Lawn Care Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Ego battery won't charge

1 reading
Jump to Latest
27K views 74 replies 19 participants last post by  Brucey  
1
#1 ·
I have a 3 year old battery that failed (for the first time) to charge on any charger. All 5 leds were red. It was showing 51.7 volts at the terminals. I connected it to a good battery (+ to + - to -) with some 22 gage wires for about 2 minutes. The wires got warm but that was all. The battery then showed 1 green bar. It was a little quirky to charge taking several attempts but it finally charged. Used it today and it was fine. Recharged normally this evening. This is on youtube but thought I'd post it here with the follow up that it seems to be fine now. Probably not long for this world but I'll get a little more time out of it.
Thought was the skinny wires would melt before any battery damage occured.
 
T
#3 ·
Warranty. Got a new one last year when one of mine didnt charge. Hope you bought from a OPE dealer and not a box store cause its a lot easier to get the replacement if you go through a dealer im guessing. I didnt contact nobody but the dealer I buy my mowers and other stuff from
 
#12 ·
Replacing dead expensive batteries is a hard pill to swallow, indeed. Unfortunately it seems the government doesn't care about the true cost of ownership...they just want you to dump your gassers and deal with it. Not cool.

I think the ZTR takes six (?) batteries and it probably wont run long with the $130 low A-h ones so gotta get the $600 ones. $3600 + 7% tax = $3,850. Dang.
 
R
#13 ·
Hey look, another thread gone political by the far right guys, come on people!

Must have had some bad batteries being made during covid because I too just found my echo 56v e force battery to be completely broken. Shows full charger, did the reset on the battery, wont' charge or run the powerhead. Luckily it was as easy as going to home depot for a new one.

For the record, echo has a 2 year warranty on their batteries.
 
T
#21 ·
Running year 4 on light duty trimmer batts. 2ah 56v. Between zero maint and no gas expenses they have definitely earned their keep.

added bonus, no carb. Push button starts, almost no vibration and quieter

So far every larger pricier batt that died has been covered by warranty. Go through your OPE dealer and not box store, he’ll get you deals on batts if you spend with him and easily cover warranty.
 
C
#26 ·
Turf Tracer said:
Running year 4 on light duty trimmer batts. 2ah 56v. Between zero maint and no gas expenses they have definitely earned their keep.

added bonus, no carb. Push button starts, almost no vibration and quieter

So far every larger pricier batt that died has been covered by warranty. Go through your OPE dealer and not box store, he’ll get you deals on batts if you spend with him and easily cover warranty.
Click to expand...
These are all good points, and another big bonus is NO toxic fumes in your face all day. After 10 years, l think that l would be brain dead. Just sayin.
 
1
#23 ·
That 5ah battery is $250 to $300. I am spending less on batteries and charging than I was on 2 cycle fuel so for me it works. As a bonus I get far fewer nasty looks blowing parking lots with the battery blower than I got with gas tools. People seem to appreciate the blower being off rather than idling while I wait for them to get out of the way.
 
Q
#27 ·
We sequentially number all of our batteries and keep track of what's happening with each - charge date/time, runtime. We learned quickly that Echo had an exceptionally poor BMS that was killing their batteries very prematurely so we know to stay far away from them. EGO have been much better and Toro so far appear a step above EGO.

A good battery with a good BMS (battery mgmt system - charger & device) should last for a few thousand charge cycles - at least 4-6 years of commercial use. After 10 years and over 2,000 charge cycles a Tesla battery still has about 80% or more of its original capacity - tools s/b able to achieve this as well.

As mentioned above, batteries can be rebuilt for much less than buying replacements. We've a local guy who's been doing this for power tools for a decade and now does yard tools. He's about 40% the cost of a replacement.

It'd be good to have a central place to track this stuff so that everyone can get a good objective idea of who makes good battery systems and who doesn't.
 
#28 ·
Interesting to hear about the Echo BMS related failures. Which series was that (they have/had a bunch of various lines)? We don't get many battery users at a large scale so your experience would be welcome.

For battery tracking, I know Stihl has Bluetooth connectivity and stats on their newer ap500s battery, and then you can also get the "smart" sensors that attach to certain AP battery tools to track runtime/performance of individual units. Stihl is claiming triple the lifeycle of a standard 21700 cell configuration with the ap500s (using pouch cells I believe).
 
T
#29 ·
My dealer says these are the future.

Her sells them on consignment, did not have to ink papers or buy stock. They’re just trying to get on shelves right now.

www.kress.com

Home

Today traditional brands, urged by the growing environmental awareness, are adding cordless models to their core range of petrol tools.
www.kress.com www.kress.com
 
#31 ·
Not sure how successful that line is going to be. The tool pricing is normal compared to competition, but the batteries and chargers have a huge premium for their fast charge capability. 550 Euros for a 240Wh battery pack, 779 Euros for their dual sequential AC charger and a whopping 10,499 Euros for the DC charger with integrated 5kWh of battery storage that you need to get to their claimed 8 minutes of charge time for the small pack. Their AC charger can do it in 12 mins so not a huge delta there.

