Heads up, noob question coming. I talked to a couple of Ryobi Customer Service for other reasons and they mentioned to me that I should ALWAYS plug in the RM480ex mower to the charger 24/7/365 when not in use. However, I have heard from someone else who also has owned his mower for a couple of seasons and says that I should NEVER plug in my mower 24/7. He recommended that during the mowing season to always charge to full after use and then unplug from charger after fully charged. And then during off-mowing season, use plug in timer and set it up so that it turns on the charger 4 hours twice a week. He's also using PowerPulse. Those are 2 very different information, ALWAYS plugged in to the charger vs. intermittent charging. Which would you recommend?
Hi Joe You have run smack into the ongoing scientific debate of what is the best way to charge a Pb FLA / AGM battery. One group of manufactures / scientists will say to "exercise" the battery by charging it up and slowly draining it back down to 50% then charge it back up again, day after day month after month, this is referred to as.... 1. Bulk, Finish, Discharge cycle, (this is generally considered a 2 stage charger with a discharge cycle). There are another group of Manufactures and Scientists that say you should never discharge your battery unnecessarily, their recommendation is an additional float cycle built into the charger. 2. Bulk, Finish, Float with NO discharge cycle, (this is generally considered a 3 stage charger). Both of these charging systems have valid points and so the scientific debates will continue at nauseum but only recently has there been a 3rd charging option that no-one seems to be talking about. 3. Bulk, finish, float, pulse. I prefer option 3 but you will have to decide for yourself which option is best for you. as a side note: FLA and AGM batteries loose approximately 3- 5 % of their charge per month due to normal internal current leakage so according to the Ryobi mower manual for long term storage you need to top up your batteries every 30 to 60 days to keep them from going dead This again is the homeowner / equipment owners responsibility.
@@solarbrianyvonne , Wow! I was wasn't expecting that level of detail to my question. Thank you very much for taking the time to give such a thoughtful answer. I am now googling like crazy these terminologies you have introduced. While you have provided a lot of information, it also raised a few other questions. So going back to your response. I think I have decided that I fall into the camp of keeping and using the charger that came with my mower because I just recently bought mine and therefore still have a year of warranty left so might as well take advantage of it. Anyway, let me summarize what you are suggesting: During Mowing Season: 1) After each use, plug to recharge ASAP until full. 2) Once full, unplug from charger and keep off charger. During low use season (long term storage): 1) Leave mower off of charger. 2) Top off battery very 30 to 60 days but unplug from charger when battery is full. Does that match what you are suggesting? If so, I am assuming that it's ok top off the battery prior to each mowing as well, for example, plugging in to the charger the night before I mow?
I do not ever weeky or monthly charge40v. But 40v have a button checker and when I see each 40v low I do charge that one to full charge. I keep all my 40v fully charged all year long. I guess to do that with a RYOBI 48V Brushless 30 in. 50 Ah Battery Electric Rear Engine Riding Mower You need to some how disconnect all the batteries and test each battery which is a pain but IMO will extned the life of RYOBI 48V Brushless 30 in. 50 Ah Battery Electric Rear Engine Riding Mower
This is a very sturdy and well built mower. I thought I wouldn't like the foot operated speed control but after one use th-cam.com/users/postUgkxTZSPVwJFBv2hORqhQamtxi-tAe5K2EtC , I can't believe I ever had one without it. It drives like a car with an automatic transmission. Easy to adjust mowing speed according to grass depth/thickness. I have yet to get used to the long throw of the blade engagement lever but kind of get why it is that way. It allows you to hold mowing for short moments if you need. The engine seems very substantial and the frame has very little flex, both adding up to an impressive package. All my previous tractors were 18 to21 hp with 42in decks. This one is 23/46. I mow about 1.5 acres about every 5 days here in Alaska and that mowing time has been reduced by about 20%, partly due to the very tight turning radius. No loop arounds lol. Hour meter, cruise control, reverse mowing capability,deck cleanout and easy assembly all add up to a very well thought out tractor.
This is a great video instruction for the very complicated task (to me) of testing and replacing the batteries. The batteries on my Ryobi riding mower began to fail after only 17 months. The authorized service dealer was 40 miles away, and had a well-earned bad reputation. It was a logistical challenge to bring the mower to the dealer before the warranty ran out, but I managed. The dealer very likely did nothing (besides saying they "checked the batteries.") So now I pay someone to mow my yard and the Ryobi mower sits, connected to its trickle charge, the batteries slowly draining (at less than half power now). New batteries plus installation will cost $1000. Once again, I commend the makers of this excellent video for their attention to detail. But elsewhere on TH-cam there are many warnings about NOT buying this Ryobi riding mower, because of this common battery problem, and I wish I had watched them FIRST!
Hi Chris I got 5 years out of my 1st set of batteries but I did throw away the charger that came with the mower and bought a desulfator charger system to make the batteries last longer. Kind Regards
Thanks for taking my fear out of buying one of these mowers. Once I saw how easy it was to service the heart of the machine I was able to buy one. Thanks also for the tip about the Power Pulse. My other fear was the expense of battery replacement and now I know how to maximize their service life. Thank you for making the effort to help me with this.
@@BarryMikkelsen Hi Barry , good question, Lithium is great for certain applications (smart phones or small power tools) but because I use this mower to push snow ( with the snow blade attachment) @ - 20c or -4F Lithium is a definite no go as the cells would be destroyed being charged or discharged at that temperature, So for now PB AGM is my only choice.
Such a well done video - thank you both. In 2019 we got our RM480EX with the 100ah batteries. Used to be able to mow our 1.25 acre yard (on an incline) easily on one charge and suddenly this year it needs multiple charges to get through the same chore - the drop off was very sudden. The battery indicator says it is charging to 100%. I tested the batteries using this video as a guide and all 4 are between 12.97V-13.27V and 710-769CCA -- none of which seems like an outlier or needing replacement at this point. (And the batteries have never drained to zero or anything - plugged in all winter with temps always above 10 F.) Bottom line, all of those readings seem pretty healthy so rather than replacing the batteries I got the Powerpulse and have been using that but with no improvement so far. Re-reading more comments here, I noticed that you mentioned letting the Powerpulse "bang away" on the batteries for 5+ weeks straight to actually desulphate. Right now where we live we need to mow every 5-6 days so that's not an option. Would you expect to see improving battery life with only a few days between using the batteries or will I need to wait until the fall before I can really see if the powerpulse is working? Thanks for any advice (or questions)! This comment video and comment thread is a gold mine.
Hi Andrew clean your deck after each mow and keep your blades sharp. ( sharp enough to cut your finger if you run your hand on the edge of the blade) if your deck is not clean and smooth underneath so the grass can exit easily out of the chute and or if the blades are dull the mower will consume huge amounts of power trying to do just that. more power consumed means less cut time. I sharpen and balance my blades every 5 hours of cutting and clean my deck with a plastic spatula ( plastic drywall mud spreader ) after each cut.
This is super helpful, videos like this are the main reason I ever got on TH-cam to begin with. Thank you sir! My batteries don’t go to 100% after 3.5 years so I need to look into that device you mentioned, I have no expertise in this area. Last note, I hope someone figures out something for the battery because if you saved on mower maintenance over 5 years only to spend 1.2k for batteries then what was the whole point to begin with...all savings out the door in one shot.
A properly maintained ( not abused ) VLRA deep cycle battery will last quite some time 6 + years ( i am on year 5 already) . VLRA batteries DO NOT last long if you leave them in a discharged state for long periods of time, this will drastically shorten their life cycle. Keep them charged up every day. For longer life cycle only use 50% of the battery capacity , this will increase your over all cycle life.
Thank for the battery charger idea. I cleaned all electrical cables and connectors. Now it works. The batteries were fully charged 12.93 volts so they didn’t need the trickle charge. Who knows what the problem was. But it works. Thanks again for the great information.
thank you for demystifying this process! i am on year 3 of my zero turn mower. I haven't had any battery issues yet, but i'm sure they will come eventually. i've bookmarked this page for the future!
I ordered my new batteries from Home Depot. I got 3 mighty max 100ah batteries. I followed your directions step by step everything was going fine until I noticed that the previous owner had replaced the batteries with much larger batteries. They were 13 inches long mine were 12 inches. To put the larger batteries in it was necessary to remove the front stop on the battery carriage and reduce the back adjustment to 1 inch. This caused the long center bolt nut to center on the nut in the frame. I installed a 1 inch stop in front of the frame and needed to purchase 2 inch bolts for the back adjustment (metric bolts). To my surprise the center bolt just slipped into place. This was the only problem I encountered. Mower now seem to be working fine. I took you 27 minutes to do this project on your video. It only took me 4 hours. Hopefully I'm old enough that I won't have to do this again. If I do I'm sure I could cut the time in half. Thanks for the great video Bruce
Thank you for the video and for your PowerPulse recommendation. I purchased the PowerPulse for my Ryobi. It gets a bit warm. Does yours get a bit warm too?
Hi Victor your welcome... Yes it will get a tiny bit warmer than the surrounding air, nothing is 100 % efficient so there will be a small amount of energy converted to heat as it bangs away at the sulphur. as long as you keep it plugged in to the charger to keep the batteries topped up it will be ok. Thanks for stopping in.
We’re Just about to Buy one of these and this video was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for taking the time to share it’s much appreciated.🤘👊
Hi Clint We got 5 years out of the batteries ( with a desulfator ) and lots of great service , we will be replacing the batteries next year . I ended up throwing out the charger it came with because it was only a 2 stage charger, it works ok but I opted to buy a smart charger 5 stage with pulse tech built in.
Thanks for this. Had to charge my batteries separately due either to bad port or charger. So it was nice to see how to get batteries out and back in again. Parts on back order so this was very helpful.
I had a battery cell go dead in my 2-year-old Ryobi. Thanks to this video, I pulled the batteries, tested them all, and ordered a replacement for the bad one. I couldn't have done it without you, my friend - thanks so much!
Thank you for the video, I just had my batteries replaced under warranty and was able to follow along step=by-step.. It made the daunting task much easier! Taking my time it took my an hour and a half to swap out the old ones with the new! THANK YOU!
Did you have to pay half for your new battery’s? I just checked they said they would pay half of what I will have to pay to replace the batteries. Just wondering.
I found my way here after seeing your beeper suppressor video. Thank you for that! I'm hoping I won't need to replace my batteries any time soon. I only run it for about an hour a week so I should be good for a long time.
Indeed, 1 hour per week should give you a very long service life. My (FLA) off grid batteries that run my farm are rated for 18 years of service, I would estimate (with proper battery care) you should get 8 years or better on your mower batteries. Keep them plugged in and charged up 24/7 . Thanks for stopping in.
@@solarbrianyvonne What am I doing wrong then? I purchased my mower in 2016, and I followed the recommendations that you are only supposed to let the batteries get 1/2 drained before plugging them in again. That took up the first whole season, since I use the mower infrequently. The next season, I couldn't even mow my whole lawn before the batteries went dead, and my lawn is less than 1/4 acre. Of course, by then, the batteries were no longer covered by the 1 year warrranty. So after only 2 seasons of use, I was already looking at having to buy new batteries. I let it limp along and only mowed for about 20 minutes, then recharged, until this year, the batteries must be completely dead, because my battery charger won't even light up anymore. I have been seriously disappointed with this purchase. However, your video is absolutely fantastic, and I'm considering getting new batteries for my POS Ryobi, and if I do so, I want to ensure that the new ones last as long as possible.
@@TheSquirrelMommy Hi Mommy I cant say specifically what is wrong with your mower but I would test the batteries individually with a decent tester and see where they are, perhaps you have 1 poor battery and the other 3 are ok ? The batteries could all just be sulphated and need to be de-sulphated with a power pulse de-sulphator 12 volt charger.
@@TheSquirrelMommy you say “that took up the whole first season”. Do you mean you didn’t charge the mower at all during the first season you had it? Did you have it plugged in at all when you weren’t using it? If you did not charge it at all for your first season or when you weren’t using it that may be why the batteries are now bad. Like he said in this video these batteries need to be stored at full charge when not being used to extend the life of them.
Thank you so much for the much needed information ! I have the same mower Ryobi 38 inch 75 AH since 2018. I used the tester you suggested and 3 batteries work but require replacement. I looked on APEX and the one they advertise to use to replace the original 75AH battery is APX12 -100S , the terminals are flush like the original Leoch. Would this be a good choice? The shipping is crazy at 80$ but price is per battery is cheaper than going through Ryobi plus the fact that they do not have any available until late July. Also is it ok to replace two of the three bad batteries until I can afford the others? Thanks again!
Thanks so much for this video. I just purchased a PowerPulse. Do I need to disconnect all the battery terminals before installing it or am I safe to simply install on the two front posts while everything is connected in series? Trying to live long enough to mow again.
Hi Oliver Your last comment makes me thing you are a cancer survivor! Awesome! Yes It is safe to just pull the battery bank out and connect it up to the two front posts as long as you purchased the 48 volt powerpulse model . (Red on positive 48v and black on negative 48v ) Two things I didn't mention in the video is the power pulse draws a tiny bit of power all the time just as the main computer ( ECU) does on your car, you have to drive your car at least once a week to keep the battery charged up or eventually your car battery will be dead, likewise you need to keep the mower charged up 24/7 or the power pulse will drain the battery. 2. The power pulse may slightly change the battery meters readings. Once installed the powerpulse may cause the battery charge indicator on the mower to read 1 bar higher than the actual battery level, not a bad thing but just keep that in mind as you are mowing.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks! Definitely not a cancer survivor. Definitely afraid of electrocution. 48 volt PP in hand, schedule to install this afternoon. Thanks a million for your gift to the internet!
Thank you for this video. I used it to remove the batteries and bring them into a heated place for the winter and will continue to do this annually (and then reinstall them). You got a new subscriber out of me.
Great instructions. Can I meter the fuse? I think I don’t need to ga as far of removing the batteries to trickle charge. A section of our shed roof slid down and the seat of the mower was wet too. Busy weekend it’s going to be. Thanks again for your input.
LOVE this video! Thank you so much. I have a question. I am at year three on my batteries. I am at 50% max on my display after a long charge. Do you think the PowerPulse would be a next step instead of new batteries? I read some comments below and you mentioned you went to 75% after the PowerPulse. Thanks for the video, thanks to your camera operator who had great comments too and thanks for your great attention to detail.
Hi Donn , The camera operator was my wife and I agree she did a great job! All Lead acid batteries do suffer from sulphation crystals that form on the plates. This sulphation does eventually reduce the plate area that is available for the acid to react with the plate, ( thus the reduced charge and discharge power available ) even your car battery has the same problem. You will first have to determine if your batteries are VRLA glass matt or( VRLA gell cell, sometimes called Dry cell ) Glass matt can be desulphated.....Gell cell cannot. The battery manufacture and type is stamped on the outside of the battery. Once you have figured that out you can weigh the cost of a desulphator like the one I show in the video for about 50 bucks and try it as an experiment, or the cost of new batteries will run you about 200 bucks each depending on where you live. Personally I think desulphators are worth the purchase price.
@@solarbrianyvonne I have a similar question. I also have one of these Ryobi RM480e riding lawnmowers. In order to install the 48 amp PowerPulse, do you have to go through all of the steps and unhook everything, or can you just unhook the main power, pull the battery bank out, install the PowerPulse, and then simply put everything back and plug the mower back in to charge again? I have used approximately 62 hours on mine, and I keep it plugged in all of the time when it is not in use. It is kept in an insulated -- but not heated -- garage. As far as I can tell, it still charges to 75% (two bars unlit) when unplugging the unit for use and then turning it on. My next question is: When it is time to replace the batteries, can they be replaced with four Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) 75 or 100 amp hour batteries. According to the Ryobi website, they come with four Leoch model LPC12-75 batteries. www.ryobitools.com/products/details/46396016584 I bought mine at least three or four years ago and I want to make sure it is maintained.
@@okielawyer5990 Hi Okie If you install the power pulse you will need to disconnect main power and the 24 volt sense wire, slide the batteries out and connect the PP, you dont need to remove the batteries. Yes you could replace the battery pack with LiFeP04 but buyer beware 1. LiFP04 batteries cannot function in cold or hot climates do not use the mower if you live in a colder climate 32 F or -0 C or you will destroy the batteries. 2. LiFeP04 batteries will cost twice the price of AGM VRLA 3. Make sure you get 4 identical 12 volt drop in replacement LiFP04 with built in BMS or you will start a garage fire using the existing charger. I abandoned the original charger it came with and instead I use a ( battery saver 48 volt from amazon) it has a built in pulse technology and doesn't cycle the batteries as much as the original charger does , it also has a float mode to help with battery maintenance .
Brian, thanks for the video. I have the Zero Turn version of the Ryobi Mower. The battery set-up on yours looks virtually the same (mine is 100Ah version). I was told that cold was problematic for the batteries, but you say otherwise. My intent was to pull the batteries out and store them inside. I was told by Ryobi that I would need to trickle charge them once I did that. When I pulled out the battery compartment I thought the better of the removal and pushed it back in and reconnected everything, the machine would not light up. I'm sure I, or a service provider will figure that out, but you're saying that you have had no problem with very cold temps (I'm in MA and we rarely get below zero). So sounds like Ryobi gave me incorrect information on winter storage. I don''t want to screw up a $3800 machine!
Hi Ken The Ryobi uses an AGM battery, the chemistry and mechanical design is well suited for cold usage and storage. At -40F you will see a degradation in the Amp Hours but once they warm back up to room temp the internal Chemistry also returns to normal with a complete restoration of the Amp Hours, that said all batteries leak charge internally. If you take a look the next time you buy some double AA's in the store you will read on the packaging a best before date, that's because they leak charge internally. Ryobi also sells a snow blade attachment for snow removal on driveways and such for the same electric mower... if the batteries could not handle negative temps then the engineers have shot themselves in the proverbial foot for encouraging thousands owners to use the machine in the dead of winter pushing snow and ice. I think the person who told you that the AGM batteries cant get cold was misinformed and may have been thinking of the Ryobi tools that use the Lithium technology, Lithium is extremely sensitive to hot and cold temps and major damage can occur even if you just charge them up when they are below freezing. FLA's leak about 5% of their power each month so if you parked your car with a brand new battery for 12 months it would be pretty much dead a year later if you tried to start it. If the sales person also encouraged you to use a 12 volt car charger , this is also a misinformed comment because a car charger will reach 14.7 volts max to charge up a typical car battery, where as an AGM battery cannot be charged go over 13.5 volts or internal damage will occur. I recommend leaving the batteries in the machine and plugged in to the Ryobi charger keeping them topped up continuously at the correct voltage, this will be the easiest storage solution for you and you don't have to buy another AGM charger. There is tonnes of Data on AGM battery technology out on the internet and I would encourage you to do little research on your own to confirm my information. All the best
@@solarbrianyvonne Brian, Thank you! I’m disappointed with the bad advice I received from Ryobi! Hopefully I can get them to cover the service call to get it running. Then I’ll stick it in my shed and not worry about it. Funny thing is a rep from Ryobi sent me the link to this video!
@@solarbrianyvonne Ryobi tells me that they use a SLA, not AGM type batteries. Are they much different in terms of cold resistance? I can't seem to find accurate information about the differences between the two.
@@kenwilliams4716 Hi Ken My apologies Ken I used the wrong acronym... to keep us on the same page here is the technical definition. SLA ... Gel... dry cell... Starved electrolyte... Membrane.... and AGM batteries are all apart of the same family, their design was to make the traditional flooded lead acid maintenance free so there is no liquid sloshing around, so no matter which battery you are talking about it involves 2 lead plates plus some companies secret sauce technology. With SLA they mix sulphuric acid with a silica-gelling agent converts liquid electrolyte into a paste . With AGM (absorbed glass-mat) batteries, they use Ultra-thin glass fibres soak up all the electrolyte (water and sulphuric acid) into thin pillows cushioning the lead plates. The AGM carries its charge in soaked glass fibre sponges coating the lead plates. Reliable data on how these batteries react to cold weather is surprisingly hard to find so I am going to have to give you some common ground info... The great news is that unless the batteries are physically frozen (which does not happen until about -75F or -60C, for a fully charged battery) they will regain their full capacity once they are warmed up again. By most metrics, AGM/SLA batteries are not much better in cold weather than flooded FLA cousin. (AGM) and (SLA) batteries can for the most part be lumped together because they have somewhat similar characteristics, YES there are differences between them, i'm not saying there isn't, ( and im probably going to get a few negative comments from other people now that i have said that) but each manufacture has their own secret sauce big mac ingredient that will bump up one number or change one parameter compared to the next, so the best place to find out the differences is to contact the manufacture and read their data on their battery. Charging all VRLA batteries should be done slowly, with a 2 or 3 stage charger. It is recommended to use a charger, current limited to 20% or 0.2C of the batteries capacity, It is not recommended to charge them on a big old regular car charger because the charge current can exceed 0.2C of the rated capacity. If you are looking for a superior battery performance in cold conditions I would turn your attention to the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery... they are very good at deep cycle -40 F scenarios .
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for all the great information in your video and especially the comments section. One thing to note regarding LiFePo (or LFP for short) batteries is that you accurately note the discharge and storage temperature minimum but you should also mention that they CANNOT be charged below +32°F (0°C) and to be safe should probably be at least +35°F when charging. To do so at that cold temperature would actually kill the battery so don't even attempt it. LFP batteries will work for those that only store their mower in a very cold shed and do not charge it over the winter. They can be stored at -40°F but do NOT charge it. What's good is that they have a low discharge rate at rest and should be fine left disconnected from a charger for a few months at a time through winter. They can also be discharged below 50% SoC without harming them so a comparably sized battery can run longer than the OEM battery.
Brian/Yvonne, thanks for the great video. I have the same Ryobi lawn mower, which I purchased in 2017, and the batteries have started to die their slow death. The lawn mower has less than 40 hours total runtime on them and I live in Central NYS, where it gets quite cold in the winter. Unfortunately, last winter the plug to the charger got dislodged and it sat for a week or two (maybe more) without being trickle charged. The charger still charges them up and the onboard meter goes all the way to 100% (blue), but I can only get about 25-30 minutes runtime now. I recently and found your video to learn how to take it apart and test them and recently purchased a car battery tester on Amazon. Each battery is around 30-35%-ish state-of-health (SOH) (assuming 900 CCA), and registers at about 310-340 CCA or so. The tester says "Replace" for each of them. Luckily, they all seem to be in the same ball park and not unbalanced. I've done some research online for replacements and it appears the Mighty Max 75ah and 100ah batteries would work, as the Leoch brand is pretty hard to find in stock. But before I drop $600-$700 on a new set of batteries, I was wondering if a $60 40v Power Pulse could at least improve things a bit. I figure spending 10% of the cost of new batteries for a month-long experiment (Amazon's return window) wouldn't hurt. What do you think? Do you suspect my batteries are at least somewhat recoverable and would I see much improvement in 30 days? Thanks in advance for your reply and thoughts on the matter!
Hi Shannim Based on how you have already done some diagnostics , it sounds like you would then just be dealing with a sulphation issue, however it may take more time than 30 days to see a noticeable result. I had a 12 volt unit on one battery (in the video) for at least a month to bring it back to life because it wasn't responding to the 48volt one ( the one battery had too much internal resistance ) The 12 volt one did its job and I then I removed it and installed the 48 volt I put my first PP on at about the same time (hours on the meter) as you, and found a reasonable payback in total Ah, I think I gained about 25% Ah . They also have a 12 v car trickle charger pulse unit that may be more beneficial to you as you can use it to charge up / desulphate your car / truck batteries as well. ( you would have to do 1 battery at a time.)
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for the response! Out of curiosity, what is considered a high internal resistance? I forget exactly what mine were exactly, but I seem to remember they were in the range of 7-13.x mohms. The spec sheet for the original Leoch says it should be approximately 6.6 mohms. Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the 48v PowerPulse tonight. Hopefully it arrives before the weekend.
