Lawn mower motor brushes. 7 Common Questions About Using Electric Lawn Mowers

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Common Questions About Using Electric Lawn Mowers

Electric lawnmowers are becoming more popular each year. Not only are they much more energy-efficient than their gas-powered counterparts, but they also provide quite a bit of power. However, using a new type of lawnmower can be frustrating if you don’t know how to start it. It’s important to know the ins and outs of an electric lawnmower before cutting the grass.

To use an electric lawnmower, charge the battery, place it in the battery compartment, pull down the activation lever, and push the start button. Electric mowers don’t require pull cables or chokes because they don’t use gas for combustion. Set the desired height and attach the grass bag beforehand.

In this article, you’ll learn nine key points to starting and operating an electric lawnmower.

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How Do You Start an Electric Push Mower?

To start an electric push mower, place the battery in the battery box and close it. Next, push down the bar on the main handle and push the start button. This will activate the lawnmower. Electric lawnmowers are much quieter than gas mowers, so don’t expect your new lawnmower to have a loud motor when it starts.

Some electric push mowers only need a button to start, especially if they’re corded models. The motor housing is on top of the lawnmower, but it’ll be right below the battery housing if yours is a battery-operated mower. Electric lawnmowers never use pull cables because they don’t use gasoline for ignition.

Do You Have to Keep an Electric Lawn Mower Plugged In?

You only have to keep an electric lawnmower plugged in if it’s a corded lawnmower. Battery-powered lawnmowers need their batteries charged after every 30 to 60 minutes of use, depending on the make and model. However, a battery-powered lawnmower doesn’t need to be plugged in when you’re cutting the grass.

Leaving a battery charging for too long can cause the battery to lose some of its overall charge capacity. Unplug the battery charger once the battery is fully charged. If the battery depletes because you haven’t used it in several months, recharge the battery before putting it back into the lawnmower.

Are Electric Mowers Hard to Push?

There are manual push and self-propelled electric mowers. A manual push mower can be difficult to push if it’s too low, the grass is too high, the wheels are corroded or loose, or there’s a lot of woody debris in the lawn. Clogged blades can also make it challenging to push an electric lawnmower.

If your electric lawnmower seems harder to push, consider these variables:

• There might be grass, mud, clay, and other debris under the deck.
• The wheels might be dull, loose, or jammed.
• Your electric lawnmower might be losing battery power.
• Some electric lawnmowers don’t have automatic acceleration, meaning you have to manually push them without assistance.
• There might not be enough power coming from the electrical outlet (if you have a corded electric lawnmower).

How Long Can You Mow With an Electric Mower?

You can mow for up to one hour with an electric mower if it has a battery. Keep in mind that the one-hour run time is based on continuous usage. In other words, you can use a battery-powered mower for five twenty-minute sessions (in most cases). Corded electric lawnmowers can mow indefinitely (or however long they have a power source).

According to Family Handyman, most electric lawnmower batteries can’t last longer than an hour (source). The batteries don’t have enough cells to maintain a longer charge, but that can change down the road.

Always refer to the manufacturer’s guidelines to know how long your new electric lawnmower will last (if it uses a battery).

Is It OK to Leave an Electric Mower Outside?

It’s OK to leave an electric mower outside when the weather is moderate. However, extreme temperatures, excessive moisture, and rain can damage an electric lawnmower. Most lawnmowers are water-resistant, but they’re not waterproof. If you’re thinking about leaving an electric mower outside, consider covering it with a canopy umbrella or a tarp.

Keep these tips in mind when storing an electric lawnmower outdoors:

• Remove the battery to prevent it from getting too cold or wet.
• Close the battery case and the motor housing.
• Always cover the lawnmower if possible, especially if it’s going to rain.
• Never leave the lawnmower plugged into the wall when it’s not being used.
• Do your best to provide any form of protection from the elements, such as a tarp (as mentioned above).

Is It Safe to Mow Wet Grass With an Electric Mower?

