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This conversation has been merged. Please reference the main conversation: Battery or charger dead
First some background. Mower would flash yellow light when attempting to start. After recycling button and lever a few times it would start and run. Talked to customer service, and they are replacing the unit (9 months old, but 4 of those in storage for the winter). Now, I attempted to charge the battery in anticipation of the new mower arriving Tuesday. When I place it on the charger, the first green light on the charger flashes briefly, and then all 4 green lights come on steady. This is despite the fact that the battery has been used for at least 20-30 minutes. In other words, it appears that it will not charge. I noticed that after removing the battery and unplugging the charger the green lights stay on for a minute or two, despite not being plugged in. The battery is not completely discharged, but after 20-30 minutes use, it surely is not fully charged. I'm wondering it maybe the malfunction with the mower somehow damaged the battery, or i f the charger itself is malfunctioning. UPDATE: I did run the old mower for about 20 minutes with the battery, since it will run, but experiences the yellow overload light sometimes when attempting to start. Placed the battery on the charger, and got the same condition - one green light flashes, then all 4 go solid green. I put the battery in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, and placed it back on the charger and it is actually taking a charge. The indicator light on the battery itself was green, and never indicated an overload/overheat condition, but now I'm wondering if the draw on the battery from the motor itself might be causing the battery to become overheated, and for some reason, the charger will not attempt to recharge it in that condition. Any ideas? I'm hoping the replacement mower will solve the problem. Guess I'll know Tuesday.
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174 Points
- frustrated
Posted 4 years ago
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
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174 Points
This may have been solved. I received the replacement mower today, and cut the yard as normal. The battery charged as normal this time, and did not feel hot to the touch. I did notice on the defective mower (yellow light would light sometimes when trying to start, but would run after retrying) that toward the end of the cut, the motor seemed to start running faster and I could feel a vibration, I hadn't paid much attention to that until I used the replacement today, which maintained the same apparent speed and feel. I'm wondering now if the defective mower was putting an unusual strain on the battery after it had been running for 20-30 minutes, and caused internal heating, thus not allowing it to recharge until it cooled down. At any rate, things are now good, at least for today.
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Thanks for the update, Howard!
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1,472 Points
Does the fast charger do a analysis of the battery?
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174 Points
Jacob, this is the 4Ah battery. As I mentioned to Blue Angel, I'm thinking it has something to do with the internal battery circuitry. The battery feels warm to the touch, but never has an overheat indication (no yellow/orange light on the indicator), and is mostly, but not completely discharged. Most frustrating is that it is an intermittent problem. Some times it will take a charge immediately, other times it won't. Outside air temp was abut 80 degrees, humidity about 68 percent, so it was warm, but the grass was dry, and cutting was on the middle setting, so I wasn't overloading the battery or anything. I've cut under the same conditions since last year without incident until this season. Battery is only 11 months old.
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65,090 Points
The charger will NOT charge the battery if it is too warm. The standard charger red light will flash when it senses a hot battery. So it may not be intermitten, it may be due to heat. If the battery is discharged at an extremely fast rate, this will cause excessive heat. Therefore a little downtime. I rarely experience this, however on hot days mowing with the 2 ah battery, i do experience this. It doesnt take an hour to cooldown though. Maybe 10 minutes. It sounds like a dead cell in the battery maybe. Or multiple bad cells. Who knows.
(Edited)
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174 Points
I never had a red light. The battery light was green, as was the LEDs on the charger. I was waiting for a customer service rep on the phone for more than 10 minutes, and I had been trying to get it to work quite awhile before I even called EGO. When the battery is charged, I seem to have a normal run time. I rarely have the red light come on during cutting, and that only happens if I take a little longer than usual to cut. I noticed a response from a Community Manager in another thread where the question of cooling down was asked, and she stated " EGO POWER+ batteries do not need to cool down before you place them on the charger. Our keep-cool technology protects the batteries and speeds the cooling. With a very warm battery, cooling and charging could take an additional 7-9 minutes". That was what made me decide this is abnormal and indicates a problem.
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Howard I believe you are correct. Under normal conditions the battery should never come out of the tool too hot to charge, especially the 4Ah.
If you were using the 2Ah battery in the mower after having let it sit in the sun for a while (since the battery compartment is sealed and has a transparent lid) and on a very hot day, maybe, but not the 4Ah battery when used as you describe.
The charger does indeed monitor the temperature of the battery while charging, and if the battery was too warming would refuse to charge as Jacob said. Your scenario doesn't sound like one that would cause high temps.
I can now my lawn with the 2Ah battery and it's barely warm to the touch coming out of the mower. Yes the black plastic end cap of the battery will be warm, but that's usually because the sun is heating it up.
If you were using the 2Ah battery in the mower after having let it sit in the sun for a while (since the battery compartment is sealed and has a transparent lid) and on a very hot day, maybe, but not the 4Ah battery when used as you describe.
The charger does indeed monitor the temperature of the battery while charging, and if the battery was too warming would refuse to charge as Jacob said. Your scenario doesn't sound like one that would cause high temps.
I can now my lawn with the 2Ah battery and it's barely warm to the touch coming out of the mower. Yes the black plastic end cap of the battery will be warm, but that's usually because the sun is heating it up.
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65,090 Points
Im not saying it isn't a problem. I was just saying the charger will not start charging if the battery is too warm. Thats all. I dont care what anyone else says, the charger has a indicator for battery temp too warm. So... hard to argue with that fact. There is definately something wrong with your battery and or charger.