The Remington MPS6017A electric mower

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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 got a look at another brand of electric lawnmower, the Remington model MPS6017A, that some friends of mine own.  I was called over to investigate a weird screeching noise it was making upon start-up and shut-down.  We traced the problem to a loose nut atop the motor spindle, and simply tightening that nut stopped the noise.

Unfortunately, the battery terminals were badly corroded and one of them broke off.  As the battery seemed to be on its way out (not holding charge as long as it did when new, somewhat over a year ago), replacing it is a good idea anyway.  I'll just take this opportunity to mention that battery-powered mowers should be stopped for recharging whenever the battery charge gets noticeably low, as running down this type of battery does shorten its useful life.  Fortunately, the Remington can run on household 120V in addition to the battery.

Moving on to the main reason why I'm posting today -- this was a good opportunity to see how a different brand, my friends' Remington, compares with the Black and Decker.  While I didn't get a chance to actually use the Remington on a lawn, I did notice differences between the two brands that piqued my interest.

For starters, the Remington uses five small 12V batteries to generate 60Vdc, whereas the Black and Decker uses two larger-sized batteries for 24V. Presumably the higher voltage Remington uses a lower electrical current than the Black and Decker, assuming they run at comparable power levels.

Some things I like better about the Remington are:

• The battery is easily removable, so that one could quickly swap in a second battery pack when doing larger lawns.
• The option to use 120 V AC household power when the battery loses its charge.
• The circuit breaker has a manual reset button.  On the Black and Decker, you have to wait about 30 seconds for the breaker to automatically reset.
• The lower electric current means that the wires and connectors are smaller, therefore easier to work with in case you need to redo any wiring.

Here is what I like better about my Black and Decker:

• It has a meter showing when the battery charge is low during mower operation, which the Remington lacks.  This is important for not running the battery charge down too low and damaging the battery.
  
• The blade width is slightly more, 19" vs. 17" for the Remington.
• It looks like there is room to add larger-capacity batteries, if one were so inclined.
• (added 11 Apr. 2010) The company has not gone out of business, like Remington has, and it is possible to buy replacement parts when necessary.
  

That's it for now.