The instrumentation on the ZT480s (and the RM480s) has been reported by many to be inaccurate and misleading. The Battery Level Meter on my mower is erratic in its reporting and the hour meter is off by 6%. The hour meter even reset itself to zero last summer. I do some extra steps to monitor the battery performance so I know how healthy the pack is.
1. I measure the pack voltage before and after mowing. I use a volt meter to read the voltage at the charging port.
2. I bought a $30 recording watt meter to measure how much it takes to recharge the pack each time the charger does a charge.
3. May be extreme, but I put this all into a spreadsheet to track usage trends.
Ryobi’s battery check method is to pull the batteries, disconnect all pack wiring, charge each battery individually with a separate charger, and load test each. I took mine to a local battery shop for the testing.
Boost charging is NOT recommended for SLA batteries as it can promote sulfication in the cells and shorten battery life. Always fully charge the pack when you charge the mower. Reduced run time is usually due to one of the four batteries having a weak cell. Eventually, the battery will fail entirely and the system will then refuse to charge the pack. The electronics limit battery drain down to 36 volts to prolong the life span of the pack.
How do you check voltage from the charging port? It looks like you made a custom cable... but can you do this with just a multimeter? (And where did you get that spare connector from?!?) If so, which pins do you use on the charging port?
Ryobi battery riding lawn mower
in Ryobi
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How do you check voltage from the charging port? It looks like you made a custom cable... but can you do this with just a multimeter? (And where did you get that spare connector from?!?) If so, which pins do you use on the charging port?