Battery powered weed wacker/trimmer suggestions (bought Ryobi 18V lithium) - Page 3

Xringer · 05-24-16, 07:07 PM

Are there ten 1.8volt cells in that pack?

I wonder if you might have one open cell and the rest are still good.?.

oil pan 4 · 05-24-16, 08:16 PM

I have stuck with plug in trimmers for this reason.
The first one, a black and decker lasted from 2008 till 2013 or 2014 when I tried to use it with 0.080 weedeater line and tried to take down a tumble weed and broke the plastic ring gear.
Then the second one has lasted since 2014, that modle had been discontinued so I bought a used one with bad trigger switch off ebay for parts.
I still use 0.080 weedeater line.

NeilBlanchard · 05-24-16, 08:28 PM

I used a Greenworks 40V Lithium G-Max DigiPro strimmer, and it worked pretty well. A 2Ah battery lasted about 45 minutes. It came with a 4Ah battery - my in-laws also have a 20" twin blade mower, that came with a 2Ah and a 4Ah battery. The mover really needs four 4Ah batteries to be useful for their ~1/2 acre lawn; when the grass is long, anyway.

The shoulder strap is well balanced, and it has two speed ranges, with the trigger letting you vary the speed. The gear box gets warm, but not hot. I think reloading the string is fairly easy - much easier than the Stihl was. (The Stihl was destroyed in the house fire at my in-laws house.)

It was on sale at Amazon for $170 with the 4Ah battery and charger, which is only $47 more than the battery alone.

Daox · 05-24-16, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer

Are there ten 1.8volt cells in that pack?

I wonder if you might have one open cell and the rest are still good.?.

There are 10 3.7V cells in the pack. The configuration is 2 parallel, 5 series.

Sadly, I did check a bunch of the cells and they're all below 1V.

stevehull · 05-25-16, 06:55 AM

Those cells are all over eBay and rebuilding a battery pack is not hard nor expensive. I have done a few rebuilds.

Steve

Daox · 05-25-16, 08:41 AM

Thanks, I'll look into that. It would be nice to get 15 cells and get some extra capacity out of the pack...

jjackstone · 05-25-16, 08:45 AM

Sounds like either one cell went bad and brought all the other ones down or the charger went bad and did the job. It is possible to bring the cells back one at a time until you find the bad one but it may not be worth your time. Years ago I was using the 36V DeWalt packs for my ebike and shortly after I bought my then $100/pack it quit working. After disassembly I found one cell below one volt.I just connected a couple D cells in series for 3.2V and then parallelled them with the lithium cell. That brought the single cell voltage up to above 2.6 or 2.8V-- what ever the charger minimum voltage was and then allowed the factory charger to do its job and charge the complete pack. I'm still using that pack in the drill it was made for. Don't know if it would work for you since all your cells seem dead and it might depend on how long they have been at that low voltage but it could be worth a try.

JJ

Higgy · 05-26-16, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

I used a Greenworks 40V Lithium G-Max DigiPro strimmer, and it worked pretty well. A 2Ah battery lasted about 45 minutes. It came with a 4Ah battery - my in-laws also have a 20" twin blade mower, that came with a 2Ah and a 4Ah battery. The mover really needs four 4Ah batteries to be useful for their ~1/2 acre lawn; when the grass is long, anyway.

The shoulder strap is well balanced, and it has two speed ranges, with the trigger letting you vary the speed. The gear box gets warm, but not hot. I think reloading the string is fairly easy - much easier than the Stihl was. (The Stihl was destroyed in the house fire at my in-laws house.)

It was on sale at Amazon for $170 with the 4Ah battery and charger, which is only $47 more than the battery alone.

I've got the greenworks 20v one. So far seems to work for me. I don't do a lot of weedwacking though. I also have the greenworks leaf blower/sucker, so I can interchange the batteries as they're both 20v.

