Just so you know…his video saved us from buying a new mower!! The cable had come disconnected. I’m a 52 year old chick that just fixed a mower!!!! Thanks for your help!!!!
That is so nice to hear! I get things for my daughters from time to time that help them be more self-reliant. A simple thing like a car battery booster, a portable tire inflator, are the difference between them encountering a problem and resolving it immediately or being a damsel in distress. Glad to hear that you were able to fix something that in lawnmower circles, the big boys don’t even handle. I couldn’t find a single lawnmower repair place out here that would touch them as the reached as thing they were some type of complex piece of electronics. One person left the comment that they were told the mower required some expensive replacement part. They opened it up and found the cables were disconnected just like you did. It was in then they resized the lawnmower guy didn’t even look inside.
Thank you! I have no idea why it took me so long to find this video which addressed my specific problem. Removing that front cover confounded me for days, and now I know it just has to be ripped off with force. The mower would no longer start, so I took it to a Ryobi warranty service mechanic and he eventually claimed it was a faulty control module. But the part was unavailable, so Ryobi gave me a complete new mower. The mechanic insisted I leave with both the new and old mower as well. Finally getting the old mower apart, it turns out that it was just the black connection that had come undone. The mechanic had never even taken the old mower apart! So now I have a brand new mower as a result of warranty replacement, and the old mower has come back to life again.
I appreciate the detailed comment. It’s totally in line with my own experience. All I had to do was throw out the word the “battery” in conjunction with the word mower, and every mechanic would run for the tall grass. Every single one of them disavowed having any knowledge or skillset required to work on it. Now, in context, I service artificial intelligence servers for social networking company. Each one has eight GPUs in them worth $25,000 apiece. You can’t adjust a screw on then using an ordinary screwdriver. You have to have a tool that allows you to set the exact torque by lb-in lest you damage the GPU. You would think that’s what I was asking these lawnmower repair companies to do. These mowers are simply have a rudimentary wire harness to draw power from a battery as opposed to passing along the electrical voltage and current from an AC outlet, or motor. Frankly, I think the traditional ones are far more complex. If our mower had not been out of warranty, I may well have been able to luck out just as you did. They are wonderful mowers. They are the only type I work with because the traditional gas powered ones put too much stress on my joints. These mow better as well.
I just found a 40v brushless ryobi mower by a dumpster yesterday. I took it cleaned the smart key and fully extended the handle and it started right up 😁 Score
Thank you so much for making this video! It was informative. My son and I went through the steps you demonstrated and was able to get our mower running again. The same connector had completely disconnected itself. I wrapped the connection with electrical tape to make sure we don't have to do that again. Cheers!
Thank you soooo much for this video! I was getting really upset when this exact model Ryobi kept starting and stopping or just not starting at all. All the solutions online made sense, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the components inside. I felt silly when you pointed out that opening it was that front black piece 🤦🏻♀️. My issue was that same black loose wire and now it works again!! I also had just as bad leaves and dirt inside... My mighty shop vac helped me out here 😊 Thank you again for this video!
I am so glad to hear that. I really love this mower. However, it has a very simple but fatal flaw in the connector getting loose. I couldn’t find a single lawnmower repair that was willing to look at it. The moment I would say it was battery powered, they immediately refused service acting as though this mower contains such complex electronics as to require specialized training to service.
Valuable video! Kicking myself for not thinking about just taping my snapped cover down instead of ordering a new one, at least temporarily. And yes, amazing how much grass accumulates in mine. Just cleaned mine out last night.
The problem I encountered, and one of the person who commented on the video, was the coupler that connects the ignition bar to the battery was jostled loose. I reconnected it and zip tied it to prevent it from jiggling loose with all the vibration of operating the-mower. As you saw the video, the really isn’t the whole lot inside the mower. It’s a very simple design and delivers very good performance from the batteries. I had tried an electric mower years before, and could only get 25 minutes use out of it and within weeks that was reduced down to 15 minutes. These perform much better, but it does appear to be a design flaw that lets that connection get loosened overtime giving the false appearance that the mower has died. Add to the problem that every freaking lawnmower repair shop I visited would run at the mention of using a battery powered mower as if it was some super high-tech item that required a college degree to service.
@@Nate100 Yes, after I removed the heavy layer of debris atop the connection, I clearly saw it had jostled loose. I reconnected it and used a zip tie to hold it in place better.
