How Long Does It Take to Charge a Lawn Mower Battery?
Electric lawn mowers are one of the most popular types of lawn mowers. They started with smaller lawn mower models, but now it is possible to buy bigger sit-on electric lawn mowers. Electric lawn mowers do not use fuel and need much less maintenance. However, though they come with many benefits, many people question how long my battery will last and how long it will take to recharge it. If you also wonder about this question, we will explain everything about recharging lawn mower batteries in this article.
How to Properly Charge A Lawn Mower Battery
You can use these tips to charge your lawn mower battery properly.
Basic Safety Measures
Wear safety goggles and thick work gloves in case an electrical mishap occurs. Also, it is a good idea to regularly check your mower’s electrical systems for any damage, like frayed connections, bloated battery, or other problems.
Locate the Battery
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Generally, mowers have their battery hidden under the seat. Turn your mower around and look for a positive and negative battery terminal.
Different models may have other specifications, so check the owner’s manual. If you lose the manual, you can always check for online resources at the manufacturer’s website.
Detach the Battery/Connect the Cables
After finding your battery, detach it from your mower and connect the cables. Always start with a positive end. The red cable goes to the positive, and the black line goes to the negative battery terminal.
Detaching it before charging is essential for lithium-ion batteries in case they explode and harm your mower. If yours is a lead-acid battery, you can skip detaching.
Rest the Battery Before Disconnecting
Your battery may produce some gases while charging if it is a lead-acid battery. Therefore, it is a good idea to rest the battery for 5 minutes after charging before disconnecting. These gases may cause harm to your battery and even you if you don’t wait for them to disperse.
If yours is a lithium-ion battery, you can skip this step.
Disconnect the Charger
After charging and waiting for the gases to dissipate, you can disconnect the charger.
Disconnect the negative charger cable first, then re-attach the battery into its housing. Connect the terminals starting from the positive end first.
How Long Does It Take To Charge A Lawn Mower?
There is no single answer to how long it takes to charge a lawn mower battery, as it depends on the mower model, battery type, and charger type. Small electric lawn mowers have fast charging, take around 1.5 hours to charge, and operate for 30 minutes to an hour. With some models, bigger mowers may take 3-4 hours to recharge up to 12 hours.
Cub Cadets XT1 LT42E, a large sit-on lawn-mower, will take 3-4 hours to charge and has around 1.5 hours of operating time. A larger model, Weibang iON 81 RC, will take 12 hours to charge and operate for around 3 hours. A 12-hour charging time will mean that you can only use it once daily, while a 4-hour charging time means you can recharge and use it again.
How Long Does It Take To Charge Lithium-Ion Batteries?
Most electric lawn mowers use lithium-ion batteries. Many factors affect a battery’s charging time, so there are no general rules. Mobile phones also use lithium-ion batteries, and some phones charge in an hour while others can take two or more hours. So it depends on the battery, the charger, voltage, and amp levels.
Fundamentally, lithium-ion batteries’ charging and releasing processes are simple to explain. While the battery releases, the lithium-particle cell gives current to an external circuit. While charging, the battery stores the ions, and the voltage allows the current to flow into the battery until the power supply reaches the predetermined voltage.
Different mowers have different battery sizes and different charging technologies. Here are some lawn mowers and their charging times :
| Mower | Company | Battery-type | Charging Time | Operation Time |
| Self-Propelled Commercial Mower | LEO | Lithium-Ion | 2 hours | 50 minutes |
| Big sit-on mower | Cub Cadet | Lithium-Ion | 4 hours | 1.5 hours |
| Big sit-on mower | Weibang | Lithium-Ion | 12 hours | 2.5 hours |
| Smaller sit-on mower | Cub Cadet | Lithium-Ion | 4 hours | 1 hour |
| Light Mower | Sun-Joe | Lithium-Ion | 1.5-2 hours | 45 minutes |
| Push mower | Snapper | Lithium-Ion | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Pre-cautions for Lithium-Ion Batteries
- Current Charge
High current levels should not be used with lithium-ion batteries as they will affect them negatively. Even if your battery is capable of being charged at high currents, for better health and longer battery life, you should use lower current chargers.
- Temperature
Where you place a lithium-iron battery should not be higher than 45 degrees.
