I Spent $1500 to Fix Ryobi's Mistake

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[@blameTECHIE]

Love the irony of dismantling a Ryobi with possibly the only non-ryobi drill/driver you likely have

[@agingwheels]

🤣 I didn't even realize!

[@Bigrignohio]

Would be a little incestual otherwise.

[@thaphreak]

I'll take a Hurcafreight over a ryobi anyday.

[@no1DdC]

@@Bigrignohio What are you doing, stepdrill?

[@mx2004mx]

uploaded 1 hour ago, and the comment above was written 19 hours ago. How?

[@KlueBat]

I think the damage done by selling a 5K mower that will be useless in a couple of years is even worse than you stated. If someone who doesn't know about battery chemistry buys that thing and has to replace the pack after two years, they are going to be soured on battery powered equipment as a whole, not just Ryobi. Shame on them for selling something that is so obviously not fit for purpose.

[@agingwheels]

You are 100% correct. There's no telling how many people bought one of these and swore off batteries forever

[@yannick7230]

They might even try to replace them with car batteries, after which they will definitely be turned of EV's

[@UncleKennysPlace]

OTOH, it represents an opportunity for those of us who do understand batteries. I mow between 1.5 and 3 acres (depending on how much clover I'm leaving for the bees, etc.) and looked into electric, but there was nothing quite up to it. There still isn't.

[@leifhietala8074]

Yeah, that's how you lose potential EV converts, in general.

[@dougsrosen]

​@@fluke196c nope

[@Kruton1122]

I love how we’ve slowly seen you go from “batteries in a car?!?” To basically nearly an expert on battery chemistry and what’s the best battery type for each use case.

[@fredinit]

Batteries in a car?!? - Try 2-stroke Trabant engine rebuild.

[@markosluga5797]

I left an inverter connected by mistake and it discharged my 280Ah Lifepo4 cells to under 1V each. I was devastated because I just knew that my batteries were dead. Then I charged them, top balanced them and measured how much I had lost. I hought, yep, I lost most of the capacity, but they kept going. Until about 260Ah! Lifepo4 is SO underrated!

[@anydaynow01]

I used an LFP battery in my motorcycle for a while, when I sold it I took that battery and it's the starter battery for my portable generator. I do a maintenance charge on it once a year and it hasn't failed me in years of service, next time I have to change my mower batteries I'm going to look into something like this.

[@alwaysamongdragons7354]

This is why right to repair is so important. You not only saved yourself money, you improved the product you purchased and were not stuck having to take whatever nonsense manufacturers want to sell to you. The product may be terrible and overpriced in its original configuration, but I do have a few points to give to Ryobi for having seemingly nearly ZERO anti-repair nonsense in there.

[@matts.8342]

Well, sure he saved money over buying a replacement Ryobi electric mower, but had he bought gas in the first place he would still be ahead even accounting for fuel and maintenance. But, that's not good content, so it wouldn't have made him any money on views.

[@calebweldon8102]

@@matts.8342 yea but then he would have to deal with gas and an ICE which is even worse

[@theinsanegamergeek]

@@calebweldon8102 Is it worse though? Rebuilding a mower engine is a lot easier to do for most people then trying to convert a 48v mower to lithium and do the battery pack management stuff.

[@randomblock1_]

It's only hard the first time someone does it. Now that he's done it, people can just do what he did (minus the mistakes). It's just wiring parts together.

[@isaakwelch3451]

@@theinsanegamergeek but honestly how often do mower engines need a rebuild?

[@lizburgess4398]

We argued with the guy at Home Depot. He swore up and down that Ryobi had lithium ion. When we asked for proof, he looked it up and they absolutely did not have them. We ended up getting a Cub Cadet. I saw the new Ryobi this week. I didn't see the price! Our Cub Cadet is still going fine after a couple of years.

[@ethelryan257]

The guy who runs the landscaping/garden section of our 'local' The Home Depot (about 45 miles from us) will not let the manager put young people without training in his department. This is precisely the reason why.

[@nschubach]

Reminds me of when I went to pick up salt one year and all they had was a snow melt formula that is super bad to put on concrete and the guy swore up and down that it was concrete safe. I tested some on the sidewalk and it spalled like nobody's business. Glad I didn't use it on my entire driveway.

[@huntz3215]

Presentation full of energy as always, good job on refit.

[@Waffles_Syrup]

well tbf the 80v mowers use lithium ion but I assume you weren't talking about those mowers.

[@alphaforce6998]

The more money a person spends on an electric mower, or even worse, electric car/truck is inversely proportional to their IQ.

[@cola98765]

After watching Louis Rossmann and other talk about repairability, Ryobi is actually a good guy here. They do price gauge, but you actually own the mower and everything is labeled and easy to replace.

[@lafeelabriel]

Not sure I'd go as far as "good" but certainly deserve a "better than many" at least..

[@matthewbailey1040]

I did the same thing to my 42 inch Ryobi mower that I bought for $3200. I used 2170 5kwh pack. It made the mower so much better and has a ton of power. I can’t bog it down in tall wet grass while mowing up a hill. It also doubles as my mobile power wall with a 48 V inverter.

[@ladylilithparker]

Okay, "horseless carriage" gladiator races need to be a thing now.

[@Theover4000]

Iirc back in the 1930’s the Australians did something similar with motorcycles. They would put two motorbikes together and pull a cart. I’ve seen photos but I can’t remember much else.

[@jwalster9412]

So basically normal car racing or something?

