Battery String Trimmer

[bwframe]

This spring I grabbed the handy Echo battery string trimmer and no joy - battery got too low over winter and won't recharge. It was good, handy quiet for two years and now dead. Replacement battery is nearly the cost of a whole new one.

Picked up the old Echo SR-225 GASOLINE string trimmer, fired on first pull.

I think there is a lesson there: battery stuff is not as use-and-forget as gasoline stuff.

PS I only use E0 (non alcohol fuel) in my small engines.

I ran across this "jump start" technique, when searching YouTube for aftermarket battery reviews. Maybe some of our electronic smart folks will chime in on this?

 

[jamil]

This spring I grabbed the handy Echo battery string trimmer and no joy - battery got too low over winter and won't recharge. It was good, handy quiet for two years and now dead. Replacement battery is nearly the cost of a whole new one.

Picked up the old Echo SR-225 GASOLINE string trimmer, fired on first pull.

I think there is a lesson there: battery stuff is not as use-and-forget as gasoline stuff.

PS I only use E0 (non alcohol fuel) in my small engines.

They're lithium ion batteries so they shouldn't mind winter temps that much unless they're extreme. They don't like to be stored in hot temps though. We usually store them in the mud room when it gets really hot in the garage. But over the winter we leave them in the garage. It never gets below 25. Maybe your battery was defective. Ours have lasted a hell of a lot longer than 2 years.

 

[KLB]

They're lithium ion batteries so they shouldn't mind winter temps that much unless they're extreme. They don't like to be stored in hot temps though. We usually store them in the mud room when it gets really hot in the garage. But over the winter we leave them in the garage. It never gets below 25. Maybe your battery was defective. Ours have lasted a hell of a lot longer than 2 years.

Mine are in the garage year round.

 

[2in1evtime]

My wife got me a WORX branded seedeater last year and still going strong, it has a lifetime supply of string also just order as you need it comes on little spools that are easy to change also the battery is 20 volt and will last for a full yard trim plus!

 

[bwframe]

Many thanks to all the contributors here. I'm quite happy with my purchases. I have run the blower a couple times and it will be a game changer for sweeping the deck, the pole barn and even the house.

I bought a vacuum that uses the M18 batteries also. It has already sucked up a lot of stuff in the shop and house. Right off the bat, headed for the house, one of those annoying carpenter bees was facing off with me. I swung the vacuum tube up, hit the trigger, and sucked it in like it was meant to be. I hope the rest suck in that easy. I could see it working for those black hornets too? Neighbor lady called be down to spray one building a nest above her door.

I ran the trimmer again today, this time I ran it on the turtle setting. Got away with trimming in shorts barefoot. Unless I'm trimming in briars or stickers this is the way I'll be trimming from here out. I am amazed at how, even in turtle mode, the trimmer took down tall weeds without bogging or clogging. I really like the variable speed trigger for precision work near desirable plants.

I'm having a helluva time getting my advertised free battery out of Home Depot. It didn't come with the blower, like it was supposed to? Anyone have experience with Home Depot and Milwaukee's "Get One Free Battery" deal?


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[bwframe]

...I bought a vacuum that uses the M18 batteries also. It has already sucked up a lot of stuff in the shop and house. Right off the bat, headed for the house, one of those annoying carpenter bees was facing off with me. I swung the vacuum tube up, hit the trigger, and sucked it in like it was meant to be. I hope the rest suck in that easy. I could see it working for those black hornets too? Neighbor lady called be down to spray one building a nest above her door...


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[Jaybird1980]

They're lithium ion batteries so they shouldn't mind winter temps that much unless they're extreme. They don't like to be stored in hot temps though. We usually store them in the mud room when it gets really hot in the garage. But over the winter we leave them in the garage. It never gets below 25. Maybe your battery was defective. Ours have lasted a hell of a lot longer than 2 years.

Charging Li-Ion batteries that are cold can cause damage and is hard on the batteries. Supposed to be above freezing temps to not damage the battery

 

[nonobaddog]

Charging Li-Ion batteries that are cold can cause damage and is hard on the batteries. Supposed to be above freezing temps to not damage the battery

Yes, they are funny that way. You can use them at cold temperatures but they will have diminished capacity, just don't charge them when they are cold - cold being about 32 degrees or lower. This is why electric cars have battery warmers in them.

 

[jamil]

My wife got me a WORX branded seedeater last year and still going strong, it has a lifetime supply of string also just order as you need it comes on little spools that are easy to change also the battery is 20 volt and will last for a full yard trim plus!