Daox · 05-27-16, 01:35 PM

I ended up going with an aftermarket 4.0 Ah pack. This is a bit larger than the OEM spec of 2.6 Ah. It was $50, but it should give me considerably longer run times and also longer pack life I hope!

MEMPHIS91 · 05-31-16, 04:54 PM

I got one of these, it really is amazing. I have 3+ acres and lots of trimming due to the fact that we don't use roundup. It will trim the yard twice before needing charged and I haven't found anything it won't cut that a gas can.

ECHO 58-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless String Trimmer with 4 Ah Battery-CST-58V4AH - The Home Depot

05-24-16, 07:07 PM	#21
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	Are there ten 1.8volt cells in that pack? I wonder if you might have one open cell and the rest are still good.?. __________________ My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

05-25-16, 06:55 AM	#25
stevehull Steve Hull Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: hilly, tree covered Arcadia, OK USA Posts: 826 Thanks: 241 Thanked 165 Times in 123 Posts	Those cells are all over eBay and rebuilding a battery pack is not hard nor expensive. I have done a few rebuilds. Steve __________________ consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990

05-25-16, 08:41 AM	#26
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Thanks, I'll look into that. It would be nice to get 15 cells and get some extra capacity out of the pack... __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-27-16, 01:35 PM	#29
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	I ended up going with an aftermarket 4.0 Ah pack. This is a bit larger than the OEM spec of 2.6 Ah. It was $50, but it should give me considerably longer run times and also longer pack life I hope! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-31-16, 04:54 PM	#30
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	I got one of these, it really is amazing. I have 3+ acres and lots of trimming due to the fact that we don't use roundup. It will trim the yard twice before needing charged and I haven't found anything it won't cut that a gas can. ECHO 58-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless String Trimmer with 4 Ah Battery-CST-58V4AH - The Home Depot __________________ שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד

05-24-16, 08:16 PM	#22
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	I have stuck with plug in trimmers for this reason. The first one, a black and decker lasted from 2008 till 2013 or 2014 when I tried to use it with 0.080 weedeater line and tried to take down a tumble weed and broke the plastic ring gear. Then the second one has lasted since 2014, that modle had been discontinued so I bought a used one with bad trigger switch off ebay for parts. I still use 0.080 weedeater line.

05-24-16, 08:28 PM	#23
NeilBlanchard Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Maynard, MA Eaarth Posts: 383 Thanks: 78 Thanked 39 Times in 32 Posts	I used a Greenworks 40V Lithium G-Max DigiPro strimmer, and it worked pretty well. A 2Ah battery lasted about 45 minutes. It came with a 4Ah battery - my in-laws also have a 20" twin blade mower, that came with a 2Ah and a 4Ah battery. The mover really needs four 4Ah batteries to be useful for their ~1/2 acre lawn; when the grass is long, anyway. The shoulder strap is well balanced, and it has two speed ranges, with the trigger letting you vary the speed. The gear box gets warm, but not hot. I think reloading the string is fairly easy - much easier than the Stihl was. (The Stihl was destroyed in the house fire at my in-laws house.) It was on sale at Amazon for $170 with the 4Ah battery and charger, which is only $47 more than the battery alone.

05-25-16, 08:45 AM	#27
jjackstone Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sacramento,Ca Posts: 88 Thanks: 5 Thanked 32 Times in 23 Posts	Sounds like either one cell went bad and brought all the other ones down or the charger went bad and did the job. It is possible to bring the cells back one at a time until you find the bad one but it may not be worth your time. Years ago I was using the 36V DeWalt packs for my ebike and shortly after I bought my then $100/pack it quit working. After disassembly I found one cell below one volt.I just connected a couple D cells in series for 3.2V and then parallelled them with the lithium cell. That brought the single cell voltage up to above 2.6 or 2.8V-- what ever the charger minimum voltage was and then allowed the factory charger to do its job and charge the complete pack. I'm still using that pack in the drill it was made for. Don't know if it would work for you since all your cells seem dead and it might depend on how long they have been at that low voltage but it could be worth a try. JJ