[@tedgd2137]

@@jwalster9412 More like using bikes as horses to pull a chariot. It looks wild

[@jwalster9412]

@@tedgd2137 I was thinking "horseless carriage" as in the tirm used for cars occasionally.

[@rogersmith7396]

See "Ben Hur".

[@lemagreengreen]

$5k is an insane price for that when you see it broken down, it seems like a well enough made thing (apart from the choice of batteries) but not $5k worth.

[@Dogburt_Junior]

Yeah, 1500W motors and controllers can be bought for $200 on the mid-high end for consumers, likely less for mass manufacturers.

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

@@Dogburt_Juniorwouldn't battery cost 2-3k$?

[@myownsite]

@@vipvip-tf9rwnot even close

[@Crispy77760]

@@vipvip-tf9rw there gas engine car battery pretty much. like 80-180 bucks a battery depend on the type of battery. frankly upgrading to the ones he said would save you money in a few years and gets rid of headaches for dead battery in the middle of cutting. maybe i should look for someone with one and say ill buy there brick of a mower to fix it be nice to upgrade for a cheap price.

[@Dysiode]

Zero turn lawn mowers aren't cheap no matter if it's angry pixies or dinosaurs powering them

[@pancakeidiot14]

I appreciate the moments you leave in of just you being a human; we make mistakes, we do goofy things, and we aren't perfect by any means. (And thanks for having the bravery to add that blooper at the end, it was very funny and something I think would happen to me too 😂)

[@Parallax2012]

You should publish final schematics online for others to use if they want to do a similar conversion.

[@Iowa599]

You should have hung a chainlink fence over your yard, so the Ryobi cordless didn't need batteries, like a bumper car. Red Green has a good instruction video.

[@ferrumignis]

He'd also need to replace his lawn with the conductive tiles for the return current. This also greatly reduces the time spent cutting the lawn.

[@Iowa599]

@@ferrumignis nah. The ground is ground.

[@TheBigWhiteWolf]

If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!

[@ferrumignis]

@@Iowa599 Not at low voltages (dodgem car voltages) and with a conductor on the surface. Lots more voltage and it could work...

[@user2C47]

​​@@Iowa599 Ever tried to send a hundred or so amps into the ground through grass? Unless you've got enough volts that it's illegal to be near the mower without deenergization and a safety meeting, it ain't gonna work.

[@sejembalm]

Easy to disassemble? All the fasteners are the same? Good engineers! You don't have to make everything difficult! I knew an old mechanic who worked mostly on Fords & Lincolns, starting in the early 1970s. Aside from the frustrating madness of reverse bolts (not righty-tighty, lefty-loosey), Fords back then had needlessly bewildering types of bolts holding things together. If you needed to, say, remove an alternator from a '70s Ford, you could guarantee that the three bolts attaching it to the motor used three different sized bolts (1/2", 5/8", 11/16", etc.). Compare to working on something like a Hyundai where nearly everything is held together by 10mm bolts; easy!

[@Turk380]

you have not experienced fastener frustration until you've worked on a late 90's / early 2000's Indian made Royal Enfield motorcycle... an infuriating mix of SAE, Metric, Whitworth, and a 4th standard that seems to be completely made up. like, "pass me the 11/17ths wrench please" .. "no that's wrong, let's try the 14.7mm"

[@sejembalm]

@@Turk380 Nightmare! What the heck is going on with engineers in India?

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

Shoot ... my 2009 Ford f150 has a mix... standard & metric... it's maddening.

[@pokemonprimed]

​​@@sejembalmrobably old British whitworth + imperial standards being slowly but not consistently replaced by Metric & SAE

[@davidmiller9485]

That's what you found frustrating on a Ford??? really, how about the late 80's/early 90's T-birds where they put a cross member over the starter and you had to jack up the engine (after messing with the motor mounts) just to get the starter off or the lack of room from how they designed their coil over shock towers that required you to become Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four just to get the spark plugs out... and that's just two from days of owning a shop.

[@hainkm]

I love this! I converted my ICE powered lawn tractor last year to fully electric and LifePO4 was the way to go. I easily get thrre cuts of my yard on a charge!

[@gamerfan8445]

For you yeah. But it will be a nightmare for a landscaper, like me.

[@SuperVstech]

I’d love to see your conversion pics over on diysolarforum

[@oddjobsandrandomprojects]

I did a conversion of a 42" gas mower myself. What I did different was used the Ryobi 40v batteries from their push mowers. That way the batteries could be charged while I was mowing. I have a 2 acre property. Anyway, nice to know other people are trying the same thing. The commercially available ones like in this video are just too expensive.

[@silverice9]

@@SuperVstech Oh shit, I know you from THAT thread lol.

[@Dysiode]

This is amazing! I especially appreciate that you mention the "spend $1,000 on drop in replacement batteries" because then the value prop there is $5k for the mower, a year of use, and then another $1k after that year which is still less than the new Li+ mower!

[@Cadaverine1990]

You are not serious right? A gasoline mower is $4,000 and does not cost $1,000 in gas a year.

[@Dysiode]

@@Cadaverine1990 what

[@Fhwgads11]

I wonder how hard it would be to find one of these mowers used with a dead battery for cheap.

[@CWINDOWSsystem32]

@@Cadaverine1990 Sure, but they require a lot more upkeep and maintenance, things that Robert explained in the previous video as to why he doesn't want another gas mower.

