Greenworks mower stopped working. Greenworks 40v Electric Garden Cart broken any advice welcome
Greenworks 40v Electric Garden Cart broken. any advice welcome
I have a Greenworks 40v Garden Cart that is just turned 2 yrs old and the electronics have failed.
The electronics started failing after 1 year and gradually got worse until now. 2 years in the motor is unresponsive. It started operating intermittently, then worse and worse. and finally stopped completely. Its has button to ‘engage’ (like a timer and motor power won’t engage unless this is pressed) and a Forward/Reverse and a Throttle.
I’m trying to repair it but I’m a newbie to this. Here’s what the electronics look like:
The controller (silver box) is:
and then there’s a small circuit board with a couple of mosfets inbetween the battery and the rest of the stuff.
I ordered a new throttle and it didn’t fix things.
Next. I think I’ve found a controller (with reverse function). and ordered that.
= QUESTIONS. but what the heck is that small printed circuit board? If the new controller new throttle doesn’t make it work. Can I bypass it/remove it? Is it a BMS for regenerative braking (the power light glows when pushing the unit with no throttle).
Any info/thoughts/speculation about anything trying to repair this would be appreciated. Why did this fail incrementally. seems like electronics would be more of an all or nothing.
Korishan
I was going to say the varistor, the throttle, was going bad. But if you replaced it, then the next option would be the brushes in the motor. If this has been kept outside where it can get humidity, then the brushes may have corroded to the brass housing. If this is the case, pull the brushes out, and use a brass bristle brush to clean the brass housing and then use a knife, razor, fine sand paper, to scrape the outside layers of the brushes down to a smaller size. This will allow the brushes to move easier in the housing. You may be able to use the brass brush on the brushes to clean the corrosion off.
From the low light images of the controller board, it looks clean, no corrosion in there. The cap looks good, too. Perhaps pull the board out and check the underside for any corrosion.
Proceed with caution. Knowledge is Power! Literally! Knowledge is Power; Absolute Knowledge is Absolutely Shocking! Sub-Certified 18650 Cell Reclamation Technician
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100kwh-hunter
I had never problems with greenworks, and i have a lot for in the garden. But like all electric tools, everything is made for a purpose and can not be exchanged. Especially the more bigger companies. At least this is my experience with repairing electric tools, they are all connected and can not work without other own products of that particular company. I hope i am wrong in this one.
I would buy a new one or replace all the electronics. You can also so give a email to Greenworks, in my understanding if you are the first owner you have a two year warranty. If not ask them for replacement parts.
then the next option would be the brushes in the motor. If this has been kept outside where it can get humidity, then the brushes may have corroded to the brass housing.
Go to a hardware store and get some carbonfiber brushes, they cost over here ~1 or two euro’s for four. Also check the contact wires that are going into the brushes. Behind the brushes there are a sort of springs, they could be rusted away/broke/tension loss. Good thinking Korishan!
Korishan
My uncle has a chop saw. It was in storage for awhile, and he got it out and started making cuts. He made probably about 10 cuts and it started acting weird. Wouldn’t stay running, get to full speed, or sometimes not even start up. I pulled the cap off the brushes housing, the brushes had corroded in place. I broke one of them trying to pull it out, so had to get a new one. That’s the experience of why I was thinking about the brushes The motor will work for a time, until the arcing finally eats away enough of the material that it can’t jump the gap anymore.
A simple test to try, and may not work at all depending on how badly they are frozen, is to tap the motor where the brushes are and see if the make contact.
All in all, checking the brushes is the cheapest thing. I do not think that these mower motors have brushless motors. Altho, I could be wrong. If they are brushless, then the driver board in the motor is probably defective, possibly corroded. Not all brushless motors have their own driver board, but some do. Either way, worth a shot to pull the motor rear housing off and see what’s there.