@@shannim5 Yes you are correct the Leoch is rated for 6.6 m-ohms when new. I didn't actually measure the resistance , I just noted that one battery after weeks of testing with the foxwell was not happy like the rest of them. Just like on sesame street song ( which one of these is not like the other) . An FLA or VRLA 's internal resistance ( if all goes well ) stays relatively flat during its service life , temperature, state of charge, Liquid levels, plate degradation , plates that are shorted internally within the cell and plate sulphation will all play a role in how it reads and probably a few other things that I can t remember at them moment . I am hoping your problem is only sulphation . A few times per year we have to "equalize " our off grid battery bank, Cells go off on their own and do their own thing I don't yet understand why but they just do. You would think Lead is Lead and acid is acid with all the cells connected in series what could possibly go wrong? LOL They require a hard charge of 1 volt above the normal rating for 60 minutes, This hard charge is definitely hard on the battery and causes micro flakes of lead to just pop of the plates and fall to the bottom of the battery becoming a sludge at the bottom, as harsh as it is , it does bring all the cells back into similar charging and discharging characteristics. As a side note I am going to be experimenting with adding aluminum sulfate solution to the cells of other FLA batteries i have in the shop to see how they respond , I have been told by changing the chemistry of the cell it eliminates the sulfate problem but lowers the working voltage and charge voltage by 1 volt. so a 12 volt battery becomes an 11 volt battery but can now be discharged down to 9 volts without hurting the cells.. Should be an interesting experiment.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for all the info! Just so I understand correctly, after I hook up the 48v Power Pulse "permanently" to the battery pack... should I leave the lawnmower unplugged and let the PP discharge the battery while it is desulphating the pack and doing its thing, or will it also work with the lawnmower plugged into the OEM charger? If I leave the lawnmower unplugged, for how long?
@@shannim5 Hi Shannim That is a good question. ALL FLA and VRLA batteries require the battery to remain charged up all the time... if you leave the battery discharged for prolonged periods of time ( days or weeks) the battery will fail prematurely, so you have to keep it plugged in all the time to the charger when you are not cutting grass, 24/7 , 365 The Powerpulse is a desulphator not a battery charger. The power pulse will use or consume a little bit of battery energy at 48 volts then on each pulse and bump up the voltage and slap the battery with this higher voltage helping to remove any built up sulfate crystals, but there are internal losses that occur when you convert energy from one voltage to another voltage, so the power pulse will eventually drain the battery. So what I would do is install a desulphator and keep the pack charged up all the time. The best solution is to purchase a 48v charger desulphator that does both... charges up the battery and keeps the battery in float mode and at the same time pulses the battery, My unit is 5 years old already and does not pulse the battery so I added it as an after market item. I would be interested to find out if the new mower chargers pulse the battery ? but I have no way to find that out .
The Ryobi website had numerous reviews on it for this mower. Many other people have had the same issues with battery degradation as I have, but all those reviews (both good and bad) have been removed. I purchased this mower in September of 2019. Initially the mower was great for my .75 acre yard. I was able to mow the yard and have about 50% battery remaining. I've always kept the mower parked in my 3 car garage, always plugged in when not in use. Starting around July of 2020 I started not being able to mow my yard on a single charge. I reached out to Ryobi and was told to clean under the deck. I did this and was again able to mow on a single charge, but just barely. Around Jan of 2021 it became increasingly difficult to mow my grass. It now takes 3 charges to get through my .75 acre yard. After filling out my last review, Ryobi reached out, asked when I had bought my mower, and then informed me that because it was more than a year old they could not help me, but they have ordered more batteries, they'd be arriving in August or September. But until then I'm out of luck. I believe that when I initially called and reported a problem, (which there is plenty of history of other users reporting) I should have been covered under the warranty. I believe Ryobi purposely tried to delay dealing with my issue until the mower was out of warranty. I cannot advise you strongly enough to avoid this mower. I now have a $4000 mower, that can't mow my yard, and can't get batteries for to fix. Its also very shady that my previous negative review along with everyone else’s reviews are now missing from the Ryobi website.
Hi Andrew , I cant speak to the problems you are experiencing with ryobi but I do believe you, and your comment wont be deleted from our channel . Electric cars do have a hefty battery replacement cost, some are as low as $13,000.00 US and some go much higher, at today's gas price you can buy a lot of gas for that kind of money. I am pretty sure when it comes time to replace the EV battery pack, most people will instead buy a petrol car. The electric battery replacement for my wife's EGO chainsaw is $350.00 bucks , somewhat painful to buy a new replacement but she likes the saw and enjoys helping me on the farm. Battery technology is not yet up to par compared to what we are all used to when it comes to gas powered mowers, I am on year 5 with our ryobi and yes the mower is starting to show its age and i am only getting 1 hour cutting time down from 2 hours when the unit was new, but I still like the mower and will probably replace the batteries next summer. I am personally waiting to buy an EV for a bit, we have solid state batteries coming out soon and even the sodium battery looks very promising. Our off grid batteries that run our farm are designed to last 18 years, we are currently on year 9 and they are doing very well, that being said 9 years from now I will be in for a sizable replacement cost.
@@solarbrianyvonne I'm no battery newbie. I have 2 tesla cars(a 3 and a Y), 4 powerwalls, and every other lawn tool I own is battery powered (only gas powered item I have is a generator and a pressure washer). If you've ever got questions about Tesla products I'd be more than happy to share my amazing experience with them. I believe that when I first contacted Ryobi with my concerns about my waining battery life that I was intentionally strung along to run out the 1 year battery warranty period only to be denied any assistance. These batteries have been out of stock for more than 6 months, so you can't even buy them if you wanted to. There are a few niche areas of the internet where you can find them for about $200 each, no waranty, plus shipping. (you need 4, so at least 800-$1000). I only have about 50 hours on my mower. Seems a bit steep for only 50 hours of run time. Ryobi and Home Depot's only offer of help is to let me know when batteries are back in stock so I can purchase them on my own. A quick search of the reviews on Home Depot's website will reveal many other people in my same situation.
Great video, thanks for making it. Question regarding the PP, I know it goes to the front battery but do you have to disconnect the back batteries first you install? Also, is it the front 2 batteries? The camera angle wasn't super clear at that part of the video. Thank you
HI TV , yes its on the front 2 batteries , nope you don't need to disconnect the rear batteries, just make sure you test the connection so it reads about 48 volts, if it reads 12, or 24, or 36 volts on the volt meter that would be the wrong spot.
Thanks for the helpful video! I have a question… My batteries are not charging. Same mower but with the 100ah batteries. Tried a new charger but didn’t help. The charger has a solid green light. Is it possible a bad battery would cause it not to charge up?
Hi Jeremy Batteries wont charge if they are too old, if one or more cells have gone bad ( high internal resistance) or if the battery terminals are corroded. On a battery terminal you often will see a Lead terminal with a copper connector, the dissimilar metals will cause corrosion between them hampering or stopping current flow but oddly enough the corrosion will still allow the volt meter to read correctly, so the outward appearance is everything is fine, but the reality is you have corrosion on the posts. Clean the posts and while you are in there load test each battery individually to get a clear indication of how your batteries are performing, then you can make a better decision on what to do next .
Great video. Question: You say keep the batteries fully charged 24/7 but what about power outtages (storm may knock us out for several days to a couple of weeks), or vacations when you're gone for a week or two and you don't want to leave everything plugged in and sucking power (or catching fire)? How long does it take these to discharge if unplugged? Thanks
this is a good question. the charger is designed with a small parasitic drain when unplugged for safety reasons, however if you loose power and leave it plugged in your batteries will be flat in just 3 days, ( because of the drain that's located inside the charger) if you cant guarantee the charger to be energized 24/7 you would be better off to charge the unit up and then unplug the charger from the mower
BTW, thanks for the PowerPulse recommendation. Just ordered one. Is it possible to put that on accessing via the hatch under the seat without taking the entire battery tray completely out?
welcome! ... the terminals you need to connect to are right at the front just behind your legs so there is no way to install it without pulling the battery tray out. its easy, you will be fine.
Yes it is possible. Follow this video and after you disconnect the three electrical connections pull the battery tray back just a little bit which will give you access to the plastic battery cover over the front terminals. Lift the plastic cover and slide it forward and the terminals will be exposed. The cover is not attached to anything and it may fall down on top of the mower deck. Don’t worry it’s easy to retrieve. Now pull the battery tray back a little further to position the terminals in the open hatch area. You now have complete access to the terminals to install the Power Pulse. You do not need to remove the frame that sits on top of the batteries or anything else. Although you will only be pulling the tray back a little bit you still need to disconnect the three electrical connections. And you still want to be careful sliding the battery tray back that the connections don’t get caught it the frame. I’ve done this 3 times so far and it’s getting to be a quick and easy task. Good luck.
Followed the process with new batteries, dead after connecting everything. Put old batteries bask in, same thing. Since a socket arced between two posts assuming there is a dead short somewhere. Any thoughts on what I toasted? Validate all the batteries have charge.
Seeing as you've obviously pulled the mower apart once or twice, have you seen how the internal wiring all connects together? I haven't had a chance to explore mine yet, but I'm keen to find out if I could use the mower as a battery pack in a 48v solar system without modifying the mower wiring. Ie. does the external charger connector go straight to the batteries, or is there some electronics inside the mower that would have to be bipassed?
Hi Nick Yes you could use the the pack for emergency solar power, ( keep in mind ) there is only 3.6 Kw stored internally so you could not run your whole house on it, ( most houses in North America consume 30 to 50 Kw per day) but you could keep a small fridge running during a short power outage or run a few lights / radio. The existing charger does go straight to the battery pack , but wiring would be an issue, its too small of a gauge to run a large DC to AC inverter, its only designed to carry an input current of 48vots DC maxing out at 800 watts, a better option for outbound current would be to buy another DC battery connector ( identical to the one under the seat) and disconnect the mower and connect up the 120v inverter.
@@solarbrianyvonne Nice one, thanks for the info! My idea is not to use it as part of a solar system for the house, I'm more thinking of setting up a shed in the backyard to store the mower to get it out of the garage ;). To avoid running AC out to it though, I'd like to set up a couple of solar panels on the shed and a charge controller to feed directly into the mower batteries. I was also thinking of adding an inverter to hook up some tool battery chargers to keep my other equipment stored out there and charged up too, which should only need to be a relatively low wattage inverter. I only need to use the mower maybe once or twice a months, so shouldn't need a big solar array to charge it up, even if it takes a day or two.
I am replacing my batteries thanks to you. I ordered the 48 Volt PowerPulse it gets here Tuesday. I take it I put the positive on the first battery & the negative on the last battery negative post. Which is the first battery & last battery. Is 1 thru 4 like a U? Thanks
A wonderful video Brian & Yvonne, thank you! I’m sure I could do this now! Just passed 25hrs on mine. Have you performed the 25hr lubrication maintenance? If so, would you care to film a walk-through? Much appreciated!
Hi Mead ! Yes I have done the maintenance, it was a little underwhelming to say the least, there is almost nothing to the 25 hour. The 100 hour maintenance is more involved, batteries removed and topping up the differential fluid or in my case replacing the Diff fluid from standard to synthetic. I have another video recorded about the mower just not edited yet, at the moment I am busy with fixing the combine and finishing our grain harvest, once I am done with that I will add the maintenance routine into the mower video and post it. I think it will be something like "5 important tips to get the most out of your mower" give me a bit of time and I will have it up for you.
@@solarbrianyvonne Hi Brian, I started my third mowing season with my RM480ex. Still working well! Did you produce the video about “5 important tips…”? While I leave my mower plugged in during Winter, I noticed a reduction in battery capacity this year. In previous 2 years it’ll still have 50% capacity after a mow. This year 25%. I’d be interested to know the tester brand & model you showed, battery specs and your source for replacements, and the power pulse battery tender. There are several Ryobi RM videos, but yours was well done by keeping focus on the task with great mechanical and electrical safety tips. Thanks, again.
Thank you so much for this video (and others related to the Ryobi mower). We're on year 3, and we're mowing 2 acres of what used to be a hayfield (so the grass is tough, and long this time of year). I already had the batteries replaced last winter (was only getting 10-15 minutes of use, had a shop in town deal with it), but now I'm ready to do it myself thanks to this video - and I may need to do it sooner rather than later. Even with new batteries, I find that I don't get full use from them. Run time initially was over an hour earlier this spring, but now I'm lucky to get 50 minutes before I'm in the red or the blades stop (due to low power). And that's another thing - sometimes they cut out when there's still 3 bars showing (2 red and one yellow), and yesterday they were still going when I was on the last red bar. And sometimes the blades go and the motor stops, and sometimes the other way around. I am beginning to wonder if the indicator is operating properly and/or the charger is funky. Anyone have any thoughts? And thanks again for a wonderful video!
Hi Mike The battery gauge that comes with the mower is not very accurate , but understanding the battery voltage is critical in the diagnostics of this unit. I would recommend installing 2 extra wires on the battery pack connected at the front 48volt terminals with those two wires RED and BLACK... attach those wires carefully to a DC volt meter ( a volt meter with at least 2 decimal places 48.56 volts for example) charge the unit , place the volt meter on your lap and while cutting grass carefully watch the voltage of the pack... if when you get an error on the mower or it shuts off you must look at the voltmeter on your lap and write down what you see. if the voltage is low example (40.93 volts) then you have a battery problem, if the battery is fine ( voltage normal) but it still shut off... you have a wiring or inverter/ controller problem.
I was thinking about getting one of these, as I have a 21" self propelled Ego mower at the moment. I have little over a half acre of land to mow, so using a push mower is just taking longer than I want to spend now. My question is, how often do you think you have to replace these batteries? And I don't know have a garage to store it in, would a cover suffice through the winter/rain?
Hi Christopher Battery life is dependent on many factors, the more important ones are manufacture, type or cell chemistry, load, depth of discharge and number of discharges. I have managed to get my batteries to last 5 years on this mower, but many have had only 3 years and a few only 1 year ( replaced on warranty) so its impossible for me to say how long yours will last. Snow and out door storage is not a problem as long as you keep it covered and you must buy a battery maintainer like the 48 volt " Battery Saver 2365-48 " on amazon because the charger that comes with the mower may not float the battery properly during off season months. The batteries must remain either under a float charger 24/7 or unplugged and stored in a place that wont freeze and topped up every 6 months with a fresh charge. The battery manufacture will have more specific info on how they should be stored and maintained. Manufacture defects aside, the general rule of thumb is... If you are hard on a battery they will only last a couple of years , if you are gentle on a battery they will last many years.
@@solarbrianyvonne A lot of great information here, thank you! I only mow once a week, but I guess I'd have to keep it plugged in for the 6 days I'm not using it during season. My shed doesn't have electricity running to it, so might not be worth it for me.
Hey folks I have the powerpulse installed is there any benefit to adding a second one on the rear two batteries? also is there any real difference with the optional mulch blades over the original ones?
Hi Darren That is a good question and perhaps better answered by a Power Pulse electrical Engineer. Personally I would say one 48 v unit would suffice as long as the batteries are not too unbalanced. I have no experience with the mulch blade so maybe someone else can answer this question for you.
I'm confused about how you connected the powerpulse, it looks different to me when you are taking out batteries than when you put it back together....so you connect it to the upper 2 terminals closest to the seat? Thanks for the video....
Hi Mark Yes I did make a mistake in the video regarding what you saw. Here is what happened, I had 1 battery that was testing poorly with the foxwell the other 3 were fine, so for a month or two I had put a 12 volt power pulse on one battery to slap it silly and see if it came back into similar charging and discharging characteristics . Then once it was testing similar to the others I put on the 48 v power pulse and removed the 12 v Yes you put the 48 v Power pulse at the top forward position of the batteries where you can measure 48 volts DC with a multi-meter.
@@solarbrianyvonne You should somehow put this in the comments at the start of the video. We are all thinking the same thing haha. Thanks for the video! This is excellent!
Thank you so much for this great video. Can you please confirm if the PowerPulse can be installed through the under seat window without pulling the whole battery bank out? Also, I should be able to install a 48V to 12V DC-DC Converter in a similar way as the PowerPulse, right? I'm thinking of installing a 15-gal 12V sprayer behind the mower seat.
Hi Lino ! that is a great Idea! I can confirm, you must pull the batteries out and remove the upper steel bracket and top plastic covers to have access to the front battery terminals, there is no other way to do it.
@@eggdrunk . I think its a great Idea. You will need to make sure it turns off when not in use otherwise it will drain your batteries and ruin them... just install an on off switch between the batteries and the DC to DC converter. I would shy away from converters that use a voltage regulator to drop the voltage down to 12 volts , A VR uses resistance to bleed off the voltage and it gives off a lot of heat in the process ( very inefficient ) , I would recommend a Step down Buck converter, 48v DC to 12 V DC ( very efficient )
I am curios as to how well your step down converter and PowerPulse is coexisting. I just installed a 48 to 12 step down converter to power a 15-gal 12v sprayer. Convinced by Brian and Yvonne, I am now also considering buying a PowerPulse. The way I installed the step down converter is: negative input wire to the black battery terminal, positive input wire to the main relay, so that when the ignition is off there is no power to the step down converter. I then replaced the USB socket with a cigarette lighter socket which I then connected to the 12v output side of the step down converter. You need to take off the panel on the right side in order to access the main relay, and the converter should be connected to the relay post on the left side. While I am working on the mower, I taped off the beeper thanks again to another video by Brian and Yvonne.
Brian I’m a bit confused hooking up the PowerPulse. I just got one yesterday. I have the exact same rider as you, 100ah batteries. When you hooked up the Power Pulse did you attach the positive red cable to the battery upper left and the negative black cable to the battery upper right? It couldn’t tell clearly. Any help is appreciated. Thank you Eric
ES the 48 volt powerpulse is hooked up to the 48 volt connection points on the top of the battery bank. its the same connection point as the main battery cables going to the chassis
I commented a while ago about battery maintainer. Now I have battery that charges and doesn't show error. But after the charger shows fully charged the battery shows low level in red. I have the mainter permanently attached and always keep mower on the charger. Have couple questions: 1 Anything I could do to fix low charge without replacing batteries 2 If I have to replace batteries any cheaper options that would be as good as oem? Maybe car batteries, aftermarket, etc? I'm handy and could adapt batteries if needed. I need 75ah batteries. Thank you!
Hi Paul the batteries will eventually fail to charge either from being sulphated or from the lead plates being worn out . it may just be one bad cell in one battery... try testing all the batteries isolated separate and see if they all register 13.0 volts if not then its a bad battery. Car batteries are not designed to be deep cycled , their led plates are very thin and will fail very quickly in that environment. your cheapest option for replacement is to use Deep cycle lead acid FLA or AGM anything other than that you will have to also replace the charger adding to the cost.
Hey OneStep, your video is super helpful! I have one of these, and this August while riding, heard a loud thunk almost like a transmission dropping. The mower now has a lot of resistance while pushing it around in neutral which it never had. Mower lights and instruments turn on, but blades dont't spin and can't drive. Followed your video to remove batteries and brought to an O'Reillys where they said all batteries were bad which I'm not sure I fully believe that they're all dead. Ryobi cust service says it could be the transaxle and that the batteries are fine since it turns on. So not sure what to believe. Have any ideas?
Scott As a farmer this is what I would do. with the mower off: check to make sure your brake lock isn't engaged . either you have a bad bearing / or failed axel gear... you could also have a (break pad )drum that had let loose and is binding on the rear axle. lift the front of the machine off the ground and check that the front tires rotate easily, then jack up the rear and check the same, ( the rear tires will have more resistance than the front because of the differential )... listen for noise and watch your other tire... as you rotate one tire backwards the other tire should be rotated forwards on its own. with the mower on : jack up one side of the rear end so one rear tire is off the ground but the other is firmly on the ground, then get on and drive it forward and reverse , does the tire off the ground rotate ? is there any strange noises ? do the same test for the other rear tire. if one tire turns you can investigate the other side ... if nothing turns then get out some tools and check the breaks , take the cover off and make sure they are not binding, if they are then effect a repair, if they are not binding I suspect you need to dig deeper and check the differential . best of luck
I have looked into it and yes it is possible, just the cost of conversion is about 4grand and then having to scrap the charger and buy another LiPo charger would push the cost to expensive for me, but there are lots of guys who pimp out their Golf carts with 48volt LiPo so it would be very similar conversion and probably a fun project.
@@solarbrianyvonne yeah, I agree that it isn't currently economically feasible. Maybe when solid state Lithium batteries are ubiquitous, and pricing drops.
I have to do this today and test all the batteries per Ryobi technical support. My lawn mower will let me engage the blades and while I'm sitting still it will run just fine. The battery indicator says fully charged but then I hit the accelerator and everything stops. When the blades are not engaged I can hit the accelerator and go forward. Do you think it's a battery issue or maybe something with the accelerator pedal?
I know exactly what is wrong! , its called voltage sag! A battery can seem fine from external testing but once put to the test under heavy load it fails . This can also be caused from poor or corroded battery connections. lead acid batteries can indicate fully charged but in reality they have almost no acid left in them or the plates are so sulfated there is not enough plate surface to react with the acid to make electricity. Your batteries have enough power ( current) to accomplish one task at a time but ask it to mow and drive forward is too much for them and the voltage sags low below 43 volts and the system shuts down. test and replace or repair the batteries and try again, also remove all battery terminal post connections and make sure there is no corrosion on the connections.
Great video. Just wanted to mention a small detail (may have been already-didn't check) about the orientation of the hold down frame which is reversible end to end but for one small detail.. If incorrect the bolt hole for the 'plug hold down' will be on he wrong side of the center bolt and unusable. Much to my dismay, discovered this after reloading the bank and bolting it in--would have seen it earlier if I had the video in front of me while working on it.
Great video - Thanks! My 3 year old 38 in 100Ah electric Ryobi riding mower needs to be recharged after just 40 mins of mowing. I'm not sure if I should be buying a Power Pulse or a 12vdc trickle charger to get more run time. What would you suggest?
Hi Todd 40 minutes is getting below 50 % capacity, but still usable. I guess it would depend on the condition of the batteries ( tested with a meter) VS cost of replacement VS if could you still work with a 40 min run time. If the Lead plates are sulphated then a desulphator would be beneficial however if they are just plain wore out then a replacement is the direction you should go. I would test all 4 of the batteries first and get some real data on where they are in terms of AH compared to each-other, perhaps you have a battery or a cell in a battery that is having difficulty , testing would indicate a difference or fault and then make a decision on replacement or a desulphation solution.
@@toddharriett8069 There isn't a proper Deep cycle battery tester on the market that can handle 100Ah test over a C-20 hour time frame, it just doesn't exist, however you can use a car battery tester like the one i have ( foxwell) and with a little math you can find out the approximate values of the battery. You have to mathematically convert AH to CCA... I can help you with that once you get a tester.
@@solarbrianyvonne Great - thanks again. FYI - When I charge the mower the battery indicator level goes all the way to 100% blue bars. It also shows that I have 204 hours on the mower. How many hours of mowing should I expect from the 100Ah batteries?
@@toddharriett8069 That's a difficult question to answer... I will explain.... Most of us change the oil on the car with regularity and fill up the gas tank when empty , its a pre learned thing we all do, but the way we treat batteries is a different story. If you drove your car or truck with the gas peddle smashed all the way down to the floor each day you should expect your engine to be completely burnt out at 20k miles but if you look after your engine and drive it nicely , change the oil regularly you could get 200,000 miles on it. Charge and discharge a battery from 100% to 0 hard each day and you can expect that battery to last 1 or 2 years, but charge and discharge a battery form 100% to 50 % then immediately charge it back up again some magic happens in the battery... it will have a much longer lifespan , 2 X to 3 X more So to answer your question , the lifespan of your battery bank will completely depend on how deeply and frequently you discharge the cells. I am on year 5 on my batteries and they are working very well, that said , I never discharged them past 50% and always kept them charged up 24/7.
Thank you for the informational video. Do you know where I can find the replacement boots for the battery terminals. I broke one of those accidentally and am now stuck. I will truly appreciate any help.