[@byzantinex]

​@@CWINDOWSsystem32 exactly correct. I bought one of these mowers used for $2500 knowing I might spend $1000 every couple years for batteries. But I'm okay with that because of the lack of all other maintenance ❤

[@AxGarage]

Just started watching the channel. Every video so far reminds me of the Malcom in the Middle episode where Hal starts by trying to replace a lightbulb and ends up rebuilding the whole car engine. Great videos!

[@obeseperson]

Amazing scene from an amazing show

[@jayhom5385]

And somehow he cooks good meth without blowing himself up.

[@GrayRaceCat]

Robert, you never fail to put a smile on my face. Your imagination, engineering, videography, editing, and humor are the tops!

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

Yes, he has a pretty good channel. His other channel has some great content as well. In fact, he really ought to mention his channels in each of his videos.

[@markbrown6236]

That's what makes his video's so enjoyable.

[@AlexTrull]

I'm thinking of going 'large' on solar and this mower thing is inspiring me because the place is going to need mowing hard and regular.

[@bugless78]

I replaced the SLA batteries in my mower with the Big Battery 48V FALCON ELITE and couldn't be happier with it. Dropped right in without any modifications to the mower needed other than drilling a couple small holes for screwing the battery to the sliding tray. I'm using the built in charge port, but I am using a LiFePo4 specific charger, as it is not recommended to use the Ryobi charger with LiFEPo4 batteries since they don't need a trickle charge. The original battery meter still works well enough, and the battery has an LCD display on it showing the current voltage, so I don't ever need to guess how much charge I have left. Best news is that I can mow my 1.1 acre lawn in two directions and only use about 15% of the battery. The lower weight and ability to use more of the battery's capacity make these batteries a must-do upgrade. Thanks for the thorough video of your experience!

[@samuelseidel6148]

I love things that use standard batteries because it can be replaced with a drop in lithium battery. A lot of things use proprietary batteries or controllers that make it difficult. Second hand this is a great machine for someone who knows what they’re doing.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

And I imagine with the problems with the original battery that there'll be a lot of these hitting the second hand market for cheap.

[@sunbeam8866]

Speaking of "second hand", at a flea-market, about 15 years ago, I picked up an unusual 18V Hyundai cordless tool set, including a single power-head that drives an interchangeable drill, small circular saw, reciprocating saw, and a light, for $10. The set also included one dead NiCad, and no charger. I gutted the battery-pack and wired in a cord and long extension with alligator clips to run off my car's battery. Since then, I've done the same with 2 thrift-store Craftsman and Skil cordless tool sets, plus a Ryobi drill & saw set I bought new at Home Depot for $60, and have probably spent at least double that on replacement Ryobi batteries! The 14V. Craftsman & Skil tools work great off the car, especially if you leave it running. The18V. Ryobi is a bit weak, but works just fine if I don't bear-down too hard on the tool while it's working! Hey - it's either my 'fix', or the landfill! 🙂

[@bentnbroke]

The router incident and the oversized hole made me burst out laughing. The amount of times I've had or have seen a die grinder spazz out inside a hole is shockingly hilarious 😂😂😂

[@bobadam7021]

That happened so fast!

[@jimspence7182]

I laughed till I cried, really, I did, it was the funniest thing I have seen all year. I don't know why it touched me that way, probably because I have done similar things so many times before.

[@Bob_Adkins]

Zoop! Damn! It's oversize! (in .07 seconds) I think a big washer and some hot melt should fix it fine.

[@daviddavid5880]

Nice. One of the things I really, genuinely appreciate about Japanese brands is the standard fasteners. 6, 8, 10, 12, and maybe 14mm sockets are almost all that you need.

[@jordanabendroth6458]

Ryobi is owned by TTI based out of Hong Kong though

[@the_undead]

​@@jordanabendroth6458a lot of Chinese brands that produce quality tools (or the ones like KTI that produce both quality and mid tier tools) do try to compete with Japanese brands in at least some capacity in Japan, so pretty much my necessity. A lot of them will follow similar standardized conventions as the Japanese tools

[@Dimondminer11]

That is really really nice. I've been working on a 99 civic my mom sold to me and the only sockets I've needed to change the timing belt and water pump and get it back up to being road ready are 8, 10, 12, 14, and 17mm (motor mount). Compare that to my jeep where I've needed 14, 15, 16, 18, 3/4, 1/2, 5/8, and a whole lot of other BS and it makes me realize how much simpler the honda really is.

[@websterleone]

I was amazed at how smoothly it went! And then the video kept going 😆 Always nice to see a project come together without it being a year long video series though.

[@alphaforce6998]

Yeah, almost like a gas powered mower, except you had to waste another $2K on top of the price of the mower to achieve what a gas-powered equivalent can do for less than half of that cost. Truly amazing...that there is are actually people who think that electric is the intellectual's choice.

[@jerryvelders4457]

Nice job on that conversion ... but way over-complicated. Glad you added the disclaimer at the end I just replaced the 4 Leoch (dead) batteries in my Ryobi RM480e with 4 Redodo 12v LiFePo4 100AH batteries. Totally a drop-in replacement for about $1400. Really brought the mower back to life and ought to outlive me... Ryobi should NEVER have put lead-acid batteries in any of their mowers. SLA just can't support the kind of extended current draw required by a lawn mower.

[@jrherita]

Interesting - were those batteries completely drop in - you’re using the same Ryobi charger, and power gauge even?

