How to Know When You Need a New Lawn Mower Battery

A new generation of electric backyard mowers is drawing Americans with the promise of tackling their mowing chores without having to go purchase oil and gas, spending the afternoon with ear protection on, swimming in your lawn mower's exhaust.

Environmental consciousness and advances in electric mower functioning are convincing more than Americans to buy electric mowers to supplant their noisy and pollution-decumbent gas-powered ancestors.

But with that pick comes the duty of caring for their cadre component: the battery.

From the newest $100,000 Tesla to the humble golf cart at your local form, the batteries that power them have come a long style, both in power and in the corporeality of care required.

Hither's what yous need to know about properly charging and caring for modernistic electric lawn mower batteries.

Growth in Electric Mowers

Consumer Reports says previously underpowered electric mowers are now capable of making the cut for most yards, and predicted only to get amend. Global sales are expected to peak 10 million mowers in 2019, worth around $9 billion.

And information technology's expected to proceed growing, equally one 2019 market analysis projected an annualized growth charge per unit of 5 percent through 2024.

The electric mowers will help retire a generation of noisily inefficient gas-powered mowers. The U.Due south. Environmental Protection Agency says gas-powered lawn and garden equipment tin business relationship for as much as 45-percent of nonroad gas emissions.

'Bombardment's the Style to Go'

Jordan Barry, owner of Push Lawn Care in Torrance, Calif., uses electric mowers to cut his clients' grass every 24-hour interval.

"Battery's the way to go. You don't have to fill it with gas, y'all don't accept to prime it or warm it upwardly," he says.

In nearly 6 years of daily electric mowing, Barry says problems with batteries and equipment take been almost nonexistent.

With the proper care and maintenance, one of those batteries can mow your lawn for years. You'll never take to go to the gas station, worry nigh your carburetor or change a spark plug. Y'all won't wake upwardly the neighbors on Sabbatum morn or bargain with dangerous fumes.

Hither's how to make that happen.

Mowers' Batteries Differ

Types of battery-powered, cordless, electric lawn mowers vary at to the lowest degree as much as their gas-powered counterparts.

From the completely hands-off robotic backyard mowers that criss-cross your g on their own to riding mowers that can run for hours on a single charge, battery power tin can do it all around your yard.

And so how exercise lawn mower batteries differ? Mainly in size, number and charging system.

Walk-behind mowers, which comprise about 80% of the electric mower market, are powered by rechargeable battery packs. Amp settings, run times and charge times can differ, but all bombardment packs demand to be removed from the mower and charged using an approved battery charger.

Riding Mower Batteries

Riding backyard mowers can carry multiple large batteries that stay in place while charging, congenital more like car batteries than the smaller bombardment packs that ability push mowers.

For example, the Ryobi RY48110 uses four 12-volt, lead acid batteries connected in a series.

Charging cordless electric lawn tractors or riding mowers tends to involve specified charger cables or chargers that plug into the wall on one side and into the mower on the other through a built-in charging port in the mower itself.

Sound daunting? At Button Lawn Care, Barry says charging batteries is a cinch.

Some clients even let them charge batteries while working at their homes, with an average cost to the client of just four cents in electricity.

The batteries on his mowers give a run time of about 90 minutes, he said, and the charging fourth dimension is one-half that.

While one battery operates the mower, some other is charging and then they can be easily switched out to continue his guys mowing continuously.

Sometimes, Barry says, he even charges the lawnmower batteries from his car.

How to Properly Recharge Lawn Mower Batteries

Each battery-powered mower comes with its own charger and instructions on how to get the most out of the battery.

Lots of communication — some of it conflicting — circulates about whether to leave the battery on the charger all the time, and whether to let the batteries bleed completely before recharging.

For lithium-ion batteries, overcharging and completely discharging them can cut downwardly on the overall life of the battery, says Gary Koenig, associate professor in chemical engineering science at the University of Virginia.

It's "more often than not better not to discharge it all the way," he says. "Don't run it very depression."

That means keeping the bombardment's charge level at xx-percent or better. Discharging it below that will accelerate fade, or the battery's tiresome degradation.

And when recharging, disconnect when information technology reaches 100-pct.

Follow Instructions (Which Differ past Manufacturer)

The all-time thing to do is follow what the manufacturer says in the operator's transmission, Koenig says.

And manufacturers' advice differs for dissimilar products depending on the specific battery chemistry and utilize.

But with recent advances in applied science, batteries are lasting longer with less strenuous maintenance from owners.

Barry says he'south heard similar communication on draining and charging, simply says that chargers and batteries these days are smart. He hasn't seen whatever negative effects from leaving batteries charging overnight or all weekend.

Manufacturer Ryobi tells customers to unplug chargers and batteries one time they're fully charged, just stops short of warning against leaving them on the charger indefinitely.

For Ego's 56-volt rapid charger, the company says a battery left on the charger "will non overcharge."

If left on the charger for a month or more, the battery automatically reverts to a thirty-percent charge. Simply unplug it and plug it back in to start it charging again.