Oh man, I'm glad I found your video. I was trying to figure out why that lid wasn't coming off and I put it off for next weekend. Hopefully mine is as easy to fix as yours :)
thank you camera work that mattered. My hearing may not be so good so some of what you said was either too fast or I just couldnt hear But I will be trying out the air blowing out in a couple days
The problem was simple. The vibration of the mower disconnected the cable that robs to the ignition. It was a simple fix once the cover was removed. I zip tied the connectors to prevent them coming loose in the future.
You can either use a grass bag or a plug. There is a safety switch there to keep people from running the mower without either so rock don’t get kicked back at them. My problem was that the plug got knocked loose.
Same here. I think it’s a design flaw. Still, it’s an easy fix for a mower repair shop, but they literally flee at these mowers as if the unit had a motherboard, backplane, and riser card with a GPU. It’s not high or low tech at all. It’s a battery with a relay to allow juice to the motor.
I realized that I missed recording right when I opened up the machine and saw that clump of grass clippings. When I cleared those clippings away, I noticed that the connection from the motor to the hand lever had simply disconnected. When the unit was reassembled, and I was editing the video, I realized I hadn’t recorded that all important part. But the connections came loose. They jaw so loose. I used a zip tide to hold them together so that won’t happen again. Good observation on your part. The mistake on my part to not record that most important part.
Your mower - is the subject of a recall! I believe that only the gray models, which are a bit older, are affected! Not sure of the issue, but check online. Good luck.
I got one of these from a reseller (so can’t return or warranty) and it worked for a month or so with occasional stalling. But recently it’s gotten to where it’s unusable, cuts out constantly. I found that connector inside was finger-tight. I snugged it up but it hasn’t helped. I’m afraid the real root cause might be in the controller (unfixable) but I’m going to go through all the switches looking for a loose connection before I throw in the towel.
As a follow up to this, I solved the intermittent stopping in my mower for now. Mine is RY401018VNM but I’d guess this same issue is pretty common. The connectors on the handle/trigger switch were very loose, giving false safety trip. Constant trips over bumpy terrain. I zip-tied the connectors to each other in a way that ensures they are always in contact with their respective pins and it hasn’t tripped since, over 1 hour of cutting.
I found on my mower the controller has a 40amp fuse. My fuse was blown. Replaced fuse and were good. You can test motor by taking all 3 wires off connect meter to ac volts. Turn motor with drill. I got around 10vac. Ant 2 wires.
In my case and that of another who posted comment, the internal connection from the battery to the ignition simply came loose due to vibration. One reconnected, the mower powered up. I also zip tied the connection to prevent the cables from disconnecting again.
Yes, it seems that has been the root cause others have faced. Sadly, because many repair shops literally flee at the mention of "battery" or give fake "diagnostics", I suspect many owners have been duped into replacing a mower that still had life.
Seems that there are more ways for Ryobi mowers to break than there are videos to fix it....all seem to be controls related/wiring problems. I have a 401017 and it's less than 3 months old....stopped just like the last one I had. Never again.
While the accumulation of grass clippings isn't good, the only real problem I encountered was that the connection between the battery and the ignition had jostled loose. Several others have commented that was also the same experience they encountered.
@@technologistonthego2377 You should probably add this explanation somewhere in the description since you never actually said what the problem was in the entire video.
I didn't catch what was the root problem in the video. My mover is dead but the self propeller is working. So I don't think it is the fuse key problem.
I don’t understand what you mean by saying the mower is dead, but the propeller is working. I would assume that if the mower was dead, nothing would work at all.
@@technologistonthego2377 The Ryobi model I have has a self propeller. The mover will move forward when I press the handles. The problem I have is the mover blade doesn't spin. So, it is not a battery or fuse problem. It is some other problems I can't figure out.
@@cailarchitectatopks Have the same issue. Selp propulsion works fine but blade does not spin up. Did you attempt the suggested fix from this thread? Like many, any repair shop is hesitent to take a look. Any insight into what's gone wrong would be great and if/how you fixed this one.
@@lmcd2425 I had the same problem, my fix was the mechanical limit switch for the start button went bad (even though the switch was still clicking). It was a giant pain in the ass to disassemble and reassemble the switch/arm assembly because keeping the spring for the motor operating bar in the retainer hole while holding the two pieces of the assembly together while you pull the motor operating bar back so you can actually screw the assembly together by myself was a nightmare. In the end, I removed the start switch and just connected the two wire ends going to the switch instead of waiting for new switches and having to put that thing together again. So now I just pull the blade motor bar and the mower fires up without the start button.
