Ryobi battery riding lawn mower

[Eric S]

Mowed yesterday and got just an hour out of the full charge.  Meter shows 100% fully charged when I start but once it hits 50% it drops off fast.  At 30% the blades stopped spinning which gave me time to drive back to the shed and plug in.  The weather is beginning to cool off up here in Wisconsin and leaves are starting to change colors so hopefully not too many more mowing sessions.  

 

I spoke to a guy at HD about the Mighty Max batteries he said those are being sold as replacements for the Leoch batteries.  I don’t see anywhere on the HD website that states that so take it with a grain of salt, however why would they even list them if they didn’t?  Who knows.

 

Again, I think I’ll wait until spring to do any battery replacement since I don’t want them sitting in the unheated shed all winter even though the mower is plugged in the entire time.  

[jamis]

I also find it interesting that HD dropped the Leoch batteries and basically replaced them with the MightyMax batteries. I looked at them closely and they do seem to be pretty much equivalent to the LPC12s.  Ryobi has refused to bless/condemn the MMs and maintains the LPC12s & LDC12s are the proper batteries to use.  I'm really wishing someone would spend the money to try the MightyMax batteries, but mine are still running strong.  I mowed today for 37 minutes and used no bars and no % on the meter.  I did use 1.3 volts starting at 50.5.  This will be charge number 211 on the pack.  From your last description, I still think you have one battery that has a weak or failing cell.

 

Update: This latest charge took 4 hours and used 1,490 watts ($0.16 @ my rate), ending voltage is 52.2.  The pack will go for 7 days before self discharging below 50 volts.  When new, the pack could go for a month without a maintenance charge.  However, the more frequent charges are much smaller than the earlier ones a couple of years ago.  Early maintenance charges were around 650 watts, now they are 10 watts.  Not sure yet what this means as the run time numbers are nearly like new.

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by jamis
added blather

[Eric S]

I agree regarding the weak or failing cell on one battery.  I’m still convinced it’s battery #3 (as I’ve labeled it).  I picked up a TOPDON BT100 battery tester which is supposed to tell me battery health plus % charge.  I’m planning on pulling out the tray tomorrow and test #3 tomorrow to include another load test.  Hopefully I’ll find out something soon 

[Eric S]

If Ryobi is still putting Leoch batteries in the riders I’ll bet you no other manufacturers will receive endorsements.  Contractual thing.

[jamis]

26 minutes ago, Eric S said:

If Ryobi is still putting Leoch batteries in the riders I’ll bet you no other manufacturers will receive endorsements.  Contractual thing.

Absolutely,  I think the shortage of Leoch LPC12s & The newer LDC12s is pandemic related.  Also, I suspect the reason that HD has substituted the MM batteries as they are used in many other devices besides Ryobi's mowers.  Looking forward to your test resilts.

[Eric S]

Tested all four batteries this morning.  Batteries 1, 2 & 4 all showed 12.9v or better while battery 3 was at 12.68v. Battery health was 100% on 1, 2 & 4 while 3 showed 70% battery health.  Tester noted #3 was still good and didn’t require a charge.  I had the mower plugged in since this past Thursday.  I mowed the front yard after testing this morning which took about an hour and still had all the bars lit up, no drop.  When mowing season is done I’ll find a true battery shop that I’ll have test #3.  

[jamis]

The local battery shop I used had a "Lester" load tester.  They are pricey at $550, which is why I took my batteries there for testing. 

[Eric S]

Good to know thank you 

[Eric S]

Did the battery shop charge you to test?

[jamis]

2 hours ago, Eric S said:

Did the battery shop charge you to test?

No, they didn't.  I offered, but he said it's what they do, so no charge.  Also didn't charge me for taking the dead battery in for recycling despite I didn't buy one from them (Ryobi warranty replacement).  They do charge to take in lithium batteries due to the cost of recycling them.   However, I've been buying car batteries from them since the '90s. 

[Eric S]

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.

[Eric S]

Are 5he batteries considered AGM spiral or flat plate?

[jamis]

18 hours ago, Eric S said:

Are 5he batteries considered AGM spiral or flat plate?

Pretty sure they are flat plate.  The only spiral cell AGMs I know of are the Optima batteries, but I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express lately.