[@MacRobbSimpson]

@@jrherita With my own experience with these sorts of batteries... It might just work. Power gauge will be worthless; the curve is so flat that even the "power gauges" that come with the (chinese) batteries basically just say 100% until they are fully dead. Battery charging... what would likely happen is either they won't charge to 100% as the peak voltage is too low, or they will charge up until one of the batteries hits it's voltage limit and "disconnects" and the charger thinks it doesn't have any batteries connected at all and errors out. "dumb" 12V battery chargers would probably do the former, "smart" ones with a full equalization cycle hit the latter. My guess would be after a year or two, it might be worth charging each of the 12V packs separately, then reconnecting them.

[@FliesLikeABrick]

I won't say I am excited to build a lifepo4 pack for my Ryobi electric (same 54" you have)... but I know that it is the right answer for when the lead-acid batteries no longer are tolerable for our needs.

[@agingwheels]

Here's the much easier solution: amzn.to/3OJolKn They're straight drop-in replacements so you don't have to change anything other than the batteries. Same charger and all!

[@mundanestuff]

@@agingwheels So buy someone's 2 year old dead 54" rig, spend $1k on three of these, 30 fasteners later, you're golden. There's a 48" deck version for $1k up the street from me, but I'm mowing an acre, and would prefer the larger one, still interesting solution for sure.

[@thaphreak]

@@mundanestuff legit I'm watching the second hand market for one for this same reason.

[@KeithJewell]

One big caveat if you use the drop in replacements is that not all of them support series operation. The ones linked above do support it.

[@FliesLikeABrick]

@@KeithJewell absolutely, the last time I looked into it that was a bigger limitation. There are some excellent forum threads online about people undertaking projects and adding their own bms to lifepo4 systems to overcome this, but personally I would probably buy the rebuilt drop-in replacement batteries

[@scottwilkins]

Thank you so much for doing this. I plan to update my Ryobi soon and glad to have some REAL info on how to do it.

[@lucifersatan8968]

Thanks for this update. I've been waiting for it for like 10 years. 👍

[@KosteonLink]

Now I'm kinda wondering what kind of horsepower you could have gotten if you stuck the Escape drives and batteries on this thing instead 😂

[@tomhsia4354]

That'll be dangerously unsafe.

[@noobFab]

Dangerously unsafe, yes. An idea that makes me grin? Absolutely!

[@martijnkosters9024]

Mowing blade on the Escape yes?

[@davidmiller9485]

@@tomhsia4354 So is a top fuel dragster. I'm getting ideas over here for a top electric (as in twin tesla motor or equivalent) national hot EV races. Wooo that sounds fun, even if the smell and noise won't be the same (not to mention the shaking that occurs with top fuel).

[@MrMartinSchou]

A 900 horse power ride-on lawnmower seems dangerous. Might turn it into a ride-on helicopter.

[@mcg6762]

One thing to keep in mind with LiFePO4 chemistry is that they can not be charged if the temperature is below freezing. That will damage them. Very relevant for some countries.

[@rydoggo]

Not gonna mow in winter though

[@mcg6762]

@@rydoggo Sure, but it's something to keep in mind. You do probably want to charge the mower once or twice even during winter unless you disconnect everything to prevent any idle power draw.

[@matthewwhite8129]

Any decent bms has temp sensors to prevent the batteries from charging below zero

[@dontknowdontcare44]

Nice to know, thanks for sharing

[@isaakwelch3451]

so if I had these in a car I couldn't charge it in the winter?

[@NaoPb]

Nice job! Only good to see we viewers are not the only ones who mess up once in a while. And I like your attention to detail :)

[@goodolddoug889]

Dude, you are by far my favourite project channel. If I had the money and time I'd be doing the same things.

[@breakinn403]

Maybe a a better repair to the "woops hole" (16:25) would have been to mount the charging gage to a (plastic or metal) plate larger then the hole and cover it. Just sayin ;o)

[@Turk380]

I'm here reading comments before fishing the video.. and let me tell you "Whoops hole" out of context takes on an ENTIRELY different meaning that what I'm hoping is intended...

[@dwarftoad]

It's for battery cooling airflow... now...

[@MegaEmmanuel09]

@@dwarftoad tiny lil ducted fan with a plate to direct airflow. "Gentle Breeze," I call it 🤣

[@markkowaleski3515]

That's what I woulda done.

[@giga-chicken]

I recognized that dc-dc converter because I also got the same one to put on my electric mower. It doesn't have a DC-DC converter, instead it just tapped the middle of the battery pack to get a lower voltage at the cost of battery balance. Additionally I recognize that little LCD battery display because it's ALSO the same one that I stuck on my electric mower to get an idea what the battery level was because the built-in gauge is useless. Also when I installed a charge port onto my mower I installed a C-14, no point going with anything bespoke or special, whatever the heck that ryobi had on that mower to begin with is gross overkill. My mower has an excuse for being lead acid, though. It was built in the 1970s.

[@relin3062]

I think it is a good idea to practice some isolation with the uncovered cell tabs. I have had few accidents and headache for shorting something or dropping a screw on them in the past, so I started to isolate carefully especially if I build something for someone else.

[@royn6971]

This is a GREAT video! I am looking at buying the Ryobi 42", and learned a lot watching your work, plus got some laughs to boot. Thanks

[@SimuLord]

Robert spends too much money to fix a problem that buying a completely new product could fix? Today is a good day. This is why I love this channel.

