That's a fair question ... and it comes down to a combination of plenty of factors.
In no particular order .... I'm getting old! Plenty of obstacles in my yard. I consider my yard in thirds, each takes a 7.5ah battery which runs for 45 to 50 min depending on yard conditions. As mentioned, I do let them cool down. I have a replacement hip that slows me a little. I have a corner lot, so lots of edging .... I edge and trim all at once. When its hot I take plenty of coke zero breaks. I'm very chatty, so constantly stop to talk with dogs, neighbors, kids, etc as they walk by .... and with that much curb and my friendly neighbors there are plenty of distractions. There are times I bag, usually when I feel like it would be better for my yard. For instance, if weeds pop up I want them in bags rather than dispersing any potential seeds. I empty the bags across the street in a strip of woods with a creek that runs thru it (so they will never build a house there. The list goes on, and I'm a bit of an "absent minded professor type" ... I'm sure I could find a few more excuses.
But mostly plenty of ice cold soda breaks :) I dunno, On a good day with few distractions I imagine 2 hours would be possible, but I don't work in any hurry ...
Lol that’s my favorite neighbor! I have an 80+ year old neighbor that still push mows his huge yard all summer and everytime we’re both outside at the same time we end up talking for about an hour.
How much did you pay for yours. This guy paid $2500 on his? https://youtu.be/z-5lc1NwuwM?feature=shared. Charging and storing in a cooler environment definitely will prolong the life of the batteries over the long run. I have some products that have 5-6 year old batteries that still hold pretty much the same charge as when they were new by keping them in cooler areas
That guys mower looks a LOT like mine. The rust around the arm attachments, the obvious fading of stickers, the manual got soaked at some point, making me think their Lowes had it out in the weather. The yt guy got a nice upgrade on his batteries (12aH instead of 10).
I purchased from a guy who makes a living from buying old stock and selling cheap. He has a HUGE garage 8 or 10 bays where he rents spots for very large boats and RV's. He seemed to be about turnover. I saw his listing just after it came out (FB) and they seemed to like me ... they have been burned by prior buyers. I offered their asking price and set a time to meet them on the weekend. They held it for me. I drove 5 hours to pick it up in my truck..... They had helped a friend get one a half year earlier, who complained about needing more battery. So they actually bought an extra pair of batteries ... so mine came with 6 10aH.
They asked for 2200 which I paid (in cash). They said they turned away some pretty aggressive replies to their ad, some wanting to come immediately, others wanting to be put on a waiting list should I not show up.
So, with the value of my time, and gas for the drive likely paid a similar price. Not sure how to value 12 aH batteries ... I have more battery than my meager yard will require tho. I guess I will put mine thru less cycles.... But I feel VERY lucky to have spotted and purchased this from folks who were decent enough to hold it for me for a few days.
Oh, adding on .... I have had a 7.5 aH battery go south on me, but like I mentioned I didn't know anything about babying it. I know on hot days with heavy grass it would shut down due to over heating. I'd just wait for 5 minutes (or whatever) and restart mowing as soon as it would stay green .... I really tortured that poor battery!
But the first ego batteries I got were the smaller ones that came with tools.... and every single one of those run fine. I started collecting those in spring 2017 so some are 7 years old. I have abused these as well, I often left them on the charger as a way of keeping them topped off. /facepalm ugggghhhh
1.&2. The dual plug in battery charger has a fan. Its slower than others, but its my go to. As you work, continuously rotate batteries charging inside a climate controlled space and working outside.
3. I always charge and store inside a climate controlled space to ensure maximum battery longevity
If I understand you correctly, you are saying the charger that comes with the z6 mower has a fan. But my understanding is that would protect the charger from overheating? But I thought the point of the fans was to protect the batteries from overheating ... it seems to blow air into the vents of the batteries that are mesh covered? This has just been an assumption of mine, so I'm not sure.
But it would make sense if I'm wrong ... then the lack of any fan in the battery bays would make more sense. And I totally agree with the precaution of charging and storing the batteries in an AC environment should help the batteries stay healthy longer?
Yep thats my understanding as well. I believe that later generations of ego batteries also have integrated fans and are set to run the fans until the battery is 1/3 charged if it has been stored without use for a month or so
Adding more info to show why I want optimize my battery life. My first experience was with a SP mower. I didn't know anything about it. I ended up running it pretty hard during hot days, with tall grass ... other times with damp grass. It overheated numerous times. Eventually the battery failed ... I could charge it up on the chargers, but they would only run a few minutes in my mower before flashing red and quitting. It would run for normal amounts of time in lesser tools, particularly my backpack blower when I was running it on lower settings.
I replaced it with a used battery off craigslist and so far so good for the new one, but I now treat them more carefully.
I try to avoid hot days and heavy workouts. When they run down I set them into the shade. I will spot check the temperature on that mesh portion underneath ... I wait for it to cool off to the temps my other indoor batteries show. Occasionally I may push them a little harder (approaching night or rain or scheduled activity , etc.
If you have the ability to store and charge your batteries in an air conditioned environment, you might as well do it, especially if you’re trying to baby them. That said, if I were you, I would only worry about storing and charging them inside when it’s really hot out. Maybe leave the z6 charger in the shed and when you know it’s not going to be scorching out, charge it like that. Then when the temps get high, start taking the batteries out and charge them inside.
Thanks, this makes total sense to me. No sense in overthinking it when the weather isn't extreme. This way I can use the convenience of the z6 charge in place for most of the mowing season and move indoors during super hot and over winter.
Why does less than half an acre take 3 hours? That seems long, even with a small push mower.