- Discharge Current
Release current insurance is necessary to stop harm or explosion because of short-circuits. Every specific battery has a breaking point that should not be surpassed. The battery has enormous energy, and surpassing it may cause the battery to catch fire or even explode.
Usually, battery packs have adequate hardware to guarantee that the current is not surpassed, but it is a good idea to not over-stress them.
How Long Does It Take To Charge Lead-Acid Batteries?
Lead-acid batteries are falling out of popularity recently for many reasons, and taking longer to charge is one of them. You cannot fast-charge a lead-acid battery, so they are rarely used in modern electric lawn mowers.
In most of the mowers used by the consumer, lead-acid batteries are 12 Volt 75-100AH AGM or FLA batteries. Multiple batteries are used in the mower to give a higher voltage. Batteries are usually replaced as a set.
Lead-acid batteries are not used until the battery is fully discharged. So usually, it would be best if you started recharging them at %30, and it will take almost 24 hours to recharge fully.
Comparison of Lead-Acid and Lithium-Ion Batteries
| Lithium-Ion | Lead-Acid |
| Lithium-Ion is the better and newer battery technology with a longer life span and higher efficiency. But they are more expensive. | Older technology costs less but requires more maintenance and a shorter life span. |
| The battery will charge in around 1-3 hours. | It takes a lot of time, up to 24 hours, to charge back up to maximum capacity. |
| Lithium-Ion batteries have the danger of exploding at high temperatures. However, modern lawn mowers are designed considering this; the batteries do not heat up, so they rarely explode. | They produce a specific gas while working, which can be bothersome. |
Commonly Used Quality Batteries For Modern Cordless Lawn Mowers
One of the main factors determining the performance of a cordless electric lawn mower is the quality of the battery. Here are some commonly used, good batteries that we would suggest.
| Name | Voltage | Weight | Type |
| Weize 12V 35 AH Rechargeable Battery | 12 Volts | 25 pounds | Lead-Acid |
| Mighty Battery | 12 Volts | 23 pounds | Lithium-Ion |
| Chrome Battery | 12 Volts | 21 pounds | Lead-Acid |
How To Keep Your Lawn Mower Batteries In Good Condition
- Don’t Over-Charge
After your battery is fully charged, if you keep it charging, a.k.a. over-charge it, it will reduce its lifespan and eventually decrease its charge carrying capacity. In addition, it might start acting weirdly if over-charged frequently. High-quality chargers have special technology to deal with this problem, making it impossible to over-charge.
- Use The Original Charger
Using the original charger with the electric lawn mower is always a good idea. A duplicate charger may vary voltage and current levels and harm your battery.
- Remove The Battery Before Charging
Depending on the battery, while it is not always an obligation to remove the battery while charging, it is still a good idea to do so as Lithium-Ion batteries can explode. If this happens, it may harm your mower.
- Read the Manual
The company that made your battery knows much more than us. So, read the instruction in the manual.
- Defected Batteries
If the battery gets defective, it will take longer to recharge and less time to discharge. In that case, you may need to replace your battery.
The Battery of a Gas-Powered Lawn Mower
Gas and electric lawn mowers work in rotational motion and require an engine to work and cut grass. An inner burning motor that runs with fuel powers gas lawn mowers. A two-chamber ignition motor runs by consuming a combination of gas and oil, while a four-chamber engine consumes fuel to work the machine.
Gas-powered lawn mowers that run with electric motors usually are powered by a rechargeable battery. It gets charged up when the engine runs, like a car battery—the battery type and the voltage change from mower model to model. For detailed information, check your owner’s manual.
What is Trickle Charging, and How Long Does It Take?
You can use your lawn mower most of the year until the winter starts and the grass stops growing. After that, your mower will need to be stored until spring. To keep your mower in good condition, you need to winterize it. The battery is one of the most important parts that will require proper care. If you don’t take care of it while it is stored, it will deteriorate over time.
A good way to keep your battery in good condition is to use a trickle charger with maintainer functionality.
Lawn mower batteries, just like all other batteries, discharge over time due to internal resistance. However, trickle charging means charging the battery just above the rate it is losing charge. So it takes longer to charge this way compared to other charging methods, which use much higher currents.