Do you have any recommendations on where to purchase replacement batteries? I have the zero turn 100ah( also looking for cheaper option rather than the $300 ea battery sold by ryobi
Hi Patricia, these screws are a little bit special and need a special adaptor or screwdriver to fit in properly. A Philips screwdriver only has 4 points ..you will need one that has 6 points... It looks like a 6 sided star screwdriver ... ( it is called a TORX screwdriver ) there are many different sizes, if you purchase a set of screwdrivers it will most likely have the one that fits perfectly. Almost any North American hardware store or automotive store has these in stock and can be purchased easily .
@@solarbrianyvonne thank you so much for your quick reply. The batteries on our one year old Ryobi died over the winter. Apparently the charger kicked the circuit breaker and was not charging. We’ve had issues from the beginning with that happening. It has made us second guess this purchase. We want to try trickle charging them and could not figure out how to get the cover off. I bought a Noco genius 2 charger hoping it will work. However it says it charges batteries up to 40ah. I think My batteries are 100ah. There is no way I would even attempt this if it wasn’t for your video.
@@patriciapeel5331 You are welcome ! trickle charge them for only 3 hours at a time, then charge the next battery, once all 4 batteries have been done put the mower back together and plug it in to the Ryobi charger
Thank you for this video, and especially for this comment thread! After all the testing and charging recommended, I also have 1 battery out of balance with the other 3, so of course reduced runtime. This thread has now introduced me to the sulfation issues with these types of batteries, so a lot more internet education, and this thread still has the best straight forward explanations. So my question is with the Powerpulse... I need to focus on my one weaker battery.... when you did this, did you simply hook up the 12v powerpulse on the battery in need of attention and run the mower "as normal?" As in use the mower for the runtime you desire and hook back up to the charger at all times when not in use. Or did you isolate the weaker battery to desulfate with the powerpulse in another way while still being able to use the mower? Or did you wait until the off-season? Or something else? My goal is to continue using the mower for the next 2-3 months without having the pull the batteries out all the time. Then over the winter I'll work on some full reconditioning to hopefully prolong my need to buy new batteries because I've been very hard on these. Following the guidelines in the manual certainly wasn't good enough, but now I feel much more informed even if I have to get a new set of batteries for the spring.
When I focused on the 1 battery I did it during the summer and parked the mower for about a month and hooked up the PP and let it relentlessly bang away at it. I had to beat it back into submission or alignment with the others. We are on year 5 and the batteries are still ok but I think I will replace them next year. I abandoned the original charger in favor of a better one with pulse technology already built in. We live off grid and have learned huge amounts of info on Pb batteries in the last 20 years . Generally speaking those who rely on a Pb battery system have to " equalize " the batteries once a month to keep the internal resistance as close to each other as possible, this allows the bank to charge and discharge to its fullest capacity and since the charger that came with the mower doesn't have an " equalize mode" i opted for a pulse system instead.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks Brian! Yes, I have one battery that I need to "slap silly" as you say. I have had my 100ah rider for a little over 2 years and knew nothing about Pb battery maintenance going in, so I just followed the manual. I have about 2 acres to mow and I was getting the 2-2.5 hours of use brand new, but now know that was not helping my batteries at all, since I went into the red bars on almost every usage. I'm now at about 45 minutes until the red bars, I've pulled the batteries multiple times in the last week or so and desulfated the weaker battery and it's already showing a little improvement to 50 minutes. I still have a decent amount of mowing/leaf mulching season remaining here in middle North Carolina, so my goals are to #1-keep mowing this year & #2-recover the weaker battery to extend my battery replacement by hopefully one more year at least. So my basic plan is to be nicer to the batteries I will plan on about 30 minutes at a time, so likely everyday it doesn't rain. This is about the amount of time it has been taking lately to get to the ~50% range (last green/first yellow bar). If I know I won't be using the mower for a few days, I'll pull the batteries and desulfate the weak battery. I'll continue using the original charger, but will make plans to get one that will pulse in the future. Then over the winter I'll get a 12v powerpulse on the weaker battery to slap it silly while properly keeping the other 3 topped off. If I can get 45-60 minutes of healthy runtime, that is workable for me for next year. I'll make the 30 minutes work for now, but once I get down to that again it will be time for a battery replacement, at which time I'll do all 4 at the same time. At this point my preferred option is the 110ah Mighty Max. For anyone else looking into Mighty Max (they have 100ah and 75ah as well) the best price I've found so far it through them directly, www.mightymaxbattery.com as they have the same price as Amazon and others also with free shipping and you can google search for a coupon code for at least 10% off.
Thanks for this video. I have a ZT 480eX. Have an odd issue. Batteries always show 100% charge, 4.6 hrs . Start cutting grass, in 25 minutes power is down to 70% and the blades stop cutting. If I sit and wait a few minutes, I turn it back on, power usually shows 95 -100%, but only cuts for a few more minutes, then the blades stop. I have had it 11 months. Last year it would run down to 20% charge before the blades stopped. I would cut about an acre. Then recharge overnight and cut the balance . Ryobi sent me replacement motors, then controllers, but no difference. I'm starting to wonder if I have a loose or bad connection, or one or more bad battery. If you have any thoughts, thanks in advance.. Mike
Hi Mike That is a unique problem. The battery gauge that comes with the mower is not very accurate but understanding the battery voltage is critical in the diagnostics of this unit. I would recommend installing 2 extra wires on the battery pack connected at the front 48volt terminals with those two wires RED and BLACK... attach those wires carefully to a DC volt meter ( a volt meter with at least 2 decimal places 48.56 volts for example) charge the unit , place the volt meter on your lap and while cutting grass carefully watch the voltage of the pack... if when you get an error on the mower or it shuts off you must look at the voltmeter on your lap and write down what you see. if the voltage is low (40.93 volts) then you have a battery problem, if the battery is fine ( voltage normal) but it still shut off... you have a wiring or inverter/ controller problem.
@@solarbrianyvonne You nailed it. I hooked up a voltmeter and it started out with 50.2 volts. In 5 minutes, when the blades shut off, it read 40.1 volts. Bad battery or all. I have 52 hours on this. :( Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Warm regards, Mike
Sorry it looks like I'm hijacking this thread, but really, I want to help others with my experience vis the information in this outstanding video! Just wanted to say that the PowerPulse de-sulfurizer really does seem to work! I have had my 480e since early 2017 (so 4 1/2 summers) and my 75ah original batteries had started to be unable to last long enough to mow more than about 1/5 acre. Long story short, after manually charging them/testing them with the Schumacher 1281 charger, I started to get a bit more life out of them, being able to mow about 1/4-1/3 acre max. I will also add that, although capable of de-sulfurizing, the Schumacher has never once shown the '5ul' code to indicate it had detected and switched over to the de-sulfurizing mode. However, after seeing this video, and hearing Brian recommend it, I also added the PowerPulse de-sulfurizer unit in this video (at 13:01-14:00) about a week ago to the system, and left the mower on charge for about 6 days. I just took the mower out for the first time yesterday since installing the PowerPulse, and I was able to mow about 2/3 of an acre! That's quite an improvement, considering the batteries seemed like they were almost at the end of their life cycle. I've plugged in the mower overnight and I'm going to finish the last 1/3 of the lawn today. Perhaps I'll be able to hold off on the battery replacement for another season if things keep going like this. I'll keep you posted! Thanks Brian and Yvonne!
Hi Anubis I have recently found out more information regarding the "float" mode of the charger that came with my mower. ( it doesn't have one! ) I thought I would do some testing with the original charger since lots of People complain that they left it plugged in all winter and in spring the batteries were dead. I don't use the original charger because it consumes 850 watts while charging in bulk mode and that 850 watts is too much for my off grid solar system , instead I use an after market golf cart charger of only 50 watts. There is no float mode with my original charger, there is with all my other chargers but not my original one.... after installing a watt meter I discovered that the charger does a bulk charge and a finish charge then switches off and puts a 5 watt drain on the battery pack even when plugged in to AC!... then once it reaches a certain discharge voltage value??? it charges them back up again, this is why everyone is complaining. The rub is when the charger is left plugged in and then looses AC power ... 2 weeks later ( if you haven't been checking your garage power ) your batteries are stone dead. I will put out another video explaining this and recommending to folks to throw out the original charger and buy an after market one.
@@solarbrianyvonne , first of all, thank you for this awesome video. This gave me the courage to purchase PowerPlus as well. I have a follow up question for you. Have you created the video regarding your recommendation to throw out the original charger? I tried looking for it on your channel but somehow I couldn't find it. Also, if you're taking requests ;), can you please create a separate video to install PowerPulse de-sulfurizer? And another also, do you recommend installing PowerPulse to a brand new Ryobi Riding Mower? I just got mine this week. TIA.
@@joenmoreno I will see what I can do for the first 2 requests , and yes on installing any sort of desulphation system, whether it be the power pulse or a proper battery charger with pulse tech built in . a FLA battery of any sort will start to create crystals on the plates the first day you use them.
Hey thanks for this great video. So I installed the 48v PowerPulse on my Ryobi zero turn just as you show in the video…but the LED does not blink or light up. The battery are 100% charged and I can still mow. Is there something wrong with my power pulse? I checked my connections and red is to positive and black to negative
Thank you for a very detailed video that covers every detail you need to know about replacing the batteries on the e-tractor. My warning to those who have not purchased one of these is that the batteries are hard to find and extremely expensive. Mine lasted 3 years (half the time I was told) and cost $350USD each (incl LTL freight shipping)-more than TWICE what I was told, which I had to have delivered to my work because residential delivery was over $120 more. I tried replacing just one battery, the weakest, with no satisfaction. Home Depot sells the tractor but not the batteries. Just don’t buy one! I should have bought a nice Deere for the money I have put into this fiasco.
Hi Gregg sorry things didn't go so well in your case , Yes you are correct all 4 batteries should be replaced at he same time due to the difference in each batteries internal resistance.
Hello, thank you for this video very helpful! A few questions for you. 1. How do CCA relate to amp hours? I have the 75ah so want to understand how much of that capacity I have left. Is CCA a linear proxy for that? 2. How did you know what your batteries were rated for? 3. The 75ah was plenty to move my property when I first got it but now I wish I got the 100ah just to give myself a bit more leeway. Am I correct in thinking that if I need to replace one battery I can't just get a higher capacity one I'd have to replace all 4?
AH * 7.25 = CCA charge and desulfate each battery individually with a high quality 12 volt AGM charger , then perform a load test on them, once you know the condition of the batteries you can make a better decision moving forward. as batteries age they increase their internal resistance... putting in a new single battery will work, but not perform as you would expect because the other 3 batteries are the weakest link and have the highest internal resistance, the new battery will have a lower resistance placing the battery pack into misalignment , performing an equalization on the pack will help but they will still be slightly out of sync because of their age. an equalization charge can only be performed with a battery charger with that function built in from factory.
We have a newer version of the 100amp Ryobi (2020) zero turn. Will the power pulse need to be placed in the same position in the front two batteries or be placed in the rear batteries? Thanks for any help you can provide. There also is an addtional connection point at rear of mower that needs to be detached before battery removal and with this model it's simpler to place power pulse once batteries are slid nearly all the way back in mower with front battery posts still exposed.
HI Shirley I am not familiar with the new ZT mower , I can tell you the PP is to be installed on a AGM battery at the point where the big wires connect and should read somewhere between 45volts DC to 60Volts DC You can check this with a multi-meter to make sure you have the correct placement one battery cable should be black and one cable should be red Food for thought : I abandoned the original charger for a better one I bought on amazon that has a built in pulse desulfator.
Thank you very much for this video. This should come in handy some day... Today I am looking for a video on what to do about this double red flash on my charger that has my grass getting taller every day... Ryobi manual says, “charge the batteries by another means,” but I’m not sure how to do that. On the hunt for wisdom...
A double red flash indicates the batteries are less than 36 V or more than 67.2 V, or the batteries are too discharged to be charged. Very carefully disconnect the battery bank and test the total voltage with a DC multi meter, should be around 40 to 60 volts Be careful not to short anything out. if its lower than 37 volts you will need to manually charge each battery back up to 13 volts and then reconnect them all.
I also got new batteries with 12v 100ah, vrla, the mower runs great and for a long duration but two red flashes at charging. One time it did charge the batteries, but now it won’t
@@kbunday8 A double red flash indicates the charger is having difficulty with the batteries. check the voltage if they are less than 36 V or more than 67.2 V, or the batteries are too discharged to be charged. Very carefully disconnect the battery bank and test the total voltage with a DC multi meter, should be around 40 to 60 volts Be careful not to short anything out. if its lower than 37 volts you will need to manually charge each battery back up to 13 volts and then reconnect them all. Al the batteries individually should be around 13 volts if they are different like 13,13,11,13 then you have a bad battery and the unit will give you a double flash.
Hello I’m back with a problem . My 480e will stop running . With the blades not engaged it will move. I engage the blades it’ll go a few feet then stop. Disengage the blades it’ll jump a bit then move again. It mowed the front yard just fine. It bogged down a couple of times because of the wet grass. I raise the deck full up and go real slow then 1/2 width cuts and lower deck with extra passes. Now with no impediment it just stops. Looking for trouble shooting guide at Ryobi. Not so lucky right now. Thanks 🙏
How many hours did your batteries have on them and how much did they cost at the time? Thank you for vid! Looks like Ryobi put some thought into the design. Do you think normal 12V deep cycle batteries would fit?
Hi Homestead , I made this video to teach people how to replace the batteries, I didn't buy any batteries or replace them , in the video I put back in the exact same batteries i took out .... my batteries are on year 5 and do not need replacement yet. Yes 12 volt FLA deep cycle would fit and work, but your charge voltage would be about 1 volt lower than what is required for FLA's because this charger is designed for the VRLA family of batteries. Lower voltage means more sulphate crystals on the plates.
I'm curious to know how often people with battery problems are completely discharging them. (mowing a full 2 acres) I just bought one of these mowers and I only have 1/2 acre to mow. I should never need to discharge the batteries lower than 50%-60%. Also no snow season. Would it be reasonable for me to expect my batteries to last longer?
Hey, great video but one quick question. I'm looking to upgrade all of my 50 ah batteries to 75 ah. Would this be a simple drop-in solution that could use the original charging system or would I need to make additional adjustments when upgrading the amp hours? Thank you so much in advance!
Hi, Thanks for posting this, its a great video, and really well done. Why did you do this though? Was the mower dying right away or was it just for instructional purposes? I've had the same problem for over a year, it won't charge up to 100% it never goes about 50%. Last season Ryobi said it was an issue with the gauge, they sent me a new one to change our myself, I did, and the issue was the same. Thing is, some days I could finish the whole 1 acre lawn and the gauge wouldn't move and other days it would drain all the way down to about 1 bar left. This season the charge still won't go above 50% but now the mower only lasts for about 20-30 mins. I have left in plugged in 24/7/365 as they recommend, even throughout the winter. I'm stuck about how to handle this. Any suggestions would be great! BTW
I posted the video so I could be the first to publish the video on youtube, this way I could help grow my channel faster, because there would only be one video available to view. The battery life depends on the age , how much sulphate crystals are on the plates, how much the batteries have been used or ( how many discharge cycles ) and how deep the discharge cycles are. Sounds like to me you have 1 bad battery out of the 4 , I would test each battery individually and find out what their useful life is left. once you have more information you will be able to know what next steps to take.
I just ordered the 100ah only because the 75ah was out of stock and they had a deal with the bagging kit for $2800. In the future can 75ah batteries be used if I need to replace them? I assume the 100ah and 75ah are the same model. I'm sure 75ah batteries are a little cheaper.
Hi Chris Yes the 100ah and the 75ah can fit into the same battery tray , there are some hold down bolts ( on the tray) that need to be turned in so the larger 100ah batteries will fit or expanded out so the smaller 75AH will fit.
I just bought one of these mowers. Winter is coming and I'm wondering if I should take the batteries inside for the winter. Right now I have the mower stored in an uninsulated and unheated shed. Temps can drop around -25 C around here. Do you just keep the batteries plugged in the cold or do you keep them in a warm place? I know they recommend them being plugged in at all times but I'm worried about the severe cold ruining them.
Hey Shooter ! That is a very good question, every battery technology has its environmental issues for instance Lithium ion should not be used or charged at -25 C temps because they just cant handle it ( premature death will be the result) , believe it or not the tesla cars have heating systems in the battery packs to keep them warm in the winter. The batteries in the Ryobi mower are Sealed AGM"s and can easily operate in cold temps and be stored in cold temps with no degradation, there is a temporary lowering of the available CCA when they are cold but it is just temporary, ( just like any car battery), as soon as spring rolls around they will be back to full power. As well there is no liquid in AGM's so nothing can freeze, expand and break. We get -40c here where we live, and the Ryobi batteries have no problem with that temp, my only recommendation is to keep the mower plugged into the charger all winter long 24/7 to keep the batteries in a float voltage. AGM's will last the longest when maintained in a float voltage, if you brought them into the house you would have to buy a second 48 volt charger to keep them in a float scenario. Hope this answers your question. B
@@solarbrianyvonne Amazing! Thank you very much for your response Brian. I considered buying some battery warmers but thought it might be a tight fit trying to squeeze the tray back in. My next big purchase will be a Cyber Truck. I put in a preorder for it and am excited for when it comes out. Looks like they'll be using the new battery technology they announced on battery day for the trucks. Thanks again for the response!
@@solarbrianyvonne Thank you so very much for this reply, Brian! In the same situation as the OP. I have been leaving the charger plugged in all winter, but wondered if perhaps the battery life was degrading as a result of not bringing them into a warmer area over winter. It`s great to know that I don`t need to pull all 4 of them out just to keep them warm! Takes one more thing off my plate in preparation for winter!
@Shooter McGavin - just curious as I'm in the same situation, winter is here and wondering about storage, how are your batteries and did you keep them plugged in the cold or moved them to a warm place and charged?
This was an excellent video! I would not considered myself “handy” but following this step by step I was successfully able to replace my batteries. Is there a way to bring my old batteries back to life? If so what kind of charger would I use. Thanks so much for putting this together it was a great help
depending on how many charge cycles you have put on the batteries will depend on how much life is left and whether they can be brought back to life. the best charger for this purpose is a multi stage charger with pulse technology built in to ( maintain ) the battery and disulfate it at the same time
Thanks for the very informative video! I am having run time issues w/ my mower. I took your advice and picked up a Foxwell tester (BT-705). The problem I’m having is to determine what CCA or appropriate test to run. You had 945 CCA selected as your baseline CCA. I toggled different CCA’s and depending on what number I put in, the tester may tell you the battery is good or bad. I do not see a CCA rating on my original batteries. Does anyone know what the appropriate CCA rating and/or appropriate test to run with the Foxwell tester?
Hi David , yes I hear what you are saying... the tester is primarily for Cars and truck batteries but can be used with deep-cycle with a little math. There is no correlation between CCA and Ah. Therefore you can’t convert it directly to get the exact value. However, you can get a rule of thumb value for most batteries, even if it’s not an exact value, and compare the battery's to each other and from the value you would expect from a brand new battery. The problem: CCA testing is for car batteries to deliver power over a 30 second period and AH testing is performed for deep cycle over a 20 hour test period. You can use the CCA rating number of your car battery and divide it by 7.25 to get Ah, or in your case you can take the Ah number of your RYOBI battery lets say 100 and multiply that by 7.25 that should be 725 CCA The Solution: Select 725 CCA on the tester, then perform the test , out of vehicle, VRLA, 12 volt, top post, 725 CCA , perform the test , if you are expecting a new 100Ah battery to read 725 CCA and you only get 350 CCA after the test then you know your deep cycle battery is at about 50% life left. If you have the 75 AH RYOBI battery then 543 CCA is the number you should use for a new battery and your test value. Again these values are not exact but they will tell you the relative life remaining in your VRLA batteries. Testing a Deep cycle properly: If you want to find out the exact condition of any deep cycle battery you will need to place a small C-20 load on a fully charged battery then each hour for 20 hours measure the voltage and divide that number by 6 to get your individual cell voltage. you can also use time as a measurement, Again a brand new fully charged battery will last 20 hours under a C-20 load, if your used battery is dead in 10 hours your battery is at 50% capacity , if your used battery is dead in 5 hours you are at 25% capacity.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thank you for the quick and detailed response. It is very appreciated. I have the 75 AH batteries. So, I ran the tests entering 540 CCA. I saw test options for regular, AGM, and gel. I wasn’t sure which one was suitable so here are results for AGM and gel. For the 4 batteries these were my results for AGM: 12.37V/244 CCA, 13.59V/283 CCA, 13.65V/308 CCA, 13.79V/284 CCA. Test results using gel: 12.39V/293 CCA, 13.49V/342 CCA, 13.49V/373 CCA, 13.70V/343 CCA. Towards the end of last October my run time had diminished to maybe 20 or 30 minutes on the mower before the batteries died. The mower was stored for the winter in the garage on the charger. I noticed within the last month that the mower was completely dead and not responding to the Ryobi charger. I pulled the batteries out and put them on individual CTEK chargers that I use on vehicles. One battery was not initially responding to being hooked up, but finally started taking a charge. The above test results were following being individually charged. The Foxwell tester stated “replace battery” on each battery. Based on the results and diminished run time, does it sound like all 4 batteries need replacing? Home Depot has been out of stock on both the 75 and 100AH batteries for over 6 months. I will probably need to buy alternative branded batteries with the same connection and ratings. Might upgrade to 100AH.
@@davidalan3179 because all the batteries are connected in series, the weakest battery will be the limiting factor that will impact how much charge they all will take and how much run time you will have. Your 4 batteries are unbalanced. Your 12.3 battery is at fault and should be reading closer to 13.5 I would desulphate this battery and see if it returns to a better voltage like 13.5. this would bring balance back into your pack and make it last longer.
What about replacing the shorter 75 AH battery with the longer 100 AH battery (13 inches)? Will the batteries fit in the battery tray? It appears that they will. I am due for some new batteries and would like to upgrade, but not if they won't fit.
This video is GREAT, thanks! I am thinking my batteries need to be replaced, only 4 years old but sit in an unheated shed in NJ for the winter... charger on of course). I can rarely get a charge over 70%, they deplete very fast 20-30 minutes-, and once down to about 45% the blades stop (thinking the amps are too low). These batteries seem very difficult to find, due to the terminal type (IT/Inside Thread). Have you any thoughts on using the same batteries but with different terminal types as they as would be much easier to find? Also, if I install the installed the Power-pulse on these existing
Hi Bill Your batteries are definitely sulfated and if you don't de-sulfate them they will need be replaced soon. We only got 5 years on our set and I will be replacing them next year. You can use any AGM VRLA battery that will fit into the space you don't have to buy the ones from the company . I abandoned the original charger that came with the unit in favor of a better one that has built in pulse technology . We keep our unit outside in a shed all winter with no problems.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for the speedy reply, I have a couple followup questions if you don't mind, and sorry for so many questions, but you seem to be a wealth of knowledge in this subject... 1. The original battery has the IT (internal thread) terminal type, where as the only batteries I can find in stock at any given time have terminal type NB (nut & bolt) or MP (marine post). Since you have opened the mower and removed the batteries, do you think these vertical post NB terminal batteries would fit? 2. Also, I am having difficulty finding batteries with the CCA of the original (943), how critical is this for the mower, i.e. for example I am finding in many cases the CCAS is not even mentioned, so I would have no idea what it is. 3. Regarding the charger with built in pulse technology, a) does this eliminate the need for the PowerPulse Battery Maintenance System? b) where does one find such a charger that is 48V 15A? I have been
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill Try www.mightymaxbattery.com they have some that will fit. if you go with a vertical post just make sure the post fits under the metal frame without shorting. CCA is used in the automotive industry and AH is used in the deep cycle industry but there is a way to convert the numbers. here is the math: divide the CCA by a 7.25 to get AH or multiply the AH with 7.25 to get CCA For example, if you need to calculate the amp hours in a 740 CCA battery. the formula is Ah x 7.25 = CCA It means multiplying the Ah value with a constant 7.25 to get the equivalent CCA value. For 75 Ampere hours, the CCA rating will be 544. Yes I purchased a 50 watt pulse charger called " battery saver from amazon" and it does eliminate the need for a Power pulse because its already built in. the original charger that came with my mower is 800 watts so you cant go any bigger than that or you will hurt your batteries during the charge process. seeing as the automotive industry is just waking up to the need for maintenance on Pb systems I have found a few that are larger than 50 watts but are very expensive. try searching for 48v golf cart smart battery charger with a float mode, or pulse mode , repair mode.