[@antikommunistischaktion]

I wouldn't say it's too much money he still got off cheaper than a new mower would have been.

[@SimuLord]

@@antikommunistischaktion I suppose, but given a choice between spending $1500 to shore up a woefully underpowered mower or cutting my losses and buying a new one, I'd give a long look at getting the new one and buying something to last.

[@jordanabendroth6458]

Considering that new lithium riding mowers are like$ 6000, I think this is the one time that this was actually justified

[@WeAreChecking]

I'm a big fan of not wasting all the other material in the machine. Why waste the frame, motors, etc when the only issue is the battery

[@mjc0961]

@@WeAreChecking Agreed. No point in wasting all of those good parts just because Ryobi screwed up on the battery pack.

[@jerrymcweston3510]

I hope this means you'll revive the wheego pretty soon. I cant wait for it to live again!

[@agingwheels]

I don't know about soon (because I have so much else to work on), but it will happen! I recently found the exact replacement cells for the Wheego on auction, but unfortunately I got outbid.

[@toolzshed]

The wiring is so neat! Great job!

[@ozzy2221]

You’re projects/videos inspire me so much man. You’re the only KZbinr I sit through ads for 😂

[@JeremyBotta]

I like that at the end you explain a easy way to do it for people that just want it done.

[@jlluck]

Yes, very happy for that closer at the end. I’m still going through all the comments as I’m wondering what battery and where to get them Robert might recommend. I got my 42” zero turn and THEN saw his video so I know my days are numbered on these batteries.

[@JayGroh]

@@jlluck I have the 75ah version and it has the same battery box as the 100ah version. I bought 100ah Chins off amazon. They fit just fine with a little modification with the bolts that squeeze the 75ah batteries together. I drained all 4 batteries until they shut off as a bottom balance. I hooked them up and had to jump start them with a 48v source until the stock charger could start charging. The only issue is that you have to monitor the voltage and dont let the mower drain them until the BMS turns them off. If you do you have to jump start them with a 48v source. If you have any questions fell free to ask. I'm glad to help if needed.

[@sethalump]

@@JayGroh Have you come across a better drop-in battery gauge / volt meter by chance ?

[@jlluck]

@@JayGroh THANKS! I will def reach out to you. I probably have this year, maybe one more before I really have to replace mine but I might do it sooner.

[@thedeloachsdoyoutube8377]

I’m really proud to see your channel growing. It’s guys like you that give the rest of us the knowledge and the skill to take task on for ourselves. Make On Brother

[@semibreve]

learning about LFP batteries in this video was super enlightening! Awesome content

[@wesleyelmore4736]

Great video, Thank you for the breakdown of the parts inside.

[@jenkinseric2]

Your delight with the 12 volt sla was inspiring. You are a treasure.

[@mumblbeebee6546]

I loved how you made yourself comfortable on top of a pile of high density energy storage _at the first charge_ and plenty of various wiring that you had just proven is possible to accidentally short - good man! :) Great video, deserved rant at Cryobi (who I have started to buy now following your utterly unsponsored reviews, but man they f***d up here…). And as always, great entertainment. Long may you mow!

[@russjones45]

Just found your channel today and after watching the episode on the Citroen Ami and now this I’m hooked. You are my kind of people so I of course subscribed. Looking forward to all your content.

[@MrJANTJE123]

Very satisfied at the end. The whole video i was impressed that you didn't fall over standing in the trailer while moving the mower. Glad you did, in a nice way. Ps impressive built, i wish i had half the patiance you have.

[@gradyluyt6998]

I have the same dc-dc converter on my electric scooter and it’s also my second one because I too hooked it up backwards and killed it. Glad to see I’m not the only one who found the wiring to be unintuitive. It seemed like a dead short though because I was connecting with alligator clips and wow was the spark impressive.

[@AveragePootis]

Good work Rob! Now it makes me wonder if buying dead mowers for cheap, lithium swapping them and selling em', would be a viable business

[@HawaiianKong]

I bought a Ryobi push mower for $550ish with two 40V batteries. Couldn't even get through an average 1/4 acre lawn. Even worse, I hit a patch of damp grass (dew, not rain) and the mower wouldn't even turn on until it dried out. Took it back and exchanged it for a $350 Honda gas mower, and haven't had a problem since. I'll never buy a battery mower again, so long as I can help it.

[@ssj3gohan456]

I was going to start to correct some things but my god you've splurged on so much cool stuff that I just don't care anymore. Please make more of these videos whenever the opportunity arises. This is 100% awesome.

[@ZGryphon]

(start of video) "I call it... the horseless carriage." . o O { He's gonna hurt himself doing that. ... Oh God, it's true. I have become my father. } (end of video) "I call it... the horseless carriage" CRASH

[@NotSirRockford]

This is my absolute favorite channel on YT these days. Fun, honest guy that learns as he does stuff. Maybe Abit ambitious at times but who isn't?! Keep on going mate 👍♥️

[@oddjobsandrandomprojects]

I was considering purchasing one of those mowers, but the lead acid batteries were the reason I didn't. I ended up doing my own conversion of an old gas mower from the scrapyard and making some videos about the build and posting them on my channel. I love your videos and so enjoy your explanations, especially the car videos! You find some of the most amazing and quirky things I've ever seen!

[@matildastanford7019]

lnteresting. We bought one of those and sold it 6 months later. Zero turn configuration stuffed up our backs so decided to sell and go to normal steering config ride on mower. Looks like we inadvertantly dodged a bullet. Appreciate that your missus laughed too at the end. Funny stuff.