No, after I removed the debris, I realized the cord that connects the ignition to the battery had jostled loose, which is why the mower appeared to be dead. I reconnected them and zip tied them together to prevent their separation going forward.
I admit I boneheaded omitted the clip where I found the root cause. So my clip can give the appearance that the root cause was accumulated grass clippings, which was not the case. The vibrations of the mower can separate the two cables.
Negative. In error, I omitted the video that showed the actual cause, which I address in the video, but do not show. The cable that connects the ignition to the motor disconnected due to vibrations. I reconnected them and zip tied them to keep them from coming loose. Blowing out grass won't hurt the system. We're not talking an AI GPU-based server; it's just a rudimentary lawn motor. Still, if you don't want to blow the grass out, just remove it by hand. The debris wasn't the problem in my case. I just cleared it out for good measure. It was the cable getting disconnected.
Just so you know…his video saved us from buying a new mower!! The cable had come disconnected. I’m a 52 year old chick that just fixed a mower!!!! Thanks for your help!!!!
That is so nice to hear! I get things for my daughters from time to time that help them be more self-reliant. A simple thing like a car battery booster, a portable tire inflator, are the difference between them encountering a problem and resolving it immediately or being a damsel in distress.
Glad to hear that you were able to fix something that in lawnmower circles, the big boys don’t even handle. I couldn’t find a single lawnmower repair place out here that would touch them as the reached as thing they were some type of complex piece of electronics.
One person left the comment that they were told the mower required some expensive replacement part. They opened it up and found the cables were disconnected just like you did. It was in then they resized the lawnmower guy didn’t even look inside.
Thank you! I have no idea why it took me so long to find this video which addressed my specific problem. Removing that front cover confounded me for days, and now I know it just has to be ripped off with force.
The mower would no longer start, so I took it to a Ryobi warranty service mechanic and he eventually claimed it was a faulty control module. But the part was unavailable, so Ryobi gave me a complete new mower. The mechanic insisted I leave with both the new and old mower as well.
Finally getting the old mower apart, it turns out that it was just the black connection that had come undone. The mechanic had never even taken the old mower apart! So now I have a brand new mower as a result of warranty replacement, and the old mower has come back to life again.
I appreciate the detailed comment. It’s totally in line with my own experience. All I had to do was throw out the word the “battery” in conjunction with the word mower, and every mechanic would run for the tall grass. Every single one of them disavowed having any knowledge or skillset required to work on it.
Now, in context, I service artificial intelligence servers for social networking company. Each one has eight GPUs in them worth $25,000 apiece. You can’t adjust a screw on then using an ordinary screwdriver. You have to have a tool that allows you to set the exact torque by lb-in lest you damage the GPU. You would think that’s what I was asking these lawnmower repair companies to do. These mowers are simply have a rudimentary wire harness to draw power from a battery as opposed to passing along the electrical voltage and current from an AC outlet, or motor. Frankly, I think the traditional ones are far more complex.
If our mower had not been out of warranty, I may well have been able to luck out just as you did. They are wonderful mowers. They are the only type I work with because the traditional gas powered ones put too much stress on my joints. These mow better as well.
I just found a 40v brushless ryobi mower by a dumpster yesterday. I took it cleaned the smart key and fully extended the handle and it started right up 😁 Score
Definitely a find on your part!
Thank you so much for making this video! It was informative. My son and I went through the steps you demonstrated and was able to get our mower running again. The same connector had completely disconnected itself. I wrapped the connection with electrical tape to make sure we don't have to do that again. Cheers!
That was so nice to hear you and your boy got this mower back up and running. A wonderful memory was made!
Thank you soooo much for this video! I was getting really upset when this exact model Ryobi kept starting and stopping or just not starting at all. All the solutions online made sense, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the components inside. I felt silly when you pointed out that opening it was that front black piece 🤦🏻♀️. My issue was that same black loose wire and now it works again!!
I also had just as bad leaves and dirt inside... My mighty shop vac helped me out here 😊
Thank you again for this video!
This was extremely helpful--same connector on my mower was disconnected. Followed your video and everything is now working well. Thank you!
