Per title, got my first EGO products this summer, the 21" mower and the trimmer. Very happy with both and impressed with the battery life - get ~3.5 rounds of mowing and trimming out of each before the batteries need recharging, and that's letting the grass get a bit shaggy. My initial understanding is that I can run both batteries (7.5A and 2.5A) til they are basically dead w/out negatively impacting battery life or ability to fully charge. However reading some of the comments here it sounds like maybe that's not the case and I should be fully charging both batteries after each use. So what's better - run until the are dead, or charge after each use?
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342 Points
Posted 2 years ago
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
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342 Points
Yeah, my basic use model so far has been to leave them on the tools until the light flashes red or until they actually quit, then charge 'em. If the light is red when I finish I charge them right away, so they are never sitting around fully discharged. And since I mow and trim every other week at a minimum they aren't sitting around w/a low charge for very long either.
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out! :-)
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342 Points
lol. I'm trying. I really like the products and system, hopefully they'll last a long time. I might be a bit less happy if I have to replace that 7.5A battery in a couple of years!
szwoopp, Champion
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108,238 Points
Maybe torches and rakes at Egos doors as the villagers revolt if that happens.
Looking forward to 5 - 10 years of battery life.
Looking forward to 5 - 10 years of battery life.
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26,632 Points
Summary: Thoughts on running the battery all the way down to flashing RED
Regarding running the battery all the way down, my personal choice is to NOT do that if possible.
Here is the primary reason, after installing a volt meter both my charger and mainly the mower, I noticed that the point at which a battery will first go RED, and then go flashing RED happens at different times for different tools and battery sizes. The onboard battery management system (BMS) for each battery should be designed to "cut-off" at the same voltage, but based on manufacturing tolerances (of the electrical components), as well as the cells themselves, the cut-off voltage can vary. Refer to my related threads, I've measured a battery voltage as low as 39.9v (2.85v/cell). The only other reported voltages have been around 45v (3.21v/cell).
And here's where I become a little concerned, the further you discharge your battery, the more you're potentially affecting long term life. So I have two 5.0 AH batteries, and when I get one down to about 25%, which is above the GREEN/RED transition of 15%, I will stop using that one and change over to the secondary one. Same basic approach for the string trimmer; and the only time I'll run it down to red is if I'm rather far from the house, and I want to finish up that last bit of trimming without having to walk back twice. For the 535cfm blower, I'm very cautious to not run that down to red, especially when using turbo because you are drawing a lot of power out of the battery in a short amount of time; yes, it can handle that, but at what cost to long term battery life (put in that second battery if you have it).
Related threads:
Ego Battery Review from a Battery Engineer
https://community.egopowerplus.com/ego/topics/ego-battery-review-from-a-battery-engineer
HOW-TO: Add a digital volt meter to the CHARGER
https://community.egopowerplus.com/ego/topics/how-to-add-a-digital-volt-meter-to-the-charger
HOW-TO: Add a digital volt meter to the MOWER
https://community.egopowerplus.com/ego/topics/how-to-add-a-digital-volt-meter-to-the-mower
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Don’t forget that you are not actually measuring the tool cut off voltage. You are measuring the battery voltage after the load was removed and the cells have had some amount of recovery time. ;-)
szwoopp, Champion
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108,238 Points
"For the 535cfm blower, I'm very cautious to not run that down to red,
especially when using turbo because you are drawing a lot of power out
of the battery in a short amount of time; yes, it can handle that, but
at what cost to long term battery life (put in that second battery if
you have it)."
Is this why my 2.0 and 2.5 batteries sometime show red when on the blower and then if I stop blowing and restart the battery will display green ?
Is this why my 2.0 and 2.5 batteries sometime show red when on the blower and then if I stop blowing and restart the battery will display green ?
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342 Points
I saw this as well.
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26,632 Points
Here's the mower ran down until it went RED; I immediately stopped and recorded the voltage/capacity, then let the mower sit for 10 minutes idle (battery inserted), and the battery voltage went up from: 47.5 to 48.2v, and capacity from: 4 to 10%. Noticed the light went from RED to GREEN.
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26,632 Points
Blue, technically speaking, I could measure the cut off voltage for my mower (but have not done so yet). =)
Blue Angel, Champion
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180,038 Points
Ah yes, I forgot you have that voltage display installed!
