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There was a great bit of discussion of the Greenworks Elite Batteries in the "Ryobi finally has a Steel Deck 40V push mower …" thread I started on April 24th, but thought I'd start a NEW thread for further discussion. Funny, that thread got hijacked almost immediately and there was actually very little discussion of the threads intended subject !!

Anyway, after Mike posted that the newer Greenworks 40V Max 2.2A chargers can actually charge these new Elite 3Ah & 6Ah batteries I thought I'd order one of the 6Ah ones off ebay as Mike did earlier … new in box for $109 shipped vs. $154.99 + tax on amazon … and give it a try.

It helped also to see some discussion on Amazon's listings for these Elite batteries (including Greenworks tech people) stating that the 2.2A G-Max chargers are compatible with the Elite batteries too.

Got my 6Ah Elite Battery last Friday and charged it up on one of my G-Max chargers without a problem yesterday. Have not had a chance to use it yet, but will do so next weekend.

They mention an "APP" you can put on your phone in the manual, but had no luck finding it to put on my phone. Oh well, kinda gimmicky and not needed anyway.

Any other Greenworks Elite discussion post it here !!

Doug

sry, I think was part of the problem over there.

I DID just check a new-ish charger that came with a GW tool I bought from the Amazon warehouse and the charger was built April 2018 and says 2.2amps so, I guess it would be good for both lines of batteries.

Mowed the lawn with the Elite L-600 6Ah battery last weekend using my MO40L02 … 21" Deck / Self Propelled / Mulching mode / running at max SP speed (similar if not the same as the new GW Elite M-201-SP, just different color scheme).

My 4Ah batteries typically last between 19 and 27 minutes with this mower depending on how thick & tall grass is.
For the 19 minute time, it was thick and long and the cutting motor ran at high speed most of the time.
For the 27 minute time grass was thin (even brown in spots), so mower likely the cutting motor never kicked into high speed mode.


Based on Ah alone / comparing to the 4Ah performance with simple math, I figure the 6Ah battery should last between 28-40 minutes.

Well, the L-600 battery lasted 35 minutes … grass was kinda thick and tall in spots which caused mower to kick up to high speed at least once per pass, so maybe 30-40% of the time. Basically an average time for average conditions.

Also, battery was NOT TOO WARM that I able to put it on the charger and start recharging right away.
Compared to the 4Ah battery that I ran after the 6Ah which needed to cool down for while as it was too warm for the charger to start recharging right away.

Doug

Good info, thanks!

My oldest G-max 4a just announced its retirement last week, wouldn't take a charge. I got it secondhand and punished it frequently for two years, so I think I got my money's worth. We also use them in a snowshovel, soil cultivator & leaf blower, so there is year round punishment for our batteries.

I got a new 4a to replace it.

I thought about getting the new 6a but didn't want to also invest in the new charger... yet.

SwitcheDon Quixote said:

Good info, thanks!

My oldest G-max 4a just announced its retirement last week, wouldn't take a charge. I got it secondhand and punished it frequently for two years, so I think I got my money's worth. We also use them in a snowshovel, soil cultivator & leaf blower, so there is year round punishment for our batteries.

I got a new 4a to replace it.

I thought about getting the new 6a but didn't want to also invest in the new charger... yet.

Click to expand...

The newer G-MAX Chargers charge the Elite batteries just fine. As long as the output of your G-MAX 29482 Charger is 2.2A (which matches the Elite Charger Specs; not 2A as the earlier G-MAX ones were), it will charge the Elite Series batteries.

I've got 4 G-MAX 29482 chargers that are date coded between 10/2015 & 12/2017 and ALL say 2.2A output. Owners of 2012 and 2013 date coded Chargers have shown to be the 2A versions, so change was made sometime between 2013 & Oct 2015.

Doug

dougmacm said:

The newer G-MAX Chargers charge the Elite batteries just fine. As long as the output of your G-MAX 29482 Charger is 2.2A (which matches the Elite Charger Specs; not 2A as the earlier G-MAX ones were), it will charge the Elite Series batteries.

I've got 4 G-MAX 29482 chargers that are date coded between 10/2015 & 12/2017 and ALL say 2.2A output. Owners of 2012 and 2013 date coded Chargers have shown to be the 2A versions, so change was made sometime between 2013 & Oct 2015.

Doug

Click to expand...

Fantastic info! I'll check my chargers. One was secondhand, might be old enough to be the 'old' style. The other was bought new in 2017 so it's almost certainly the new spec. If that checks out I'll order a 6a when the next oldtimer taps out. Better price per watt-hour on the 6.

Thanks again!

dougmacm said:

I've got 4 G-MAX 29482 chargers that are date coded between 10/2015 & 12/2017 and ALL say 2.2A output. Owners of 2012 and 2013 date coded Chargers have shown to be the 2A versions, so change was made sometime between 2013 & Oct 2015.

Click to expand...