I am so glad to hear that. I really love this mower. However, it has a very simple but fatal flaw in the connector getting loose. I couldn’t find a single lawnmower repair that was willing to look at it. The moment I would say it was battery powered, they immediately refused service acting as though this mower contains such complex electronics as to require specialized training to service.
Just saved me $200, you the man!
That’s nice to hear.
Valuable video! Kicking myself for not thinking about just taping my snapped cover down instead of ordering a new one, at least temporarily. And yes, amazing how much grass accumulates in mine. Just cleaned mine out last night.
Was the cable that connects the ignition to the battery also disconnected? It seems that’s a common problem with these otherwise fantastic mowers.
@@technologistonthego2377 Have not had that problem fortunately
Very helpful video! Thank you for taking the time. That lid was driving me crazy.
It did the same to me.
great explanation about how to open the machine, can you please let us know what was the problem and how you fixed?
The problem I encountered, and one of the person who commented on the video, was the coupler that connects the ignition bar to the battery was jostled loose. I reconnected it and zip tied it to prevent it from jiggling loose with all the vibration of operating the-mower. As you saw the video, the really isn’t the whole lot inside the mower. It’s a very simple design and delivers very good performance from the batteries. I had tried an electric mower years before, and could only get 25 minutes use out of it and within weeks that was reduced down to 15 minutes. These perform much better, but it does appear to be a design flaw that lets that connection get loosened overtime giving the false appearance that the mower has died.
Add to the problem that every freaking lawnmower repair shop I visited would run at the mention of using a battery powered mower as if it was some super high-tech item that required a college degree to service.
@@technologistonthego2377 thanks
@@technologistonthego2377 Was it the connection that you see at 9:23 that was fixed?
@@Nate100 Yes, after I removed the heavy layer of debris atop the connection, I clearly saw it had jostled loose. I reconnected it and used a zip tie to hold it in place better.
@@technologistonthego2377 Thank you. Will be trying it this weekend.
Thank you, I was looking for a good disassembly for this mower to diagnose a problem of my own.
Oh man, I'm glad I found your video. I was trying to figure out why that lid wasn't coming off and I put it off for next weekend. Hopefully mine is as easy to fix as yours :)
Let me know how it turns out. a lot of folks are in the same situation with these otherwise fantastic mowers.
This was very helpful. Thank you.
thank you camera work that mattered. My hearing may not be so good so some of what you said was either too fast or I just couldnt hear But I will be trying out the air blowing out in a couple days
The problem was simple. The vibration of the mower disconnected the cable that robs to the ignition. It was a simple fix once the cover was removed. I zip tied the connectors to prevent them coming loose in the future.
You can either use a grass bag or a plug. There is a safety switch there to keep people from running the mower without either so rock don’t get kicked back at them. My problem was that the plug got knocked loose.
Same here. I think it’s a design flaw. Still, it’s an easy fix for a mower repair shop, but they literally flee at these mowers as if the unit had a motherboard, backplane, and riser card with a GPU. It’s not high or low tech at all. It’s a battery with a relay to allow juice to the motor.
thanks for the disassembly guide
You are welcome
Did I miss something, or did you completely skip diagnosing and fixing the problem?
I realized that I missed recording right when I opened up the machine and saw that clump of grass clippings. When I cleared those clippings away, I noticed that the connection from the motor to the hand lever had simply disconnected. When the unit was reassembled, and I was editing the video, I realized I hadn’t recorded that all important part. But the connections came loose. They jaw so loose. I used a zip tide to hold them together so that won’t happen again. Good observation on your part. The mistake on my part to not record that most important part.
Yeah I was rewinding thinking I missed that part lol
Your mower - is the subject of a recall! I believe that only the gray models, which are a bit older, are affected! Not sure of the issue, but check online. Good luck.
Thank you for the heads up on that.
Thank you so much man
I got one of these from a reseller (so can’t return or warranty) and it worked for a month or so with occasional stalling. But recently it’s gotten to where it’s unusable, cuts out constantly. I found that connector inside was finger-tight. I snugged it up but it hasn’t helped. I’m afraid the real root cause might be in the controller (unfixable) but I’m going to go through all the switches looking for a loose connection before I throw in the towel.
As a follow up to this, I solved the intermittent stopping in my mower for now. Mine is RY401018VNM but I’d guess this same issue is pretty common. The connectors on the handle/trigger switch were very loose, giving false safety trip. Constant trips over bumpy terrain. I zip-tied the connectors to each other in a way that ensures they are always in contact with their respective pins and it hasn’t tripped since, over 1 hour of cutting.
