Electric Lawnmower?
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I am sure it was using a series of sealed lead acid batteries. That was the only cost effective battery for a mower until ~5 years ago. They work great when new but suffer rapid degradation in devices like mowers. I have owned 2 different ones and I replaced the batteries every couple of years. They are the same batteries used in UPS's. New mowers use lithium and last much longer.
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Based on my experience with Worx lead-acid battery mowers, I would be wary of buying anything that requires that type of battery. I have 3 Worx push mowers ready for recycling now as a result of the fact that Worx no longer makes the heavy lead-acid batteries required to run them. Nobody else does, either. They degraded and needed replacement every couple of years at about half the price of the mowers themselves. Let the electric riding mowers evolve for a couple of years until the manufacturers abandon those heavy, old-fashioned lead-acid batteries!
I’ve used a Toro 12V lead battery unit for 18 years. Replaced the batteries once. Also replaced the switch cable and sharpened once. Works just fine. Charges with a 120V 15A plug. No reason to use gas. Actually my dad had a 120V mower on a cord when I was a kid. I learned to splice wire when I was ten. No idea how many times I ran over the cord, certainly many.
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I have a 36V 19" Black & Decker Self propelled mower for the last 4 - 5 years I love it. I pull out the battery after using it and plug the charger in that came with the unit. The charger plugs into a standard house 110 outlet (Nema 5-15).
I also have a level 2 charger for my Bolt. I love the Bolt too.....
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164 Posts
Slightly off-topic but revelant: We recently bought a SNO-JOE 20" cordless electric snowblower to replace our Craftsman 28" two-stage, self-propelled, electric start snowblower. Subsequently, we had a 14" and a 30" snow (plus several 6-8" snows) within a month. Bottom line is that except for the two bigger storms, the SNO-JOE can do the trick, but you might have to do the job in phases ( 25 min on, 2 hours to recharge). I would recommend buying extra batteries (though they are currently out of stock.) We kept the gasoline snow blower until we were sure that the electric could do the job. The electric is better at getting up icy or compacted snow. The Craftsman is better at flinging the snow farther and in a more controlled fashion. The Sno-Joe doesn't clog as easily.
It's a bit of comparing apples to oranges since the model I bought is not remotely comparable model to the Craftsman. My main goal was not just to electrify but to replace the big, hulking gasoline monster with something lightweight (35 lbs) that my wife could handle.
It's a bit of comparing apples to oranges since the model I bought is not remotely comparable model to the Craftsman. My main goal was not just to electrify but to replace the big, hulking gasoline monster with something lightweight (35 lbs) that my wife could handle.
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5,794 Posts
There's a huge proprietary battery issue in the consumer space. Savvy consumers know that the reason batteries are proprietary is because they create obsolescence in products. That hurts the adoption of these products.
I think many industries (tools, phones, cameras, etc. etc.) would be smart to agree on some new Li-Ion battery form factors that consumers could trust to have a reasonable degree of longevity, similar to what AA, AAA batteries have. That way we'd no longer depend on a supply of batteries from a single manufacturer who has no real incentive to keep making them once they've moved on to the next product.
In reality about the only thing that is proprietary on these devices is the connector to the tool the battery attaches. Pull the battery apart and you will find an 18650 battery stack or similar and a balance controller. Pull a lantern battery apart and it is just a bunch of AA batteries. Pull a 9v apart and it is just 6 AAAA sized batteries. Generally not worth it to tear apart the battery pack to pull the cells and replace just one failed cell or to test multiple ones to make another good pack from several bad packs. In the past when laptops had external batteries they were also 18650 cells with a charge controller. Now all laptops have internal flat LiPo packs that are not very reusable.
Yes, this is why I posted info about rebuilding packs in my comment. Batteries are serviceable and can often be fixed or rebuilt. If not by yourself, by someone else. You can even sell a bad pack rather than send it to a recycler. People like me will buy them and fix them. I know a lot of people don't have any interest in messing with such things, but knowing that these aren't some mysterious black box is helpful information when faced with buying and maintaining equipment.
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1,203 Posts
How do you fix them? Pry off the welded nickel strips and re-weld them? That's not something that even the average technical person would be able to do.
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5,794 Posts
So why not provide spaces to insert these cylindrical batteries?
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4,913 Posts
Ryobi batteries have had the same packaging and compatibility since something like 1980. An old NiCad drill can accept their latest Li-ion battery.
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5,794 Posts
I'll try to remember that if I ever decide to buy a cordless tool...
It is called soldering, not welding. Anyone can do it. The tools are inexpensive. The strips pop off easily.
People get intimidated because everything seems so complicated, but if you are curious and motivated you realize that underneath everything there are a lot of basic common components that can be replaced or fixed.
Right now as I'm typing I'm looking at a nice 28" monitor a friend gave me because it didn't work. I replaced a few capacitors and it has been working for years.
My kid's second monitor on their computer setup was given to me, the power button was flaky and I re-mounted the button.
As I mentioned earlier, my blower and trimmer (with charger) were set outside to be thrown away, I repacked the battery and it is better than when new. I also got a second trimmer, battery, and charger that work fine that someone was throwing out.
I've replaced broken screens on my phones. I've replaced broken screens several of our laptop computers.
And that's just a few electronics. I could go on about cars, coffee machines and grinders, etc.
I'm no Wile E. Coyote Super Genius. None of this is terribly difficult or dangerous. It is amazing how much helpful info there is out there to guide you. Don't talk yourself out of something just because you think it looks hard or impossible.
Soldering can work, if you use a big enough iron, so you don't heat soak the cells. Lots of folks on Endless Sphere buy, or make, a spot welder.
Nope. You don't solder directly onto any type of battery.
Solder melts at ~750°. That's hard on a cell.
Those strips that join cells in packs are spot welded in a method where the current flows only between the two probes which are about 1/4" apart. It's a brief burst of heat. The cell internals do not feel anything.
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