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Old 08-15-11, 09:36 PM   #71
Daox
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Did you ever get amp readings while cutting the grass?

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Old 08-15-11, 10:11 PM   #72
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No, I only did the "idle" test ... ~10 amps.

A lot will depend on the lawn conditions of course. Lately it's been hot & dry, so the grass cutting is very low load (slow growing, not very thick).
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Old 08-15-11, 10:13 PM   #73
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Found someone else trying to sell one of these:

Quote:
My 80 year old mother has a Black & Decker M3300 electric lawnmower for sale. She bought it approx. 8 years ago for $400+. She has used it 10 or 12 times and it has been stored inside the rest of the time. I've charged the battery and tested it and it works great. $100. Call Dave at (519)619-xxxx.

black & decker electric lawnmower - London Home/Garden Items For Sale - Kijiji London Canada.
8 year old battery "works great." Riiiiight.

Anyone who would buy that without doing some kind of capacity test on the battery is in for a rude surprise the first time they actually try to cut their lawn!
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Old 08-16-11, 11:41 AM   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
Did you ever get amp readings while cutting the grass?
Thinking about this more, I seem to recall seeing 6-8 amps while cutting, while erroneously measuring current from only one of the 2 batteries.

So that would make it 12-16 amps in light-moderate use cutting.
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Old 08-19-11, 09:16 PM   #75
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Being watching this thread and have found it interesting as I have my own project on the go.
Question> do you have a source for amp meters in Ont. Canada?

For a point of reference I have 4 golf cart batteries, and a CTC 1750 watt inverter down in the laundry room that I sometimes use to run the washing machine with. I don't know how many amps the washer draws but I have done 3 loads of laundry back to back without recharging or any problems.
I mention this in response to your mower # 2 tests.
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Old 08-21-11, 08:39 AM   #76
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Hi Doug

I just used the 10A limited ammeter built in to my cheap digital multimeter.

Aside from that, if you want to measure higher current, you could possibly use one of the "clamp" style multimeters - I'm sure they have a higher rating than my DMM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_clamp

Though they don't all measure DC current as well as AC (see the wiki article, link above).

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Old 08-21-11, 09:07 AM   #77
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Picked up multi meter at Princes Auto yesterday on sale for $18.83
Has 0 to 20amp DC, be nice to find one with 0 to 200amp on it.
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Old 08-21-11, 09:10 AM   #78
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You'll need a real ammeter and shunt to handle that kind of current. Thats what I have on my riding mower.
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Old 09-01-11, 09:36 PM   #79
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My digital volt gauge arrived today. It works, but I haven't calibrated it against my digital multimeter (which is also not calibrated against anything, incidentally).

I think I'll install the gauge on the mower using a 12v socket & fuse I pulled from a junked car.

Then this "revival" project will be officially done.

I've been using the mower regularly, though haven't been monitoring battery voltage the last couple of times. It'll be nice to be able to monitor it to protect them from killer discharges.
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Old 09-01-11, 09:39 PM   #80
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Quote:
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You'll need a real ammeter and shunt to handle that kind of current. Thats what I have on my riding mower.
Where did you get it from?

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