Feedback on the new wave of battery mowers

OregonProSeries

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The consumer battery market is growing by leaps and bounds, but commercial is definitely reluctant to adopt battery - or maybe it just still hasn't met Pro spec's yet? Too many broken promises about power, durability and run times?

Oregon, the saw chain experts, would love to know.

Oregon_Landscaping_0248 crp.jpg
 

tom3

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Those $80 model specific batteries on the smaller machines might have something to do with it?
 

Catherine

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:welcome:

Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move this thread over to our Electric & Battery Powered Equipment section.
 

jp1961

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Hello,

Unless you carried a slew of charged battery packs, how would a commercial guy charge them?

Adding to what tom3 stated, If the electric mower manufacturers adopted a "standardized" battery pack (one that works on various brands), would they sell more units? This would be a good idea for all electric tools. ISO certification.

How safe are they in regards to catching fire? I'd like to have a "warm/Fuzzy", but not if the "warm" was my house going up in flames. I just Googles electric lawnmower fires and 28,000 units sold by Lowes were being recalled, for this reason.


Regards

Jeff
 
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MowerMike

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How safe are they in regards to catching fire? I'd like to have a "warm/Fuzzy", but not if the "warm" was my house going up in flames. I just Googles electric lawnmower fires and 28,000 units sold by Lowes were being recalled, for this reason.

Those fires were due to faulty circuit boards, and had nothing to do with the lithium-ion batteries. As far as the batteries catching fire, they do not just spontaneously combust. They have to get really hot before that can happen. Virtually all of them use smart chargers, which sense the battery temperature, and will not charge a battery that is too hot. Once the battery is fully charged, the charger will automatically shut off, to prevent any possible battery damage.
 

jp1961

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Hello,

Thanks for the clarification, at least now, I can explain to my insurance company, it was a faulty circuit board, not the battery pack itself that burned down my house.

"Virtually" all manufactures use a fail safe charger doesn't cut it for me.

I think electric mowers are tagging along with electric cars, somewhat of a novelty item, until the owners of the first gen electric cars get a bill for 10k for a battery pack. Now they have nice boat anchor.

How long is the warranty on the battery pack on the typical electric lawnmower?

Regards

Jeff
 
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MowerMike

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Hello,

Thanks for the clarification, at least now, I can explain to my insurance company, it was a faulty circuit board, not the battery pack itself that burned down my house.

"Virtually" all manufactures use a fail safe charger doesn't cut it for me.

I think electric mowers are tagging along with electric cars, somewhat of a novelty item, until the owners of the first gen electric cars get a bill for 10k for a battery pack. Now they have nice boat anchor.

How long is the warranty on the battery pack on the typical electric lawnmower?

Regards

Jeff

Well, the circuit board problem only occurs when the lawn mower is running, so unless you mow your carpet it won’t burn down your house. It’s a simple matter to determine if a product uses a smart charger, and anything you buy in a store definitely will have this, because stores don’t like getting sued for selling unsafe products. Yes, battery powered lawn mowers are more expensive overall than gas powered, but the reason you do it is for the convenience of no maintenance, easy starting, and the safety of not keeping flammable liquids in your garage. The warranty on lithium-ion batteries is typically 2-3 years, but in my experience they usually last much longer. Some of my batteries are over seven years old and still going strong. I can count on one hand the number of times a battery failed before the warranty expired, and in all cases the manufacturer made good on the warranty.
 

jp1961

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Dangers of lithium ion batteries

The lithium ion cell manufacturers learned how to build factories that were less vulnerable to a single cell failure. The last few years, however, have seen some high-profile lithium ion safety problems related to specific devices. Each has had serious consequences. For example:

In 2013, following two battery fires, Boeing grounded 48 Dreamliners.
In 2015, over 100 Hoverboard fires were reported. One sadly resulted in the death of a three-year-old girl.
In 2016, Samsung recalled almost 3 million Galaxy Note 7 phones. Seven hundred engineers, 200,000 phones and 30,000 batteries were involved in the investigation. Samsung has an outstanding reputation for quality. This was an unfortunate blemish.
As of the end of 2016, residential payouts for property damage caused by lithium ion batteries in the U.S. had exceeded $2 million.
One of the following can cause safety incidents involving fire or explosion:

A manufacturing defect that lays dormant until the cell is used in a device. This was the case in the Note 7 incident.
Poor design of the battery and/or its integration within the device/charger. This was a key issue in the Boeing incident.
Abuse or misuse of the product. This may be intentional or accidental. A good example is an electronic vehicle catching fire because an object is kicked up from the road and punctures the underside of the battery case. Insurance fraud also fits here.

Source of the above info is from propertycasualty360.com

In my best impersonation of Clint Eastwood,,,,"you feeling lucky?,,,,well are you,,, punk"?

I think I'll stick with gasoline powered equipment, thanks.

Regards
Jeff
 
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MowerMike

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Dangers of lithium ion batteries.......

I think I'll stick with gasoline powered equipment, thanks.

Have you ever considered the many dangers associated with the use of gasoline and other volatile flammable and explosive fuels ?

A can of gasoline in a hot garage is far more likely to catch fire or explode than a lithium ion battery.
 

OregonProSeries

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Have you ever considered the many dangers associated with the use of gasoline and other volatile flammable and explosive fuels?

A can of gasoline in a hot garage is far more likely to catch fire or explode than a lithium-ion battery.

Agreed, but gas isn't going away - too much energy stored in there to walk away from in an industry like landscaping, forestry, agriculture...

But carrying highly flammable liquid around with a messy two-stroke engine a foot from your head doesn't seem the best way to get things done either. Commercial battery appears to be the next thing in mowers. I'm biased, of course.
 
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