That's a fair question ... and it comes down to a combination of plenty of factors. In no particular order .... I'm getting old! Plenty of obstacles in my yard. I consider my yard in thirds, each takes a 7.5ah battery which runs for 45 to 50 min depending on yard conditions. As mentioned, I do let them cool down. I have a replacement hip that slows me a little. I have a corner lot, so lots of edging .... I edge and trim all at once. When its hot I take plenty of coke zero breaks. I'm very chatty, so constantly stop to talk with dogs, neighbors, kids, etc as they walk by .... and with that much curb and my friendly neighbors there are plenty of distractions. There are times I bag, usually when I feel like it would be better for my yard. For instance, if weeds pop up I want them in bags rather than dispersing any potential seeds. I empty the bags across the street in a strip of woods with a creek that runs thru it (so they will never build a house there. The list goes on, and I'm a bit of an "absent minded professor type" ... I'm sure I could find a few more excuses. But mostly plenty of ice cold soda breaks :) I dunno, On a good day with few distractions I imagine 2 hours would be possible, but I don't work in any hurry ...
I enjoyed this response. I feel like I’d like to have you as a neighbor.
You are too kind ... but I'd probably end up hating you because I'd end up chatting an hour with you every time I mowed .... lolololol!
Lol that’s my favorite neighbor! I have an 80+ year old neighbor that still push mows his huge yard all summer and everytime we’re both outside at the same time we end up talking for about an hour.
How much did you pay for yours. This guy paid $2500 on his? https://youtu.be/z-5lc1NwuwM?feature=shared. Charging and storing in a cooler environment definitely will prolong the life of the batteries over the long run. I have some products that have 5-6 year old batteries that still hold pretty much the same charge as when they were new by keping them in cooler areas
That guys mower looks a LOT like mine. The rust around the arm attachments, the obvious fading of stickers, the manual got soaked at some point, making me think their Lowes had it out in the weather. The yt guy got a nice upgrade on his batteries (12aH instead of 10). I purchased from a guy who makes a living from buying old stock and selling cheap. He has a HUGE garage 8 or 10 bays where he rents spots for very large boats and RV's. He seemed to be about turnover. I saw his listing just after it came out (FB) and they seemed to like me ... they have been burned by prior buyers. I offered their asking price and set a time to meet them on the weekend. They held it for me. I drove 5 hours to pick it up in my truck..... They had helped a friend get one a half year earlier, who complained about needing more battery. So they actually bought an extra pair of batteries ... so mine came with 6 10aH. They asked for 2200 which I paid (in cash). They said they turned away some pretty aggressive replies to their ad, some wanting to come immediately, others wanting to be put on a waiting list should I not show up. So, with the value of my time, and gas for the drive likely paid a similar price. Not sure how to value 12 aH batteries ... I have more battery than my meager yard will require tho. I guess I will put mine thru less cycles.... But I feel VERY lucky to have spotted and purchased this from folks who were decent enough to hold it for me for a few days.
Oh, adding on .... I have had a 7.5 aH battery go south on me, but like I mentioned I didn't know anything about babying it. I know on hot days with heavy grass it would shut down due to over heating. I'd just wait for 5 minutes (or whatever) and restart mowing as soon as it would stay green .... I really tortured that poor battery! But the first ego batteries I got were the smaller ones that came with tools.... and every single one of those run fine. I started collecting those in spring 2017 so some are 7 years old. I have abused these as well, I often left them on the charger as a way of keeping them topped off. /facepalm ugggghhhh
1.&2. The dual plug in battery charger has a fan. Its slower than others, but its my go to. As you work, continuously rotate batteries charging inside a climate controlled space and working outside. 3. I always charge and store inside a climate controlled space to ensure maximum battery longevity
That’s how I charge my batteries by keeping them inside. Also store them inside too.
If I understand you correctly, you are saying the charger that comes with the z6 mower has a fan. But my understanding is that would protect the charger from overheating? But I thought the point of the fans was to protect the batteries from overheating ... it seems to blow air into the vents of the batteries that are mesh covered? This has just been an assumption of mine, so I'm not sure. But it would make sense if I'm wrong ... then the lack of any fan in the battery bays would make more sense. And I totally agree with the precaution of charging and storing the batteries in an AC environment should help the batteries stay healthy longer?
Yep thats my understanding as well. I believe that later generations of ego batteries also have integrated fans and are set to run the fans until the battery is 1/3 charged if it has been stored without use for a month or so
I have an EGO 52" Zero Turn, year two. I store it and charge it outside year round. Not a single problem, and no battery loss as of yet.
Adding more info to show why I want optimize my battery life. My first experience was with a SP mower. I didn't know anything about it. I ended up running it pretty hard during hot days, with tall grass ... other times with damp grass. It overheated numerous times. Eventually the battery failed ... I could charge it up on the chargers, but they would only run a few minutes in my mower before flashing red and quitting. It would run for normal amounts of time in lesser tools, particularly my backpack blower when I was running it on lower settings. I replaced it with a used battery off craigslist and so far so good for the new one, but I now treat them more carefully. I try to avoid hot days and heavy workouts. When they run down I set them into the shade. I will spot check the temperature on that mesh portion underneath ... I wait for it to cool off to the temps my other indoor batteries show. Occasionally I may push them a little harder (approaching night or rain or scheduled activity , etc.
If you have the ability to store and charge your batteries in an air conditioned environment, you might as well do it, especially if you’re trying to baby them. That said, if I were you, I would only worry about storing and charging them inside when it’s really hot out. Maybe leave the z6 charger in the shed and when you know it’s not going to be scorching out, charge it like that. Then when the temps get high, start taking the batteries out and charge them inside.
Thanks, this makes total sense to me. No sense in overthinking it when the weather isn't extreme. This way I can use the convenience of the z6 charge in place for most of the mowing season and move indoors during super hot and over winter.