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Eric S

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Everything posted by Eric S

  1. This will be my last post in this forum as I’ve decided to move on from my RM480ex mower. As noted in my previous posts I replaced all 4 batteries May 22’ from the original OEM Leoch 100ah to Mighty Max 100 ah. In the last three weeks the charge goes from 100 to 50% in about 1 hour of continuous run time, this happens when mowing in my front yard which does have a slight incline of a road ditch and my septic mound. Because I’m past warranty on the batteries there’s no way Mighty Max will swap them out for new ones. As in my previous posts, all four batteries were removed from the mower this past October and placed in my basement (68* F) and kept on individual 4ah charger/maintainers the entire winter which kept them in a state of change at 13.6 - 13.7 volts. As Einstein said the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing but expecting a different outcome. I don’t believe Ryobi is to blame as the mower still cuts great and has held together well, I’m just not happy with battery life. Doesn’t seem to matter which company it is. Technology is getting better everyday, but 12v SLA deep cycle batteries are, in my opinion not the best option for this platform, however I’m not willing to fork out another $1K for Lithium batteries. For me it’s back to gas. I wish everyone the best of luck with your mowers. r, eric
  2. With drought conditions here in Western Wisconsin my yard has become pretty dry and dormant as cool season grasses do. We’ve had less than 1” of rain so far this month. So for the time being the mower has been stored in the shed & plugged in. We’re supposed to start getting rain this weekend then on & off over the next week or so. We had a lot of snow this past winter which helped us get out of last year’s drought conditions but now we’re right back in it. Even neighbors that run their sprinklers twice a day aren’t getting anywhere with the lack of rain. I ended up giving away my 4 original batteries to a coworker, who in turn gave them to his nephews to use at their off-grid cabin. Good to know someone can still get some good use out of them.
  3. I do the same but for some reason forgot to blow the grass off the mower from the previous time. I did clear it off last time and mowed again this past Monday and was able to get the entire yard done dropping from 100 to 80% charge. Grass was dry and I leave it at 4”. BTW, after clearing grass off from when the batteries dropped fast I plugged the mower in and they were showing Full Charge @ 100% in about 2 hours. I’m going to chalk it up to the grass bunching up around the motor covers and causing the motors to get to hot and consume battery power.
  4. This past Thursday I started with 100% charge but at abound the 45 minute mark the charge meter dropped to 70%, then 50% at 1 hour, then 40% at 1 hour and 5 minutes of use. I did notice quite a bit of dried grass build up around the blade motor covers which may have been the problem, not sure. This was the fourth or fifth time mowing using the Mighty Max 100ah batteries I bought last year in May. As most of you know I kept the batteries inside in the basement this past winter. Each battery was on its own individual 4amp charger/maintainer for nearly 7 straight months. Mower has been plugged in since Thursday after it reached 40%. As a side note the blades were shutting off at 40% which I assume was due to the heat/lack of airflow due to dried grass being buildup around the motor covers. Fingers crossed that I didn’t get a bad battery from Mighty Max. I’m using the original charger, and it only took about 3 hours to bring the batteries back to 100% full charge as per the meter.
  5. Removed the four, 4ah Viking charger quick connect cables from the batteries this past weekend. Chargers were definitely working but taking longer than I wanted to charge up the batteries, which was to be expected. I’m mowing about every 4-5 days, still cutting at the tallest deck height. I switched back to the original charger that came with the mower. I think I’ll just use the individual battery chargers again next winter when I remove the batteries from the mower and put them in the basement.
  6. 2nd mow in two weeks, each time meter dropped one bar. Grass has been dry and I’m leaving the cut at the highest level possible on the deck, 4”. Since I don’t have an irrigation system in the yard I keep it cut high and let nature take its course.
  7. Batteries are back in the mower as of today. As previously noted I’m keeping an individual 4amp charger on each battery. After each use I’ll plug in each pigtail and be able to charge/maintain independently. I’m using four, 4ah Viking charger/maintainers purchased at Harbor Freight.