@@solarbrianyvonne Hi Brian, I am learning so much here... So, thanks for the info on Mightymax, they seem to have them in stock. Now, if I wanted to go from the 75AH (which came with the machine) to 100AH, is that just a matter of battery swap out, or is there more that would need to be changed/modified?
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill To go from 75 Ah to 100Ah is no problem. The battery tray has expansion bolts / compression arms that move back out out the way to make room for a larger battery set. Nothing needs to be changed , just the batteries. Warning ! do not loose the 24 volt sense wire , if you do, you may not find another one.
What type of batteries are they? Lead acid, agm, lipo, nimh whatever. If they are regular lead acid or AGM could you replace them with Lithium style 100 ah batteries?
Hi Brian They are AGM . Lithium has its place in the industry, smart phones would still be the size of a brick and very heavy, and tesla cars would be more like a tank with the acceleration of a moped LOL ... I think in this application the extra weight and half the price AGM are a better fit ... People also use this mower in the winter to push snow... lithium batteries life cycle is shortened drastically in cooler negative temps, properly maintained AGM batteries can run 7 or 8 years vs 3 to 4 for a lithium pack. My Deep cycle FLA that power our off grid farm farm are a designed to last 20 years.
I wonder if I could bypass batteries and feed it 48v from a small generator riding on it somewhere on the back. Would it work? The charger seems to convert 110v to 48v (but looks like only on 6A). Could the charger serve to convert from 110ac to 48v? I could run it from the generator to the vehicle, but bypass batteries all together. Could that work?
That is an interesting idea, If you do it I would like to see a video about it. Lots of people have already tried to put a generator on the new plug in electric cars, I wonder if any of them have had success? This would be the same thing just on a smaller scale. I see a few problems with the Generator Idea you will have to figure out first. Generators are very very very ( electrically noisy ) this induction of noise would cause major problems for the onboard computers driving the 3 phase deck motors , when our big farm Generator is running... our microwave ,TV, DVD player, washing machine and laptop computers wont turn on and if they do turn on they go all sorts of crazy and wont work properly, computers need pure DC in order to function correctly, so you will need to run the generator output through some sort of cleaning filtering circuitry first. The other thing is efficiency , a gas generator is about 18% efficient all the other gas you burn is wasted as heat. so for every $1.00 of gas you put in the generator gas tank you will only get about .18cents worth of useful work completed. It could work, but with a lot of effort... and if you did get ti to work it would not be a very efficient way to cut grass. I my humble opinion I would just use a gas mower, but still your idea would be an interesting experiment and could yield more accurate data about mowing efficiencies. I will guess our solar powered Ryobi mower is running somewhere around 70 to 80% efficiency using sunshine as the fuel source. If you could invent a way to mow grass and get 100% efficiency, you could sell the invention and become a millionaire over night .
Hey Brian, I took your advice and didn't worry about cold and the batteries in the mower. Things were good all winter - I kept it on the charger and checked weekly. All was good. Until March. At that point the batteries died. I was unable to individually charge them. Thankfully Ryobi replaced them under warranty. The open question is did the cold kill them? If so, I have a problem for next winter as I have an unheated shed. I can either pull the batteries and maintain their charge in my (much warmer) garage or find a storage space for them that is heated. Comments? I was really hopeful that I wouldn't have to go through that hassle with winter storage. Nowhere in the owner's manual does it say anything about winter storage and you would think they might mention something in their promotional info as well. Thoughts?
Hi Ken , sorry to hear about your trouble and very happy to hear Ryobi did a warranty replacement . These batteries are AGM VRLA and can easily withstand very cold temperatures as long as they are kept charged up. According to the LEOCH website They are the 12 v 75 Amp Hour .... Recommended operational temperature range is : -15 to + 40 C or (-5 to 104 F) Here is the RUB! Now I store mine outdoors all year to -40 to + 40C always kept plugged in which does exceed their operational temperature range but I am not operating them..... they are in winter storage. Under the self discharge category it says : Leoch LPC series batteries may be stored for up to 6 months at 25 C(77 F) and then a freshening charge is required. For higher temperatures the time interval will be shorter. There is nothing in the literature about a long term winter storage non usage category which is the info we are looking for. You will have to do what you see as necessary to stay within the warranty specifications. Here is the website battery link: www.leoch.com/pdf/reserve-power/agm-vrla/lpc-deep-cycle/LPC12-75.pdf
@@solarbrianyvonne - The mower was on the charger all winter, and seemed to hold up fine, until later in March, when they stopped working. I tried to charge them individually, but with no luck. So either I'll find a warmer spot for the entire mower and keep the charger on it next winter or I'll remove the four batteries and rotate a trickle charge through them in a warmer spot in my garage. My batteries were made by Homelite I believe. They were shipped from a distributor named Gardener in Ohio.
Hi Steve, that is a good question. Battery life span depends on the battery chemistry , manufacture , service environment , total depth of discharge cycles and a few other factors. Our ryobi is on year 5 and the batteries will need replacement next spring. I abandoned the Ryobi charger long ago because its only a 2 stage charger and I like to keep the cells in float mode, I opted instead to by a 48v smart charger with pulse technology to keep the plates as clean as possible.
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill. I bought it off of amazon and its called the "battery saver" 48 volt its only a 50 watt charger so it takes like 3 days to fully charge but it works great ! it has just regular alligator clips and just clips on to the battery terminals at the front of the battery set, red on red and black on black
Great video! Thanks for posting! Do you recommend any brands for subs? Not only are the Ryobi batteries often sold out they're kind of on the pricey side. Thanks in advance!
Hi Guildgob These batteries are supposed to be Gel cell or sometimes called dry cell and yes they are expensive as they are generally considered the best of the VRLA line. Because of the charging characteristics of the (48 volt charger) that shipped with the unit you would be limited to a VRLA family of batteries because the charging voltage for Gel cell is generally about 1 volt lower than FLA or AGM ... That being said, FLA or AGM could still be used and would not over charge, however sulphation would still be a problem, but with the right de-sulphator you should be fine. IMO Any 12 volt lead Gel cell would be fine, just match up the dimension size and amp hour rating.
@@solarbrianyvonne Wow! Thanks for the fast answer! I'll be honest, I didn't know these were considered gel cell batteries. Appreciate that. The one I was considering is on Amazon titled Mighty Max Battery 12V 75Ah Internal Thread Battery Replacement for Leoch LPC12-75 Brand Product. I didn't see anywhere that notated it as a dry or gel cell. How do I tell?
I might have found the answer. Found this [Mighty Max Battery 12V 75AH Gel Battery Replacement for Leoch LPC12-75 Brand Product] On amazon too. I think I have a great candidate and better understanding of what to use. Thanks!!
@@solarbrianyvonne first great video and great response time. I am a little confused about what type of batteries these are due to a couple responses in different threads. In this thread, you say they are supposed to be Gel/dry cell. In a response on another thread , you say that gel cells can't be desulfated? Why run a desulfator then? My mower arrives tomorrow! I have benefitted from watching your videos and I was looking at the Powerpulse on Amazon, but will wait until I can check out the batteries. Keep up the informative videos! I enjoy reading all the comments and responses to glean as much information/tips I can!
The batteries look heavy-duty. Under normal operation, how long would it take before replacing the batteries? Planning to get this Ryobi mower. Thanks for posting this video.
Hi Danny like anything in this world if you push them hard they will have a short lifespan , if you treat them gently they will have a long life span. the length of a battery's life is always determined in how used and abused they are. some people get 2 years and others get 5 years.
yes but I would strongly recommend sticking with the Lithium IRON battery, not the lithium ION... IRON is much safer and wont start your garage on fire
How come you hooked up your PowerPulse desulfanator to the positive and negative terminals of the same battery? Shouldn't the positive lead be hooked to the first battery in the series' positive terminal and the negative lead to the last battery in the series negative terminal? I'm confused?
Hi Brian--wondering if you can offer an opinion on this: Mighty Max 12V 100AH BATTERY FOR SOLAR WIND DEEP CYCLE VRLA 12V 24V 48V (made in Vietnam and offered on Ebay) as a replacement battery? Dimensions are 12Lx6.63Wx8.29container H (8.48H with terminal). Ryobi's Leoch battery is 12.99 x6.81x8.35 (8.66 w terminal).
Hi Charles The battery would be a good replacement but I am not sure they would be the right fit for the width. You are looking at a .4 inch increase in width. you may have to remove the steel separation block between the batteries as the new ones are slightly wider, maybe cut a piece of wood to fit as a smaller separation block? anyways that's what I would do. looks like the height and length would be perfectly fine. Let all of us know how it goes !
I missed that sense wire...when I brought the batteries out, the white clip came off. - Do you know what purpose it does? - Do you know what the replacement part # is? Thanks for your help
the sense wire is designed to carry the 24 v ( middle of the battery pack ) voltage back to the charger for correct current adjustments during charging. sorry I do not know the part number.
Hi Brian, after the first winter I tried to use my mower, the total battery voltage was down to ~ 22 volts. I thought the mower charger would trickle charge the batteries. Must be a defective charger. Have you encountered anything like it with yours? The second winter, I removed and reconnected the charger every week and that kept the batteries charged.
Hi Roy That's an interesting problem you have... Let me start by saying this.. All batteries discharge themselves even when they are new and have never been used. To prove that point, just look at a new package of flashlight batteries like double AA's next time your in the store , the package will have a best before date stamped on it. Car batteries FLA's are the worst, about 5% discharge loss every 30 days. A full charge on the AGM mower pack is above 50 volts or higher, a discharged pack will register about 40 volts or lower... if your battery pack was below 30 volts the charger may not even see it to realise it needs to be charged back up. Winter (Below freezing temperatures) presents another slight difficulty as the AGM pack will not have as much AMP hours in reserve, but this should not impede the usability or charge functionality of the battery pack or charger. I find it interesting that if you remove the charger and then plug it back in... it auto charges the pack back to full like it normally should. The mower charger has some intelligence built into the unit. When you plug it in, it first has to see a load on the battery end or it wont send out any power to recharge anything, if it doesn't see a load then there will be no response from the charger.. (it will just sit there plugged into the wall outlet but not understand that it need to charge the mower back up) ... once it sees a load in this instance ( the battery pack) then it will test the voltage and see where the pack registers, then it will start the appropriate charge cycle and duration. Leaving it plugged continuously all winter long should let it go through the FLOAT cycle then CHARGE cycle continuously when needed, (That's how mine works) but If I was to just guess and not being able to test your system I would say that the charger is not continuously seeing the battery pack, this could be caused by a bad cable, poor connections, corroded connections or bad terminals connections or a faulty charger. I would first check the charge plug, is there any debris ( dirt or grass) in the terminals? Hope this helps.
@@solarbrianyvonne I will check the charger plug. The mower was less than a year old at the time. I received it Feb. 2018, used it that summer. It was discharged spring 2019. I had to charge each individual battery until the total was above 36 volts before the Ryobi charger would charge the total. Seems the FLOAT, CHARGE cycles never worked. Thanks for your advice.
Just Wasted ! awesome name by the way ! Specs are 12 volt 75 Ah or the 12 volt 100 Ah AGM family, both will work equally well. You can put in just about anything from any manufacture ! Each battery technology has different charging characteristics, if you are sticking with the charger that came with the unit then you can put in just about any AGM that will result in a 48 volt string... buy them from anywhere and as long as they physically fit into the battery tray you should be good. FYI pretty much all AGM lead acid batteries are deep cycle. if you are moving away from AGM to Lithium iron or something like that, you will need to replace the charger.
Just wanted to let you know, I installed the Power-pulse in my Ryobi today. Thanks for the video on how to do it, it was very helpful. Does the Powerpulse drain your battery when not plugged in??
YES ! the power pulse draws a little bit of power and then through a voltage double circuit pushes the higher voltage back in as a quick pulse, so when you use the pulse technology you must keep the bank charged up so as not to deplete the cells.
I would go to the 100Ah without any hesitation. I would also change the charger from the original 2 stage ( that came with the mower) to a better one that has more intelligence like one that incorporates the pulse desulfator built in .
Thank you so very much for this great guide. My batteries are beginning to die after 5 years, and I wanted to hook up a Schumacher 1281 charger to them to see if it might be possible to desulfurize them. So far, I haven't seen the Schumacher display a '5ur' code for any of them, but I have been getting more cutting time out of them since charging them all up, using the mower and then using them Ryobi charger for 24hrs. I'm currently looking into LiFePo4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and trying to figure out which ones offer the best value for the money. The cheapest LiFePo4 12v 100ah batteries I've found that are available in Canada are about $600 each, which is double the price of replacement AGM 12v 100ah batteries. I just hate the idea of paying as much for four batteries as a cheap gasoline riding mower costs new. If anyone else has tried LiFePo4 batteries in their Ryobi 480e, any comments /suggestions are welcome.
There are lots of guys pimping out their electric golf carts with Li iron , pretty much the same idea that you have. Although Lithium is great and has its place in our cell phones and electric cars I don't see the value of twice the price for Li for the ride on mower industry. VRLA provide better value and increased weight for a lower center of gravity and heavier weight for traction on slippery slopes. Of course there is always a trade off when you modd anything.... longer ride time would be absolutely awesome but the extra cost always brings me back to my bank balance reality.
@@solarbrianyvonne Brian, thank you for your response. I wholeheartedly agree that the double price tag is a deal-breaker for me, too. I would like to ask what you think about my batteries and/or the Ryobi charger. When I first bought the mower in spring of 2017, and plugged it in for the initial 24 hours as the manual demanded, and the green light on the charger was solid, indicating a full charge, the meter on the mower showed only 7 of the ten bars lit up. In fact, in the 5 years I have owned the mower, I had never seen more than 7 of the ten bars lit up after any charge. With the batteries seemingly holding less and less of a charge, I bought the Schumacher 1281 to test/individually charge the batteries, to see if they were sulfurized. The first time I charged them individually with the Schumacher 1281 and hooked them all up again, the meter on the mower showed all 10 bars lit up, even the blue 10th one. Trouble is, whenever I use the Ryobi charger, the batteries aren't charging like they do with the Schumacher. In fact, after I charged them all with the Schumacher, and mowed just my front lawn (about 1/6h of an acre), the meter still showed 8 of the 10 bars lit. After charging it for 24hrs using the Ryobi charger, and the green charge light solid indicating full charge, when I unplugged it and turned the key, it still had 8 of 10 bars lit, as if the Ryobi charger hadn't done anything except maintain the previous charge. Do you think the Ryobi charger is defective?
www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Lifepo4-12v-100ah-lithium-ion-battery_1600068087326.html Here are the cheapest lithium ion batteries I can find. Not too much more than the sealed AGM battery. $365 per battery including shipping. The dimensions are very similar. I notice in the video there’s not much height clearance for the batteries. So if you buy aftermarket batteries, make sure they’ll fit.
@@andypeck9612 Thank you, Andy! I just received my ANCEL BA101 battery tester, and have confirmed that 3 of the 4 original 75ah AGM lead-acid batteries need replacement. Battery 1 is at only 18% health (286 Cold Cranking Amps) with a 98% charge; Battery 2 is at 33% health (386 CCA) with 98% charge; Battery 3 is at 52% health (481 CCA) at 98% charge, and is the only one the tester said 'Good Battery'; Battery 4 is at 43% health (437CCA) with a 98% charge. Question: If I were to buy the lithium batteries, will the Ryobi 48V charger charge them, or would I need a different charger? Looking at chargers online, it looks like the Ryobi 48v charger is a Delta-Q SC-48 either made for Ryobi, or simply with a Ryobi sticker on it. It would be quite a pain in the butt if I had to pull the batteries out after every mow and individually charge them.
@@andypeck9612 One more thing. Those batteries are $229 US, but shipping to Canada where I live would be an additional $142.70. That's insane. Nevertheless, even with the shipping, they're still cheaper than any other LiFePo4 100ah 12v batteries I have found. I'm going to keep looking!
Thanks for this my wife and I did this cause our batteries died while we were on vacation, got them back but might have one bad one are checking it out now. Do a video on changing blades. please. thanks again
You mentioned that the standard Ryobi charger wasn’t good for keeping the batteries charged correctly and that you were going to do a video about it. Short version - could you point me to one you would recommend? I am about to replace my batteries (4 yrs. and all 4 test bad) and I would like to see if I can get them to last longer. Thanks.
Hi Kevin There are many you can choose from , this is the one I bought and I find it works quite well but it is not fast and does take a full 48 hours to charge the mower back up to full, I like it and I don't mind it taking longer to charge. search for this description in amazon Battery Saver 2365-48-LCD 48V 50W Quick Charger, Tester, and Auto Pulse Maintainer, Yellow
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks.Apparently, Amazon doesn’t currently offer the 48v model anymore, but I can find it on the internet. Since I am an inpatient guy and didn’t hear from you right away (By the way, thanks for the great video and comments), I went ahead and ordered the 48v powerpulse. I still have the original Ryobi charger (p/n 996514001), and it seems to be functioning ok, other than the shortfalls you pointed out. Should these 2 devices be sufficient or do you think I would still need the charger you recommended?
@@kevinwheeler1181 Hi Kevin Yes the power pulse and the original charger will work ok , if you charge continuously don't let the original charger loose 110v power , or it will drain your battery. The power pulse does use battery power and steps it up to a higher voltage and pushes it back in but the losses of the power pulse will also drain your battery so once every 3 days plug the charger back in to top up the battery. Dont let the power pulse run during off season or when you store the mower for months at a time or it will drain your battery bank dead.
ok so this video .. along with a tad bit of battery warehouse (local store) input and 20 years of Nuclear Navy experience saved me a ton of money and hassle.. My unit sits in a outdoor shed that has power. Over the winter.. i guess it tripped out.. and the unit drained down. output volts was 13vdc... not even close to 48vdc. The charger wouldnt even light.. at first i thought the charger was broken. Some RDDT guys that i messaged out of the blue helped me by checking their charger and we realized that the charger just wont light until there is sufficient power from the cells. After watching this video.. and seeing how to disconnect everything (easy peazy-great job)...i used a 12vdc trickle charger.. to raise each battery up individually. I am guessing this will be a common occurance as these units become more normal. Replcement batteries are $200, a replacement charger is $300? People gonna need some simple help. I would recommend a video showing how to do that.. Prolly get tons of hits as the years go by. subscribed and liked.... looking forward to checking out your farmgrid when i have time.
@@lysacrawford2172 Hi Lisa , Ricky is correct , if on purpose or by accident you let the batteries go flat the Ryobi charger wont charge them back up, ( when the batteries are almost completely discharged the charger thinks they need replacement or something is wrong with them) ... to fix this you have to pull the battery pack out like I show in my video and trickle charge them back up one at a time with a small 12 volt charger.
@@lysacrawford2172 i can help... get a noco genius charger ( i used the g3500)... use the 12v repair option on each battery individually, after you take everything apart per this video. Itll take a day per battery, but the repair charge does the same thing that powerpulse he mentions in the video, it pulses the sulfation off the battery plates and allows them to charge back up properly. Buy the power pulse too...youll spend $200 total vs $1000 and never have the problem again. Its actually WAY EASIER then dealing with briggs and stratton engines... lol. Have fun.
Hi Retired at 49 , When the batteries are new you will get 2 hours of cut time , but Lead acid batteries will last much much longer of you dont cycle them to 100% discharge. I would recommend a 1 hour cut time and then charging them back up ASAP, this would be 50% discharge cycle and the batteries will last years longer if you look after them. It charges back up in about 4 hours at 50% discharge... 6 or 8 hours if you push them to 100%
Heads up, noob question coming. I talked to a couple of Ryobi Customer Service for other reasons and they mentioned to me that I should ALWAYS plug in the RM480ex mower to the charger 24/7/365 when not in use. However, I have heard from someone else who also has owned his mower for a couple of seasons and says that I should NEVER plug in my mower 24/7. He recommended that during the mowing season to always charge to full after use and then unplug from charger after fully charged. And then during off-mowing season, use plug in timer and set it up so that it turns on the charger 4 hours twice a week. He's also using PowerPulse.
Those are 2 very different information, ALWAYS plugged in to the charger vs. intermittent charging. Which would you recommend?
Hi Joe
You have run smack into the ongoing scientific debate of what is the best way to charge a Pb FLA / AGM battery.
One group of manufactures / scientists will say to "exercise" the battery by charging it up and slowly draining it back down to 50% then charge it back up again, day after day month after month, this is referred to as....
1. Bulk, Finish, Discharge cycle, (this is generally considered a 2 stage charger with a discharge cycle).
There are another group of Manufactures and Scientists that say you should never discharge your battery unnecessarily, their recommendation is an additional float cycle built into the charger.
2. Bulk, Finish, Float with NO discharge cycle, (this is generally considered a 3 stage charger).
Both of these charging systems have valid points and so the scientific debates will continue at nauseum but only recently has there been a 3rd charging option that no-one seems to be talking about.
3. Bulk, finish, float, pulse.
I prefer option 3 but you will have to decide for yourself which option is best for you.
as a side note:
FLA and AGM batteries loose approximately 3- 5 % of their charge per month due to normal internal current leakage so according to the Ryobi mower manual for long term storage you need to top up your batteries every 30 to 60 days to keep them from going dead This again is the homeowner / equipment owners responsibility.
@@solarbrianyvonne , Wow! I was wasn't expecting that level of detail to my question. Thank you very much for taking the time to give such a thoughtful answer. I am now googling like crazy these terminologies you have introduced. While you have provided a lot of information, it also raised a few other questions.
So going back to your response. I think I have decided that I fall into the camp of keeping and using the charger that came with my mower because I just recently bought mine and therefore still have a year of warranty left so might as well take advantage of it. Anyway, let me summarize what you are suggesting:
During Mowing Season:
1) After each use, plug to recharge ASAP until full.
2) Once full, unplug from charger and keep off charger.
During low use season (long term storage):
1) Leave mower off of charger.
2) Top off battery very 30 to 60 days but unplug from charger when battery is full.
Does that match what you are suggesting? If so, I am assuming that it's ok top off the battery prior to each mowing as well, for example, plugging in to the charger the night before I mow?
@@solarbrianyvonne, I appreciate that you're going to make a video on your setup, because that's a lot of good info to absorb 😁🧐
I do not ever weeky or monthly charge40v. But 40v have a button checker and when I see each 40v low I do charge that one to full charge.
I keep all my 40v fully charged all year long.
I guess to do that with a RYOBI
48V Brushless 30 in. 50 Ah Battery Electric Rear Engine Riding Mower
You need to some how disconnect all the batteries and test each battery which is a pain but IMO will extned the life of
RYOBI
48V Brushless 30 in. 50 Ah Battery Electric Rear Engine Riding Mower
Recommend immediately switching to LiFePO4 batteries. Would have been nice if you had given battery measurements while you were in there.
This is a very sturdy and well built mower. I thought I wouldn't like the foot operated speed control but after one use th-cam.com/users/postUgkxTZSPVwJFBv2hORqhQamtxi-tAe5K2EtC , I can't believe I ever had one without it. It drives like a car with an automatic transmission. Easy to adjust mowing speed according to grass depth/thickness. I have yet to get used to the long throw of the blade engagement lever but kind of get why it is that way. It allows you to hold mowing for short moments if you need. The engine seems very substantial and the frame has very little flex, both adding up to an impressive package. All my previous tractors were 18 to21 hp with 42in decks. This one is 23/46. I mow about 1.5 acres about every 5 days here in Alaska and that mowing time has been reduced by about 20%, partly due to the very tight turning radius. No loop arounds lol. Hour meter, cruise control, reverse mowing capability,deck cleanout and easy assembly all add up to a very well thought out tractor.