It’s not safe to mow wet grass with an electric mower because the moisture can damage the electrical components. In rare cases, this can cause electrical shock. It’s more dangerous to mow wet grass with a corded lawnmower, but it’s best to avoid mowing wet grass with a battery-powered mower, too.

Mower’s Direct claims mowing wet grass with an electric lawnmower is extremely dangerous (source). Furthermore, it can crush the grass, ruining the cutting pattern. Mowing on mud can clog the deck and overheat the motor brushes, battery, and battery terminals.

Professionals will occasionally mow in the rain to keep on schedule, but they usually opt for gas mowers when they have to do this.

Try to avoid mowing grass with too much morning dew since it can let water into the lawnmower.

Do Electric Mowers Run Differently Than Gas Mowers?

Electric mowers run differently than gas mowers because they use different parts, they don’t require gas or oil, and they’re less powerful as the battery depletes. Corded electric mowers don’t need batteries or charges, but the lawnmower is tethered to a nearby outlet. Additionally, electric mowers typically require much less maintenance than gas mowers.

Here’s an in-depth look at each of these factors:

• Different components: One of the best parts of owning an electric lawnmower is that they don’t require pull cords, air filters, spark plugs, etc. The reduced part count makes them much easier to manage and operate. You also don’t have to worry about paying for nearly as many repairs.
• A lack of gas and oil: Gas-powered lawnmowers need a lot of gasoline for fuel and oil for lubrication. That being said, electric lawnmowers don’t need anything for fuel other than batteries or cables. They also don’t need oil for lubrication. Your operational expenses for fuel will be drastically reduced, making these mowers a better ROI.
• Reduced power output: Most battery-powered lawnmowers lose their power as the battery loses its power. The good news is that some companies are adding improved batteries that prevent the power output from diminishing. Keep in mind that you don’t have to deal with this if you have a corded electric lawnmower.
• Batteries and cords: Perhaps the biggest difference between using an electric mower and a gas mower is that electric mowers have cords and batteries. You don’t need either of those if you have a gas mower. Regardless of which type of electric mower you choose, you’ll need access to an electrical outlet at some point.
• Reduced operational maintenance: Gas mowers have a lot of parts (as mentioned above). If you want to be as hands-off as possible, electric lawnmowers are the way to go. Not having to worry about gasoline, oil, filters, spark plugs, roaring motors, and other maintenance saves plenty of time, money, and energy.

While electric mowers run much differently than gas mowers, they get the same job done and generally require much less maintenance. Still, there are a few key aspects to keeping an electric mower in tip-top shape. Let’s go through those:

Electric Lawn Mower Maintenance Tips

Maintaining your electric lawnmower will ensure it lasts as long as possible while preventing it from being too difficult to operate. Failure to provide proper storage and routine maintenance can shave years off your mower’s longevity. Furthermore, if you don’t maintain an electric mower, the blades will make the grass look jagged instead of uniform.

Follow these electric lawnmower maintenance tips:

• Store your lawnmower away from extreme temperatures and humidity. Consider using tarps, garages, and sheds. Electric lawnmowers are much more susceptible to rust and permanent damage from moisture than gas-powered lawnmowers. If any of the electrical components get wet, they could short out the mower.
• Never leave the mower’s battery case open. Battery-powered lawnmowers have plastic lids that protect the battery from moisture and direct impact. However, these cases are ineffective if they’re cracked, loose, or open. Always close and seal the battery case, even if the battery isn’t in the lawnmower.
• Keep the battery charged when it depletes. Lawnmower batteries slowly lose their charge, whether or not they’re being used. Make sure you don’t leave the battery empty for too long. These batteries are prone to permanent energy loss if they’re empty for several weeks in a row.
• Scrub the blades and remove debris from under the deck. Excessive amounts of debris under the lawnmower’s deck and around the blades will overheat an electric mower. The harder the motor has to work, the quicker the battery depletes. It’s best to remove as much debris as possible after each use.
• Monitor and replace the motor brushes when necessary. If the motor brushes don’t provide a reliable connection to the motor, the lawnmower will spark and fail to work. These brushes naturally wear down from regular use. They sit below the motor cover (which is another reason the battery lid needs to be sealed around the clock).