Proceed with caution. Knowledge is Power! Literally! Knowledge is Power; Absolute Knowledge is Absolutely Shocking! Sub-Certified 18650 Cell Reclamation Technician
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Greenworks Pro 25” Dual Blade Self-propelled Lawn Mower MO60L423
The Greenworks Pro 60-volt Brushless Lithium Ion Self-propelled 25-in Cordless Electric Lawn Mower (MO60L423) is a great way to kick your gas can to the curb, without completely breaking the bank. As far as Cordless Electric Lawn Mowers go, this is one of the nicest one’s I’ve used thus far. This mower uses dual 12.5” counter-spinning blades (don’t worry they’re geared appropriately to not hit each other) which drive the grass clippings towards the center and into the bag. Because the blades are smaller and therefore lighter, they allow the motor to spin at higher RPMs than most other electric lawn mowers, which aids in cutting through all things put in front of it even easier.
Without intending, I was able to put this mower through a great test right out of the box, after having missed a couple weeks of cutting prior to that. Luckily for me, this mower is equipped with Greenworks’ “SmartCut” which kicks up the RPMs when the motor senses a heavy load, such as overgrown grass or perhaps you forgot to turn off your sprinklers that morning and the lawn is wet (not that any of us would ever forget and do something like that!). After the load drops so do the motor RPMs, and they return to the normal operating speed to conserve battery life.
Speaking of battery life, this mower comes with a charger, (1) 2.0Ah lithium-ion battery and (1) 4.0Ah lithium-ion battery. Greenworks Pro claims a 60-minute run time using these two batteries. Let’s be honest, those run times are probably in the perfect controlled environment and would be hard to recreate in our own yards however, even when cutting (and bagging) through 3-week growth on my 1/2 acre lot, I made it through the whole yard having depleted the 2.0Ah battery and only using 2 bars of the 4.0Ah battery. So while I don’t know if you could make a full hour of operation, the provided batteries should undoubtedly provide enough run time to tackle a lot in the 3/4-1 acre range.
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to have a steel deck on my lawn mower. I trust a steel deck more than a plastic deck when I know that I’ll be running it underneath my bushes and will surely ram it into the stumps a few times. While the steel deck is reassuring, it also does add back some of the weight which is usually shaved off by going with an electric mower. This Greenworks Pro 25” Lawn Mower weighs in at 76 lbs. which is still significantly lighter than the usual 90-110 lbs. of the typical gas mower.
Lastly, the self-propelled (self-propulsion?) feature of this mower warrants its own discussion. I am impressed by how fast this mower can propel itself, under no load and driving down my sidewalk I am almost at a jogging pace when the speed is cranked all the way up! With that said though, the biggest downfall, perhaps not a downfall perhaps just an adjustment I need to get used to, with this mower is how long it takes for the self-propelling motor to disengage. When mowing in a straight line, I need to release the self-propelling lever 2-3 feet prior to stopping to allow the motor time to fully disengage, otherwise when I need to turn 90-degrees to continue, the rear wheels will be locked up and difficult to turn. I am confident with time, any user will grow accustomed to it, it is just much longer of a distance than I am used to out of other models.
Additional Features
- Push-button startup
- Zero engine emissions
- Low maintenance
- Battery level gauges are visible through the battery doors
Pricing
As of writing this, you can buy the kit which includes the mower, bag attachment and mulching plug, (1) 2.0 Ah battery (1) 4.0 Ah battery and a charger for 699.00, sometimes this item will be marked down to as low as 499.00
What’s Missing
There’s no side discharge option, just mulching and bagging. Here in Texas I almost exclusively mulch or bag, and run into very few people who side discharge. In my opinion, the missing side discharge isn’t a deal breaker.
Final Takeaways
The Greenworks Pro 60-volt Brushless Lithium Ion Self-propelled 25-in Cordless Electric Lawn Mower is an excellent option for a cordless residential lawn mower. With it’s dual counter spinning blade design it performs extremely well at mulching and lifting to the bag attachment, and it’s self-propelled rear wheels it will practically pull you across your lawn. I would recommend you buy this mower if you are looking to invest in a product that should last a long time and operates on a solid battery platform with plenty more to offer.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Review
We’re really impressed with Greenworks’ translation of its commercial battery mower into a residential option and the Gen-2 upgrades are really helpful. With two solid self-propelled mowers to choose from, it’s really a matter of deciding which one is better for your lawn: the 21-inch or the 25-inch. Thanks to its dual battery ports and wider deck, this model is geared toward larger lawns. Grab the 21-inch if you’re maintaining 1/4-acre or less and go with the 25-inch above that.