[@deesnutz42069]

bruh, that was him giggling.

[@scotrick3072]

Dude! Thank you for keeping on keeping on, and sharing how difficult and how repetitive projects can be in the try and fail and try it and fail and try it and fail loop until: success!

[@jort93z]

Even if it works, it would be good to take care of the balancing. Otherwise, the batteries might age at an accelerated rate. If some of the batteries have a higher voltage, they will take the brunt of the load.

[@MRrwmac]

Big Congratulations! I sure would have liked to see how you finally wired up the new batteries and components.

[@simplexicated]

Never thought you'd actually do this after you mentioned it. Amazing work😊

[@jlluck]

Great video. You inform and entertain! Would love to see a quick vlog where you talk about how normal folks would swap out the batteries for the new ones. I was just researching this the past few days and basically no one explains how they swapped out the batteries as good as you walk through steps. Some of us need a little more explaining. 😀 thanks and keep up the great work!

[@TheRogueBro]

I've been waiting for you to do this project! Glad to see you finally tackle it. Now we just need more woodworking videos over on Under Dunn! ;-)

[@ralcool5932]

Wow, even the ad for the sponsor was perfect, I see why you own it, looks decent- I understand everything you said MPP solar etc, and it has 12volt input. Sick. And using it to run a heater on holidays at night on the road is genius. I like your mower too.

[@JayGroh]

If you think this mower is under powered you should try the Airens AMP. Its so under powered you have to keep the grass cut every 3-4 days. And forget about cutting more than about 0.25 acre in the heat. The motor controllers overheat and shut off. Mine is currently used as a backup power source with its 48v 80ah LFP pack. I'm currently wanting to sell it but without the LFP batteries. I still want to use them. At least for my yard my Ryobi is spot on perfect with its new LFP batteries. Plenty of power. Only down side is less traction because of the lighter weight but zero turns always have traction issues anyway.

[@tidybowlman6528]

It is truly ridiculous how much enjoyment I get from watching your videos.

[@maxlessca]

I'm so glad to see you followed through on the Lithium swap on this, thank you for sharing :)

[@nanaki-seto]

You just show perfectly the answer to the question "why?" sometimes the why is just because you can. Don't always need a real reason sometimes the learning experience and knowledge gained from doing the work

[@reptarien]

I liked this video so much when it released that I've come back for a second watch. Thanks for the great educational content man :)

[@steveferguson1232]

This is really cool. My wife and I have thought about this mower, but my concern is I live on 3 acres (roughly 2-1/4 mowable), so will with this upgrade handle my land with one charge. I always anxiously await your next video. I love how you go into detail explaining every detail, even when you fubar something 😊

[@antikommunistischaktion]

If you do the exact mod here even if it doesn't handle your yard in one charge a 120V EVSE will charge it in 2-3 hours which is time you could spend edging or doing other yardwork. If you already have an EV and a 240V circuit for it you could probably charge the mower up in an hour.

[@Carstuff111]

I love this channel because of things like this. I was hoping to see you find a good working solution for the mower! And you didn't have to spend another $7,000.00 for Ryobi to get it right!

[@KJSKKNP]

Thank you for the honesty it is great to learn from your mistakes in addition to my own!

[@spacecadet2663]

What you said about the capacity of lead acid batteries is absolutely true. At my school we do electrathon car racing and the lithium class has the same "rated capacity" limits as the lead acid agm class, but the lithium cars go so much farther before they die.

[@jamesphillips2285]

Probably lower internal resistance, which is more significant for high draw applications.

[@justavian]

This was an exciting project. I don't have quite enough yard to justify something similar, and as you mention at the end - there are easier ways to do this. But i still wish i could try something like this! Nice job.

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

I considered the Hart riding mower (sold at WalMart) until I realized it simply was not, is not worth the coins they are asking for it.

[@dwaynezilla]

I've been waiting to see this and it did not disappoint. Such an improvement. I wonder if the low HP constraint was an issue with using lead-acid for power storage. And I hope your comments about the mower being underpowered mean that a future video is adding beefier motors, lol

[@billmiller4800]

I wonder if the motors can handle more power and were limited by the controller because of the batteries

[@botterboysypher9569]

Great technical transition to the ad, thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@bluhuptie]

LOVE your videos because you show all the mishaps!

[@antibrevity]

Though I also doubt the 10% usage figure, I have no doubt that LFP will handily outperform lead-acid (LA) despite their specifications as lead-acid batteries simply never perform as well as their datasheets claim while the vast majority of LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries presently do. Paper comparisons may suggest that lead-acid is price-competitive with LFP in some applications, but if you do real-world capacity tests you'll find that lead-acid *always* under-performs. As of the 2020's, the only acceptable use for a lead-acid battery is starting ICE engines with short bursts of high current. If your application will be substantially discharging a battery, LFP is simply the better value. NO ONE should be selling lead-acid-powered lawn mowers in the 2020's and it's borderline fraud. BUT, one must make sure that LFP batteries are never charged in freezing temperatures; not even once. This should not be an issue with a mower as you probably won't use it in Winter, but when you buy drop-in 12V LFP batteries to replace lead-acids, make sure that the protections include low-temperature cutoff.

[@dougsrosen]

Why?

[@darekmistrz4364]

There are LFPs in car battery cases that use heating mats to heat up LFP when charging. Second thing is I think that his LFPs from 2012 are much higher quality than most LFPs produced today.