This is a great video instruction for the very complicated task (to me) of testing and replacing the batteries. The batteries on my Ryobi riding mower began to fail after only 17 months. The authorized service dealer was 40 miles away, and had a well-earned bad reputation. It was a logistical challenge to bring the mower to the dealer before the warranty ran out, but I managed. The dealer very likely did nothing (besides saying they "checked the batteries.") So now I pay someone to mow my yard and the Ryobi mower sits, connected to its trickle charge, the batteries slowly draining (at less than half power now). New batteries plus installation will cost $1000. Once again, I commend the makers of this excellent video for their attention to detail. But elsewhere on TH-cam there are many warnings about NOT buying this Ryobi riding mower, because of this common battery problem, and I wish I had watched them FIRST!
Hi Chris
I got 5 years out of my 1st set of batteries but I did throw away the charger that came with the mower and bought a desulfator charger system to make the batteries last longer.
Kind Regards
Thanks for taking my fear out of buying one of these mowers. Once I saw how easy it was to service the heart of the machine I was able to buy one. Thanks also for the tip about the Power Pulse. My other fear was the expense of battery replacement and now I know how to maximize their service life. Thank you for making the effort to help me with this.
Hi Gerard ! you are very welcome, we have got 5 good years out of the batteries so far but I think next year we will replace them.
@@solarbrianyvonne Are you considering lithium this time around?
@@BarryMikkelsen
Hi Barry , good question, Lithium is great for certain applications (smart phones or small power tools) but because I use this mower to push snow ( with the snow blade attachment) @ - 20c or -4F Lithium is a definite no go as the cells would be destroyed being charged or discharged at that temperature, So for now PB AGM is my only choice.
"now I know how to maximize their service life" How do you maximize their service life?
Great job in explaining the process. I really appreciate effort and camera work.
Thank you
I will pass on the compliment to Yvonne my camera expert.
Just a side note this is better than any video I've watched from Ryobi. This was awesome thank you so much.
thanks for stopping in and your kind words
Such a well done video - thank you both.
In 2019 we got our RM480EX with the 100ah batteries. Used to be able to mow our 1.25 acre yard (on an incline) easily on one charge and suddenly this year it needs multiple charges to get through the same chore - the drop off was very sudden. The battery indicator says it is charging to 100%. I tested the batteries using this video as a guide and all 4 are between 12.97V-13.27V and 710-769CCA -- none of which seems like an outlier or needing replacement at this point. (And the batteries have never drained to zero or anything - plugged in all winter with temps always above 10 F.)
Bottom line, all of those readings seem pretty healthy so rather than replacing the batteries I got the Powerpulse and have been using that but with no improvement so far. Re-reading more comments here, I noticed that you mentioned letting the Powerpulse "bang away" on the batteries for 5+ weeks straight to actually desulphate. Right now where we live we need to mow every 5-6 days so that's not an option. Would you expect to see improving battery life with only a few days between using the batteries or will I need to wait until the fall before I can really see if the powerpulse is working?
Thanks for any advice (or questions)! This comment video and comment thread is a gold mine.
Hi Andrew
clean your deck after each mow and keep your blades sharp. ( sharp enough to cut your finger if you run your hand on the edge of the blade) if your deck is not clean and smooth underneath so the grass can exit easily out of the chute and or if the blades are dull the mower will consume huge amounts of power trying to do just that. more power consumed means less cut time. I sharpen and balance my blades every 5 hours of cutting and clean my deck with a plastic spatula ( plastic drywall mud spreader ) after each cut.
This is super helpful, videos like this are the main reason I ever got on TH-cam to begin with. Thank you sir! My batteries don’t go to 100% after 3.5 years so I need to look into that device you mentioned, I have no expertise in this area. Last note, I hope someone figures out something for the battery because if you saved on mower maintenance over 5 years only to spend 1.2k for batteries then what was the whole point to begin with...all savings out the door in one shot.
A properly maintained ( not abused ) VLRA deep cycle battery will last quite some time 6 + years ( i am on year 5 already) . VLRA batteries DO NOT last long if you leave them in a discharged state for long periods of time, this will drastically shorten their life cycle.
Keep them charged up every day. For longer life cycle only use 50% of the battery capacity , this will increase your over all cycle life.
Thank you very much for this. I don’t know how I would have managed to replace my batteries without this help.
Hi Bri
You are very welcome ! if you want to you can help us and our channel by sharing our videos online.
Thanks so much!! Really appreciate this video. Looking forward to checking out your other video on the Ryobi riding mower.
thanks for stopping in .
Huge help. Needed to check the batteries, and your video was clear and to the point. Thank you.
Hi Donna, you are welcome
Thank for the battery charger idea. I cleaned all electrical cables and connectors. Now it works. The batteries were fully charged 12.93 volts so they didn’t need the trickle charge. Who knows what the problem was. But it works. Thanks again for the great information.
glad you got it working ! Awesome!
thank you for demystifying this process! i am on year 3 of my zero turn mower. I haven't had any battery issues yet, but i'm sure they will come eventually. i've bookmarked this page for the future!
thanks for stopping in
I ordered my new batteries from Home Depot. I got 3 mighty max 100ah batteries. I followed your directions step by step everything was going fine until I noticed that the previous owner had replaced the batteries with much larger batteries. They were 13 inches long mine were 12 inches. To put the larger batteries in it was necessary to remove the front stop on the battery carriage and reduce the back adjustment to 1 inch. This caused the long center bolt nut to center on the nut in the frame. I installed a 1 inch stop in front of the frame and needed to purchase 2 inch bolts for the back adjustment (metric bolts). To my surprise the center bolt just slipped into place. This was the only problem I encountered. Mower now seem to be working fine. I took you 27 minutes to do this project on your video. It only took me 4 hours. Hopefully I'm old enough that I won't have to do this again. If I do I'm sure I could cut the time in half.
Thanks for the great video Bruce
Awesome ! I am glad you were able to get the job completed .
Thanks for these instructions. My mower is 5 years old & was dreading replacing them. This is well done.
Great to hear!
Have had mine for 4 years. So far I've had zero issues. Thanks for the video was not certain how they pulled out.
welcome, thanks for stopping in
Thank you for the video and for your PowerPulse recommendation. I purchased the PowerPulse for my Ryobi. It gets a bit warm. Does yours get a bit warm too?
Hi Victor
your welcome... Yes it will get a tiny bit warmer than the surrounding air, nothing is 100 % efficient so there will be a small amount of energy converted to heat as it bangs away at the sulphur. as long as you keep it plugged in to the charger to keep the batteries topped up it will be ok. Thanks for stopping in.
We’re Just about to Buy one of these and this video was exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you for taking the time to share it’s much appreciated.🤘👊
Hi Clint
We got 5 years out of the batteries ( with a desulfator ) and lots of great service , we will be replacing the batteries next year . I ended up throwing out the charger it came with because it was only a 2 stage charger, it works ok but I opted to buy a smart charger 5 stage with pulse tech built in.
@@solarbrianyvonne will definitely remember this for the future.
Am looking forward to mowing the lawn.
Fantastic information! Thank you very much. Like the hitch too. Great simple idea.
You are welcome! thanks for stopping in .
Thanks for this. Had to charge my batteries separately
due either to bad port or charger. So it was nice to see
how to get batteries out and back in again. Parts on back
order so this was very helpful.
Glad I could help
I had a battery cell go dead in my 2-year-old Ryobi. Thanks to this video, I pulled the batteries, tested them all, and ordered a replacement for the bad one. I couldn't have done it without you, my friend - thanks so much!
very welcome
Thank you for the video, I just had my batteries replaced under warranty and was able to follow along step=by-step.. It made the daunting task much easier! Taking my time it took my an hour and a half to swap out the old ones with the new! THANK YOU!
Glad it helped
Did you have to pay half for your new battery’s? I just checked they said they would pay half of what I will have to pay to replace the batteries. Just wondering.
And where did you get your batteries?
I found my way here after seeing your beeper suppressor video. Thank you for that! I'm hoping I won't need to replace my batteries any time soon. I only run it for about an hour a week so I should be good for a long time.
Indeed, 1 hour per week should give you a very long service life. My (FLA) off grid batteries that run my farm are rated for 18 years of service, I would estimate (with proper battery care) you should get 8 years or better on your mower batteries. Keep them plugged in and charged up 24/7 . Thanks for stopping in.
@@solarbrianyvonne have you ever thought of switching to lithium?
@@solarbrianyvonne What am I doing wrong then? I purchased my mower in 2016, and I followed the recommendations that you are only supposed to let the batteries get 1/2 drained before plugging them in again. That took up the first whole season, since I use the mower infrequently. The next season, I couldn't even mow my whole lawn before the batteries went dead, and my lawn is less than 1/4 acre. Of course, by then, the batteries were no longer covered by the 1 year warrranty. So after only 2 seasons of use, I was already looking at having to buy new batteries. I let it limp along and only mowed for about 20 minutes, then recharged, until this year, the batteries must be completely dead, because my battery charger won't even light up anymore. I have been seriously disappointed with this purchase. However, your video is absolutely fantastic, and I'm considering getting new batteries for my POS Ryobi, and if I do so, I want to ensure that the new ones last as long as possible.
@@TheSquirrelMommy Hi Mommy
I cant say specifically what is wrong with your mower but I would test the batteries individually with a decent tester and see where they are, perhaps you have 1 poor battery and the other 3 are ok ?
The batteries could all just be sulphated and need to be de-sulphated with a power pulse de-sulphator 12 volt charger.
@@TheSquirrelMommy you say “that took up the whole first season”. Do you mean you didn’t charge the mower at all during the first season you had it? Did you have it plugged in at all when you weren’t using it? If you did not charge it at all for your first season or when you weren’t using it that may be why the batteries are now bad. Like he said in this video these batteries need to be stored at full charge when not being used to extend the life of them.
Thank you so much for the much needed information ! I have the same mower Ryobi 38 inch 75 AH since 2018. I used the tester you suggested and 3 batteries work but require replacement. I looked on APEX and the one they advertise to use to replace the original 75AH battery is APX12 -100S , the terminals are flush like the original Leoch. Would this be a good choice? The shipping is crazy at 80$ but price is per battery is cheaper than going through Ryobi plus the fact that they do not have any available until late July. Also is it ok to replace two of the three bad batteries until I can afford the others? Thanks again!
I think you put in this question twice so I responded to it in the other thread . no problem.
Thanks so much for this video. I just purchased a PowerPulse. Do I need to disconnect all the battery terminals before installing it or am I safe to simply install on the two front posts while everything is connected in series? Trying to live long enough to mow again.
Hi Oliver
Your last comment makes me thing you are a cancer survivor! Awesome!
Yes It is safe to just pull the battery bank out and connect it up to the two front posts as long as you purchased the 48 volt powerpulse model . (Red on positive 48v and black on negative 48v )
Two things I didn't mention in the video is the power pulse draws a tiny bit of power all the time just as the main computer ( ECU) does on your car, you have to drive your car at least once a week to keep the battery charged up or eventually your car battery will be dead, likewise you need to keep the mower charged up 24/7 or the power pulse will drain the battery.
2. The power pulse may slightly change the battery meters readings. Once installed the powerpulse may cause the battery charge indicator on the mower to read 1 bar higher than the actual battery level, not a bad thing but just keep that in mind as you are mowing.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks! Definitely not a cancer survivor. Definitely afraid of electrocution. 48 volt PP in hand, schedule to install this afternoon. Thanks a million for your gift to the internet!
Thank you for this video. I used it to remove the batteries and bring them into a heated place for the winter and will continue to do this annually (and then reinstall them). You got a new subscriber out of me.
thanks for stopping in .
Great instructions. Can I meter the fuse? I think I don’t need to ga as far of removing the batteries to trickle charge. A section of our shed roof slid down and the seat of the mower was wet too. Busy weekend it’s going to be. Thanks again for your input.
Yes, absolutely you don't need to remove the batteries but you do need to expose the battery posts so you can connect the charger.
LOVE this video! Thank you so much. I have a question. I am at year three on my batteries. I am at 50% max on my display after a long charge. Do you think the PowerPulse would be a next step instead of new batteries? I read some comments below and you mentioned you went to 75% after the PowerPulse. Thanks for the video, thanks to your camera operator who had great comments too and thanks for your great attention to detail.
Hi Donn , The camera operator was my wife and I agree she did a great job!
All Lead acid batteries do suffer from sulphation crystals that form on the plates. This sulphation does eventually reduce the plate area that is available for the acid to react with the plate, ( thus the reduced charge and discharge power available ) even your car battery has the same problem.
You will first have to determine if your batteries are VRLA glass matt or( VRLA gell cell, sometimes called Dry cell ) Glass matt can be desulphated.....Gell cell cannot.
The battery manufacture and type is stamped on the outside of the battery. Once you have figured that out you can weigh the cost of a desulphator like the one I show in the video for about 50 bucks and try it as an experiment, or the cost of new batteries will run you about 200 bucks each depending on where you live.
Personally I think desulphators are worth the purchase price.
@@solarbrianyvonne I have a similar question. I also have one of these Ryobi RM480e riding lawnmowers. In order to install the 48 amp PowerPulse, do you have to go through all of the steps and unhook everything, or can you just unhook the main power, pull the battery bank out, install the PowerPulse, and then simply put everything back and plug the mower back in to charge again? I have used approximately 62 hours on mine, and I keep it plugged in all of the time when it is not in use. It is kept in an insulated -- but not heated -- garage. As far as I can tell, it still charges to 75% (two bars unlit) when unplugging the unit for use and then turning it on.
My next question is: When it is time to replace the batteries, can they be replaced with four Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) 75 or 100 amp hour batteries. According to the Ryobi website, they come with four Leoch model LPC12-75 batteries. www.ryobitools.com/products/details/46396016584
I bought mine at least three or four years ago and I want to make sure it is maintained.
@@okielawyer5990
Hi Okie
If you install the power pulse you will need to disconnect main power and the 24 volt sense wire, slide the batteries out and connect the PP, you dont need to remove the batteries.
Yes you could replace the battery pack with LiFeP04 but buyer beware
1. LiFP04 batteries cannot function in cold or hot climates do not use the mower if you live in a colder climate 32 F or -0 C or you will destroy the batteries.
2. LiFeP04 batteries will cost twice the price of AGM VRLA
3. Make sure you get 4 identical 12 volt drop in replacement LiFP04 with built in BMS or you will start a garage fire using the existing charger.
I abandoned the original charger it came with and instead I use a ( battery saver 48 volt from amazon) it has a built in pulse technology and doesn't cycle the batteries as much as the original charger does , it also has a float mode to help with battery maintenance .
Brian, thanks for the video. I have the Zero Turn version of the Ryobi Mower. The battery set-up on yours looks virtually the same (mine is 100Ah version). I was told that cold was problematic for the batteries, but you say otherwise. My intent was to pull the batteries out and store them inside. I was told by Ryobi that I would need to trickle charge them once I did that. When I pulled out the battery compartment I thought the better of the removal and pushed it back in and reconnected everything, the machine would not light up. I'm sure I, or a service provider will figure that out, but you're saying that you have had no problem with very cold temps (I'm in MA and we rarely get below zero). So sounds like Ryobi gave me incorrect information on winter storage. I don''t want to screw up a $3800 machine!
Hi Ken
The Ryobi uses an AGM battery, the chemistry and mechanical design is well suited for cold usage and storage. At -40F you will see a degradation in the Amp Hours but once they warm back up to room temp the internal Chemistry also returns to normal with a complete restoration of the Amp Hours, that said all batteries leak charge internally. If you take a look the next time you buy some double AA's in the store you will read on the packaging a best before date, that's because they leak charge internally.
Ryobi also sells a snow blade attachment for snow removal on driveways and such for the same electric mower... if the batteries could not handle negative temps then the engineers have shot themselves in the proverbial foot for encouraging thousands owners to use the machine in the dead of winter pushing snow and ice. I think the person who told you that the AGM batteries cant get cold was misinformed and may have been thinking of the Ryobi tools that use the Lithium technology, Lithium is extremely sensitive to hot and cold temps and major damage can occur even if you just charge them up when they are below freezing.
FLA's leak about 5% of their power each month so if you parked your car with a brand new battery for 12 months it would be pretty much dead a year later if you tried to start it.
If the sales person also encouraged you to use a 12 volt car charger , this is also a misinformed comment because a car charger will reach 14.7 volts max to charge up a typical car battery, where as an AGM battery cannot be charged go over 13.5 volts or internal damage will occur.
I recommend leaving the batteries in the machine and plugged in to the Ryobi charger keeping them topped up continuously at the correct voltage, this will be the easiest storage solution for you and you don't have to buy another AGM charger.
There is tonnes of Data on AGM battery technology out on the internet and I would encourage you to do little research on your own to confirm my information.
All the best
@@solarbrianyvonne
Brian,
Thank you! I’m disappointed with the bad advice I received from Ryobi! Hopefully I can get them to cover the service call to get it running. Then I’ll stick it in my shed and not worry about it. Funny thing is a rep from Ryobi sent me the link to this video!
@@solarbrianyvonne
Ryobi tells me that they use a SLA, not AGM type batteries. Are they much different in terms of cold resistance? I can't seem to find accurate information about the differences between the two.
@@kenwilliams4716 Hi Ken
My apologies Ken I used the wrong acronym... to keep us on the same page here is the technical definition.
SLA ... Gel... dry cell... Starved electrolyte... Membrane.... and AGM batteries are all apart of the same family, their design was to make the traditional flooded lead acid maintenance free so there is no liquid sloshing around, so no matter which battery you are talking about it involves 2 lead plates plus some companies secret sauce technology.
With SLA they mix sulphuric acid with a silica-gelling agent converts liquid electrolyte into a paste .
With AGM (absorbed glass-mat) batteries, they use Ultra-thin glass fibres soak up all the electrolyte (water and sulphuric acid) into thin pillows cushioning the lead plates. The AGM carries its charge in soaked glass fibre sponges coating the lead plates.
Reliable data on how these batteries react to cold weather is surprisingly hard to find so I am going to have to give you some common ground info...
The great news is that unless the batteries are physically frozen (which does not happen until about -75F or -60C, for a fully charged battery) they will regain their full capacity once they are warmed up again.
By most metrics, AGM/SLA batteries are not much better in cold weather than flooded FLA cousin. (AGM) and (SLA) batteries can for the most part be lumped together because they have somewhat similar characteristics, YES there are differences between them, i'm not saying there isn't, ( and im probably going to get a few negative comments from other people now that i have said that) but each manufacture has their own secret sauce big mac ingredient that will bump up one number or change one parameter compared to the next, so the best place to find out the differences is to contact the manufacture and read their data on their battery.
Charging all VRLA batteries should be done slowly, with a 2 or 3 stage charger. It is recommended to use a charger, current limited to 20% or 0.2C of the batteries capacity, It is not recommended to charge them on a big old regular car charger because the charge current can exceed 0.2C of the rated capacity.
If you are looking for a superior battery performance in cold conditions I would turn your attention to the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery... they are very good at deep cycle -40 F scenarios .
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for all the great information in your video and especially the comments section. One thing to note regarding LiFePo (or LFP for short) batteries is that you accurately note the discharge and storage temperature minimum but you should also mention that they CANNOT be charged below +32°F (0°C) and to be safe should probably be at least +35°F when charging. To do so at that cold temperature would actually kill the battery so don't even attempt it. LFP batteries will work for those that only store their mower in a very cold shed and do not charge it over the winter. They can be stored at -40°F but do NOT charge it. What's good is that they have a low discharge rate at rest and should be fine left disconnected from a charger for a few months at a time through winter. They can also be discharged below 50% SoC without harming them so a comparably sized battery can run longer than the OEM battery.
Brian/Yvonne, thanks for the great video. I have the same Ryobi lawn mower, which I purchased in 2017, and the batteries have started to die their slow death. The lawn mower has less than 40 hours total runtime on them and I live in Central NYS, where it gets quite cold in the winter. Unfortunately, last winter the plug to the charger got dislodged and it sat for a week or two (maybe more) without being trickle charged. The charger still charges them up and the onboard meter goes all the way to 100% (blue), but I can only get about 25-30 minutes runtime now. I recently and found your video to learn how to take it apart and test them and recently purchased a car battery tester on Amazon. Each battery is around 30-35%-ish state-of-health (SOH) (assuming 900 CCA), and registers at about 310-340 CCA or so. The tester says "Replace" for each of them. Luckily, they all seem to be in the same ball park and not unbalanced.
I've done some research online for replacements and it appears the Mighty Max 75ah and 100ah batteries would work, as the Leoch brand is pretty hard to find in stock. But before I drop $600-$700 on a new set of batteries, I was wondering if a $60 40v Power Pulse could at least improve things a bit. I figure spending 10% of the cost of new batteries for a month-long experiment (Amazon's return window) wouldn't hurt. What do you think? Do you suspect my batteries are at least somewhat recoverable and would I see much improvement in 30 days?
Thanks in advance for your reply and thoughts on the matter!
Hi Shannim
Based on how you have already done some diagnostics , it sounds like you would then just be dealing with a sulphation issue, however it may take more time than 30 days to see a noticeable result.
I had a 12 volt unit on one battery (in the video) for at least a month to bring it back to life because it wasn't responding to the 48volt one ( the one battery had too much internal resistance ) The 12 volt one did its job and I then I removed it and installed the 48 volt
I put my first PP on at about the same time (hours on the meter) as you, and found a reasonable payback in total Ah, I think I gained about 25% Ah .
They also have a 12 v car trickle charger pulse unit that may be more beneficial to you as you can use it to charge up / desulphate your car / truck batteries as well. ( you would have to do 1 battery at a time.)
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for the response! Out of curiosity, what is considered a high internal resistance? I forget exactly what mine were exactly, but I seem to remember they were in the range of 7-13.x mohms. The spec sheet for the original Leoch says it should be approximately 6.6 mohms.
Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the 48v PowerPulse tonight. Hopefully it arrives before the weekend.
@@shannim5 Yes you are correct the Leoch is rated for 6.6 m-ohms when new. I didn't actually measure the resistance , I just noted that one battery after weeks of testing with the foxwell was not happy like the rest of them. Just like on sesame street song ( which one of these is not like the other) .
An FLA or VRLA 's internal resistance ( if all goes well ) stays relatively flat during its service life , temperature, state of charge, Liquid levels, plate degradation , plates that are shorted internally within the cell and plate sulphation will all play a role in how it reads and probably a few other things that I can t remember at them moment .
I am hoping your problem is only sulphation .
A few times per year we have to "equalize " our off grid battery bank, Cells go off on their own and do their own thing I don't yet understand why but they just do. You would think Lead is Lead and acid is acid with all the cells connected in series what could possibly go wrong? LOL
They require a hard charge of 1 volt above the normal rating for 60 minutes, This hard charge is definitely hard on the battery and causes micro flakes of lead to just pop of the plates and fall to the bottom of the battery becoming a sludge at the bottom, as harsh as it is , it does bring all the cells back into similar charging and discharging characteristics.
As a side note I am going to be experimenting with adding aluminum sulfate solution to the cells of other FLA batteries i have in the shop to see how they respond , I have been told by changing the chemistry of the cell it eliminates the sulfate problem but lowers the working voltage and charge voltage by 1 volt. so a 12 volt battery becomes an 11 volt battery but can now be discharged down to 9 volts without hurting the cells.. Should be an interesting experiment.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for all the info! Just so I understand correctly, after I hook up the 48v Power Pulse "permanently" to the battery pack... should I leave the lawnmower unplugged and let the PP discharge the battery while it is desulphating the pack and doing its thing, or will it also work with the lawnmower plugged into the OEM charger? If I leave the lawnmower unplugged, for how long?