Greenworks shook up the battery-powered OPE market with its 25-inch commercial mower a while back. We took the Greenworks Pro 60V 25-inch self-propelled lawn mower designed for homeowners out to see how it stacks up against the best electric mowers we’ve tested.
Pros
- Excellent power with Turbo mode for tough patches
- Very good cut quality
- Dual active battery ports with automatic switching
- 23.75-inch cutting swath
- Easy control system
- Simple handle release for height adjustment and vertical storage
Cons
- We’d like to have a little bit slower speed on the low end when cutting thick patches
- You need to roll the mower forward a touch to disengage the drive wheels when backing up
- No side/rear discharge option
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Design
If you’ve seen the Commercial 82V version of this mower, you’ll immediately see the resemblance. And if you’re familiar with the latest generation of their 21-inch 60V self-propelled mower, you’ll notice several things have come over from it as well.
Get a Grip
Starting at the top, this is the same control system and handle design that the 21-inch model uses, including the Turbo button. The handles dip away from the center at a comfortable angle and the foam grip adds to your hands’ comfort level.
There’s an LED level indicator for the two battery ports that light up when you hit the power button, self-propel bar, or blade bar.
Control Yourself
Kicking the mower into gear is pretty standard. Press the power button and pull the blade bar to get them up to speed. You can also opt to just use the self-propel drive when you need to get from point A to point B without pulling the blade bar first.
What’s interesting is that you can reverse the process, too. Pull the blade or self-propel bar first and hit the power button second and the mower still comes to life. I like that. There’s no trying to remember which order you have to go in—just hit what you need to and go.
The speed adjustment is front and center. Greenworks does a nice job of keeping the slider stiff enough that you don’t knock it to a different level if you accidentally touch it or go over a bump.
The self-propel drive has a pretty solid speed range. There’s plenty of top-end speed to keep up with my 6-foot, 2-inch frame. I’d actually like the low end to go a little lower. It’s fine most of the time. But when the grass is really tall and thick, I like to slow things down even more.
Energy Reserves
Lift up the hood and we find two battery ports. You only need one pack to run the mower. The mower automatically switches over when the first battery is used up.
Height Adjustments
Moving around to the deck, you adjust the height with a single-point adjustment. With the larger design and heavier weight that comes with it, it would have been understandable to move to a 2- or 4-point system. Instead, the design team kept it simpler for you.
On gas mowers, a single point adjustment can lead to a loss of rigidity through the frame and wear down the connection points of the system before the end of the mower’s service life. Weighing in around 86 pounds, this mower is right on the edge but we’re not seeing anything that concerns us about its ability to hold up over time so far.
Twin Blades
Under the 25-inch steel deck, the Greenworks Pro 60V 25-inch self-propelled lawn mower uses twin 12.5” blades to cover a true 23.75-inch cutting swath. Each blade is smaller and lower mass than any of the single blades other battery mowers use, so they’re able to power them on the popular 60V platform.
The blades counter-rotate and combine with the deck design to direct clipping toward the bag. It’s an effective system that does a solid job.
If you’re willing to give up a little runtime for better lift and cut quality, Greenworks includes a high-lift set of blades in the kit.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Performance
One of the things I really wanted to see was how much power this mower has with Greenworks branding the update to have “Ultra Power”. The blades may have less mass but cutting nearly 24 inches at a time is still a tough task. After all, none of the other major players have this large of a deck size.