"I HATE seedeaters. Pests, all of them. Pests I tell you!" as the old man shook his fist at the starlings as they consumed the seeds he had just sowed.

 

[2in1evtime]

My wife got me a WORX branded seedeater last year and still going strong, it has a lifetime supply of string also just order as you need it comes on little spools that are easy to change also the battery is 20 volt and will last for a full yard trim plus!

weedeater=seedeater my bad too many bourbons maybe

 

[jamil]

weedeater=seedeater my bad too many bourbons maybe

Nah, it happens man. that 's' is a bit too close to the 'w' on querty keyboards. But sometimes it makes a funny.

 

[nonobaddog]

After quite a few years, I can't remember how many, of faithful service my EGO trimmer is acting up. It is hard to start now. I pull the trigger and sometimes nothing happens at all, sometimes I get a tiny beep, sometimes it fakes like it wants to start but stops right away. And sometimes if I hold the trigger it actually starts and I can trim until I let up on the trigger and then it all starts over.

I got my trimming done by holding the trigger the whole time. Normally I let up on it while walking from place to place.

I suppose I will have to tear it apart and see if I can figure out how to fix the electronics. Any tips? They want too much for a new harness, I would buy a new trimmer first.

And yes the battery is good, I have three good batteries and the trimmer behaves the same on all three. The blower and chainsaw work fine on all three too.

 

[Jaybird1980]

After quite a few years, I can't remember how many, of faithful service my EGO trimmer is acting up. It is hard to start now. I pull the trigger and sometimes nothing happens at all, sometimes I get a tiny beep, sometimes it fakes like it wants to start but stops right away. And sometimes if I hold the trigger it actually starts and I can trim until I let up on the trigger and then it all starts over.

I got my trimming done by holding the trigger the whole time. Normally I let up on it while walking from place to place.

I suppose I will have to tear it apart and see if I can figure out how to fix the electronics. Any tips? They want too much for a new harness, I would buy a new trimmer first.

And yes the battery is good, I have three good batteries and the trimmer behaves the same on all three. The blower and chainsaw work fine on all three too.

 

[nonobaddog]

View attachment 200696

I remember doing exactly that to get Tetris working.

 

[bwframe]

No idea of what kind of circuitry is involved. Back in the day, we solved (at least temporarily) a lot of circuit board corrosion issues with an alcohol brush scrubbing.

 

[qwerty]

The timing is fortuitous ....

 

[bwframe]

The timing is fortuitous ....

I seen that video was posted. It's in my que to watch.

My Milwaukee trimmer is not in the video. Probably because it is the less promoted dedicated trimmer. No quick change for other bolt in tools. Built different, with no drive shaft, only wires to the motor on the trimmer head.

Might be why my sensitive hands aren't effected by vibrations? Less of an issue without a drive shaft? Gas trimmers used to give my hands fits from the vibration.
I haven't run a continuous test, but operation with a 6.0 ah battery times out at ~30 minutes.

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[nonobaddog]

I seen that video was posted. It's in my que to watch.

My Milwaukee trimmer is not in the video. Probably because it is the less promoted dedicated trimmer. No quick change for other bolt in tools. Built different, with no drive shaft, only wires to the motor on the trimmer head.

Might be why my sensitive hands aren't effected by vibrations? Less of an issue without a drive shaft? Gas trimmers used to give my hands fits from the vibration.
I haven't run a continuous test, but operation with a 6.0 ah battery times out at ~30 minutes.

.

When you watch it you will see there is a Milwaukee trimmer in the video as well as other dedicated trimmers as well as trimmers without driveshafts, such as EGO. However the Milwaukee in the video does have a driveshaft.

 

[bwframe]

I'm finding that my blower purchase could not have happened at a better time. The trees are dumping their crap, from pollen to blossoms to twigs. Used it every day so far, when I'd be tracking the junk inside, putting off dragging out the corded blower until the crap raining down ebbed.

In other news, I've packed up the first set of aftermarket batteries to return to Amazon. One battery of two wouldn't charge and the other had a short run time. The second set, a "deal of the day," ($65, to my door next day,) has worked so far so good. First battery ran 30 minutes in trimmer, second battery 23 minutes. They show promise.


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[bwframe]

Ran into something a week ago in a power outage. It was hot and occurred to me that a battery powered fan just might be a worthwhile investment.

Milwaukee makes an M18 fan that runs off of the batteries I have. When shopping a good price for the Milwaukee fan, I ran into this cheaper knockoff that runs off of the M18 batteries also. A bonus is that this contraption has a LED light also. What really sold me on trying this though was the USB charger for my phone. I have wanted a way to charge/run the phones off of these M18 batteries since buying them...