  8. Still have all 4 Mighty Max 100ah batteries on individual 4ah Viking charger / maintainers. No need to hook back up to the mower anytime soon since we just got another 10” snow this past Saturday. Batteries have maintained 13.6 or 13.7 volts since last October when I took them out of the mower and brought them inside the house for the winter.
  9. I did end up removing all four Mighty Max 100ah batteries near the end of October and put them in my basement. Instead of hooking up in parallel like I originally thought I would I instead bought four individual 4ah Viking charger/maintainers from Harbor Freight ($30 each). Each battery has its own charger/maintainer. Each battery took between 10-12 hours to come up to full charge. Once they reached full charge the maintainer portion took over. Each battery stays at 13.6 to 13.7 charge. I check them every couple days and everything seems good. I’m hoping by moving them inside where the temperature stays at 68-70 consistently the batteries life will be prolonged. I saw a video on YouTube from a guy in Canada that is now using individual 10ah NOCO chargers/maintainers instead of the charger that came with our mower. Might be something to consider this spring when I put the batteries back in the mower. I figure I can use the same individual Viking units I already have.
  10. Yep, 4 seasons but the last season, last year was a real struggle to get anything more than 20-30 minutes cutting time and that was from a fully charged overnight session, at least 10 hours of constant charging. My backyard is relatively flat but my front yard does have a septic mound and road ditch so I really noticed the battery meter dropping fast when cutting up front. I’m going to try something different this fall for the first time and pull all four batteries and bring them inside to a heated space, hook them up in parallel on a battery maintainer and let them sit like that over the winter months. It gets brutal cold up here in Western Wisconsin, sometimes -20 and -30 for days on end. I called Mighty Max before I ordered them and actually spoke to a technician who said it would be better if they were in a warmer environment and hooked up to a battery maintainer in parallel. I bought a 4 amp Harbor Freight model that the tech said would be fine to use. Basically set it up and check on it occasionally. Buying 4 new batteries is spendy. Trade off’s I guess.
  11. Been awhile since posting. Swapped out original batteries for four new Mighty Max 100ah one’s back in early May. Extremely dry conditions in Wisconsin this year as I’ve only mowed 4 or 5 times since early May up until yesterday. Mower has been plugged in entire time when not in use. 3/4 acre is mowed each time. Battery indicator drops from 100% to 90 % when done. Cost was $756 and change for the new batteries at Home Depot. I ordered online and I picked up in store.
  12. Just finished load testing all 4 original batteries about 10 minutes ago, 2 batteries were bad and the other 2 batteries were on the line weak/good. I load tested each battery twice, both times same results. As you guys have read through the posts I had a feeling at least one was going bad last year but pushed through until fall when I was done mowing. Just notified by HD the Mighty Max 100ah batteries are supposed to be ready for pick up tomorrow. I bought 4, glad I did. I left everything disconnected so it should be a quick hookup. I’m going to plug it in over night and get them all changed up. btw: I did mow this morning with 100% charge as per mower battery level meter but it only lasted 30 minutes until the blades stopped and I was on 30%.
  13. HD wants $239.20 per battery for the Leoch 12v 100ah. Crazy expensive
  14. Especially over this past cold winter
  15. Will do. Once I pull out the originals I’ll load test each one again like I did last year. It’ll be interesting to see how they fair under load.
  16. The SKU # HD pulled up was 1004165704.
  17. I stopped in to my local Home Depot and ordered 4 Mighty Max 12v 100ah internal thread batteries. I did the ordering at the customer service desk. I’m retired military so tried to use the 10% offer but the customer service person told me the batteries aren’t eligible for the discount. Total came to $759 and change. I could have just ordered online but I’d like to check them over at the store before I accept them. I figure if they were to get banged up delivered to my home HD might just make me deal with the shipper instead of them. I was told delivery is between 13-18 May but I got a text earlier today they are supposed to be delivered to HD this Thursday 12th. As mentioned in my earlier post I’m in Wisconsin and store the mower plugged in all winter in an unheated, uninsulated shed. It can and does stay well below 0 for days on end with nights getting to -20 and -30. I’ve been pretty satisfied with the rider. It does a good job and I do have a decent size septic mound that I cut so I know it takes more juice going up and down the mound. I was hoping for one more year from these original batteries but looks like they are just not taking a full charge anymore. When I mow it usually takes about 1.5 hours start to finish, just under 1 acre, however I’m only 40-45 minutes from 100% to 30% then blade disengagement and I have to drive back to the shed and plug in again. Once I get the new batteries installed and charged up I’ll post an update.