Image


Image


Image
 
Q
#32 · (Edited)
For all of these the proof will be in the pudding; 1) How well do the tools do their jobs, 2) How well do the batteries hold up over time, and 3) Can I have the tools I need without having more than one battery system.

Our experience with EGO batteries has been good, tools are overall OK except the mower which is the worst mower I've ever used - it has zero suction / uplift. Their design engineers clearly don't have a clue what they're doing. Will there be a need for push mowers in the future though?

Burned twice by Echo, once w/ gas a couple of decades ago and a big burn by their awful battery system - quality is clearly not job one (or two or three) for them. Never again.

Oregon, Kress, Husqvarna, Stihl, Deere and Toro will all be interesting to watch.

My son just did his first Husqvarna robomower install. Trimming, leaf blowing, small discontiguous grass plots and a few other things need to be done by hand but he doesn't see any future for humans mowing most grass - robomowers will do a better job for less money. Many people will buy their own but some will opt for robomower-as-service along w/ other yard services. These do not need to have the same battery system as other tools.
 
Q
#33 ·
I think something like what Stihl are doing for tracking battery data w/ BT is critical for commercial battery systems and highly desirable for consumer.

Companies with poor quality products will not want to do that though as it will expose their problems. Companies who produce good quality products won't have a problem with it.

BTW, one thing that really irritated us w/ EGO is that the batteries that come w/ the tools don't have a good level indicator while paying their exorbitant price for an individual battery does have something. My guess is the cost difference is about $1. Including a BT app might increase costs by $2. EVERY battery from EVERY mfr should have a BT or similar monitor built in that provides detailed status and tracking data.
 
#34 ·
QuincyTundra said:
I think something like what Stihl are doing for tracking battery data w/ BT is critical for commercial battery systems and highly desirable for consumer.

Companies with poor quality products will not want to do that though as it will expose their problems. Companies who produce good quality products won't have a problem with it.

BTW, one thing that really irritated us w/ EGO is that the batteries that come w/ the tools don't have a good level indicator while paying their exorbitant price for an individual battery does have something. My guess is the cost difference is about $1. Including a BT app might increase costs by $2. EVERY battery from EVERY mfr should have a BT or similar monitor built in that provides detailed status and tracking data.
Click to expand...
Wow no charge level indicator on the bundled batteries is just shameful for EGO.

I think if you have a large fleet of equipment I haven't seen anything to compare to Stihl Connect, I didn't realize they make sensors for gas powered machines as well. I may get a couple for my br800s and 94rs. For a small outfit can just use the app on smartphone and then larger companies could put a connect box on each enclosed trailer/truck and then one back at the shop so the maintenance manager etc knows where the equipment is and their status at a glance.


Image
 
L
#35 ·
I just came in from an hour of weed eating around the property with the ego ST1524.

It is very strong with great speed control for around siding and chainlink fences. The auto load is awesome. No fuss no muss. Pop the battery on and go to town. Massive torque. Quiet.

Sure I have grass all over me when I'm done, but I don't stink like two cycle oil or gas when I'm done. No oil or grease soaked into my hands, under my nails, in my clothes.

These are definitely worth it.
 
#36 ·
lil SIG said:
I just came in from an hour of weed eating around the property with the ego ST1524.

It is very strong with great speed control for around siding and chainlink fences. The auto load is awesome. No fuss no muss. Pop the battery on and go to town. Massive torque. Quiet.

Sure I have grass all over me when I'm done, but I don't stink like two cycle oil or gas when I'm done. No oil or grease soaked into my hands, under my nails, in my clothes.

These are definitely worth it.
Click to expand...
I guess I've never been soaked with oil and grease from running a trimmer. Or never really smell like 2 cycle eather.
 
T
#39 ·
Don’t know about the smell thing but on a hot summer day would much rather grab a battery trimmer than gas.

I know some of you kids have gas trimmers that always start first pull, pleasantly vibrate, emit tranquil guttural sounds and never have carb or exhaust port issues; you could bypass battery units and not miss a thing.
 
T
#42 ·
^^^^ total bunk. I’ve run gas trimmers for 30 plus yrs and have owned more than 50 units.

batt are just better. Push button start, no carbs, less vibration and noise, instant WOT, no idling between trim spots

sure There’s negatives. They don’t replace +25cc trimmers. But for weekly type mow blows battery is far superior.
 
#46 ·
The thing is. I'm not at all apposed to batt equipment.
But for government to mandate the end of gas equipment in only 21 more months is total crap.
Here in MN starting Jan 1st 2025 no more sales of any gas equipment under 25 hp.
How many batteries will it take to trim 2500 headstones at one of our cemeteries? Also we trim several miles of chain link each week.
Let the market mature as it will.
Nobody Had to force people to buy cars. Market forces work.
 
T
#44 ·
Yea. You can’t let out as much line without losing torque so they not good on overgrown turf.

I carry gas and batt. Batt get 95% of use after spring growth as all our stuff is weekly there’s rarely overgrowth.

running .080 line on bat units helps, especially if you running no guards
 
Lawn Care Forum
posts
7.2M
members
230K
Since
1999
A forum community dedicated to lawn care and landscaping professionals and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Lawn Mowing Pesticide & Herbicide Application 🔧 Mechanic and Repair Business Operations Lawn Mowing Equipment