Run time on battery powered blowers?

[spackard]

Snapper 82V. Only time I need full power is to blow pooled water from my driveway to the street after it rains. The driveway is several decades old and holds water as a pool. Usually 40 degrees F when I do it. 2Ah pack: about 8 minutes. 4Ah pack: twice that(?). The job’s done before the pack’s empty. But the blower is heavier with the 4Ah pack, and wants to tilt backwards.
I used to use a 2-stroke at WOT to blow the water. I haven’t started that up in years.

 

[Oldwolf]

Be sure to get a blower with a brushless motor. The blower I have has a brushed motor but has since been replaced with a model that is brushless with much longer battery life.

 

[wavinwayne]

Be sure to get a blower with a brushless motor. The blower I have has a brushed motor but has since been replaced with a model that is brushless with much longer battery life.

The Makita I'm considering is brushless.

 

[burbguy82]

For those of you who use a battery powered blower, what size battery are you using and how long can you run it on high speed before the battery dies? I'm considering picking up a Makita blower which would be powered by my Makita 18V 4aH batteries. I have a wired Worx blower that works well but I hate messing with the extension cord every time I want to use it.

This question is hard to answer. I have a Milwaukee Fuel blower, and the battery lasts about 10 minutes I would estimate. It is an 8 or 9AH battery.

Constant load on these batteries is hard on them, a steady discharge is rough on the batteries........one battery you have to buy @200$ a pop.

With Makita, no special batteries needed for long and proper run time.

If I had to do it all over again, the large Makita Blower is what I would go with. Much more powerful than the Milwaukee.

 

[wavinwayne]

Just picked up the Makita. We'll know run time soon enough. Going to put it through its paces now.

 

[burbguy82]

Just picked up the Makita. We'll know run time soon enough. Going to put it through its paces now.
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if you do not already have batteries or charger, I would just recommend having their standard 5Ah battery and a dual charger. They make a 6ah, but as stated before, they are more costly.

 

[wavinwayne]

Verdict: 10 minutes @ full power on Makita 18V 4aH battery. Consistent 10 minute run time on each of the 2 batteries I have. Works better than my Worx corded blower but doesn't replace it.

 

[burbguy82]

Verdict: 10 minutes @ full power on Makita 18V 4aH battery. Consistent 10 minute run time on each of the 2 batteries I have. Works better than my Worx corded blower but doesn't replace it.

nice.

Surprised that the 4ah ran that long. Makita seems to make things work with lesser batteries.

The 18x2 blower is what i was referring to in my earlier reply, as it pertained to raw power.

 

[wavinwayne]

I ordered the 2 additional nozzles that fit this Makita blower, so that should help maximize its efficiency given the limited run time on the 4aH batteries. The cheapskate in me didn't want to pay retail $ for the nozzles, so I donated blood on Saturday to get the $20 gift card and used it to pay part of the tab.

 

[dlundblad]

I recently took advantage of a bundle at HD that came with the Milwaukee Fuel blower.

With a 5.0 battery, I can get about 8 mins of runtime.

 

[greenjp]

I've got the same Makita blower, works great and as you've discovered is good for a fairly short run time on those typical 4 amp-hr batteries but I find it very useful. I use it to blow off the solid surfaces around the house (driveway, sidewalks, deck) and the garage but I do not use it for blowing leaves around. Those I just drive over with the lawn mower.

Just today I used it for a while, put the battery in the charger while I was doing some other things, came back 30 minutes or so later and it was charged and I used it again.

jeff