[@MsQueenOfDance]

A project well completed! With some minor details needed to be completed, sure, but well done.

[@TheJakkieb]

Great video and I admire the effort! I have one of these mowers (54") and love the thing, mowing 3 acers of non-flat yard for 2 years now. I have noticed a degrading of the lead-acid batteries from a year ago. Still can mow the whole thing on one charge but next year I think I will change out the batteries to LiFeP04 . As for the price, I could not have spent $5000+ on this mower but with some searching, I ended up getting one from a liquidator, new, fully assembled and delivered (from Alabama to upstate NY)for a flat $3600. For this money, it is well worth the purchase and the upgrade to the new batteries. These are rugged mowers with fabricated decks and perform amazing. I'll never go back to gas!

[@dcurious9470]

Great video, thanks for the info and entertainment. I enjoyed watching!

[@steveg5122]

Lovely video. 1500 to fix it is a bargain versus Buying a new one.

[@Rebel635csi]

Really? $5000 mower that needs $1500 and his time and energy and expertise after two years of household use? A $3500 gas powered zero turn wouldnt need a damn thing except an oil change and blade sharpening in that time frame and what? $250 in gas over the two years? come on...

[@steveg5122]

@@Rebel635csi and also factor in the noise and air pollution, the fact that with the new battery he is going to get another decade of service out of it at least, electrical motors have fewer moving parts compared to a gasoline motor, the only maintenance he has to do from here on out is to keep the blades sharp and the tires inflated. Think outside of the petroleum box. Most modern lawn equipment is built to last about six years, and is made as cheaply as possible and marked up

[@Rebel635csi]

@@steveg5122 most people would have chucked that whole thing and bought another mower, this time gas. I’m sure that’s much better for the environment than burning equivalent of one weeks pickup trucks fuel usage. Companies need to stop price gouging electric tools because they’re “cool” and price them in such a way that they make sense. As long as they price electric stuff we’ll above gasoline equivalent were not gonna make any progress.

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

Why does everyone think the production & transmission of electricity has no consequence to the environment? PLASTICS - can we make them now without petroleum? Great if we can... As far as lawn equipment mad to last six years, that's not really accurate. The problem is with the consumers of those pieces of equipment. Lawn mowers as a group are mostly use, abuse and throwaway for a new one. Just like nearly everything these days. As a manufacturer you soon realize building products that last isn't really profitable, believe it or not.

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@Rebel635csi I agree companies need to stop price gouging, under powering them, cheaping out on the batteries, and give us more options for the electric versions if they want people to switch, it's why I ended up getting a Craftsmen R110 30in 10.5 HP gas riding mower, as it's the perfect size for my yard, but even it was over 2G's by the time I had it delivered from Lowe's earlier this month without acessories. 🤬

[@tommays56]

You should really consider some blue-sea battery post fuses considering as they really improve safety

[@randr10]

Very cool project and I'm definitely intrigued by your state of charge after mowing the whole lawn. This means a rig like this could even be used by pros depending on the sizes of lawns they're mowing, which is a huge leap. If you made the batteries hot-swappable so they could just have a bunch of spares it would remove all doubt as to viability. Cost is another consideration altogether though. As to the power numbers, you have to remember that you don't have any belt loss, which I would guess to be around 10-15% on something like my mower, so you're crowding more like 9.5hp equivalent. Also, IMO modern lawn mowers have way more power than they need. My JD Z425 zero turn with a 48" deck came with a 24 hp v-twin that was pretty tired by the time I got it. Very thirsty engine. Rather than rebuild or replace that particular engine, I bought a 17.5hp single and it's way more than enough power to mow the lawn even overgrown. It's also more than twice as fuel efficient somehow. I remember back in the day a rider with a deck this size would have maybe 12 hp on the high side. I think when you consider the better efficiency of the direct drive spindles and the fact you don't need double the horsepower of the old school stuff, you're pretty close to where you need to be there. I think yeah it could probably still use a little more, like in that 10-12 hp range, but the designers were also probably considering how quickly that would drain those terrible lead acid batteries.

[@noeatnosleep]

I own one kf these. They warrantied my first set of batteries. I appreciated that a lot. Im not looking forward to having to do the conversion next time.

[@dailyrider2975]

Yeah, I did some calculations from online prices without knowing they were using lead acid and they are definitely price gouging even if they used lithium batteries.

[@mjc8248]

Thanks for the discount from Anker. I already have one with the 3 solar panels and its awesome. My buddy wanted one and he didn't need the solar panels so he used the code to pick one up at a discount.

[@fractal4284]

I have the same mower as you. I built my own battery packs using recycled battery packs that had 18650 cells. I completely agree; it should have come from the factory like this. The performance is much better. Surprisingly, it was easy to do, with lots of DIY videos available on how to build power banks, and all the parts are easy to find.

[@JTCF]

Wonderful project, and perfect fit for the LiFeP batteries, since they still provide quite a lot of capacity and are also going to serve for... Over a decade, I guess? Just a blind guess judging on how you described these batteries.

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

Wonder if there are any considerations as to their storage in cold weather. Say, if it's winter, will it be ok to keep these batteries in an unheated shed? Where I live, is not uncommon to have negative 20 - 25 - 30 centigrade.