@@shannim5 Hi Shannim That is a good question.
ALL FLA and VRLA batteries require the battery to remain charged up all the time... if you leave the battery discharged for prolonged periods of time ( days or weeks) the battery will fail prematurely, so you have to keep it plugged in all the time to the charger when you are not cutting grass, 24/7 , 365
The Powerpulse is a desulphator not a battery charger. The power pulse will use or consume a little bit of battery energy at 48 volts then on each pulse and bump up the voltage and slap the battery with this higher voltage helping to remove any built up sulfate crystals, but there are internal losses that occur when you convert energy from one voltage to another voltage, so the power pulse will eventually drain the battery.
So what I would do is install a desulphator and keep the pack charged up all the time.
The best solution is to purchase a 48v charger desulphator that does both... charges up the battery and keeps the battery in float mode and at the same time pulses the battery, My unit is 5 years old already and does not pulse the battery so I added it as an after market item. I would be interested to find out if the new mower chargers pulse the battery ? but I have no way to find that out .
The Ryobi website had numerous reviews on it for this mower. Many other people have had the same issues with battery degradation as I have, but all those reviews (both good and bad) have been removed. I purchased this mower in September of 2019. Initially the mower was great for my .75 acre yard. I was able to mow the yard and have about 50% battery remaining. I've always kept the mower parked in my 3 car garage, always plugged in when not in use. Starting around July of 2020 I started not being able to mow my yard on a single charge. I reached out to Ryobi and was told to clean under the deck. I did this and was again able to mow on a single charge, but just barely. Around Jan of 2021 it became increasingly difficult to mow my grass. It now takes 3 charges to get through my .75 acre yard. After filling out my last review, Ryobi reached out, asked when I had bought my mower, and then informed me that because it was more than a year old they could not help me, but they have ordered more batteries, they'd be arriving in August or September. But until then I'm out of luck. I believe that when I initially called and reported a problem, (which there is plenty of history of other users reporting) I should have been covered under the warranty. I believe Ryobi purposely tried to delay dealing with my issue until the mower was out of warranty. I cannot advise you strongly enough to avoid this mower. I now have a $4000 mower, that can't mow my yard, and can't get batteries for to fix. Its also very shady that my previous negative review along with everyone else’s reviews are now missing from the Ryobi website.
Hi Andrew , I cant speak to the problems you are experiencing with ryobi but I do believe you, and your comment wont be deleted from our channel .
Electric cars do have a hefty battery replacement cost, some are as low as $13,000.00 US and some go much higher, at today's gas price you can buy a lot of gas for that kind of money. I am pretty sure when it comes time to replace the EV battery pack, most people will instead buy a petrol car.
The electric battery replacement for my wife's EGO chainsaw is $350.00 bucks , somewhat painful to buy a new replacement but she likes the saw and enjoys helping me on the farm.
Battery technology is not yet up to par compared to what we are all used to when it comes to gas powered mowers, I am on year 5 with our ryobi and yes the mower is starting to show its age and i am only getting 1 hour cutting time down from 2 hours when the unit was new, but I still like the mower and will probably replace the batteries next summer.
I am personally waiting to buy an EV for a bit, we have solid state batteries coming out soon and even the sodium battery looks very promising.
Our off grid batteries that run our farm are designed to last 18 years, we are currently on year 9 and they are doing very well, that being said 9 years from now I will be in for a sizable replacement cost.
@@solarbrianyvonne I'm no battery newbie. I have 2 tesla cars(a 3 and a Y), 4 powerwalls, and every other lawn tool I own is battery powered (only gas powered item I have is a generator and a pressure washer). If you've ever got questions about Tesla products I'd be more than happy to share my amazing experience with them. I believe that when I first contacted Ryobi with my concerns about my waining battery life that I was intentionally strung along to run out the 1 year battery warranty period only to be denied any assistance. These batteries have been out of stock for more than 6 months, so you can't even buy them if you wanted to. There are a few niche areas of the internet where you can find them for about $200 each, no waranty, plus shipping. (you need 4, so at least 800-$1000). I only have about 50 hours on my mower. Seems a bit steep for only 50 hours of run time. Ryobi and Home Depot's only offer of help is to let me know when batteries are back in stock so I can purchase them on my own. A quick search of the reviews on Home Depot's website will reveal many other people in my same situation.
Great video, thanks for making it. Question regarding the PP, I know it goes to the front battery but do you have to disconnect the back batteries first you install? Also, is it the front 2 batteries? The camera angle wasn't super clear at that part of the video. Thank you
HI TV , yes its on the front 2 batteries , nope you don't need to disconnect the rear batteries, just make sure you test the connection so it reads about 48 volts, if it reads 12, or 24, or 36 volts on the volt meter that would be the wrong spot.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks so much. Please keep the great videos coming.
Thanks for the helpful video! I have a question… My batteries are not charging. Same mower but with the 100ah batteries. Tried a new charger but didn’t help. The charger has a solid green light. Is it possible a bad battery would cause it not to charge up?
Hi Jeremy
Batteries wont charge if they are too old, if one or more cells have gone bad ( high internal resistance) or if the battery terminals are corroded. On a battery terminal you often will see a Lead terminal with a copper connector, the dissimilar metals will cause corrosion between them hampering or stopping current flow but oddly enough the corrosion will still allow the volt meter to read correctly, so the outward appearance is everything is fine, but the reality is you have corrosion on the posts.
Clean the posts and while you are in there load test each battery individually to get a clear indication of how your batteries are performing, then you can make a better decision on what to do next .
Great video. Question: You say keep the batteries fully charged 24/7 but what about power outtages (storm may knock us out for several days to a couple of weeks), or vacations when you're gone for a week or two and you don't want to leave everything plugged in and sucking power (or catching fire)? How long does it take these to discharge if unplugged? Thanks
this is a good question. the charger is designed with a small parasitic drain when unplugged for safety reasons, however if you loose power and leave it plugged in your batteries will be flat in just 3 days, ( because of the drain that's located inside the charger) if you cant guarantee the charger to be energized 24/7 you would be better off to charge the unit up and then unplug the charger from the mower
Excellent. Very well done. Seems like very experienced gentleman. Thanks
Thank you very much!
outstanding! very well done thank you!
Thanks !
Thank you for this video, it really helped me replace the bad batteries in my Ryobi riding mower
Great to hear!
BTW, thanks for the PowerPulse recommendation. Just ordered one. Is it possible to put that on accessing via the hatch under the seat without taking the entire battery tray completely out?
welcome! ... the terminals you need to connect to are right at the front just behind your legs so there is no way to install it without pulling the battery tray out. its easy, you will be fine.
How did the PowerPluse work?
@@toddharriett8069 Very well. I gained more run time and I am very happy with the results.
Yes it is possible. Follow this video and after you disconnect the three electrical connections pull the battery tray back just a little bit which will give you access to the plastic battery cover over the front terminals. Lift the plastic cover and slide it forward and the terminals will be exposed. The cover is not attached to anything and it may fall down on top of the mower deck. Don’t worry it’s easy to retrieve. Now pull the battery tray back a little further to position the terminals in the open hatch area. You now have complete access to the terminals to install the Power Pulse. You do not need to remove the frame that sits on top of the batteries or anything else.
Although you will only be pulling the tray back a little bit you still need to disconnect the three electrical connections. And you still want to be careful sliding the battery tray back that the connections don’t get caught it the frame. I’ve done this 3 times so far and it’s getting to be a quick and easy task. Good luck.
Followed the process with new batteries, dead after connecting everything. Put old batteries bask in, same thing. Since a socket arced between two posts assuming there is a dead short somewhere. Any thoughts on what I toasted? Validate all the batteries have charge.
A dead short ? you may have blown the fuse . located on the main cable. small square looking thing .
Excellent video. I love all your Ryobi Electric mower videos, they’re very informative. I didn’t know about the desulfator. Pls keep them coming!
Hi Alex. thanks for stopping in !
Seeing as you've obviously pulled the mower apart once or twice, have you seen how the internal wiring all connects together? I haven't had a chance to explore mine yet, but I'm keen to find out if I could use the mower as a battery pack in a 48v solar system without modifying the mower wiring. Ie. does the external charger connector go straight to the batteries, or is there some electronics inside the mower that would have to be bipassed?
Hi Nick
Yes you could use the the pack for emergency solar power, ( keep in mind ) there is only 3.6 Kw stored internally so you could not run your whole house on it, ( most houses in North America consume 30 to 50 Kw per day) but you could keep a small fridge running during a short power outage or run a few lights / radio.
The existing charger does go straight to the battery pack , but wiring would be an issue, its too small of a gauge to run a large DC to AC inverter, its only designed to carry an input current of 48vots DC maxing out at 800 watts, a better option for outbound current would be to buy another DC battery connector ( identical to the one under the seat) and disconnect the mower and connect up the 120v inverter.
@@solarbrianyvonne Nice one, thanks for the info!
My idea is not to use it as part of a solar system for the house, I'm more thinking of setting up a shed in the backyard to store the mower to get it out of the garage ;). To avoid running AC out to it though, I'd like to set up a couple of solar panels on the shed and a charge controller to feed directly into the mower batteries. I was also thinking of adding an inverter to hook up some tool battery chargers to keep my other equipment stored out there and charged up too, which should only need to be a relatively low wattage inverter.
I only need to use the mower maybe once or twice a months, so shouldn't need a big solar array to charge it up, even if it takes a day or two.
I am replacing my batteries thanks to you. I ordered the 48 Volt PowerPulse it gets here Tuesday. I take it I put the positive on the first battery & the negative on the last battery negative post. Which is the first battery & last battery. Is 1 thru 4 like a U?
Thanks
yes you put them on the posts that lead to the mower , it should read 48 volts roughly when you test it with a multimeter
A wonderful video Brian & Yvonne, thank you! I’m sure I could do this now! Just passed 25hrs on mine. Have you performed the 25hr lubrication maintenance? If so, would you care to film a walk-through? Much appreciated!
Hi Mead ! Yes I have done the maintenance, it was a little underwhelming to say the least, there is almost nothing to the 25 hour. The 100 hour maintenance is more involved, batteries removed and topping up the differential fluid or in my case replacing the Diff fluid from standard to synthetic. I have another video recorded about the mower just not edited yet, at the moment I am busy with fixing the combine and finishing our grain harvest, once I am done with that I will add the maintenance routine into the mower video and post it. I think it will be something like "5 important tips to get the most out of your mower" give me a bit of time and I will have it up for you.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for your great videos. Did the maintenance video ever come out?
@@solarbrianyvonne Hi Brian, I started my third mowing season with my RM480ex. Still working well! Did you produce the video about “5 important tips…”? While I leave my mower plugged in during Winter, I noticed a reduction in battery capacity this year. In previous 2 years it’ll still have 50% capacity after a mow. This year 25%. I’d be interested to know the tester brand & model you showed, battery specs and your source for replacements, and the power pulse battery tender. There are several Ryobi RM videos, but yours was well done by keeping focus on the task with great mechanical and electrical safety tips. Thanks, again.
Thank you so much for this video (and others related to the Ryobi mower). We're on year 3, and we're mowing 2 acres of what used to be a hayfield (so the grass is tough, and long this time of year). I already had the batteries replaced last winter (was only getting 10-15 minutes of use, had a shop in town deal with it), but now I'm ready to do it myself thanks to this video - and I may need to do it sooner rather than later. Even with new batteries, I find that I don't get full use from them. Run time initially was over an hour earlier this spring, but now I'm lucky to get 50 minutes before I'm in the red or the blades stop (due to low power).
And that's another thing - sometimes they cut out when there's still 3 bars showing (2 red and one yellow), and yesterday they were still going when I was on the last red bar. And sometimes the blades go and the motor stops, and sometimes the other way around. I am beginning to wonder if the indicator is operating properly and/or the charger is funky. Anyone have any thoughts?
And thanks again for a wonderful video!
Hi Mike
The battery gauge that comes with the mower is not very accurate , but understanding the battery voltage is critical in the diagnostics of this unit.
I would recommend installing 2 extra wires on the battery pack connected at the front 48volt terminals with those two wires RED and BLACK... attach those wires carefully to a DC volt meter ( a volt meter with at least 2 decimal places 48.56 volts for example) charge the unit , place the volt meter on your lap and while cutting grass carefully watch the voltage of the pack... if when you get an error on the mower or it shuts off you must look at the voltmeter on your lap and write down what you see. if the voltage is low example (40.93 volts) then you have a battery problem, if the battery is fine ( voltage normal) but it still shut off... you have a wiring or inverter/ controller problem.
@@solarbrianyvonne I will make an attempt to try this. Thanks!
I was thinking about getting one of these, as I have a 21" self propelled Ego mower at the moment. I have little over a half acre of land to mow, so using a push mower is just taking longer than I want to spend now. My question is, how often do you think you have to replace these batteries? And I don't know have a garage to store it in, would a cover suffice through the winter/rain?
Hi Christopher
Battery life is dependent on many factors, the more important ones are manufacture, type or cell chemistry, load, depth of discharge and number of discharges.
I have managed to get my batteries to last 5 years on this mower, but many have had only 3 years and a few only 1 year ( replaced on warranty) so its impossible for me to say how long yours will last.
Snow and out door storage is not a problem as long as you keep it covered and you must buy a battery maintainer like the 48 volt " Battery Saver 2365-48 " on amazon because the charger that comes with the mower may not float the battery properly during off season months.
The batteries must remain either under a float charger 24/7 or unplugged and stored in a place that wont freeze and topped up every 6 months with a fresh charge.
The battery manufacture will have more specific info on how they should be stored and maintained.
Manufacture defects aside, the general rule of thumb is... If you are hard on a battery they will only last a couple of years , if you are gentle on a battery they will last many years.
@@solarbrianyvonne A lot of great information here, thank you! I only mow once a week, but I guess I'd have to keep it plugged in for the 6 days I'm not using it during season. My shed doesn't have electricity running to it, so might not be worth it for me.
Hey folks I have the powerpulse installed is there any benefit to adding a second one on the rear two batteries? also is there any real difference with the optional mulch blades over the original ones?
Hi Darren
That is a good question and perhaps better answered by a Power Pulse electrical Engineer.
Personally I would say one 48 v unit would suffice as long as the batteries are not too unbalanced.
I have no experience with the mulch blade so maybe someone else can answer this question for you.
I'm confused about how you connected the powerpulse, it looks different to me when you are taking out batteries than when you put it back together....so you connect it to the upper 2 terminals closest to the seat? Thanks for the video....
Hi Mark
Yes I did make a mistake in the video regarding what you saw.
Here is what happened, I had 1 battery that was testing poorly with the foxwell the other 3 were fine, so for a month or two I had put a 12 volt power pulse on one battery to slap it silly and see if it came back into similar charging and discharging characteristics .
Then once it was testing similar to the others I put on the 48 v power pulse and removed the 12 v
Yes you put the 48 v Power pulse at the top forward position of the batteries where you can measure 48 volts DC with a multi-meter.
@@solarbrianyvonne You should somehow put this in the comments at the start of the video. We are all thinking the same thing haha. Thanks for the video! This is excellent!
Thank you so much for this great video. Can you please confirm if the PowerPulse can be installed through the under seat window without pulling the whole battery bank out? Also, I should be able to install a 48V to 12V DC-DC Converter in a similar way as the PowerPulse, right? I'm thinking of installing a 15-gal 12V sprayer behind the mower seat.
Hi Lino ! that is a great Idea!
I can confirm, you must pull the batteries out and remove the upper steel bracket and top plastic covers to have access to the front battery terminals, there is no other way to do it.
Off Grid with Brian & Yvonne Thanks for the quick reply. Can you think of any issues with the 48v-12v converter?
@@eggdrunk . I think its a great Idea. You will need to make sure it turns off when not in use otherwise it will drain your batteries and ruin them... just install an on off switch between the batteries and the DC to DC converter.
I would shy away from converters that use a voltage regulator to drop the voltage down to 12 volts , A VR uses resistance to bleed off the voltage and it gives off a lot of heat in the process ( very inefficient ) , I would recommend a Step down Buck converter, 48v DC to 12 V DC ( very efficient )
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks! I will make sure to remember that.
I am curios as to how well your step down converter and PowerPulse is coexisting. I just installed a 48 to 12 step down converter to power a 15-gal 12v sprayer. Convinced by Brian and Yvonne, I am now also considering buying a PowerPulse.
The way I installed the step down converter is: negative input wire to the black battery terminal, positive input wire to the main relay, so that when the ignition is off there is no power to the step down converter. I then replaced the USB socket with a cigarette lighter socket which I then connected to the 12v output side of the step down converter. You need to take off the panel on the right side in order to access the main relay, and the converter should be connected to the relay post on the left side.
While I am working on the mower, I taped off the beeper thanks again to another video by Brian and Yvonne.
Brian I’m a bit confused hooking up the PowerPulse. I just got one yesterday. I have the exact same rider as you, 100ah batteries. When you hooked up the Power Pulse did you attach the positive red cable to the battery upper left and the negative black cable to the battery upper right? It couldn’t tell clearly. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
Eric
ES
the 48 volt powerpulse is hooked up to the 48 volt connection points on the top of the battery bank. its the same connection point as the main battery cables going to the chassis
Perfect, thank you for the quick reply.
Question..... leave the charger cable plugged in even if it’s not plugged into an outlet? Floating is what it’s called? Thanks again.
the mower should be left plugged in both to the mower and to the power outlet, this will keep the batteries topped up when not in use.
I commented a while ago about battery maintainer. Now I have battery that charges and doesn't show error. But after the charger shows fully charged the battery shows low level in red. I have the mainter permanently attached and always keep mower on the charger. Have couple questions:
1 Anything I could do to fix low charge without replacing batteries
2 If I have to replace batteries any cheaper options that would be as good as oem? Maybe car batteries, aftermarket, etc? I'm handy and could adapt batteries if needed. I need 75ah batteries. Thank you!
Hi Paul
the batteries will eventually fail to charge either from being sulphated or from the lead plates being worn out . it may just be one bad cell in one battery... try testing all the batteries isolated separate and see if they all register 13.0 volts if not then its a bad battery.
Car batteries are not designed to be deep cycled , their led plates are very thin and will fail very quickly in that environment.
your cheapest option for replacement is to use Deep cycle lead acid FLA or AGM anything other than that you will have to also replace the charger adding to the cost.
Hey OneStep, your video is super helpful! I have one of these, and this August while riding, heard a loud thunk almost like a transmission dropping. The mower now has a lot of resistance while pushing it around in neutral which it never had. Mower lights and instruments turn on, but blades dont't spin and can't drive. Followed your video to remove batteries and brought to an O'Reillys where they said all batteries were bad which I'm not sure I fully believe that they're all dead. Ryobi cust service says it could be the transaxle and that the batteries are fine since it turns on. So not sure what to believe. Have any ideas?
Scott
As a farmer this is what I would do.
with the mower off:
check to make sure your brake lock isn't engaged .
either you have a bad bearing / or failed axel gear... you could also have a (break pad )drum that had let loose and is binding on the rear axle.
lift the front of the machine off the ground and check that the front tires rotate easily, then jack up the rear and check the same, ( the rear tires will have more resistance than the front because of the differential )... listen for noise and watch your other tire... as you rotate one tire backwards the other tire should be rotated forwards on its own.
with the mower on :
jack up one side of the rear end so one rear tire is off the ground but the other is firmly on the ground, then get on and drive it forward and reverse , does the tire off the ground rotate ? is there any strange noises ?
do the same test for the other rear tire.
if one tire turns you can investigate the other side ... if nothing turns then get out some tools and check the breaks , take the cover off and make sure they are not binding, if they are then effect a repair, if they are not binding I suspect you need to dig deeper and check the differential .
best of luck
Thanks for this great tutorial. I was wondering if it is possible to change the system to use LiPO batteries instead of lead acid.
I have looked into it and yes it is possible, just the cost of conversion is about 4grand and then having to scrap the charger and buy another LiPo charger would push the cost to expensive for me, but there are lots of guys who pimp out their Golf carts with 48volt LiPo so it would be very similar conversion and probably a fun project.
@@solarbrianyvonne yeah, I agree that it isn't currently economically feasible. Maybe when solid state Lithium batteries are ubiquitous, and pricing drops.
I have to do this today and test all the batteries per Ryobi technical support. My lawn mower will let me engage the blades and while I'm sitting still it will run just fine. The battery indicator says fully charged but then I hit the accelerator and everything stops. When the blades are not engaged I can hit the accelerator and go forward.
Do you think it's a battery issue or maybe something with the accelerator pedal?
I know exactly what is wrong! , its called voltage sag!
A battery can seem fine from external testing but once put to the test under heavy load it fails . This can also be caused from poor or corroded battery connections.
lead acid batteries can indicate fully charged but in reality they have almost no acid left in them or the plates are so sulfated there is not enough plate surface to react with the acid to make electricity. Your batteries have enough power ( current) to accomplish one task at a time but ask it to mow and drive forward is too much for them and the voltage sags low below 43 volts and the system shuts down.
test and replace or repair the batteries and try again, also remove all battery terminal post connections and make sure there is no corrosion on the connections.
Great video. Just wanted to mention a small detail (may have been already-didn't check) about the orientation of the hold down frame which is reversible end to end but for one small detail.. If incorrect the bolt hole for the 'plug hold down' will be on he wrong side of the center bolt and unusable. Much to my dismay, discovered this after reloading the bank and bolting it in--would have seen it earlier if I had the video in front of me while working on it.
Good find and great advice ! now that you have commented others will read your thread !
Great video - Thanks! My 3 year old 38 in 100Ah electric Ryobi riding mower needs to be recharged after just 40 mins of mowing. I'm not sure if I should be buying a Power Pulse or a 12vdc trickle charger to get more run time. What would you suggest?
Hi Todd
40 minutes is getting below 50 % capacity, but still usable.
I guess it would depend on the condition of the batteries ( tested with a meter) VS cost of replacement VS if could you still work with a 40 min run time.
If the Lead plates are sulphated then a desulphator would be beneficial however if they are just plain wore out then a replacement is the direction you should go.
I would test all 4 of the batteries first and get some real data on where they are in terms of AH compared to each-other, perhaps you have a battery or a cell in a battery that is having difficulty , testing would indicate a difference or fault and then make a decision on replacement or a desulphation solution.
@@solarbrianyvonne Got it. Can you recommend a battery meter? Thanks
@@toddharriett8069 There isn't a proper Deep cycle battery tester on the market that can handle 100Ah test over a C-20 hour time frame, it just doesn't exist, however you can use a car battery tester like the one i have ( foxwell) and with a little math you can find out the approximate values of the battery. You have to mathematically convert AH to CCA... I can help you with that once you get a tester.
@@solarbrianyvonne Great - thanks again. FYI - When I charge the mower the battery indicator level goes all the way to 100% blue bars. It also shows that I have 204 hours on the mower. How many hours of mowing should I expect from the 100Ah batteries?
@@toddharriett8069 That's a difficult question to answer... I will explain....
Most of us change the oil on the car with regularity and fill up the gas tank when empty , its a pre learned thing we all do, but the way we treat batteries is a different story.
If you drove your car or truck with the gas peddle smashed all the way down to the floor each day you should expect your engine to be completely burnt out at 20k miles
but if you look after your engine and drive it nicely , change the oil regularly you could get 200,000 miles on it.
Charge and discharge a battery from 100% to 0 hard each day and you can expect that battery to last 1 or 2 years, but charge and discharge a battery form 100% to 50 % then immediately charge it back up again some magic happens in the battery... it will have a much longer lifespan , 2 X to 3 X more
So to answer your question , the lifespan of your battery bank will completely depend on how deeply and frequently you discharge the cells.
I am on year 5 on my batteries and they are working very well, that said , I never discharged them past 50% and always kept them charged up 24/7.
Thank you for the informational video. Do you know where I can find the replacement boots for the battery terminals. I broke one of those accidentally and am now stuck. I will truly appreciate any help.
yes , amazon has lots of them.