But in Ryobi'due south manual for its line of battery packs, it clearly says to remove the bombardment pack one time fully charged to extend the life of the battery.

For its electric riding mowers, Ryobi says to simply leave the mower plugged into the charger until you're ready to use information technology.

But either fashion, Barry says charging mowers is straightforward.

"For the boilerplate homeowner, if their battery runs out I'd say go have a drink, come up back in 30 minutes and go on mowing," he says.

Routine Bombardment Maintenance Keeps Them Problem-Free

Whatever their reputation, electric mowers are dependable and essentially maintenance-gratuitous.

Barry says his company regularly leaves mowers in the backs of trucks over the weekend, as long as rain isn't in the forecast.

"We accept non had a mower fail in five years, almost 6 years now," he says. And that's using these mowers every twenty-four hour period in the Los Angeles surface area where mowing season is all year long.

During the regular summer mowing flavour, the average homeowner may cut grass once a week or twice a month.

The big issue is keeping them dry, and keeping mowing decks clean so the motor tin run more efficiently and the battery final longer.

And when it comes to batteries, at that place are some unproblematic maintenance practices that tin proceed them powering your Saturday lawncare regimen for years to come.

Do's and Don'ts of Charging a Lawn Mower Battery

Exercise'south:

Do choose batteries and chargers from the original manufacturer, engineered to work the best with the corresponding tool.
Practice transport and store batteries away from metallic objects like keys, coins, screws and nails. The same goes for liquids. These can connect the positive last and negative last and brusque the battery out.
Do remove the battery when storing the tool.
Do go on the battery dry, clean and costless from oil and grease.
Do monitor the battery's operation. Stop utilize if the bombardment is overheated, damaged or modified.
Exercise protect the battery terminals. Barry says terminals are the battery's weak spot, where water, dust and dirt make it. Shop batteries where terminals can be protected.

Don'ts:

Don't throw the battery in the trash. Always follow local regulations and recycle the battery at a local recycling center.
Don't charge the bombardment in excessively hot or cold temperatures, which Koenig says tin can also cut into the battery'south useful life. Different manufacturers and products prepare different temperature limits, found in their owners manuals.
Don't place batteries most fire or heat, including a airplane pilot light, which increases the chance of explosion.
Don't charge the bombardment in a clammy or wet location.
Don't try to featherbed any safety or control devices to modify the voltage charge per unit at which a battery charges, Koenig says.

Sources: Barry, Koenig, the Ability Tool Establish, Inc., Ryobi and Ego.

Lawn Mower Battery Life Bicycle

Eventually, no affair how well you take care of it, a lawn mower'south battery will lose its effectiveness.

Simply that may be such a long time that a homeowner need not worry about dead batteries beyond popping them back on the charger.

Nearly of Barry's batteries accept persisted under years of abiding daily use. Just two batteries accept given out on him in half dozen years.

But equally he says, "There'due south a definite drop off in run time as nosotros're going forwards."

That's how yous know when a bombardment is starting to become. If yous used to get xc minutes of mow time from a full charge and at present you become 50, go ready to invest in a new bombardment.

'It Won't Last as Long'

"When information technology starts to wear out, the biggest matter you'll see is it won't last every bit long," Koenig says.

Older batteries become more resistive internally, and have to work harder to complete the aforementioned amount of output, he says

Batteries also take some amount of self-belch, sometimes called "leakage current" or "parasitic current," Koenig says.

This means a fully charged battery will slowly drain while off the charger. Still, the discharge takes place slowly. It may leak out only a few percentage points per calendar month. So if you've left a fully charged battery in the garage over wintertime, it'due south non going dead if it only lasts 50 minutes on that first cutting come spring. No trickle charger needed. But popular the bombardment back on the charger until it's fully charged for that first cut of the flavor.

Toll of Replacing a Dead Mower Battery

But what if they practice die on you? Then it's time to get some other, and the bad news is that the batteries are clearly the most expensive function of cordless push mowers.

For example, a Ryobi 20-inch 40-volt mower runs $279 at Dwelling house Depot. A replacement battery for the same model is $149 at Abode Depot.

The $339 Ego 21-inch 56-volt mower runs on a $250 battery.

Replacing riding mower batteries or lawn tractor batteries is cheaper, but you may need to buy more than of them.

For the Ryobi RY48110, which costs around $2,500 new, replacing a dead battery will run you most $76. That means all four would be just over $300.

Even though many models come up with several-year warranties, the high cost is all the more reason to make certain you're taking intendance of those batteries.

And Barry admits, information technology was a loftier cost upfront, but going from gas ability to bombardment power isn't a conclusion he regrets.

Bated from blade sharpening, replacing the wheels every yr or then, and battery charging, the electric mowers are substantially maintenance-costless.

"I'm very happy to be running electric," he says.

Derek Lacey

Formerly the agronomics writer for the Hendersonville Times-News, Derek Lacey's articles have appeared in U.S. News & Earth Report, The Charlotte Observer, News & Observer, and The Country. He has won 15 awards from the N Carolina Press Association and GateHouse Media, for pieces ranging from news features and investigative reporting to photography and multimedia projects.

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