After cutting an area of grass to the mower’s max, I dropped the deck all the way down to see if it would cut. The idea is to find where its minimum effective cutting height is, and we normally have to raise the deck a notch or two. Surprise, surprise—Greenworks is able to cut at its 1 3/8-inch minimum pretty easily.
When you get into those tougher cutting situations, you can hear the brushless motor calling on more power to drive those blade speeds. That kind of Smart response gives you more power when you need it and conserves runtime when you don’t. Of course, with this Gen-2 update, you can hit the Turbo button when the standard mode has trouble.
The caveat is that it can’t mulch very well when it has that much grass to chop and very little deck clearance to drop it. If you’re in that kind of cutting situation, plan on bagging it.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Cut Quality
If you’re like us and prefer mulching, having double the blades and double the cutting edges helps chop grass into finer bits than we see on many other electric mowers.
You don’t get a side discharge option with this model. That’s not a surprise to us. It gives the deck less interruption on its airflow where you’d normally place the chute.
The cut evenness is pretty solid on regular cuts. With two blades, there’s the possibility of leaving a mow-hawk behind in the center. However, Greenworks’ overlapping blades and their speed don’t leave anything behind.
It also looks like they have the lift dialed in well, pulling the grass up to cut it at the same height and directing it to the bag effectively. It gets even better with the high lift blades.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Runtime and Cutting Area
So that leads us to the question of how much runtime we get. With battery tools, more power usually means less runtime. We charged up the batteries that came in the kit—a pair of 4Ah Ultra Power packs. That’s a bit better than the 2Ah/4Ah combination that came with the last model.
We cut the entire lawn at 5 inches using our Cub Cadet Pro Z 560 and then ran the Greenworks mower at 3-inch to see how long it would run on a maintenance cut. The majority of our cutting was in Bahia with a smaller section of St. Augustine requiring light to medium cutting efforts.
The last version got 26 and a half minutes, but by limiting the highest power to a separate mode, we beat that with just the first battery. One battery switched over at 33 minutes and the second battery finally gave in after 1 hour, 9 minutes. That’s a massive improvement!
We didn’t have to jump into Turbo mode at all during our cutting. If you need to, you’ll drop your runtime, so use it selectively to get the most out of your batteries.
With the batteries that come in the kit, we’d say the Greenworks Pro 60V 25-inch self-propelled lawn mower is a great option for mowing up to a 1/2-acre on a regular basis.
Additional Field Notes
Vertical Storage
Like many battery-powered mowers, you can fold the handle forward on this model and store it vertically. It’s a really easy system, too. Just pull the green tabs up to release and swing the handle forward. They’re the same releases you use to switch between the two handle heights. A handle on the front gives you a simple point to pull it up from.
Push and Pull
We noticed while we were cutting that you can’t instantly roll backward. You need to push the mower forward just a touch to disengage the drive before you can pull it back. It can be a little frustrating when you need to mow into a spot and back out of it.
LEDs Have Arrived
If you’re a low-light mowing kind of guy or gal, you probably noticed the last version of this mower didn’t have LEDs. That’s changed with a new light bar to light up your mowing path.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Price
You can get this model direct from Greenworkls for 749 with a pair of 4.0Ah batteries and a dual-port charger. Both the mower and the batteries are backed by a 4-year warranty.
When you look at other battery-powered mowers in that price range, Greenworks is one of the most compelling models considering its performance and coverage.
The Bottom Line
We’re really impressed with Greenworks’ translation of its commercial battery mower into a residential option and the Gen-2 upgrades are really helpful. With two solid self-propelled mowers to choose from, it’s really a matter of deciding which one is better for your lawn: the 21-inch or the 25-inch. Thanks to its dual battery ports and wider deck, this model is geared toward larger lawns. Grab the 21-inch if you’re maintaining 1/4-acre or less and go with the 25-inch above that.
