trigger out and you’ll see a red button as shown in the image below.
If this red button presses fine when you hold it down directly, but not with the trigger, that means the trigger is faulty.
You’ll need to position it correctly, or replace with a new functioning spring.
- Faulty Line Release Button
There is one “Line Release” button that can help you to release more line manually as shown in the image below.
You might not know how the mechanism works.
Sometimes you might want to stop the auto feed to avoid feeding too much line issue, and this button can help.
As shown in my video below, when the release line button is pressed, it will “brake” the trimmer motor.
And using the inertia to roll out more line effectively.
However, if this button is faulty, it might brake the trimmer motor even it is not being pressed.
This makes the trimmer motor to receive wrong signal and not able to spin as it should.
I would suggest you not to press this button continuously, and make sure there is nothing stuck around this button.