Do you have any recommendations on where to purchase replacement batteries? I have the zero turn 100ah( also looking for cheaper option rather than the $300 ea battery sold by ryobi
Hi Ato . Sorry I do not have any recommendations for purchasing, wherever you buy them just make sure you buy the appropriate VRLA replacements .
How old/many hrs. does yours have? What condition? Are u replacing now or just planning?
Brian, what is the adapter on the drill you are using to remove the 4 screws on the battery cover? Is it a normal Phillips screw diver?
Hi Patricia, these screws are a little bit special and need a special adaptor or screwdriver to fit in properly. A Philips screwdriver only has 4 points ..you will need one that has 6 points... It looks like a 6 sided star screwdriver ... ( it is called a TORX screwdriver ) there are many different sizes, if you purchase a set of screwdrivers it will most likely have the one that fits perfectly. Almost any North American hardware store or automotive store has these in stock and can be purchased easily .
@@solarbrianyvonne thank you so much for your quick reply. The batteries on our one year old Ryobi died over the winter. Apparently the charger kicked the circuit breaker and was not charging. We’ve had issues from the beginning with that happening. It has made us second guess this purchase. We want to try trickle charging them and could not figure out how to get the cover off. I bought a Noco genius 2 charger hoping it will work. However it says it charges batteries up to 40ah. I think My batteries are 100ah. There is no way I would even attempt this if it wasn’t for your video.
@@patriciapeel5331 You are welcome ! trickle charge them for only 3 hours at a time, then charge the next battery, once all 4 batteries have been done put the mower back together and plug it in to the Ryobi charger
Thank you for this video, and especially for this comment thread!
After all the testing and charging recommended, I also have 1 battery out of balance with the other 3, so of course reduced runtime. This thread has now introduced me to the sulfation issues with these types of batteries, so a lot more internet education, and this thread still has the best straight forward explanations.
So my question is with the Powerpulse... I need to focus on my one weaker battery.... when you did this, did you simply hook up the 12v powerpulse on the battery in need of attention and run the mower "as normal?" As in use the mower for the runtime you desire and hook back up to the charger at all times when not in use. Or did you isolate the weaker battery to desulfate with the powerpulse in another way while still being able to use the mower? Or did you wait until the off-season? Or something else?
My goal is to continue using the mower for the next 2-3 months without having the pull the batteries out all the time. Then over the winter I'll work on some full reconditioning to hopefully prolong my need to buy new batteries because I've been very hard on these. Following the guidelines in the manual certainly wasn't good enough, but now I feel much more informed even if I have to get a new set of batteries for the spring.
When I focused on the 1 battery I did it during the summer and parked the mower for about a month and hooked up the PP and let it relentlessly bang away at it.
I had to beat it back into submission or alignment with the others.
We are on year 5 and the batteries are still ok but I think I will replace them next year.
I abandoned the original charger in favor of a better one with pulse technology already built in.
We live off grid and have learned huge amounts of info on Pb batteries in the last 20 years .
Generally speaking those who rely on a Pb battery system have to " equalize " the batteries once a month to keep the internal resistance as close to each other as possible, this allows the bank to charge and discharge to its fullest capacity and since the charger that came with the mower doesn't have an " equalize mode" i opted for a pulse system instead.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks Brian! Yes, I have one battery that I need to "slap silly" as you say. I have had my 100ah rider for a little over 2 years and knew nothing about Pb battery maintenance going in, so I just followed the manual. I have about 2 acres to mow and I was getting the 2-2.5 hours of use brand new, but now know that was not helping my batteries at all, since I went into the red bars on almost every usage. I'm now at about 45 minutes until the red bars, I've pulled the batteries multiple times in the last week or so and desulfated the weaker battery and it's already showing a little improvement to 50 minutes.
I still have a decent amount of mowing/leaf mulching season remaining here in middle North Carolina, so my goals are to #1-keep mowing this year & #2-recover the weaker battery to extend my battery replacement by hopefully one more year at least. So my basic plan is to be nicer to the batteries I will plan on about 30 minutes at a time, so likely everyday it doesn't rain. This is about the amount of time it has been taking lately to get to the ~50% range (last green/first yellow bar). If I know I won't be using the mower for a few days, I'll pull the batteries and desulfate the weak battery. I'll continue using the original charger, but will make plans to get one that will pulse in the future. Then over the winter I'll get a 12v powerpulse on the weaker battery to slap it silly while properly keeping the other 3 topped off. If I can get 45-60 minutes of healthy runtime, that is workable for me for next year. I'll make the 30 minutes work for now, but once I get down to that again it will be time for a battery replacement, at which time I'll do all 4 at the same time. At this point my preferred option is the 110ah Mighty Max. For anyone else looking into Mighty Max (they have 100ah and 75ah as well) the best price I've found so far it through them directly, www.mightymaxbattery.com as they have the same price as Amazon and others also with free shipping and you can google search for a coupon code for at least 10% off.
@@calvindickenson4103 Hi Calvin
This is excellent info ! Thanks for your comments and keep us posted !
Thanks for this video. I have a ZT 480eX. Have an odd issue. Batteries always show 100% charge, 4.6 hrs . Start cutting grass, in 25 minutes power is down to 70% and the blades stop cutting. If I sit and wait a few minutes, I turn it back on, power usually shows 95 -100%, but only cuts for a few more minutes, then the blades stop. I have had it 11 months. Last year it would run down to 20% charge before the blades stopped. I would cut about an acre. Then recharge overnight and cut the balance . Ryobi sent me replacement motors, then controllers, but no difference. I'm starting to wonder if I have a loose or bad connection, or one or more bad battery. If you have any thoughts, thanks in advance.. Mike
Hi Mike
That is a unique problem.
The battery gauge that comes with the mower is not very accurate but understanding the battery voltage is critical in the diagnostics of this unit.
I would recommend installing 2 extra wires on the battery pack connected at the front 48volt terminals with those two wires RED and BLACK... attach those wires carefully to a DC volt meter ( a volt meter with at least 2 decimal places 48.56 volts for example) charge the unit , place the volt meter on your lap and while cutting grass carefully watch the voltage of the pack... if when you get an error on the mower or it shuts off you must look at the voltmeter on your lap and write down what you see. if the voltage is low (40.93 volts) then you have a battery problem, if the battery is fine ( voltage normal) but it still shut off... you have a wiring or inverter/ controller problem.
@@solarbrianyvonne You nailed it. I hooked up a voltmeter and it started out with 50.2 volts. In 5 minutes, when the blades shut off, it read 40.1 volts. Bad battery or all. I have 52 hours on this. :( Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Warm regards, Mike
Sorry it looks like I'm hijacking this thread, but really, I want to help others with my experience vis the information in this outstanding video! Just wanted to say that the PowerPulse de-sulfurizer really does seem to work!
I have had my 480e since early 2017 (so 4 1/2 summers) and my 75ah original batteries had started to be unable to last long enough to mow more than about 1/5 acre. Long story short, after manually charging them/testing them with the Schumacher 1281 charger, I started to get a bit more life out of them, being able to mow about 1/4-1/3 acre max. I will also add that, although capable of de-sulfurizing, the Schumacher has never once shown the '5ul' code to indicate it had detected and switched over to the de-sulfurizing mode. However, after seeing this video, and hearing Brian recommend it, I also added the PowerPulse de-sulfurizer unit in this video (at 13:01-14:00) about a week ago to the system, and left the mower on charge for about 6 days. I just took the mower out for the first time yesterday since installing the PowerPulse, and I was able to mow about 2/3 of an acre! That's quite an improvement, considering the batteries seemed like they were almost at the end of their life cycle. I've plugged in the mower overnight and I'm going to finish the last 1/3 of the lawn today. Perhaps I'll be able to hold off on the battery replacement for another season if things keep going like this. I'll keep you posted! Thanks Brian and Yvonne!
Hi Anubis
I have recently found out more information regarding the "float" mode of the charger that came with my mower. ( it doesn't have one! ) I thought I would do some testing with the original charger since lots of People complain that they left it plugged in all winter and in spring the batteries were dead. I don't use the original charger because it consumes 850 watts while charging in bulk mode and that 850 watts is too much for my off grid solar system , instead I use an after market golf cart charger of only 50 watts.
There is no float mode with my original charger, there is with all my other chargers but not my original one.... after installing a watt meter I discovered that the charger does a bulk charge and a finish charge then switches off and puts a 5 watt drain on the battery pack even when plugged in to AC!... then once it reaches a certain discharge voltage value??? it charges them back up again, this is why everyone is complaining. The rub is when the charger is left plugged in and then looses AC power ... 2 weeks later ( if you haven't been checking your garage power ) your batteries are stone dead.
I will put out another video explaining this and recommending to folks to throw out the original charger and buy an after market one.
I just ordered a PowerPulse for my Ryobi. How did you hook up the Power Pulse?
@@solarbrianyvonne , first of all, thank you for this awesome video. This gave me the courage to purchase PowerPlus as well. I have a follow up question for you. Have you created the video regarding your recommendation to throw out the original charger? I tried looking for it on your channel but somehow I couldn't find it. Also, if you're taking requests ;), can you please create a separate video to install PowerPulse de-sulfurizer? And another also, do you recommend installing PowerPulse to a brand new Ryobi Riding Mower? I just got mine this week. TIA.
@@jgilliam1955 the 48 volt power pulse needs to be connected to the 48 volt point of the battery string, red on positive and black on negative
@@joenmoreno I will see what I can do for the first 2 requests , and yes on installing any sort of desulphation system, whether it be the power pulse or a proper battery charger with pulse tech built in .
a FLA battery of any sort will start to create crystals on the plates the first day you use them.
Hey thanks for this great video. So I installed the 48v PowerPulse on my Ryobi zero turn just as you show in the video…but the LED does not blink or light up. The battery are 100% charged and I can still mow. Is there something wrong with my power pulse? I checked my connections and red is to positive and black to negative
first you need to make sure you are connecting the PwPulse to the 48 volt side of the battery bank, this can be determined by using a voltmeter.
Thank you for a very detailed video that covers every detail you need to know about replacing the batteries on the e-tractor.
My warning to those who have not purchased one of these is that the batteries are hard to find and extremely expensive. Mine lasted 3 years (half the time I was told) and cost $350USD each (incl LTL freight shipping)-more than TWICE what I was told, which I had to have delivered to my work because residential delivery was over $120 more. I tried replacing just one battery, the weakest, with no satisfaction. Home Depot sells the tractor but not the batteries. Just don’t buy one! I should have bought a nice Deere for the money I have put into this fiasco.
Hi Gregg sorry things didn't go so well in your case , Yes you are correct all 4 batteries should be replaced at he same time due to the difference in each batteries internal resistance.
❤️🙏 Thank you so much for your input, that was my concern about the lifetime and price of the 4 batteries 🔋 🔋 🔋 🔋 😜
@@solarbrianyvonne Thank you so much for the great video (▰˘◡˘▰)
Hello, thank you for this video very helpful! A few questions for you. 1. How do CCA relate to amp hours? I have the 75ah so want to understand how much of that capacity I have left. Is CCA a linear proxy for that? 2. How did you know what your batteries were rated for? 3. The 75ah was plenty to move my property when I first got it but now I wish I got the 100ah just to give myself a bit more leeway. Am I correct in thinking that if I need to replace one battery I can't just get a higher capacity one I'd have to replace all 4?
AH * 7.25 = CCA
charge and desulfate each battery individually with a high quality 12 volt AGM charger , then perform a load test on them, once you know the condition of the batteries you can make a better decision moving forward.
as batteries age they increase their internal resistance... putting in a new single battery will work, but not perform as you would expect because the other 3 batteries are the weakest link and have the highest internal resistance, the new battery will have a lower resistance placing the battery pack into misalignment , performing an equalization on the pack will help but they will still be slightly out of sync because of their age. an equalization charge can only be performed with a battery charger with that function built in from factory.
@@solarbrianyvonne very helpful thanks!
We have a newer version of the 100amp Ryobi (2020) zero turn. Will the power pulse need to be placed in the same position in the front two batteries or be placed in the rear batteries? Thanks for any help you can provide. There also is an addtional connection point at rear of mower that needs to be detached before battery removal and with this model it's simpler to place power pulse once batteries are slid nearly all the way back in mower with front battery posts still exposed.
HI Shirley
I am not familiar with the new ZT mower , I can tell you the PP is to be installed on a AGM battery at the point where the big wires connect and should read somewhere between 45volts DC to 60Volts DC
You can check this with a multi-meter to make sure you have the correct placement
one battery cable should be black and one cable should be red
Food for thought : I abandoned the original charger for a better one I bought on amazon that has a built in pulse desulfator.
@@solarbrianyvonne hello. Which charger did you from amazon? With this charger i guess you dont need Power Pulse? TIA
Thank you very much for this video. This should come in handy some day...
Today I am looking for a video on what to do about this double red flash on my charger that has my grass getting taller every day...
Ryobi manual says, “charge the batteries by another means,” but I’m not sure how to do that.
On the hunt for wisdom...
A double red flash indicates the batteries are less than 36 V or more than 67.2 V, or the batteries are too discharged to be charged.
Very carefully disconnect the battery bank and test the total voltage with a DC multi meter, should be around 40 to 60 volts Be careful not to short anything out.
if its lower than 37 volts you will need to manually charge each battery back up to 13 volts and then reconnect them all.
@@solarbrianyvonne I see.
Thank you very much.
I also got new batteries with 12v 100ah, vrla, the mower runs great and for a long duration but two red flashes at charging. One time it did charge the batteries, but now it won’t
@@kbunday8 A double red flash indicates the charger is having difficulty with the batteries.
check the voltage if they are less than 36 V or more than 67.2 V, or the batteries are too discharged to be charged.
Very carefully disconnect the battery bank and test the total voltage with a DC multi meter, should be around 40 to 60 volts Be careful not to short anything out.
if its lower than 37 volts you will need to manually charge each battery back up to 13 volts and then reconnect them all.
Al the batteries individually should be around 13 volts if they are different like 13,13,11,13 then you have a bad battery and the unit will give you a double flash.
Hello I’m back with a problem . My 480e will stop running . With the blades not engaged it will move. I engage the blades it’ll go a few feet then stop. Disengage the blades it’ll jump a bit then move again. It mowed the front yard just fine. It bogged down a couple of times because of the wet grass. I raise the deck full up and go real slow then 1/2 width cuts and lower deck with extra passes. Now with no impediment it just stops. Looking for trouble shooting guide at Ryobi. Not so lucky right now. Thanks 🙏
if your batteries and wire connections are ok then its probably the 3 phase motor speed controller.
How many hours did your batteries have on them and how much did they cost at the time? Thank you for vid!
Looks like Ryobi put some thought into the design. Do you think normal 12V deep cycle batteries would fit?
Hi Homestead , I made this video to teach people how to replace the batteries, I didn't buy any batteries or replace them , in the video I put back in the exact same batteries i took out .... my batteries are on year 5 and do not need replacement yet.
Yes 12 volt FLA deep cycle would fit and work, but your charge voltage would be about 1 volt lower than what is required for FLA's because this charger is designed for the VRLA family of batteries. Lower voltage means more sulphate crystals on the plates.
@@solarbrianyvonne
Even more good information. Thank you!
In one of the comments, the poster quotes $300 per battery for his 100ah. Ouch!
I'm curious to know how often people with battery problems are completely discharging them. (mowing a full 2 acres) I just bought one of these mowers and I only have 1/2 acre to mow. I should never need to discharge the batteries lower than 50%-60%. Also no snow season. Would it be reasonable for me to expect my batteries to last longer?
yes they will providing you replace the charger with a better one that pulses and maintains the battery every day. I got 5 years out of my first set
Hey, great video but one quick question. I'm looking to upgrade all of my 50 ah batteries to 75 ah. Would this be a simple drop-in solution that could use the original charging system or would I need to make additional adjustments when upgrading the amp hours? Thank you so much in advance!
replacing the 75 AH AGM with 100 AH AGM does not require any changes to the charging system.
Thanks!!! @@solarbrianyvonne
Hi,
Thanks for posting this, its a great video, and really well done. Why did you do this though? Was the mower dying right away or was it just for instructional purposes?
I've had the same problem for over a year, it won't charge up to 100% it never goes about 50%. Last season Ryobi said it was an issue with the gauge, they sent me a new one to change our myself, I did, and the issue was the same. Thing is, some days I could finish the whole 1 acre lawn and the gauge wouldn't move and other days it would drain all the way down to about 1 bar left.
This season the charge still won't go above 50% but now the mower only lasts for about 20-30 mins. I have left in plugged in 24/7/365 as they recommend, even throughout the winter.
I'm stuck about how to handle this. Any suggestions would be great! BTW
I posted the video so I could be the first to publish the video on youtube, this way I could help grow my channel faster, because there would only be one video available to view.
The battery life depends on the age , how much sulphate crystals are on the plates, how much the batteries have been used or ( how many discharge cycles ) and how deep the discharge cycles are.
Sounds like to me you have 1 bad battery out of the 4 , I would test each battery individually and find out what their useful life is left.
once you have more information you will be able to know what next steps to take.
I just ordered the 100ah only because the 75ah was out of stock and they had a deal with the bagging kit for $2800. In the future can 75ah batteries be used if I need to replace them? I assume the 100ah and 75ah are the same model. I'm sure 75ah batteries are a little cheaper.
Hi Chris
Yes the 100ah and the 75ah can fit into the same battery tray , there are some hold down bolts ( on the tray) that need to be turned in so the larger 100ah batteries will fit or expanded out so the smaller 75AH will fit.
That’s a killer deal! Where did you buy it through?
@@solarbrianyvonne I was just asking this and found it below. Useful! Thanks!
I just bought one of these mowers. Winter is coming and I'm wondering if I should take the batteries inside for the winter. Right now I have the mower stored in an uninsulated and unheated shed. Temps can drop around -25 C around here. Do you just keep the batteries plugged in the cold or do you keep them in a warm place? I know they recommend them being plugged in at all times but I'm worried about the severe cold ruining them.
Hey Shooter ! That is a very good question, every battery technology has its environmental issues for instance Lithium ion should not be used or charged at -25 C temps because they just cant handle it ( premature death will be the result) , believe it or not the tesla cars have heating systems in the battery packs to keep them warm in the winter.
The batteries in the Ryobi mower are Sealed AGM"s and can easily operate in cold temps and be stored in cold temps with no degradation, there is a temporary lowering of the available CCA when they are cold but it is just temporary, ( just like any car battery), as soon as spring rolls around they will be back to full power. As well there is no liquid in AGM's so nothing can freeze, expand and break. We get -40c here where we live, and the Ryobi batteries have no problem with that temp, my only recommendation is to keep the mower plugged into the charger all winter long 24/7 to keep the batteries in a float voltage. AGM's will last the longest when maintained in a float voltage, if you brought them into the house you would have to buy a second 48 volt charger to keep them in a float scenario.
Hope this answers your question. B
@@solarbrianyvonne Amazing! Thank you very much for your response Brian. I considered buying some battery warmers but thought it might be a tight fit trying to squeeze the tray back in. My next big purchase will be a Cyber Truck. I put in a preorder for it and am excited for when it comes out. Looks like they'll be using the new battery technology they announced on battery day for the trucks. Thanks again for the response!
@@solarbrianyvonne Thank you so very much for this reply, Brian! In the same situation as the OP. I have been leaving the charger plugged in all winter, but wondered if perhaps the battery life was degrading as a result of not bringing them into a warmer area over winter. It`s great to know that I don`t need to pull all 4 of them out just to keep them warm! Takes one more thing off my plate in preparation for winter!
@@emilieDB You are welcome!
@Shooter McGavin - just curious as I'm in the same situation, winter is here and wondering about storage, how are your batteries and did you keep them plugged in the cold or moved them to a warm place and charged?
This was an excellent video! I would not considered myself “handy” but following this step by step I was successfully able to replace my batteries. Is there a way to bring my old batteries back to life? If so what kind of charger would I use.
Thanks so much for putting this together it was a great help
depending on how many charge cycles you have put on the batteries will depend on how much life is left and whether they can be brought back to life.
the best charger for this purpose is a multi stage charger with pulse technology built in to ( maintain ) the battery and disulfate it at the same time
I noticed the battery covers come with handles. do u have to replace with ryobi batteries or will the covers come off to put on a new battery.
you can replace with other branded batteries, covers or not, as long as the batteries are AGM same voltage and dimension they will fit just fine
Thanks for the very informative video! I am having run time issues w/ my mower. I took your advice and picked up a Foxwell tester (BT-705). The problem I’m having is to determine what CCA or appropriate test to run. You had 945 CCA selected as your baseline CCA. I toggled different CCA’s and depending on what number I put in, the tester may tell you the battery is good or bad. I do not see a CCA rating on my original batteries. Does anyone know what the appropriate CCA rating and/or appropriate test to run with the Foxwell tester?
Hi David , yes I hear what you are saying... the tester is primarily for Cars and truck batteries but can be used with deep-cycle with a little math.
There is no correlation between CCA and Ah. Therefore you can’t convert it directly to get the exact value.
However, you can get a rule of thumb value for most batteries, even if it’s not an exact value, and compare the battery's to each other and from the value you would expect from a brand new battery.
The problem:
CCA testing is for car batteries to deliver power over a 30 second period and AH testing is performed for deep cycle over a 20 hour test period.
You can use the CCA rating number of your car battery and divide it by 7.25 to get Ah, or in your case you can take the Ah number of your RYOBI battery lets say 100 and multiply that by 7.25 that should be 725 CCA
The Solution:
Select 725 CCA on the tester, then perform the test , out of vehicle, VRLA, 12 volt, top post, 725 CCA , perform the test , if you are expecting a new 100Ah battery to read 725 CCA and you only get 350 CCA after the test then you know your deep cycle battery is at about 50% life left.
If you have the 75 AH RYOBI battery then 543 CCA is the number you should use for a new battery and your test value.
Again these values are not exact but they will tell you the relative life remaining in your VRLA batteries.
Testing a Deep cycle properly:
If you want to find out the exact condition of any deep cycle battery you will need to place a small C-20 load on a fully charged battery then each hour for 20 hours measure the voltage and divide that number by 6 to get your individual cell voltage.
you can also use time as a measurement,
Again a brand new fully charged battery will last 20 hours under a C-20 load, if your used battery is dead in 10 hours your battery is at 50% capacity , if your used battery is dead in 5 hours you are at 25% capacity.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thank you for the quick and detailed response. It is very appreciated. I have the 75 AH batteries. So, I ran the tests entering 540 CCA. I saw test options for regular, AGM, and gel. I wasn’t sure which one was suitable so here are results for AGM and gel. For the 4 batteries these were my results for AGM: 12.37V/244 CCA, 13.59V/283 CCA, 13.65V/308 CCA, 13.79V/284 CCA.
Test results using gel: 12.39V/293 CCA, 13.49V/342 CCA, 13.49V/373 CCA, 13.70V/343 CCA.
Towards the end of last October my run time had diminished to maybe 20 or 30 minutes on the mower before the batteries died. The mower was stored for the winter in the garage on the charger. I noticed within the last month that the mower was completely dead and not responding to the Ryobi charger. I pulled the batteries out and put them on individual CTEK chargers that I use on vehicles. One battery was not initially responding to being hooked up, but finally started taking a charge. The above test results were following being individually charged. The Foxwell tester stated “replace battery” on each battery. Based on the results and diminished run time, does it sound like all 4 batteries need replacing? Home Depot has been out of stock on both the 75 and 100AH batteries for over 6 months. I will probably need to buy alternative branded batteries with the same connection and ratings. Might upgrade to 100AH.
@@davidalan3179 because all the batteries are connected in series, the weakest battery will be the limiting factor that will impact how much charge they all will take and how much run time you will have. Your 4 batteries are unbalanced.
Your 12.3 battery is at fault and should be reading closer to 13.5
I would desulphate this battery and see if it returns to a better voltage like 13.5. this would bring balance back into your pack and make it last longer.