Greenworks Pro 60V 25-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Specifications
- Model: Greenworks 2531502 (MO60L427)
- Power Source: Greenworks 60V battery
- Deck Size: 25 inches
- Deck Materials: Steel
- Cutting Swath: 23.75 inches
- Blade Diameter: 2 x 12.5 inches
- Height Range: 1 3/8 – 4 inches
- Cutting Positions: 7
- Discharge: Mulch or bag
- Warranty: 4 years mower and batteries
- Price: 749
Learn more about this and other battery lawn care products at GreenworksTools.com!
Greenworks Pro 60V Cordless 21″ Self-Propelled Brushless Lawn Mower W/ 5.0 AH Battery review – Say goodbye to gas
REVIEW – One of the newest innovations in yard work is the switch from gas-powered tools to battery-powered. The benefits are numerous: No fumes, no maintenance, no gas, no power. Wait, scratch that last item—battery-powered tools finally have all the power of gas making them a viable replacement to those smelly gas monsters in your garage or shed. One of the better-known brands of battery-powered tools is Greenworks—who sent me their Pro 60V Cordless 21″ Self-Propelled Brushless Lawn Mower W/ 5.0 AH Battery. The name may be a mouthful, but the mower can handle almost anything thrown at it.
What is it?
The lime-green GreenWorks Pro 60V Cordless 21″ is a self-propelled brushless lawn mower best used for small to medium sized yards. It has variable speed, ergonomic design, one-step height adjustment, 3-way grass discharge, and other features I’ll go over in the review.
Design and features
When you unbox the GreenWorks Pro 60V Cordless 21″ mower, you’re greeted with some immediate good news. Except for two screws to attach the handle, there is no assembly. Once the handle is in place, you’re good to go. A note about the handle: Greeworks placed all the wiring inside the hollow handle, not zip-tied to the outside like so many other mowers. This protects the wiring from all kinds of hazards.
There are three grass discharge choices: Side, bag, or mulch. With rare exception, I mulch when I mow, meaning there’s no bag or side discharge. Mulching chops up the grass more as it revolves inside the mower deck at incredible speed. I do bag about once a season to help keep any grass build-up in check. I have never used side-discharge, but it’s there for those who might prefer it.
If you decide to mulch, there’s a safety plug that goes where the bag catches grass at the rear of the deck. Bagging requires that this plug be removed and the bag be inserted under a large lift-up door—much like every other mower available today.
Speaking of the deck, the Greenworks mower has a 21-inch steel deck. 21 inches is a good size for a battery-powered mower (but it’s not even Greenwork’s largest). Also, the blade cuts up to the edge of the deck, making it easy to track your mowing. While the steel deck is strong, its weight may cut into battery life vs. a plastic-decked mower.
The wheels on the mower are plastic, but with good tread for digging into grass, especially since the rear wheels are 10 in. vs. 7 in. on the front.
The mower comes with a single battery and a charger. The battery takes about 45 min. – one hour to fully charge. That’s about average for batteries of this type.
Batteries go into the top of the mower motor under a lift-up lid. There are two battery compartments that can hold any Greenworks battery, no matter the size or power rating. There are two added features with Greenwork’s battery compartment: The lid is a soft-close design that doesn’t require any snapping into place. Just let it drop and it gently closes. Also, Greenworks supplies a safety key that must be inserted for the mower to work. That’s a huge safety feature if you need to change the blade without worrying about accidentally powering the mower. The downside is, “Do not lose that key if you want to use your mower!”
The one thing that bugs me about battery-powered tools, is that there are no generic one-design-fits-all batteries. Each company has its own proprietary battery designs, so once you buy that first tool, you are locked into that brand if you wish to swap batteries.
Note: The mower only ships with one 60V 5.0 Ah battery. This can be misleading when comparing this mower to other mowers such as the EGO 21″ Self-Propelled Peak Power electric lawnmower, which ships with two 56V 5.0 Ah batteries. The EGO mower sells for 750 vs the Greenworks 500 price. The price difference is substantial, but a single Greenworks 60V 5.0 Ah battery goes for 200, so the price discrepancy is only 50 if a second battery is added.
