Wednesday, August 17, 2011

An online lawnmower forum

Earlier this year I joined Lawn Mower Forum, an online forum that's all about lawn mowers. There are a few other cordless electric mower users there, but as you might expect the majority of forum members use gas-power.  It would be great to grow the electric mower community there, so I encourage anybody having mower problems to seek help there -- you'll need to sign up by creating a username and password, but it is free.  If you do join, feel free to say hello to me at my own welcome thread there.

I'll continue blogging here about problems and fixes to the CMM1000 and other electric mowers that cross my path.  A consequence of writing this blog is that I can enjoy getting emails and comments from fellow electric mower owners.  Often these are from people seeking help with their broken mowers; regretfully, more often than not I am unsuccessful in diagnosing the problem properly.  What is great about a forum like Lawn Mower Forum is that you would get several heads -- rather than just mine -- thinking about how to help out with any mower issues you may want to ask about.

That's it for now.  Hope to hear from some of you over at LMF.

Update, Dec. 2013: since posting the above, LMF has added dedicated sections for electrical equipment, both battery-powered and plug-in. So if you have a question to ask, please ask it at Lawn Mower Forum, either in the Black & Decker area or the Electric & Battery Operated area at that website. I apologize for being unable to handle individual requests for help posted on this blog or sent by email.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Another new battery

Table of Contents

Note: if you have a question to ask, please ask it at Lawn Mower Forum, either in the Black & Decker area or the Electric & Battery Operated area at that website. I apologize for being unable to handle individual requests for help posted on this blog or sent by email.
 
                                                                                
 
Important: always use sealed lead acid batteries for your lawnmower, as they are spillproof.

 
A couple weeks ago I replaced the mower batteries, two years after their last replacement.  The two-year lifetime of the model TR22-12 battery from Tempest was dissappointing, but maybe not surprising when I think about it.  The higher charge capacity (22 Amp-hours, vs. 17 to 18 A-hr for the original battery), in the same overall battery volume, may have come at the expense of a shorter battery lifetime as a matter of design.  A more technical discussion can be found at Physics Forums.

This time around, I ordered two new 12V, 18 A-hr batteries from amazon.com; they are model UB12180 made by Universal Battery (or maybe it's Universal Power Group?  It is difficult to tell which).  The total cost was $94, which included two-day shipping; I wanted them quickly, before I had to mow again.  It looks like the price with standard shipping would have been $82.




One thing to know, if you order these batteries, is that the connections are made slightly differently than in the battery that came with the mower.  These batteries have tabs (below, top) instead of built-in threaded holes (below, bottom):


Not a big deal, except that I had to bend the tabs back, about 45 degrees, on the connecting cables in order to reduce the stress placed on the cables and connections:


After connecting cables to the 4 battery terminals, securing the battery strap, and replacing the two foam blocks I was good to go:


Thursday, June 30, 2011

Table of Contents

All posts for this blog are listed, visible, and linked to here.


2009

Three years and three months ago ...   (8/10/09)
   Why my wife and I bought our cordless electric mower in the first place.

Getting replacement parts; customer reviews at amazon.com   (8/11/09)
   Includes the review I wrote at Amazon.

Circuit details   (8/15/09)
   Photos of inside the mower.
   Electric circuit schematic.

The Remington MPS6017A electric mower   (9/19/09)

Handy home-made tool; fixing a broken wire   (10/31/09)
   Handy tool for propping mower cover open.
   Fixing a broken wire.

Helpful links   (11/1/09)
   Links for both the CMM1000 and CMM1200:
      Instruction manuals online (.pdf format)
      Where to get replacement parts
      Product pages at Amazon

Fixing a problem (June 2009)   (11/12/09)
   Replacing the circuit breaker.


2010

New electric mower models coming from Black and Decker   (1/30/10)
   The CM1836, CM1936, and MM1800

Mower specs   (1/30/10)
   Incomplete -- voltage, current, RPM, weight, and cutting width for different B&D mowers.

The battery   (4/30/10)
   How to prolong battery life.
   Buying a replacement battery.
   More about batteries.

Common problem with CMM1200; Broken Hinge Pin on the Switch Lever   (5/30/10)
   Step by step, with photos.

Cordless electric string trimmers (a.k.a. "weed whackers")   (7/23/10)
   Choosing and using a cordless electric string trimmer


2011

Wobbly wheels and how to fix them   (5/14/11)
   Step by step, with photos.

Table of Contents   (6/30/11)

Another new battery   (7/16/11)
   Replacing the mower batteries (again).

An online lawnmower forum   (8/17/11)
    (It's called Lawn Mower Forum)
.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Wobbly wheels & how to fix them

Table of Contents

Important note: if you have a question to ask, please ask it at Lawn Mower Forum, either in the Black & Decker area or the Electric & Battery Operated area at that website. I apologize for being unable to handle individual requests for help posted on this blog or sent by email.
 
                                                                                
 
Today I fixed my lawnmower wheels which seem to have gotten rather wobbly in the 5 years we have owned our mower.  I'll explain how I did this shortly, but please do be sure to read the next paragraph.

The first thing you should know before reading this is that the lawnmower wheels probably should be a little wobbly and not perfectly rigid.  To make them perfectly rigid means having things so tight that they will not turn easily and freely.  It looks like it would be pretty difficult to loosen wheels that have been overtightened, so be careful if you try this procedure not to pound too much with the hammer.

For tools you'll need (1) a hammer and (2) a 3/4" or 19 mm socket from a socket wrench set.


After removing the safety key, insuring that the mower will not start accidentally, you'll need to pop off the plastic hub caps from the wheels.  This can be done with your fingernails, though it may be easier to use a flat blade screwdriver or knife blade.



Next, hold the socket against the wheel -- hex side in toward the axle, square side facing out.  Tap the square socket with the hammer, easily at first.  Check for movement of the push ring (the thing that resembles a washer) by wiggling the wheel from side to side after every couple of hits, and gradually increase the hammer force until it is enough to move the push ring inwards towards the wheel.  Do not pound the push ring so far that it is pushed tight against the wheel!  You need to leave some clearance so that the wheel still turns freely.  The idea here is to reduce the wobble, not to eliminate it entirely.


After adjusting the push ring, replace the hub cap by pounding it with your fist until you hear it snap back into place and you're good to go.


A final note about this procedure.  You will notice that the washerlike push ring has two parts, (1) an outer flat part and (2) an inner slanted, cone-shaped part.  The force from the hammer blows should push on the flat face, not on the slanted part.  That's why the 3/4" socket is the right size for doing this, as it pushes completely outside of the slanted faces.  A 1/2" socket, which would just slip over the 1/2" axle, would push on the slanted faces of the push ring.  I did try it this way at first, but found that the push ring would not budge.