[jamis]

Just finished data analysis of my mower after 108 hours of use.  Cost to run it has risen from $0.22 per hour when new to $0.24 per hour.  Most of this is due to much more sq.ft. being mowed.  When new, I was regularly mowing 10,000 sq.ft and this year I have been regularly mowing 26,000 sq.ft.  The deeper DOD has driven the wattage to recharge each time up.  The batteries have had 212 charge cycles including storage maintenance charges.  

[Eric S]

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.  

[jamis]

Eric: I researched the Mighty Max batteries and it appears they would be a proper substitute for the Leoch.  They have a similar lifespan of the Leoch LPC12s.  Been hoping someone would try a set in a Ryobi to see if they would work.  Looks like you have a load tester source now.

[idarwin]

On 4/26/2021 at 11:38 AM, jamis said:

And where did you get that spare connector from?

You can find these plugs on eBay, Amazon, etc. They are one of the standard golf cart charger connectors. I think this one will fit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097BHPPKV. Look at your "Ryobi" charger - mine says right on it who it's made by, and it ain't Ryobi.

[Larikn]

Anyone knows what happens if I leave the ignition on for three days while the units on charge

[Marinuer]

Never tried Ryobi, but i've been using this Ariens Apex 60” Kawasaki for last 3 years. It's still work perfect. It has  60-inch cutting width, 24 HP Kawasaki engine, 8MPH forward and 4 MPH reverse speed, and a foot-operated deck lift.

[jamis]

On 1/6/2022 at 4:27 AM, Larikn said:

Anyone knows what happens if I leave the ignition on for three days while the units on charge

Nothing, I don't think it will charge with the switch on. No error beeps?

[jamis]

87E10 is $3.699/gal. here. That makes my 43 month old RM480e 14.5 times less expensive to run than a comparable ICE powered mower. 

[Xmartian]

Hello! I apologize in advance if this has already been discussed in this thread, a lot going on here. Lol

 

I have a RM480e and recently went to mow for the first time this spring only to find that my charger had burned out and the mower had no charge/wouldn’t power on. I called Ryobi and provided them with the necessary purchase information (the mower is about 1.5 years old) and they promptly replaced the charger. I plugged the mower up this morning to begin charging, the charger lights up to a solid green light, the charging receptacle on the mower flashes green. After two hours when I attempt to power the motor on to check the charging status I get nothing. I’m guessing it’s a battery issue now, as well? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[MarkN]

On 7/20/2021 at 10:42 AM, jamis said:

The way the electronics manage the batteries, conditioning, or formatting, should not be necessary.

 

I've had an RM480e for two months and it's exceeded all expectations. 

 

I do have a question about conditioning the batteries.

 

Jim, I see you recently posted as above that conditioning the batteries is not needed, but at the beginning of this thread, you described that it was a good idea. So I'm just wondering if your thinking has changed over time, or if you are talking about two different things. Thanks

[jamis]

On 4/9/2022 at 6:01 PM, Xmartian said:

Hello! I apologize in advance if this has already been discussed in this thread, a lot going on here. Lol

 

I have a RM480e and recently went to mow for the first time this spring only to find that my charger had burned out and the mower had no charge/wouldn’t power on. I called Ryobi and provided them with the necessary purchase information (the mower is about 1.5 years old) and they promptly replaced the charger. I plugged the mower up this morning to begin charging, the charger lights up to a solid green light, the charging receptacle on the mower flashes green. After two hours when I attempt to power the motor on to check the charging status I get nothing. I’m guessing it’s a battery issue now, as well? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Sorry for the delay in responding. I think you need to pull the batteries, disconnect them from each other, and individually charge them with a 12 volt automotive type charger. This will restore the batteries to a level of charge that the mower charger can deal with. The system won't charge things if the pack voltage is below 36 volts.

[jamis]

10 hours ago, MarkN said:

 

I've had an RM480e for two months and it's exceeded all expectations. 

 

I do have a question about conditioning the batteries.

 

Jim, I see you recently posted as above that conditioning the batteries is not needed, but at the beginning of this thread, you described that it was a good idea. So I'm just wondering if your thinking has changed over time, or if you are talking about two different things. Thanks

Early on, the conventional wisdom was that the SLA/AGM batteries needed to be conditioned prior to regular use. Subsequently, it was determined that the Ryobi system didn't allow the batteries to be discharged more than 30% Depth Of Discharge and therefore conditioning was not needed since the DOD was so small. Conditioning is needed if the batteries are routinely discharged beyond 50% or so. The battery manufacturer (Leoch) also verified this.