Ryobi battery riding lawn mower

[JoeF]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:26 AM, jamis said:

The neighbor that replaced the original Leoch LPC12-100 batteries with the Mighty Max 100 ahr. equivalents discovered the battery cases are slightly smaller than the Leoch 100 ahr. cases. He had to make up wood spacers to get the clamps to hold them tight. Also, the rope handles interfere with the hold down clamp frame and plastic covers. The new batteries power the mower great though. Just something to be aware of if you go with the MM option.

I just replaced my (75Ah) batteries with the Mighty Max 100Ah batteries a few weeks ago (mower had about 95 hours on it and the useable capacity was no longer sufficient). For me, I had to adjust the bolts on either end of the tray, practically all of the way out, to get the new batteries to fit. There may be a small amount of additional gapping between the batteries, longways, but it wasn’t enough to make me have great concern.

I also left the rope handles on and was able to maneuver them over the battery covers and towards the outside edges of the frame that rests on top of the battery pack.

The most drastic change I made was to trim the vertical lip off of one edge of the battery covers, as they would otherwise overhang on one side of the batteries, and be sitting up on top of the other side.

Side note: The meter showed about a 50% charge level from being stuck at what it had showed before it was last charged (as they sometimes do). When I tried plugging in the charger, disconnecting it, and turning the key back on, as I’ve had to do several times in the past, it wouldn’t reset to 100%. I went ahead and replaced the batteries, fully topped them off individually, before reconnecting them in series, and then the first use or two of the mower on the new batteries resulted in zero movement on the battery meter (stayed at 50%, even after charging). It wasn’t until I used it longer and brought the meter down further that it finally reset after a charging cycle.

[Eric S]

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.  

[jamis]

My mower is in its fifth winter storage and has 145 hours of use with a total of 447 charges including winter storage. As the batteries have aged, they self discharge faster than when they were new. This winter, they are doing an average of 97 watts per day to maintain the packs in charges of 10-20 watts per charge. The batteries have always used more and more charges each winter storage as they have aged. This is the reason Ryobi states to always have the mower on the charger when not in use. If the pack voltage falls below 36 volts, the charger logic will not charge the pack. When spring comes and regular mowing resumes, the batteries have always resumed their ability to hold a charge for a week or more. By then, they are being subjected to the routine DOD and behave like they originally did.

[EricL]

On 1/25/2023 at 11:25 AM, jamis said:

My mower is in its fifth winter storage and has 145 hours of use with a total of 447 charges including winter storage. As the batteries have aged, they self discharge faster than when they were new. This winter, they are doing an average of 97 watts per day to maintain the packs in charges of 10-20 watts per charge. The batteries have always used more and more charges each winter storage as they have aged. This is the reason Ryobi states to always have the mower on the charger when not in use. If the pack voltage falls below 36 volts, the charger logic will not charge the pack. When spring comes and regular mowing resumes, the batteries have always resumed their ability to hold a charge for a week or more. By then, they are being subjected to the routine DOD and behave like they originally did.

I moved my early-spring, 2021 48v ZT540e to the garage this winter, wanting it to be a bit more insulated than the wood shed used previously.  I have also taken to quickly unplugging the charger then plugging it back in to initiate the topping off during the offseason, and every time it has indeed recharged upon replug.  Just now I wheeled it out and engaged the blades to mulch up some leaves, and it pretty quickly went from 100% down to 95 and then 90%, with a temp of 60° here in nrn MD.  The pack read 50.6v on the meter while blades were running at 90%, and jumped up to 51.7 when I turned the blades off.  I am hoping this work extends the battery viability... but I know it's early and the verdict is still out.  This will hopefully be season 3 w the original batteries, but I am wary.

[jamis]

Ryobi has announced two new 80 volt riders. A 42" & 46" cut with 10 ga. fabricated decks. The look like front engine ICE mowers with the three battery packs in where the engine would be. $4,999 & $5,499.  My 54 month old RM480e is about to pass  1,700 charge cycles on the original batteries. 

[Gartenmeister]

Is it current consensus that the Mighty Max ML100-12 is the best value in replacement battery?  $179.99 at HD, $1 more at Lowes but Lowes' card gives a discount.  Thinking of ordering 4 as my mower runs for about 5 minutes cleaning up leaves.

[JoeF]

On 3/22/2023 at 1:22 PM, Gartenmeister said:

Is it current consensus that the Mighty Max ML100-12 is the best value in replacement battery?  $179.99 at HD, $1 more at Lowes but Lowes' card gives a discount.  Thinking of ordering 4 as my mower runs for about 5 minutes cleaning up leaves.

It was when I bought mine 6 months ago.

I got mine from Zoro.com because I was also able to apply a discount code and get an extra $103.80 knocked off the total cost.