FYI, I have a 29482 charger with a date code of 3/11/15 that is still 2 A output, so the change to 2.2 A occurred sometime in 2015.

I just received the fast charger C-400 from Amazon that I ordered over two months ago. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the sticker on the back of the charger and saw that the manufacturing date code was 12/15/17, even older than the standard charger C-220 that I bought a month earlier. Just like the C-220, it will charge both Elite and G-MAX 40 volt Greenworks batteries, presumably in about half the time. It is physically much larger than the standard charger, and has an internal cooling fan. A few minutes after battery charging is complete, the charger powers off, but the green charging indicator light remains lit until the battery is removed from the charger.

The LED codes are somewhat different than on the standard charger. On the standard charger a battery charging is indicated by solid red power and charging LEDs, but on the fast charger it is indicated by a solid red power LED and a blinking green charging LED, which I find to be more logical. On the standard charger a battery too warm to charge condition is indicated by a red power LED and an orange charging LED. However, on the fast charger it is indicated by a blinking red power LED and the charging LED turned OFF. A defective battery condition is indicated by a blinking red power LED and a blinking green charging LED. So, whereas the charging LED on the standard charger can be red, green or orange, it is always a green color on the fast charger. The power LED on both chargers is always red.

So far I've only had a chance to test the charger with slightly discharged batteries, so I don't know how close the charging rates are to the claimed times.

Very interesting Mike.

As I have 4 G-Max chargers, I don't think I'll be dropping $60 on one of these C-400 chargers anytime soon. I'd guess the 6Ah takes around 3 hours on a 29482 and they claim 90 minutes on the C-400 so I'd guess about twice as fast too. Have enough batteries, so does not really matter at this point if the 6Ah takes 3 hours.

What is the Amp output on that C-400 ?? Let me guess, C-400 = 4Ah Output !!

4Ah charging a 6Ah battery = 1.5 hours
2.2Ah charging a 6Ah battery = 2.7 hours (darn close to my 3 hr est).

Can the math really be this simple ??

Thanks,

Doug

The L-600 6Ah battery is an AMAZON PRIME DAY sale item for $93.00 … not many hours left !!

I refuse to pay for prime, so I'm not jumping on the deal but thought I'd let everyone know.

Also, the e-bay guy is sold out of the L-600's at $109, which was also a great deal.

Doug

dougmacm said:

What is the Amp output on that C-400 ?? Let me guess, C-400 = 4Ah Output !!

4Ah charging a 6Ah battery = 1.5 hours
2.2Ah charging a 6Ah battery = 2.7 hours (darn close to my 3 hr est).

Click to expand...

Well, the output from the chargers is Amps, not Ah (Amp hours), which is a measure of the battery capacity. But, yes, the output from the C-400 is in fact 4.0A, which is about 82% more than the 2.2A output from the C-220. Also, the current draw at the input from the AC mains is 2.6A, which is about 73% more than the 1.5A current draw of the C-220.

not sure it really deserves a new thread....just wondering, anyone have a charger die yet? I just recycled one last weekend. I didn't open it up to see if there was anything 'obvious' wrong with it. I have bought a few GW tools and had a coupla 'spare' chargers anyway, I just took one out of the plastic and put into service in place of the dead one.

still using all of my original batteries - 6+ years old. I think the charger was from that same era...

Ended up buying my 1st Greenworks Elite Tool Kit and it arrived today … got the HT-240-T Hedge Trimmer for $134.00 + tax delivered (vs. $189.99 retail or $150 at most places).

Already having the 6Ah Elite battery, I wanted to get one of the 3Ah batteries as well. As almost all the Elite tools come with the 3Ah battery, I thought it made more sense to get one with a tool rather than pay $69 for the battery alone on ebay.

I've had a Ryobi 18V 18" bar Hedge Trimmer for 7 years that does pretty good, but this GW Elite has a 24" bar and has double the cut capacity (3/4" vs. 3/8").

Considering the GW has a 6" longer bar and double the power it is only 12% heavier: 7.47 lbs. vs. 6.68 lbs. (both with a 3Ah battery).


Also find it interesting that instead of having a smaller case for the Elite 3Ah battery like the G-Max 2.0/2.5Ah, they use the same case as the Elite 6Ah.


Will report back once I've had a chance to use it.


Was tempted to buy the HT-180-XR Pole Hedge Trimmer Kit instead (18" Bar / 5/8" max cut), as it is a tool I don't already have; it would have been $32 more + tax. I don't have any tall bushes around my property nor have I been in a situation where I wished I had one (unlike a pole chainsaw that I can't live without), so I did not feel like spending the extra $$.

Doug

You made the right decision by not getting the pole hedge trimmer, because it is a lot heavier and more cumbersome to use at close range. I have one, because I'm very short and can't easily reach the tops of my hedges. As to the 3.0 Ah battery using the same case as the 6.0 Ah, this makes economic sense and this practice is used on several other Greenworks batteries, such as the 60 volt line.