Start-up of the mower is so, so simple. Many battery-powered mowers require a two-step process of pressing the on button followed by the blade starter handle—in that order. The GreenWorks setup is also two-step, but it doesn’t matter in what order it’s done. It’s not a big thing, but it is one less thing to think about.
While simple, the starting process has both good and not-so-good features. There are left and right blade and self-propelled levers on both sides of the handle. This is good for both left or right-handed people, but if one side lever is squeezed, the other lever also moves. If the other hand is just holding onto the handle under the lever (easy to do), it will be squeezed by the handle. It doesn’t hurt when that happens, but it is a bit awkward.
The handle houses a “Turbo-Mode” button, self-propelled drive-speed lever, and a battery life indicator so you’ll always know how much battery life is left. If you’re using two batteries, the mower will completely deplete one and then automatically switch to the other rather than use both simultaneously.
The drive-speed lever goes from turtle (slow) to hare (fast). I had the lever moved about 3/4 the way to hare and the self-propelled walking speed was too slow for me—and I’m a leisurely mower. Yet the full-on hare setting was too fast resulting in a small selection range between too slow and too fast. Keep in mind that mowing speed is a personal thing, so YMMV.
Turbo-Mode speeds up the blade motor for a faster, more substantial cut—at the expense of battery life—and should be reserved for tall, thick grass areas only. Despite the Turbo-Mode, the motor is geared to use energy savings when it detects an easier to cut grass area potentially extending battery life. For the record, battery life with the 60V 5.0 Ah for me was exactly 36 minutes on a full charge. That’s with a normal cut using self-propelled for the entire mowing. This makes the mower good for smaller to medium-sized lawns. Two batteries will yield over an hour of mowing—perfect for medium to larger yards. My backyard is almost an acre (with many trees) and I was able to cut half of it before the battery died.
While mowing, I noticed a bothersome (for me) trait while using self-propelled. If you need to back up, you have to wait for a second or two fully stopped before self-propelled mode will turn itself off. Otherwise, the wheels lock up and you find yourself having to drag the mower backward. I’m impatient, so giving the mower that extra second or two is something I am still dealing with.
I really appreciate the battery-life indicator on the handle. Many yard tool batteries have the power rating on the battery itself. With my eyesight (and closer handle), it’s much easier to see how much power remains.
The mower can be set to 7 mowing heights—all using one easy-grip handle. After years of futzing around with separate wheel adjustments with my gas Honda, I’ve grown spoiled by these easy-to-use improvements.
Greenworks was thoughtful enough to include headlights on the Pro 60V Lawn Mower—headlights! The LED lights are bright and can allow extra minutes at dusk to finish mowing a lawn. The lights are bright enough (and the mower is quiet enough) to mow in the dark if you want without disturbing anyone. But that’s not recommended in bug-infested Florida, so I don’t. Note that the lights are always on—there is no on/off switch.
So, how does it cut? My backyard is mostly St. Augustine grass—popular in Florida. It’s deep green, thick, and grows fast, requiring weekly mowing. The mower breezed through the grass with the motor increasing in speed (and noise) only where the grass was thicker. But it never stalled—even in the damp parts. Keep in mind that the still new blade helps.
Due to its larger rear wheels, easy start and quiet motor, the Greenworks Pro 60V Cordless 21″ Self-Propelled Brushless Lawn Mower is a joy to use, despite a couple of quirks mentioned earlier. I expect the steel deck to hold up under punishing use for years. Now I just have to purchase an extra battery to handle my large backyard.
What I’d change
Final Thoughts
Once you begin investing in battery-powered tools, you begin to accumulate batteries which can greatly extend the use time of any tool. The worst mistake you can make is buying different brands of battery-powered tools. It’s important to choose what brand you will use before buying that first tool to get the benefit of switching batteries among all the tools.
Think of charged batteries as refilling the tank after the tool runs out of fuel. Except there’s no fuel or fumes or maintenance or practically anything else to worry about. It’s a new world regarding yard work and I’m all in.
Price: 499.99 US Where to buy: Lowes Source: The sample of this product was provided by Greenworks.