[TotalRex]

Last year I bought 4 new batteries.   I made sure to charge them and kept my mower in in the garage on the charger during the winter.

Now the gauge only goes to about 1/4th charged and when the mower lasted only a few minutes before it stopped mowing.

 

I have to believe the batteries are OK.  Could this be the charger, or gauge or something else?  Any ideas?

[Eric S]

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.

[Gartenmeister]

Well, now my mower won't drive.  Blades and lights work for whatever that's worth.

 

It makes ONE beep when I close the control levers and it won't move, forward or reverse.  The diagnostic code chart in the service manual says one beep has to do with "angle sensors" but there is no reference to angle sensors anywhere else in the document.

 

Any  ideas?

[JeremyA]

Posting this just for others information...

 

My mower was new in June of 2021 - has 60 hours on it and I mow 1.25 acres (90ish minutes) each mow. First mow of the year, my batteries were a bit sleepy (as I expected). I got 90-95% through my mow and the blades cut out. I am in SE WI and store the mower on the charger in the back of an insulated garage. I am guessing it will be better after a few spring mows (also it was 45 degrees out, so that may have cut the mow short as well). In the first 2 seasons, I never got below 4 bars on the mower when mowing the full lawn.

[Eric S]

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.

[jamis]

My 57 month old, 75 ahr. mower has 228 uses, 152 hours, 2,083 charge cycles, and a lifetime routine Depth Of Discharge of 10.23%. My last mow only made it 32 minutes to deck motor shutdown. I haven't tested the original batteries yet, but I'll bet one is beginning to be unable to hold a charge under load. I used it today to haul 7 cu.ft. carts full of old mulch a mile away for dumping and the six trips only used .2 of a volt and no bars or percentage on the meter. 260 watts to recharge to 53 volts. Monday, I'm going to order four Mighty Max ML100-12 batteries as the mower has now saved enough in gas and maintenance to pay for them.

[JeremyA]

 

On 5/1/2023 at 4:24 PM, JeremyA said:

Posting this just for others information...

 

My mower was new in June of 2021 - has 60 hours on it and I mow 1.25 acres (90ish minutes) each mow. First mow of the year, my batteries were a bit sleepy (as I expected). I got 90-95% through my mow and the blades cut out. I am in SE WI and store the mower on the charger in the back of an insulated garage. I am guessing it will be better after a few spring mows (also it was 45 degrees out, so that may have cut the mow short as well). In the first 2 seasons, I never got below 4 bars on the mower when mowing the full lawn.

 Second mow was much better yesterday - was 75 degrees, made it through the whole lawn with no shutdown and 4 bars left on the BLM when complete. Voltage on the mow went from 54.3 to 50.9.

[Eric S]

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.  

[jamis]

The four Mighty Max ML100-12 batteries arrived on 05/11/2023. I checked the voltages on all. They varied between 12.63 and 12.73 volts. I ran two charge cycles on each, one on deep cycle and one on normal automatic. Then I installed them. Charged voltages were all within a tenth of a volt. It took about 3 1/2 hours, start to finish. No issues, nor modifications to the tray. I did add some additional foam padding between the batteries and between the battery ends and the adjustable stops. The performance is better than the 75 ahr. batteries and the cost per hour is dropping, as is the DOD. In hindsight, I wish I had spent the extra $200 for a RM480ex when I bought the mower five years ago. The first mow was heavy cutting and lasted an hour, no bars, 100% left on the meter, 1.9 volts used, and 1860 watts used to recharge. My neighbor is friends with some ham radio operators and one of them is taking the old Leoch LPC12-75 batteries to use as a battery backup setup with his solar array for his radio.

[jamis]

Had a good operational cost comparison yesterday. Neighbor behind me has a 42" Toro Timecutter 0turn and the neighbor next door has a Gravely 34" 0turn. All of our lawns are 10,000 sq.ft. and we all spend about a half hour mowing. The V-twin ICE engines in the Toro & Gravely burn a gallon of gas an hour when mowing. 87E10 here is $3.69/ga., so the neighbors spend a $1.85 to mow their lawns. $1.85 likely isn't a big expense to mow your lawn and folks likely don't look at what it costs to run a lawn mower. My RM480 costs $0.06 @ my electric rate to mow the same sized lawn. Add in the cost of maintenance for an ICE mower that the RM480 doesn't have, and it's easy to see why my RM480 saved enough in 54 months to pay for a new set of 100 ahr. batteries.  Oh yeah, the Toro cost $3,400 new and the Gravely cost $7,995 new. I paid $2,499 for my RM480e new.

