Toro 60V mower failure

[Cujet]

My beloved 4 year old Toro 60V mower has failed. No idea what's wrong, it simply shows no signs of life. Battery shows fully charged and the battery will power halogen lights for hours. So it's got powa. Whether the BMS/digital handshake is functional or not, I have no way to know.

Anyway, I purchased the stupid thing because it was a good deal. A $600 mower for $300. It lasted about 20 hours. Ugh.

 

[supton]

That's a bummer. Any warranty?

If completely dead, I'd start pulling apart. I wonder if a thermal fuse gave out. Or some connector just quit. It might be a simple fix, albeit aggravating (shouldn't need to, not after only 20 hours).

 

[zzyzzx]

Obligatory:
You will own nothing and be happy.

If it were mine, and no warranty, I would open it up and check motor resistance and/or attempt to connect an external power suppl to the motor (after determining the proper voltage for it). A lot of stuff is often just a bad ON/OFF switch so try to bypass that if you can.

 

[Wireman1987]

My beloved 4 year old Toro 60V mower has failed. No idea what's wrong, it simply shows no signs of life. Battery shows fully charged and the battery will power halogen lights for hours. So it's got powa. Whether the BMS/digital handshake is functional or not, I have no way to know.

Anyway, I purchased the stupid thing because it was a good deal. A $600 mower for $300. It lasted about 20 hours. Ugh.

if anything like my ryobi go over every single locking lever on the handle assembly make sure its fully up and levers all locked and secure.. i didnt have my handles up all the way there's a microswitch that wasnt engaged and the mower would run.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Meanwhile there are still Toro gas mowers from the 80s that are still going.

 

[Cujet]

Obligatory:
You will own nothing and be happy.

If it were mine, and no warranty, I would open it up and check motor resistance and/or attempt to connect an external power suppl to the motor (after determining the proper voltage for it). A lot of stuff is often just a bad ON/OFF switch so try to bypass that if you can.

Of course I did the troubleshooting I could. 2yr warr on mower, 3 on Batt. So no chance of any warr consideration.

Disassembled the mower, nice 3phase AC motor. All 3 legs measure 0.6ohms, spot on for a motor this size. The control board is potted, yet the protruding capacitors look OK, not bulging. Made sure the simple start switch is working, and the tilt sensor. 60V available at the control board and so on. All is well. Perfectly clean, no corrosion. No fuses, bad connectors or non functional switches. All the basics look great.

My guess is a bad battery 'BMS' (battery management system) board. Which is also potted. Seems it puts a digital signal to the mower as a handshake. $300 for a new battery.

I have an old Lawn Boy 6.5HP mower that runs great but has come apart. Maybe I will install the 2 stroke engine on the electric mower.... Like god intended. Oh the irony...

 

[Cujet]

Meanwhile there are still Toro gas mowers from the 80s that are still going.

Yeah no longer a fan of EV mowers. I got 20 hours, if that. I always mow with a JD garden tractor. I tried the yard once with the electric. I have 2 acres of jungle-like woods with a modest lawn on all 4 sides of the home. The elec mower did about 1/3rd acre the battery ran out. The rest of the time I used it for finishing where the tractor can't reach. By the front door, etc.

 

[fantastic]

Any sort of safety switch that could be faulty?

 

[zzyzzx]

Disassembled the mower, nice 3phase AC motor. All 3 legs measure 0.6ohms, spot on for a motor this size.

I would have never expected a 3 phase AC motor there!!!

 

[Snagglefoot]

So far no one suggested taking it to a repair shop. Electric mowers are no longer new. There should be a shop somewhere in your area. Some shops have now expanded into battery electric mowers.
Mods, the excerpt from Google is to show that there are electric mower repair shops around.

 

[lilspenny]

My beloved 4 year old Toro 60V mower has failed. No idea what's wrong, it simply shows no signs of life. Battery shows fully charged and the battery will power halogen lights for hours. So it's got powa. Whether the BMS/digital handshake is functional or not, I have no way to know.

Anyway, I purchased the stupid thing because it was a good deal. A $600 mower for $300. It lasted about 20 hours. Ugh.

Wanna borrow my .357?

 

[97prizm]

My beloved 4 year old Toro 60V mower has failed. No idea what's wrong, it simply shows no signs of life. Battery shows fully charged and the battery will power halogen lights for hours. So it's got powa. Whether the BMS/digital handshake is functional or not, I have no way to know.

Anyway, I purchased the stupid thing because it was a good deal. A $600 mower for $300. It lasted about 20 hours. Ugh.

From just looking around articles are saying either the safety interlock system, or a potentially bad control board.

 

[97prizm]

The problem with electric mowers seems to be that they are more or less throw away which is unacceptable as they cost a small fortune.

 

[skyactiv]

It would have been nice if the manufacturers used a universal battery instead of everything being proprietary sized. As such, they talk of being green when and fact it makes them less green.

 

[2heeldrive]

Maybe you killed the battery by charging it with that cheap generator.

 

[Snagglefoot]

At our local sports grounds we have an EGO 56 V battery electric mower. IIRC it has the wire bar to pull into place and the on button to push after the bar is in place. That interlock might be suspect or else simply the on button. I recall the on button would not set the blade turning until the bar was pulled into place. Forward movement was toggled by a separate switch that also controlled speed. I found it interesting that the mover could be propelled forward without the mower blade turning, completely different from a gas powered mower.

 

[Nessism1]

Experiences like this are why I bought a new gas mower, actually two, before they were outlawed in California a couple of years back.

The speed control on my Dewalt weed whacker died under warranty, then died again a few years later, this time out of warranty. Also had a Milwaukee angle grinder die inside warranty, for a similar reason. Not exactly reassuring.

 

[zzyzzx]

It would have been nice if the manufacturers used a universal battery instead of everything being proprietary sized. As such, they talk of being green when and fact it makes them less green.

This is one of my issues with EV's as well. Unless the OP can install a gasoline powered engine on it, it's garbage. Either that or sourcing another control board, which is probably not economical. Or making their own control board. Or finding a generic DC to 3 phase AC power inverter board that's reasonably priced that has the right voltages.

Or look at this video on YouTube:

How to make DIY 3 phase Inverter 12V to 380V AC / Three Phase Inverter Explained​

Includes link to circuit board and parts.
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shar...nverter_without_microcontroller_e4c7cfde.html

I would find a way to test the motor first with some 3 phase power before attempting any type of repair.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Experiences like this are why I bought a new gas mower, actually two, before they were outlawed in California a couple of years back.

The speed control on my Dewalt weed whacker died under warranty, then died again a few years later, this time out of warranty. Also had a Milwaukee angle grinder die inside warranty, for a similar reason. Not exactly reassuring.

That’s helpful info, as it wasn’t the batteries that were the problem, but rather the power controller.

 

[Snagglefoot]

If you can find a shop to take some interest in the mower, perhaps they’ll drop in another 60 V battery to test it.