Additional maintenance tips include untangling the cord (corded electric mowers), replacing the battery charger if it can’t complete a full charge (battery electric mowers), and ensuring you don’t mow too close to rocks, wood, and other debris.

How to Know When You Need to Replace an Electric Lawn Mower

To know when you need to replace an electric lawnmower, look for these signs:

• Electric lawnmowers shouldn’t show rust, corrosion, or calcification. These lawnmowers are more prone to these signs of degradation because moisture wreaks havoc on their electrical components. If there’s rust on the battery, terminals, or brushes, the lawnmower won’t perform optimally.
• If the mower doesn’t work with a brand-new battery, it might be time for a replacement. Make sure you check the motor brushes and battery terminals before getting a new lawnmower. The terminals need to make constant contact with the battery for the mower to stay on.
• Get a new electric lawnmower when it’s older than ten years. Most electric lawnmowers aren’t designed to last longer than five to ten years. Check your manufacturer’s warranty before getting a new model. Once your electric lawnmower reaches its predicted lifespan, you’ll notice most of the parts stop working.
• Replace your electric lawnmower if the battery terminals are broken. Corroded or damaged battery terminals won’t let the battery power the motor, which means your electric lawnmower is practically useless. Since the terminals usually can’t be replaced, the whole electric lawnmower needs to be replaced.
• If the power cord is severed, it’s time for a new electric lawnmower. Replacing the cord is nearly impossible. Check with the company to see if they can replace the cord at a nearby store. Unfortunately, a severed power cord is one of the only ways a new mower can be ruined immediately. If you mow over the cord, it’s finished.

It’s essential to replace various parts throughout your electric lawnmower’s lifespan, but that doesn’t mean they last forever. If your electric mower doesn’t start after getting a new battery and fixing the terminals, it could be due for a replacement.

Final Thoughts

Electric lawnmowers might not be as common as gas-powered mowers (yet), but they can be a great option considering how quiet they are and how long they last.

Remember to keep your electric mower under a tarp, in a shed, or in a garage when it rains to keep it in good condition.

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Willie writes on small engine repair, landscaping, and lawn care. He owned a professional lawn care business in Alabama for almost 10 years.

Brush Mower vs. Lawn Mower: What’s the Difference?

If you’re looking out at your property and wondering how to manage overgrown grass, high weeds, brush, and other herbaceous nuisances, you may have considered whether you need a regular lawn mower or a brush mower. But how to choose? There is obviously a big difference in cost between the two machines, so it makes sense to get all the facts before you decide which to invest in. And here at DR, we know a thing or two about brush mowing!

What’s the difference?

Brush mowers are, to put it simply, a bigger, beefier, more powerful version of a traditional gas-powered walk-behind lawn mower. They operate using the same principles. Both are rotary mowers that use a combustion engine to turn a blade which slices through grass, weeds, and anything else in its path. Both are operated in much the same way, with the user using the handles to guide and propel the machine forward (except, of course, for tow-behind brush mowers).

The differences lie in the power of the engine, the heft of the blade, the ruggedness of the frame, and the available controls. While traditional lawn mowers generally have engines with 2 to 6 HP, brush mowers will have between 10 and 20 HP. (Although note that not all engines are rated in terms of horsepower; some are rated for their foot-pounds of torque (ft-lbs.) or their engine displacement (cubic centimeters, or ccs).) The extra power in a brush mower turns an extra-heavy blade and propels a much heavier and more rugged frame, allowing it to cut more intense weeds and brush.

What can they cut?