@@solarbrianyvonne this is the info I was looking for. Thank you!
What about replacing the shorter 75 AH battery with the longer 100 AH battery (13 inches)? Will the batteries fit in the battery tray? It appears that they will. I am due for some new batteries and would like to upgrade, but not if they won't fit.
I just did that and will be posting a video shortly. I replaced mine with the Interstate battery 100Ah
This video is GREAT, thanks! I am thinking my batteries need to be replaced, only 4 years old but sit in an unheated shed in NJ for the winter... charger on of course). I can rarely get a charge over 70%, they deplete very fast 20-30 minutes-, and once down to about 45% the blades stop (thinking the amps are too low). These batteries seem very difficult to find, due to the terminal type (IT/Inside Thread). Have you any thoughts on using the same batteries but with different terminal types as they as would be much easier to find? Also, if I install the installed the Power-pulse on these existing
Hi Bill
Your batteries are definitely sulfated and if you don't de-sulfate them they will need be replaced soon. We only got 5 years on our set and I will be replacing them next year.
You can use any AGM VRLA battery that will fit into the space you don't have to buy the ones from the company .
I abandoned the original charger that came with the unit in favor of a better one that has built in pulse technology . We keep our unit outside in a shed all winter with no problems.
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks for the speedy reply, I have a couple followup questions if you don't mind, and sorry for so many questions, but you seem to be a wealth of knowledge in this subject...
1. The original battery has the IT (internal thread) terminal type, where as the only batteries I can find in stock at any given time have terminal type NB (nut & bolt) or MP (marine post). Since you have opened the mower and removed the batteries, do you think these vertical post NB terminal batteries would fit?
2. Also, I am having difficulty finding batteries with the CCA of the original (943), how critical is this for the mower, i.e. for example I am finding in many cases the CCAS is not even mentioned, so I would have no idea what it is.
3. Regarding the charger with built in pulse technology,
a) does this eliminate the need for the PowerPulse Battery Maintenance System?
b) where does one find such a charger that is 48V 15A? I have been
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill
Try www.mightymaxbattery.com they have some that will fit.
if you go with a vertical post just make sure the post fits under the metal frame without shorting.
CCA is used in the automotive industry and AH is used in the deep cycle industry but there is a way to convert the numbers.
here is the math:
divide the CCA by a 7.25 to get AH
or multiply the AH with 7.25 to get CCA
For example, if you need to calculate the amp hours in a 740 CCA battery. the formula is
Ah x 7.25 = CCA
It means multiplying the Ah value with a constant 7.25 to get the equivalent CCA value.
For 75 Ampere hours, the CCA rating will be 544.
Yes I purchased a 50 watt pulse charger called " battery saver from amazon" and it does eliminate the need for a Power pulse because its already built in.
the original charger that came with my mower is 800 watts so you cant go any bigger than that or you will hurt your batteries during the charge process.
seeing as the automotive industry is just waking up to the need for maintenance on Pb systems I have found a few that are larger than 50 watts but are very expensive.
try searching for 48v golf cart smart battery charger with a float mode, or pulse mode , repair mode.
@@solarbrianyvonne Hi Brian, I am learning so much here... So, thanks for the info on Mightymax, they seem to have them in stock. Now, if I wanted to go from the 75AH (which came with the machine) to 100AH, is that just a matter of battery swap out, or is there more that would need to be changed/modified?
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill
To go from 75 Ah to 100Ah is no problem. The battery tray has expansion bolts / compression arms that move back out out the way to make room for a larger battery set.
Nothing needs to be changed , just the batteries.
Warning ! do not loose the 24 volt sense wire , if you do, you may not find another one.
What type of batteries are they? Lead acid, agm, lipo, nimh whatever. If they are regular lead acid or AGM could you replace them with Lithium style 100 ah batteries?
Hi Brian
They are AGM . Lithium has its place in the industry, smart phones would still be the size of a brick and very heavy, and tesla cars would be more like a tank with the acceleration of a moped LOL ... I think in this application the extra weight and half the price AGM are a better fit ... People also use this mower in the winter to push snow... lithium batteries life cycle is shortened drastically in cooler negative temps, properly maintained AGM batteries can run 7 or 8 years vs 3 to 4 for a lithium pack. My Deep cycle FLA that power our off grid farm farm are a designed to last 20 years.
I wonder if I could bypass batteries and feed it 48v from a small generator riding on it somewhere on the back. Would it work? The charger seems to convert 110v to 48v (but looks like only on 6A). Could the charger serve to convert from 110ac to 48v? I could run it from the generator to the vehicle, but bypass batteries all together. Could that work?
That is an interesting idea, If you do it I would like to see a video about it. Lots of people have already tried to put a generator on the new plug in electric cars, I wonder if any of them have had success? This would be the same thing just on a smaller scale. I see a few problems with the Generator Idea you will have to figure out first.
Generators are very very very ( electrically noisy ) this induction of noise would cause major problems for the onboard computers driving the 3 phase deck motors , when our big farm Generator is running... our microwave ,TV, DVD player, washing machine and laptop computers wont turn on and if they do turn on they go all sorts of crazy and wont work properly, computers need pure DC in order to function correctly, so you will need to run the generator output through some sort of cleaning filtering circuitry first.
The other thing is efficiency , a gas generator is about 18% efficient all the other gas you burn is wasted as heat. so for every $1.00 of gas you put in the generator gas tank you will only get about .18cents worth of useful work completed. It could work, but with a lot of effort... and if you did get ti to work it would not be a very efficient way to cut grass.
I my humble opinion I would just use a gas mower, but still your idea would be an interesting experiment and could yield more accurate data about mowing efficiencies.
I will guess our solar powered Ryobi mower is running somewhere around 70 to 80% efficiency using sunshine as the fuel source. If you could invent a way to mow grass and get 100% efficiency, you could sell the invention and become a millionaire over night .
Hey Brian, I took your advice and didn't worry about cold and the batteries in the mower. Things were good all winter - I kept it on the charger and checked weekly. All was good. Until March. At that point the batteries died. I was unable to individually charge them. Thankfully Ryobi replaced them under warranty. The open question is did the cold kill them? If so, I have a problem for next winter as I have an unheated shed. I can either pull the batteries and maintain their charge in my (much warmer) garage or find a storage space for them that is heated. Comments? I was really hopeful that I wouldn't have to go through that hassle with winter storage. Nowhere in the owner's manual does it say anything about winter storage and you would think they might mention something in their promotional info as well. Thoughts?
Hi Ken , sorry to hear about your trouble and very happy to hear Ryobi did a warranty replacement .
These batteries are AGM VRLA and can easily withstand very cold temperatures as long as they are kept charged up.
According to the LEOCH website They are the 12 v 75 Amp Hour ....
Recommended operational temperature range is : -15 to + 40 C or (-5 to 104 F)
Here is the RUB!
Now I store mine outdoors all year to -40 to + 40C always kept plugged in which does exceed their operational temperature range but I am not operating them..... they are in winter storage.
Under the self discharge category it says :
Leoch LPC series batteries may be stored for up to 6 months at 25 C(77 F) and then a freshening charge is required. For higher temperatures the time interval will be shorter.
There is nothing in the literature about a long term winter storage non usage category which is the info we are looking for.
You will have to do what you see as necessary to stay within the warranty specifications.
Here is the website battery link:
www.leoch.com/pdf/reserve-power/agm-vrla/lpc-deep-cycle/LPC12-75.pdf
@@solarbrianyvonne - The mower was on the charger all winter, and seemed to hold up fine, until later in March, when they stopped working. I tried to charge them individually, but with no luck. So either I'll find a warmer spot for the entire mower and keep the charger on it next winter or I'll remove the four batteries and rotate a trickle charge through them in a warmer spot in my garage. My batteries were made by Homelite I believe. They were shipped from a distributor named Gardener in Ohio.
Another question, do you keep the charger plugged in all the time? What do you think the life cycle of the batteries will be?
Hi Steve, that is a good question.
Battery life span depends on the battery chemistry , manufacture , service environment , total depth of discharge cycles and a few other factors. Our ryobi is on year 5 and the batteries will need replacement next spring.
I abandoned the Ryobi charger long ago because its only a 2 stage charger and I like to keep the cells in float mode, I opted instead to by a 48v smart charger with pulse technology to keep the plates as clean as possible.
@@solarbrianyvonne Could you elaborate on this PLEASE as in what charger, and how do you wire/connect it?
@@billstemm3566 Hi Bill.
I bought it off of amazon and its called the "battery saver" 48 volt its only a 50 watt charger so it takes like 3 days to fully charge but it works great !
it has just regular alligator clips and just clips on to the battery terminals at the front of the battery set, red on red and black on black
Great video! Thanks for posting!
Do you recommend any brands for subs? Not only are the Ryobi batteries often sold out they're kind of on the pricey side.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Guildgob These batteries are supposed to be Gel cell or sometimes called dry cell and yes they are expensive as they are generally considered the best of the VRLA line. Because of the charging characteristics of the (48 volt charger) that shipped with the unit you would be limited to a VRLA family of batteries because the charging voltage for Gel cell is generally about 1 volt lower than FLA or AGM ... That being said, FLA or AGM could still be used and would not over charge, however sulphation would still be a problem, but with the right de-sulphator you should be fine.
IMO Any 12 volt lead Gel cell would be fine, just match up the dimension size and amp hour rating.
@@solarbrianyvonne Wow! Thanks for the fast answer!
I'll be honest, I didn't know these were considered gel cell batteries. Appreciate that.
The one I was considering is on Amazon titled Mighty Max Battery 12V 75Ah Internal Thread Battery Replacement for Leoch LPC12-75 Brand Product.
I didn't see anywhere that notated it as a dry or gel cell. How do I tell?
I might have found the answer. Found this [Mighty Max Battery 12V 75AH Gel Battery Replacement for Leoch LPC12-75 Brand Product]
On amazon too. I think I have a great candidate and better understanding of what to use. Thanks!!
@@solarbrianyvonne first great video and great response time. I am a little confused about what type of batteries these are due to a couple responses in different threads.
In this thread, you say they are supposed to be Gel/dry cell. In a response on another thread , you say that gel cells can't be desulfated? Why run a desulfator then?
My mower arrives tomorrow! I have benefitted from watching your videos and I was looking at the Powerpulse on Amazon, but will wait until I can check out the batteries.
Keep up the informative videos! I enjoy reading all the comments and responses to glean as much information/tips I can!
The batteries look heavy-duty. Under normal operation, how long would it take before replacing the batteries? Planning to get this Ryobi mower. Thanks for posting this video.
Hi Danny
like anything in this world if you push them hard they will have a short lifespan , if you treat them gently they will have a long life span.
the length of a battery's life is always determined in how used and abused they are. some people get 2 years and others get 5 years.
@@solarbrianyvonne thanks!
I'd be curious if its possible to swap the lead acid batteries for some lithium ion ones.
yes but I would strongly recommend sticking with the Lithium IRON battery, not the lithium ION... IRON is much safer and wont start your garage on fire
How come you hooked up your PowerPulse desulfanator to the positive and negative terminals of the same battery? Shouldn't the positive lead be hooked to the first battery in the series' positive terminal and the negative lead to the last battery in the series negative terminal? I'm confused?
I have abandoned the onboard powerpulse and purchased the newer battery chargers with the pulse built in.
Hi Brian--wondering if you can offer an opinion on this:
Mighty Max 12V 100AH BATTERY FOR SOLAR WIND DEEP CYCLE VRLA 12V 24V 48V (made in Vietnam and offered on Ebay) as a replacement battery? Dimensions are 12Lx6.63Wx8.29container H (8.48H with terminal). Ryobi's Leoch battery is 12.99 x6.81x8.35 (8.66 w terminal).
Hi Charles
The battery would be a good replacement but I am not sure they would be the right fit for the width.
You are looking at a .4 inch increase in width.
you may have to remove the steel separation block between the batteries as the new ones are slightly wider, maybe cut a piece of wood to fit as a smaller separation block? anyways that's what I would do.
looks like the height and length would be perfectly fine.
Let all of us know how it goes !
I missed that sense wire...when I brought the batteries out, the white clip came off.
- Do you know what purpose it does?
- Do you know what the replacement part # is?
Thanks for your help
the sense wire is designed to carry the 24 v ( middle of the battery pack ) voltage back to the charger for correct current adjustments during charging.
sorry I do not know the part number.
Nice video, ty!
thank you for stopping in !
Hi Brian, after the first winter I tried to use my mower, the total battery voltage was down to ~ 22 volts. I thought the mower charger would trickle charge the batteries. Must be a defective charger. Have you encountered anything like it with yours? The second winter, I removed and reconnected the charger every week and that kept the batteries charged.
Hi Roy
That's an interesting problem you have...
Let me start by saying this.. All batteries discharge themselves even when they are new and have never been used. To prove that point, just look at a new package of flashlight batteries like double AA's next time your in the store , the package will have a best before date stamped on it.
Car batteries FLA's are the worst, about 5% discharge loss every 30 days. A full charge on the AGM mower pack is above 50 volts or higher, a discharged pack will register about 40 volts or lower... if your battery pack was below 30 volts the charger may not even see it to realise it needs to be charged back up.
Winter (Below freezing temperatures) presents another slight difficulty as the AGM pack will not have as much AMP hours in reserve, but this should not impede the usability or charge functionality of the battery pack or charger.
I find it interesting that if you remove the charger and then plug it back in... it auto charges the pack back to full like it normally should.
The mower charger has some intelligence built into the unit. When you plug it in, it first has to see a load on the battery end or it wont send out any power to recharge anything, if it doesn't see a load then there will be no response from the charger.. (it will just sit there plugged into the wall outlet but not understand that it need to charge the mower back up) ... once it sees a load in this instance ( the battery pack) then it will test the voltage and see where the pack registers, then it will start the appropriate charge cycle and duration. Leaving it plugged continuously all winter long should let it go through the FLOAT cycle then CHARGE cycle continuously when needed, (That's how mine works) but If I was to just guess and not being able to test your system I would say that the charger is not continuously seeing the battery pack, this could be caused by a bad cable, poor connections, corroded connections or bad terminals connections or a faulty charger.
I would first check the charge plug, is there any debris ( dirt or grass) in the terminals?
Hope this helps.
@@solarbrianyvonne I will check the charger plug. The mower was less than a year old at the time. I received it Feb. 2018, used it that summer. It was discharged spring 2019. I had to charge each individual battery until the total was above 36 volts before the Ryobi charger would charge the total. Seems the FLOAT, CHARGE cycles never worked. Thanks for your advice.
I have the 75 amp hour version. What are the specifications of the replacement batteries? 12v 75Ah and deep cycle? Do they have to be Ryobi brand?
Just Wasted ! awesome name by the way !
Specs are 12 volt 75 Ah or the 12 volt 100 Ah AGM family, both will work equally well.
You can put in just about anything from any manufacture !
Each battery technology has different charging characteristics, if you are sticking with the charger that came with the unit then you can put in just about any AGM that will result in a 48 volt string... buy them from anywhere and as long as they physically fit into the battery tray you should be good. FYI pretty much all AGM lead acid batteries are deep cycle.
if you are moving away from AGM to Lithium iron or something like that, you will need to replace the charger.
Just wanted to let you know, I installed the Power-pulse in my Ryobi today. Thanks for the video on how to do it, it was very helpful. Does the Powerpulse drain your battery when not plugged in??
YES ! the power pulse draws a little bit of power and then through a voltage double circuit pushes the higher voltage back in as a quick pulse, so when you use the pulse technology you must keep the bank charged up so as not to deplete the cells.
I have a 75AH model. Is there any reason not to go to 100AH model when changing the batteries? Is everything else the same above models?
I would go to the 100Ah without any hesitation.
I would also change the charger from the original 2 stage ( that came with the mower) to a better one that has more intelligence like one that incorporates the pulse desulfator built in .
Thank you so very much for this great guide. My batteries are beginning to die after 5 years, and I wanted to hook up a Schumacher 1281 charger to them to see if it might be possible to desulfurize them. So far, I haven't seen the Schumacher display a '5ur' code for any of them, but I have been getting more cutting time out of them since charging them all up, using the mower and then using them Ryobi charger for 24hrs. I'm currently looking into LiFePo4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and trying to figure out which ones offer the best value for the money. The cheapest LiFePo4 12v 100ah batteries I've found that are available in Canada are about $600 each, which is double the price of replacement AGM 12v 100ah batteries. I just hate the idea of paying as much for four batteries as a cheap gasoline riding mower costs new. If anyone else has tried LiFePo4 batteries in their Ryobi 480e, any comments /suggestions are welcome.
There are lots of guys pimping out their electric golf carts with Li iron , pretty much the same idea that you have. Although Lithium is great and has its place in our cell phones and electric cars I don't see the value of twice the price for Li for the ride on mower industry. VRLA provide better value and increased weight for a lower center of gravity and heavier weight for traction on slippery slopes. Of course there is always a trade off when you modd anything.... longer ride time would be absolutely awesome but the extra cost always brings me back to my bank balance reality.
@@solarbrianyvonne Brian, thank you for your response. I wholeheartedly agree that the double price tag is a deal-breaker for me, too. I would like to ask what you think about my batteries and/or the Ryobi charger. When I first bought the mower in spring of 2017, and plugged it in for the initial 24 hours as the manual demanded, and the green light on the charger was solid, indicating a full charge, the meter on the mower showed only 7 of the ten bars lit up. In fact, in the 5 years I have owned the mower, I had never seen more than 7 of the ten bars lit up after any charge. With the batteries seemingly holding less and less of a charge, I bought the Schumacher 1281 to test/individually charge the batteries, to see if they were sulfurized. The first time I charged them individually with the Schumacher 1281 and hooked them all up again, the meter on the mower showed all 10 bars lit up, even the blue 10th one. Trouble is, whenever I use the Ryobi charger, the batteries aren't charging like they do with the Schumacher. In fact, after I charged them all with the Schumacher, and mowed just my front lawn (about 1/6h of an acre), the meter still showed 8 of the 10 bars lit. After charging it for 24hrs using the Ryobi charger, and the green charge light solid indicating full charge, when I unplugged it and turned the key, it still had 8 of 10 bars lit, as if the Ryobi charger hadn't done anything except maintain the previous charge. Do you think the Ryobi charger is defective?
www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Lifepo4-12v-100ah-lithium-ion-battery_1600068087326.html
Here are the cheapest lithium ion batteries I can find. Not too much more than the sealed AGM battery. $365 per battery including shipping. The dimensions are very similar. I notice in the video there’s not much height clearance for the batteries. So if you buy aftermarket batteries, make sure they’ll fit.
@@andypeck9612 Thank you, Andy! I just received my ANCEL BA101 battery tester, and have confirmed that 3 of the 4 original 75ah AGM lead-acid batteries need replacement. Battery 1 is at only 18% health (286 Cold Cranking Amps) with a 98% charge; Battery 2 is at 33% health (386 CCA) with 98% charge; Battery 3 is at 52% health (481 CCA) at 98% charge, and is the only one the tester said 'Good Battery'; Battery 4 is at 43% health (437CCA) with a 98% charge.
Question: If I were to buy the lithium batteries, will the Ryobi 48V charger charge them, or would I need a different charger? Looking at chargers online, it looks like the Ryobi 48v charger is a Delta-Q SC-48 either made for Ryobi, or simply with a Ryobi sticker on it. It would be quite a pain in the butt if I had to pull the batteries out after every mow and individually charge them.
@@andypeck9612 One more thing. Those batteries are $229 US, but shipping to Canada where I live would be an additional $142.70. That's insane. Nevertheless, even with the shipping, they're still cheaper than any other LiFePo4 100ah 12v batteries I have found. I'm going to keep looking!
Thanks for this my wife and I did this cause our batteries died while we were on vacation, got them back but might have one bad one are checking it out now. Do a video on changing blades. please. thanks again
Hi Kieth Thanks I do have more videos on the way when I have a bit of time to edit them.
You mentioned that the standard Ryobi charger wasn’t good for keeping the batteries charged correctly and that you were going to do a video about it. Short version - could you point me to one you would recommend? I am about to replace my batteries (4 yrs. and all 4 test bad) and I would like to see if I can get them to last longer. Thanks.
Hi Kevin
There are many you can choose from , this is the one I bought and I find it works quite well but it is not fast and does take a full 48 hours to charge the mower back up to full, I like it and I don't mind it taking longer to charge.
search for this description in amazon
Battery Saver 2365-48-LCD 48V 50W Quick Charger, Tester, and Auto Pulse Maintainer, Yellow
@@solarbrianyvonne Thanks.Apparently, Amazon doesn’t currently offer the 48v model anymore, but I can find it on the internet. Since I am an inpatient guy and didn’t hear from you right away (By the way, thanks for the great video and comments), I went ahead and ordered the 48v powerpulse. I still have the original Ryobi charger (p/n 996514001), and it seems to be functioning ok, other than the shortfalls you pointed out. Should these 2 devices be sufficient or do you think I would still need the charger you recommended?
@@kevinwheeler1181 Hi Kevin
Yes the power pulse and the original charger will work ok , if you charge continuously don't let the original charger loose 110v power , or it will drain your battery. The power pulse does use battery power and steps it up to a higher voltage and pushes it back in but the losses of the power pulse will also drain your battery so once every 3 days plug the charger back in to top up the battery. Dont let the power pulse run during off season or when you store the mower for months at a time or it will drain your battery bank dead.
ok so this video .. along with a tad bit of battery warehouse (local store) input and 20 years of Nuclear Navy experience saved me a ton of money and hassle.. My unit sits in a outdoor shed that has power. Over the winter.. i guess it tripped out.. and the unit drained down. output volts was 13vdc... not even close to 48vdc. The charger wouldnt even light.. at first i thought the charger was broken. Some RDDT guys that i messaged out of the blue helped me by checking their charger and we realized that the charger just wont light until there is sufficient power from the cells. After watching this video.. and seeing how to disconnect everything (easy peazy-great job)...i used a 12vdc trickle charger.. to raise each battery up individually. I am guessing this will be a common occurance as these units become more normal. Replcement batteries are $200, a replacement charger is $300? People gonna need some simple help. I would recommend a video showing how to do that.. Prolly get tons of hits as the years go by. subscribed and liked.... looking forward to checking out your farmgrid when i have time.
Well Done Ricky ! you have good troubleshooting skills , yes I should do a video on troubleshooting this summer. thanks for the Positive feedback.
Help! I think I’m in the same position as you were! I don’t wanna spend $800 on batteries. Can you help me out here?
@@lysacrawford2172 Hi Lisa , Ricky is correct , if on purpose or by accident you let the batteries go flat the Ryobi charger wont charge them back up, ( when the batteries are almost completely discharged the charger thinks they need replacement or something is wrong with them) ... to fix this you have to pull the battery pack out like I show in my video and trickle charge them back up one at a time with a small 12 volt charger.
@@lysacrawford2172 i can help... get a noco genius charger ( i used the g3500)... use the 12v repair option on each battery individually, after you take everything apart per this video. Itll take a day per battery, but the repair charge does the same thing that powerpulse he mentions in the video, it pulses the sulfation off the battery plates and allows them to charge back up properly. Buy the power pulse too...youll spend $200 total vs $1000 and never have the problem again. Its actually WAY EASIER then dealing with briggs and stratton engines... lol. Have fun.
@@rickhairr9604 Thanks Ricky , good advice !
How long can you mow on a full charge??? Oh and how long does it take to fully charge the batteries??? Thank you.
Hi Retired at 49 , When the batteries are new you will get 2 hours of cut time , but Lead acid batteries will last much much longer of you dont cycle them to 100% discharge.
I would recommend a 1 hour cut time and then charging them back up ASAP, this would be 50% discharge cycle and the batteries will last years longer if you look after them.
It charges back up in about 4 hours at 50% discharge... 6 or 8 hours if you push them to 100%
So it looks like you can replace these batteries with car batteries or deep cycle marine would this be an accurate assumption?
Yes Deep cycle will work