Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, has a terrible reputation for usability and reliability. Diana’s iron does not work as the safety features prematurely turn the iron off.
She was miffed, friend Diana, in Toronto, Canada, that her newly purchased Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, was acting up. It was prematurely shutting down, a supposed safety feature that belied the task of actual ironing. This seems similar to PC anti-virus software that so overtaxes the PC such that it cripples even simple and small mouse movements. She asked me to look into it.
What should happen is that if the iron was face down it should shut off in 30 seconds, and if it was upright it should shut off in 8 minutes. What was happening was that the iron was shutting off faster than she could readjust her shirt, between ironing strokes. It was so bad that she tried to get a refund but could not. This iron has a terrible reputation for this bad behaviour, and has really sullied the brand name of Black and Decker. The iron was made in China.
When looking for product defects I go for the obvious ones, such as a worn or frayed electrical cord, or a blown fuse. In this case the iron does turn on, with a green light, but makes a buzzing sound. After a couple of minutes the green light turns off. It seems like the iron is still on but I am not sure. After another minute the green light turns on again. It is confusing. What I am hesitant to do with products that have some electronic brains is to muck with it. This is an iron and can get hot enough to cause a fire, so I’d rather not mess with it.
Still, I will take it apart to see if there is anything obviously amiss.
There is an obvious 2.0mm hex screw at the butt of the iron. The screw is cheap and made of very soft metal. Its turning surfaces were damaged even with careful fit and removal. This is not a good sign. You can now pop off the back cover, which exposes the electrical connections. I checked these with a multimeter and they were properly electrically connected to the plug, so there is not issue with power.
At the base there are 2 Phillips screws. Remove these and the metal base plate will separate from the plastic top. There are other screws, such as the two that hold the electrical cord for strain relief.
The screw at the very top, even with removal, did not help with any disassembly. I’m sure if I spent more time I could have figured it out but I had no need. This screw might have been important for checking out the temperature mechanism.
Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, front screw removal. Remove the door for water, then remove a piece of white foam underneath. There will be a Phillips screw that will release the nose of the iron. Photo by Don Tai.
The trick to this disassembly was how to remove the metal plate from the plastic top. With the two rear Phillips screws removed, it looked like most of the work was done, but the nose would not detach. There is a trick. There is a door that hinges up in order to fill up the water reservoir. Water is required to make steam. Wiggle and remove the door. At the front of the door there is a semi circular piece of white foam. Use a small flat head screwdriver and remove the foam. Underneath you will see a Phillips screw. You will need a narrow shaft screwdriver to remove this. The screw will not completely come out, which is a good thing, because getting it back in would be a real bitch. Remove enough threads and the bottom will detach. Now you can look around.
The metal base plate will detach using 3 Phillips screws that are obvious, but underneath did not yield any further clues. There was noting obviously amiss in there.
Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, mostly disassembled. I did not find anything physically untoward. The iron’s programming is faulty. Photo by Don Tai.
Note that the white plastic cord stress relief feature is a simple plastic ball joint that the electrical cord travels through. It provides no stress relief whatsoever, though it does keep the cord further away from the hot ironing surface.
It is not that this iron was made poorly, though the rear hex screw could have better quality, but the programming was terrible. While the iron claims to shut off after 8 minutes in the upright position, you do not get to the full 8 minutes. There is nothing physical that I can change to fix these defects.
I do detest when products are so poorly made that they do not function or they break prematurely. This iron will go straight in the trash because even in near new condition it does not work properly. Apart from the electrical cord there are no reusable parts.
I would not recommend buying a Black and Decker iron to anyone, and Diana would also not buy another Black and Decker. It seems like the brand has lost its quality standard. Look at other brands and do your internet research before you buy. This can save you a lot of grief. And yes, you can screw up something as simple as an iron, as proven by Black and Decker.
Thanks for this article. I was struggling to figure out how to dismantle another B&D steam iron model and the part about the screw at the front near the water inlet was really the thing!
Much appreciated!!!