  18. I have a Powe Pulse desulfanator too, so I’ll probably keep that hooked up too
  19. Drained and refilled end of last summer. I ordered 4 new Mighty Max 12v, 100ah batteries today from HD. Supposed to be here within the week. Not cheap! I’m wondering if the really cold temps day after day up here through the winter have taken a toll on the batteries. It can be well below zero day after day up here and that surely has to factor in. It’ll be a pain but maybe from here on out I might just remove the batteries when done mowing in the fall and put them on a charger/maintainer inside where it’s heated.
  20. Hopefully we’ve turned the corner up here in Wisconsin regarding our cold, wet spring as warmer weather is forecast for the next few days at least. Starting on my 4th spring/summer with the 480ex, original batteries. It was plugged in all winter in a detached, unheated shed as has been the previous years. I unplugged yesterday and noticed the meter indicated my batteries at 70% charged. I mowed the backyard, relatively flat and approximately 10,000 square feet. Batteries percentage dropped to 40% after about 1 hour so I decided to park it, plug back in and see what happens today. Update: unplugged and meter showed 100% charge, however I was able to mow for 45 minutes when all of a sudden my blades stopped spinning, I looked down at the meter and it showed 30% charge remaining. Hopefully I can finish up tomorrow on the charge it’s getting now and overnight. It’s looking more and more like I either have one or more suspect batteries on the way out. Like Jim previously mentioned regarding battery time the first few times you mow definitely is what has happened to me over the course of the past 3 years. It’s almost as if the batteries need to “re-learn” how to discharge and charge back up. Mine usually take 3 or 4 cycles to figure it out. However, last year I did notice my use time from 100% to 30% charge is now about 1 - 1.5 hours instead of 2+ hours. We’ll see how it goes this spring. New batteries might be in the picture.
  21. Mowed both Saturday and yesterday. Instead of trying to get it done all in one day I decided to mow the front yard then the back on different days with approximately 24 hours of charge time in between. My front yard has my septic system mound and a gentle slope to the road ditch and what I’ve found is if I mow going up and down the mound and slope the batteries will really begin to drain quickly, however if I mow side to side they tend to last a bit longer. Still only going about 1 hour from full charge to now 30% with blades disengagement. The back yard is flat & level which takes the same amount of time to mow but I’ll drop from fully charged to 60-70% when done. Each area is approximately 15,000 square feet. Grass was at 4.5”, dry and I only cut about a half inch off. I also noticed yesterday for the first time when I unplugged the charger cord from the mower the battery charge light indicator on the mower was at 30%. I shut the mower off, waited about 1 minute then turned the mower on again and it read 100% charged. It did this both Saturday and Sunday. I work at a place where we use electric carts to get around and the batteries are very similar to what we have in the mower. I spoke with the guy who takes care of the carts and he said the mighty max battery HD is advertising would be a suitable replacement for the Leoch. He gets the cart batteries wherever they are cheapest as long as they are exact replacement size and type. The way he tests them is with a load tester, if they fail he replaces the battery. It’s too bad these batteries are so pricey but I guess it’s the trade off of not buying gas, oil, belts, etc.
  22. Are 5he batteries considered AGM spiral or flat plate?
  23. I’m close to the Twin Cities. I’ll check around the area. I saw some YouTube videos that show golf courses using a tester like that maybe I’ll contact a few and see if they could do it. Lots of courses around me.
  24. Did the battery shop charge you to test?
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