[@the_undead]

​@@BoraHorzaGobuchulall lithium batteries do not react well to very cold temperatures, for something like your phone, it'll be fine if you go outside in the cold for an hour or two so long as it's in your pocket or being used. But something like a lawn mower, snowmobile or other electrified thing should be stored in a place where it will not get below. 8° c (depending on the exact lithium chemistry, that might even be pushing it) and if it is going to be used for extended periods of time in cold weather, it should have some kind of battery heating mechanism installed.

[@bt9816]

I have no interest in a EV mower. But I just purely enjoy these videos, I appreciate the work put into these videos and honesty, the fun and the overall vibe. Aging Wheels reminds me of my high school shop teacher. Thanks for the enjoyment!

[@plunder1956]

I like Ryobi equipment myself, which is why I played this. But many decades ago I did have a Reliant Robin, so I was very surprised to see it's distant relation behind you. Interesting project.

[@marcmakes1725]

I got the 42" with 75AH batteries in June of 2019 right when they came out. It still works fantastic. I do store the batteries inside for the winter and I don't leave it connected to the charger all the time. I can do about 1 acre of rather rough hilly yard with lots of obstacles on a charge no problem. it takes me about 45 min to do that much. I've got just under 2 acres I mow and could do about 75% of that if I made an effort but splitting it over 2 days is fine.

[@jrherita]

I’ve heard Ryobi’s charging mechanism may be partially to blame for how/why these batteries degrade so quickly. I’m kinda curious on that one.

[@weeveferrelaine6973]

If you only ever charge a battery at low-amps, the batteries seem to build more sulfation over time. I have also seen many lead-acid batteries be "killed" by being over-discharged, but the fix for both to me has been giving them an hour of high-amp charging (40A), then trickle-charging them until the trickle slows/stops, then going back to the high-amp, and repeating that cycle. I've repaired all four of the batteries I've tried this method on, and brought them back to functioning like normal batteries again.

[@xHadesStamps]

@@weeveferrelaine6973 The optimal charge point of lead acid batteries is literally completely full, so this honestly makes sense

[@the_undead]

That is completely false because these are lead acid batteries which you need to keep charged up 100% of the time, The problem is if you discharge lead acid batteries below 50% state of charge, you reduce their lifespan and if you drain them below 20% state of charge, you dramatically reduce their lifespan. This is why lead acid batteries should really only be used in combustion engine cars, because worst case scenario, if you roast to the battery you can get another one for cheap and you completely recycle the battery so there isn't much waste involved in the process.

[@xHadesStamps]

​@@the_undeadLiterally all lead acid batteries are supposed to be kept full whenever possible. Still doesn't mean Ryobi's charging mechanism doesn't damage the batteries (and I'm sure it does)

[@just_saw_dust]

@@weeveferrelaine6973 monthly equalisation charges of +0.5V per cell or 15V per 12V battery for 2.4 to 2.5 minutes per amp hour capacity, so 4hrs for a 100ah battery, are the recommended charge regime for [most] FLOODED lead acid batteries - NOT Gel, AGM or Sealed and only really for batteries with accessible reservoirs for topping up with *deionised* water. Maintenence free, will benefit from an equalisation charge but you will boil the electrolyte and shorten their life (unless you contrive a means to replace the lost water). But this is best carried out with a suitable 4 stage charger that can detect the charge state and ideally compensate for temperature. Edit: I should have also mentioned that the charger should be large enough in amps to match the battery eg 1amp charge will take 100hrs to fully charge a 100Ah battery, 30 amps, just 3.5hrs but if the voltage is just 13.4V the cells will still remain more sulphated than at 15V. IRL your battery shouldn't ever be discharged to [ideally] less than 80% SOC, 2V/cell is the absolute minimum, so Amps, Ah and charge time is relative.

[@octane613]

For the next experiment, why not use that trailer to hold a generator to chage as you go? Just for the fun of it. Maybe like an endurance test between it an a regular gas mower to see which is more efficient - your electric mower with a generator, or a standard gas mower.

[@gamesfreak26]

Oh wow. This is super informative. I'm looking at installing a Type 2 Mennex plug for charging on my motorcycle and came across the EV Charger that you installed.

[@NigelHaarstad]

This was the video I needed *when* I needed it! I enjoy taking on projects for which I am grossly underqualified and calling it a hobby, so I'm currently turning my Honda gas-powered push mower into an autonomous electric mower. Hoooo-boy it's almost like there's a reason teams of people take a year or more to design something like this. :D I have a feeling I will have a very similar experience to yours, but I'm ordering some cheap components to ruin before I order the motors and servo amplifiers and batteries I really intend to use. Just going to factor that into the equation from the beginning lol. Loved the video!

[@namAehT]

Why didn't you replace them with lithium iron phosphate 12v batteries? They sell them for RVs, they are a 1:1 replacement for regular lead acid batteries, and they have an internal BMS. Edit: that's what I get for not finishing the video first.

[@tomhsia4354]

Good break from the electric Escape, I hope. I'm guessing you'll eventually fix the Wheego and upgrade your Coda with these cells? I kind of want to see a cordless drill with a lead-axid battery just for the silliness.

[@chipmiller9074]

Sorry I haven't been to your channel lately you are very entertaining and educational thank you

[@lesklower7281]

I do enjoy your videos on batteries ect l am totally lost try to understand it but your delivery is so entertaining worth watching

[@wolfrig2000]

I hate the name "Solar Generator" its not a generator. Its a battery pack and converter. IF you have solar panels or an actual source of "Generation" you can GENERATE electricity, and put it in this Anker Battery STORAGE!