How long it takes will depend on many factors; let’s examine them.
It Depends on the Battery Type
The type of the battery is one important factor in the charging process. First, we need to locate your battery to find out its kind. You probably already know its location.
For riding lawn mowers, it is usually located under the seat or in the hood nearby the engine. Push mowers will have it along the mower’s deck. If you cannot find your battery, check the owner’s manual to find exactly where it is.
After you find your battery, we can see what type it is.
Trickle charging a mower’s battery depends on the battery type. Usually, lead-acid-type batteries take two full days to charge fully, and lithium-ion batteries charge much more quickly, starting from around half a day.
Most modern battery-powered lawn mowers use 12V batteries though some old models may use 6V. You should check your battery’s voltage and amperage levels and match them with the charger’s. When charging a battery, voltage is directly related to charging duration. A 6V battery will take half the time to recharge compared to a 12V battery fully.
It Depends on the Capacity of the Battery
The capacity of the battery is another important factor. The larger the battery, the longer it will take to recharge fully.
If you have a battery that has a 20A/hr capacity and you are charging it with a 2A trickle charger, it will take 10 hours to charge. If your battery’s capacity is 40A/hr, it will take 20 hours.
You see, it is basic math once you get it. The same calculation goes for fast charging too.
It Depends on the Amperage of the Charger
Trickle chargers use small currents like 1.5A, 1.25A, and 3A. Fast chargers use much bigger currents. For example, a 1.5-ampere charger will take twice as much time to charge as a 3 amperes charger.
Using a trickle charger with a maintainer functionality ensures that your battery will stay fully charged. As soon as your battery loses some charge, the trickle charger will activate and recharge the lost charge.
They keep the battery’s current circulation so that the cells don’t die out or the battery doesn’t run into problems like sulfation or corrosion in cells.
It is a good idea to store your battery in a well-ventilated space near room temperature and check every two weeks if you will charge it using a maintainer.
It Depends on the Charging Mode
Modern chargers are getting more complex day by day. They check the battery’s state and constantly change the current and method accordingly. Some models have displays to show what they are currently doing and a user interface to select the preferred method. Some have automatic modes to check the battery’s current condition and choose the best way of charging.
Some chargers have jumpstart functions to bring dead batteries back to life. In addition, most batteries have a shutoff setting to avoid over-charging, automatically shutting off the charging once it reaches the maximum capacity. If your charger doesn’t have an automatic shutoff feature, you must make sure you disable charging, as previously mentioned. Over-charging may harm your battery.
Some complex features include :
- Different mode settings like slow charge, fast charge, float mode, and trickle charge
- Built-in timers for charging and discharging
- Variable amperage rates
Usually, they combine many of these features to improve the process. For example, it will fast charge the first 2-3 hours, then start slow charging, which may take up to 30+ hours, and finish with a float charge. Once it reaches the maximum capacity, it will begin in the maintainer mode.
Is Trickle Charging Bad for Batteries?
Leaving a battery attached to a trickle charger for too long may lead to over-charging. Maintainer functions allow switching to float mode once the battery is fully charged. This ensures your battery is not over-charged.
How Can I Know My Lawn Mower Battery Went Bad?
You may hear and feel your engine’s clicking and beating sound after starting your mower. The most probable cause for this is a dead battery. However, further checking your battery may find other abnormalities like cracks, leaks, or bloats. This means it went bad. Also, you can check voltage capacity with a multimeter to be sure.
The engine taking a long time to start is also a good indication of a battery that went bad.
Conclusion
The charging time depends on your mowers model, the charger quality, and the type of the battery. Lithium-Ion batteries usually take around 60-90 minutes to charge with ten amps setting fully. Lead-acid batteries are the older technology. They are used for heavy-duty tasks and take many hours to charge fully. Old and damaged batteries will take longer to charge in both cases.
Trickle charging extends and preserves a lawn mower’s battery life. It makes sure your battery charge doesn’t drain away. You can trickle charge it once or use it with the maintainer functionality. It is important to know how long it takes to charge.
If your mower doesn’t have an automatic shutoff system, it is important the stop the charging manually once it is fully charged to avoid over-charging. Over-charging may destroy a battery’s cells.
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