A lawn mower is designed to cut through grass, plain and simple. They can usually handle about 4″ of grass height, and really struggle in wet grass. The engine bogs down, the bagger needs to be emptied more often, and the wheels sink into soggy ground. For well-maintained lawn areas, though, where the grass is mowed every week or two, a lawn mower is usually the best choice.

A brush mower, on the other hand, is a beast of a machine. Not only can they cut grass as high as 6 feet high, but they chomp through weeds as high as 8 feet, and saplings as thick as 3 inches in diameter.

Which one is best for me?

Think about your own property and what types of overgrowth you’ll need to mow. Are you strictly mowing your lawn? Is the grass usually under 4″ and dry when you mow? If your answer is yes, then a traditional lawn mower is best for you. But if you’d also like to mow (or exclusively mow) dense brush and weeds, high grasses, wet areas (brush mower tires are large and knobby and can handle most wet, muddy areas), or woody growth such as saplings and vines, a brush mower is your best bet. Consider both the self-propelled and the tow-behind models that are available.

What is a Brushless Lawn Mower? (I Explain)

Powering everything from toothbrushes to elevators, you can find electric motors everywhere. And if you’ve been around the world of electric motors or tools at all, you have probably heard the terms brushless and brushed when talking about them.

Electric push mowers come with either brushed and brushless motors. In the past the majority of these mowers have been made with brushed electric motors, but newer brushless technology has become more popular lately. Because of this, many people have been left to wonder, what is a brushless lawn mower? and, what does a brushless motor mean for a mower?

What is a Brushless Lawn Mower?

A brushless lawn mower is an electric push mower that uses a brushless motor and a battery to operate. As the name suggests, brushless motors are designed to run without the use of brushes to provide electricity to them. Some electric push mowers use a brushed motor which is why the distinction is important.

How Does a Brushless Mower Work?

To talk about how a brushless mower works you need to talk about its motor. A brushless motor has two main parts: a permanent magnet that rotates at its center, and a coil that surrounds the magnet. The permanent magnet is a magnet with fixed magnetism (like a fridge magnet), and the coil is made from a bunch of copper windings. Brushless motors use external wiring and a sensor to deliver electricity to the coils correctly. This clever use of magnets and electrical timing allows brushless motors to work very efficiently.

On the other hand, a brushed motor is made from similar parts but its coil rotates on the inside of a permanent magnet instead. This complicates things for brushed motors because it means that electricity needs to be delivered to the spinning part. This is what brushes are used for. Brushes are spring loaded conductors that are pushed into contact with a commutator as it spins. Due to friction here, brushes tend to get worn out over time.

The Advantages of a Brushless Lawn Mower

Brushless motors are a bit more complex to build than brushed motors, but their design offers a number of advantages. Let’s take a look at some of the most relevant ones:

Efficient Battery Use

With the right battery, a brushless lawn mower can tackle bigger yards. This is because no energy is lost between the rotating magnet and its surrounding coil due to friction. Battery power in brushless mowers is stretched as far as possible because of this.

Quieter Mowing

If your lawn mower uses a brushless motor you’ll no longer need to worry about getting nasty looks from your neighbors while mowing in the early morning. Without brushes and their added friction to the motor, brushless motors run extremely quietly. Though you won’t escape the noise of your blades cutting grass, brushless lawn mowers create a lot less sound.

Increased Power

Brushless motors are really powerful and can handle more demanding loads without lagging. The reason for this is because of where the coil is placed in the motor. Sitting on the outside of the magnet that spins, it is possible to wrap more wire and increase the size of the coil which also increases torque.

Less Maintenance

There is less maintenance required for brushless lawn mowers because their motors don’t use brushes. This means that the motor is more reliable and doesn’t require the upkeep of cleaning and replacing brushes.

Adaptable Power Use

The electronic sensors that brushless motors use act as a management system for how hard the motor works. By only using the exact amount of energy required, none is wasted and battery life is optimized.

Harder to Overheat

Though there is still some heat produced by brushless motors, there is a whole lot less than motors that use brushes and friction. Also, since the coils in brushless motors are on the outside edge of the motor, it is easier for them to cool as the motor runs.