[fm2176]

1 hour ago, jamis said:

Had a good operational cost comparison yesterday. Neighbor behind me has a 42" Toro Timecutter 0turn and the neighbor next door has a Gravely 34" 0turn. All of our lawns are 10,000 sq.ft. and we all spend about a half hour mowing. The V-twin ICE engines in the Toro & Gravely burn a gallon of gas an hour when mowing. 87E10 here is $3.69/ga., so the neighbors spend a $1.85 to mow their lawns. $1.85 likely isn't a big expense to mow your lawn and folks likely don't look at what it costs to run a lawn mower. My RM480 costs $0.06 @ my electric rate to mow the same sized lawn. Add in the cost of maintenance for an ICE mower that the RM480 doesn't have, and it's easy to see why my RM480 saved enough in 54 months to pay for a new set of 100 ahr. batteries.  Oh yeah, the Toro cost $3,400 new and the Gravely cost $7,995 new. I paid $2,499 for my RM480e new.

 

Good to hear.  I considered the EGO ZTR but when my neighbor hooked me up with a deal on a Bad Boy with 14 hours on it, I couldn't help myself.  I think that the battle between internal combustion (IC) and electric mowers will be going on for the indefinite future.  While I like my battery powered OPE and power tools I know that what they lack in maintenance requirements is offset to an extent by their reliance on relatively slow charging and ever-depleting batteries.  In other words, with gas I can expect to change the oil, spark plug, and filters annually, and need to keep a can of gas on hand.  If I run out of gas, it's a quick trip to the station for more.  With battery operated equipment/tools, maintenance is almost nil, but if my battery dies, I forgot to charge it, or if it's stolen or misplaced, I'm out of luck.  Maybe a trip to Home Depot to spend hundreds on a replacement is possible, but odds are I'm not getting the job done soon.  

 

 

[jamis]

Electric tools require a different perspective than gas platforms. When I started with cordless tools, I learned that multiple batteries and chargers are a necessity. In the nineties, I had two chargers and six batteries. Now with lithium, I'm down to five batteries and a single rapid charger. My OPE is 40 volts and I have seven batteries (3-4 ahr., 2-6 ahr. & 2-7.5 ahr.) and two fan cooled rapid chargers. With that arrangement, I can run things non-stop. It costs $0.02 to charge a 7.5 ahr. battery and two of them will run the snowblower for an hour and half. The rapid chargers charge at the rate of an ahr. every 10 minutes, so you need to plan pack usage if you want to run non- stop. My first 18 volt lithium pack lasted 13 years in regular usage with the other packs.

[fm2176]

They definitely require a different perspective, and strategic usage of battery-operated equipment can have benefits that gas will never get.  Less heat and noise, no emissions, instant start, etc.  My five-year-old EGO string trimmer is great.  My neighbor has a professional-quality Echo gas trimmer he bought about 15 years ago.  It's been maintained and has gone to the shop once or twice for repair, and wouldn't you know, just a couple of weeks ago it had to go back.  I can't say how well the EGO will be doing in 10 years, but I put it away dirty and haven't done anything besides replace the trimmer line.

 

I have multiple batteries and chargers, for multiple brands and voltages.  Bosch 18v; MetaboHPT 18v; DeWalt 8v, 12v, 20v, and Flexvolt; Milwaukee M12 and M18, Ryobi One+; and Ridgid 18v, along with the previously mentioned EGO equipment.  If I would have gone electric for my ZTR I'd have probably coughed up the price for the EGO.  

[Eric S]

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.  

[JoeF]

FYI - ever since I replaced the OEM 75Ah batteries with the mighty max 100Ah batteries, the battery level meter has only ever reset back to 100% (after a charge) maybe two or three times.

Before the battery swap, I used to get the occasional bug where it would not reset, every once in a while, and could just turn the key off or plug the charging cable back in for a second and try again, to resolve the issue, but now it seems to be the new norm. So instead I now just use the button mod to keep an eye on the voltage and get a general idea of how much charge remains.

[jamis]

Six mows after replacing the original Leoch 75 ahr. batteries with the Mighty Max 100 ahr. batteries and no issues at all. Charger and BLM operate as they always have, even with the button mod. BLM bars are all on after a charge, but all mows are less than 10%. It's drought conditions here right now and mowing is very light. Biggest change is the Depth Of Discharge. OEM lifetime average DOD was 10.18% (my average usage was 42 minutes). The DOD with the MM is currently 7.08%. Lower routine DOD translates to longer lifespans in SLA/AGM batteries. I wish I had spent the extra $200 for the RM480ex when I bought the mower 58 months ago. Speaking of $$$, if you are interested in Mighty Max replacement batteries, contact MM directly. 

[Eric S]

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.

[jamis]

When I have finished mowing, I use my 190 mph Ryobi leaf blower to blow off the deck. I blow directly into the deck motors and I also remove the battery cover under the seat and blow down around all of of spaces inside the covers. When I pulled the battery tray to replace the OEM batteries, there was almost no detris inside the mower.