You would think this is a easy fix that Ryobi would be interested in implementing.
Great video. Mine is still dead after this 😢
Same
I found on my mower the controller has a 40amp fuse. My fuse was blown. Replaced fuse and were good. You can test motor by taking all 3 wires off connect meter to ac volts. Turn motor with drill. I got around 10vac. Ant 2 wires.
So what caused the no start?
In my case and that of another who posted comment, the internal connection from the battery to the ignition simply came loose due to vibration. One reconnected, the mower powered up. I also zip tied the connection to prevent the cables from disconnecting again.
Mine was the black connector as well. It seems they vibrate loose over time. Poor design. easy easy fix though!! Thanks
Yes, it seems that has been the root cause others have faced. Sadly, because many repair shops literally flee at the mention of "battery" or give fake "diagnostics", I suspect many owners have been duped into replacing a mower that still had life.
Seems that there are more ways for Ryobi mowers to break than there are videos to fix it....all seem to be controls related/wiring problems. I have a 401017 and it's less than 3 months old....stopped just like the last one I had. Never again.
Dude I am right there with you... how to get the dang thing open!
You got this Shelby! Keep me posted on your progress.
Btw...have you had any trouble with "floppy arms", around where the arms connect to the unit? That's been my biggest challenge.
I haven’t had that problem. Thank goodness.
Was the problem just that the one connection you showed at 9:19 needed to be tightened?
While the accumulation of grass clippings isn't good, the only real problem I encountered was that the connection between the battery and the ignition had jostled loose. Several others have commented that was also the same experience they encountered.
@@technologistonthego2377 Thanks for the fast reply!
@@technologistonthego2377 You should probably add this explanation somewhere in the description since you never actually said what the problem was in the entire video.
I didn't catch what was the root problem in the video. My mover is dead but the self propeller is working. So I don't think it is the fuse key problem.
I don’t understand what you mean by saying the mower is dead, but the propeller is working. I would assume that if the mower was dead, nothing would work at all.
@@technologistonthego2377 The Ryobi model I have has a self propeller. The mover will move forward when I press the handles. The problem I have is the mover blade doesn't spin. So, it is not a battery or fuse problem. It is some other problems I can't figure out.
@@cailarchitectatopks Have the same issue. Selp propulsion works fine but blade does not spin up. Did you attempt the suggested fix from this thread? Like many, any repair shop is hesitent to take a look. Any insight into what's gone wrong would be great and if/how you fixed this one.
@@lmcd2425 I had the same problem, my fix was the mechanical limit switch for the start button went bad (even though the switch was still clicking). It was a giant pain in the ass to disassemble and reassemble the switch/arm assembly because keeping the spring for the motor operating bar in the retainer hole while holding the two pieces of the assembly together while you pull the motor operating bar back so you can actually screw the assembly together by myself was a nightmare. In the end, I removed the start switch and just connected the two wire ends going to the switch instead of waiting for new switches and having to put that thing together again. So now I just pull the blade motor bar and the mower fires up without the start button.
all you did was blow the dirt out after talking about voltage meter and continuity tester. Is that right?
No, after I removed the debris, I realized the cord that connects the ignition to the battery had jostled loose, which is why the mower appeared to be dead. I reconnected them and zip tied them together to prevent their separation going forward.
I admit I boneheaded omitted the clip where I found the root cause. So my clip can give the appearance that the root cause was accumulated grass clippings, which was not the case. The vibrations of the mower can separate the two cables.
My works everything does, but blade won't spin
It may be the shaft is bent on the mower. That would account for the blade not spinning. If that's the case, it is the end of the line for the mower.
blowing some grass out will accomplish jack shit - problem is due to electrical failure
Negative. In error, I omitted the video that showed the actual cause, which I address in the video, but do not show. The cable that connects the ignition to the motor disconnected due to vibrations. I reconnected them and zip tied them to keep them from coming loose.
Blowing out grass won't hurt the system. We're not talking an AI GPU-based server; it's just a rudimentary lawn motor. Still, if you don't want to blow the grass out, just remove it by hand. The debris wasn't the problem in my case. I just cleared it out for good measure. It was the cable getting disconnected.
nah you always want to have things clean