Brushless vs Brushed Lawn Mower

The debate surrounding whether to buy a brushless vs brushed lawn mower can usually be decided by looking at a handful of good points of comparison. I think that the best way to compare the two is to look at these factors:

Efficiency

In general, brushless motors typically operate with about 80-90% efficiency whereas brushed motors operate with about 60-75% efficiency. Not all brushed or brushless motors are equal, but brushless motors are without a doubt more efficient because of their design.

Cost

There is a huge range of when it comes to cordless electric push mowers, but there is a trend that always holds true: brushless lawn mowers are more expensive. Brushless motors are more complicated to build and run so they tend to increase the price of mowers that use them.

Maintenance

The presence or absence of those pesky little brushes makes all the difference here. Brushless motors require extremely little maintenance over the span of their use. However, brushless motors are much more difficult to service because of their complicated design. Brushed mowers are the opposite. They require maintenance at regular intervals, (usually because of the brushes) but are more simple to work with. With that being said, brushless motors on average last 5-10 times longer than brushed motors without maintenance.

Final Thoughts

Maybe you were just curious about the term, or maybe you are on the hunt for a new mower. Whatever the case, there are a couple of clear takeaways:

Because of their motor design and conservative use of electricity, brushless lawn mowers are quiet, durable, and can produce the most power for the longest amount of time. When it comes to comparing brushed vs brushless lawn mowers, there is a clear winner: brushless lawn mowers.

About Tom Greene

I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the lawn mower guru (hence the site name), but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!

Комментарии и мнения владельцев

Hi. Great article! I have a Powersmith I bought for 100 dollars. No batteries. The battery’s are a hundred bucks each. 60 on Amazon aftermarket. I’m a techie so I’m trying to make an outboard battery, which I’ve done. My question is are the 2 batteries connected in series as it appears they are to create 80 volts to power the module, and that powers the 40 volt motor. Or is it an 80 volt 3 phase motor? Haven’t hooked up the battery yet. I think it’s actually an 80 volt motor with a 40 volt nameplate maybe for safety rating?? Anyway thanks for any advice you may have to offer. Mike Retz

Hey Mike, Thank you! I know the Powersmith model you’re talking about, but can’t say that I have any firsthand experience with it. My guess is that you’re right that the batteries work together to put out 80 volts. It seems like a heavier duty mower so I would assume it cranks out more than 40 volts. Sounds like you’re in for a pretty fun project! I’ve never made an outboard battery before. If I were you, I’d probably shoot Powersmith an email or a call to try and get some manufacturer-direct information. Would be a bummer to get elbow deep into it before knowing for sure. Hope it works out for you! Tom.

Hi Steve Great question! Technically corded electric tools can be made with brushless motors, but it isn’t very common. I think the reason for this is because brushless motors are designed to be able to produce a ton of power without needing to be connected to an unlimited power supply. As far as lawn mowers go I’ve never seen a brushless corded electric mower before. Cheers, Tom.

Thank you so much for your easily understood explanation and comparison of brushless vs brush motor lawn mowers.

Thanks for the great explanation Tom. As far as “adaptable power use,” my Ryobi brushless mower seems to kick in extra power after the fact when hitting thick grass, and then there is a short lull in power immediately after. So the best thing for me to do is just stop, wait for the motor to finish it’s pesky cycle, and then start pushing again but go slower to make sure it doesn’t try to power up again. Can anything be done about this?

Hi Jason, The Ryobi load-sensing technology does a good job of saving battery life by slowing the motor speed when full power isn’t needed, but it can be frustrating for the operator. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any way to disable the feature. The waiting method seems to be what most people do to overcome the lag in the motor reacting to the lawn. I have heard that some people raise the deck and cut the lawn twice, but I’m sure you’ll agree this doesn’t make much sense. So, I guess you’re stuck with the new technology. Good luck cutting. Tom.

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