18v L-Lo battery problem

I got this battery last summer, all went fine and after season being over over for using it, put it in my colder/cooler basement during the past 2 seasons, as I was instructed. A month ago, i recharged it for the first time this season and all went fine. After using it, i recharged it again as instructed...This has worked fine for 3 times ( weekly )..now yesterday i tried to use it again after a week, after the usual recharging and it started briefly and stopped it kept doing that each time i depressrf the "on" button. Could someone tell me what, if anything i did wrong before i ever have to buy another one? BTW, this was used on the Worx trimmer...a very fine trimmer but sadly the batteries are a joke.

Reply to
Anthony
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I'm confused. Last summer #= two seasons. How old is the battery? How many trime cycles? I've looked at the Worx and the battery seems quite small for the job. It may already be at the end of its useful life.

Got a voltmeter? It sounds like one of the cells in the Lith-ion pack has gone bad. Not an unusual occurrence. I saw an ad for the Worx trimmer just the other day - shortly after I bought a Toro with a lead-acid battery. Looks far more functional than the Toro but reviews I read said because of the extra features (shrub guard and vertical mode trimming wheels) it became very hard to hold after a short while? Did you notice that?

Have you checked with Worx about the battery? My Roomba Dirtdog has on board charging and battery monitoring circuitry that sometimes gets "confused" and will not operate correctly until you perform a battery conditioning "ritual" to get it back to operating condition. Maybe Worx tech support has a similar recommendation.

But a voltmeter is the first place to look. Even if the unit read full voltage, it may not have enough actual power to drive the device. I would determine what the proper voltage should be and then test the battery on a fairly high current drain (for 12VDC lead acid cells I use an old car headlight - you might have to find a different piece of test equipment depending on how many volts) to see if it can deliver both the voltage and the current required to power the trimmer. I just got fooled that way with my cordless mower. The battery read good but failed under load. Symptoms: The mower would spin for a second and stop.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Sorry, thanks for the input but i am NOT tech savvy on batteries and i do not own a car. A voltmeter is useless for me wouldn't know even how to use it or read it. I'm a senior if that means anything. ..in my

80's.. i bought the trimmer last year so it was only used the one summer, almost weekly for 2 months. and just stored it in my cool / cold basement, where i was told to leave it there. I have no complaints about the trimmer...I love it and it does all that is shown on the commercial ..this is my first trimmer though via batteries, and that was the reason i specially enjoyed it.I'm recharging now and just in 15 minutes the recharger says its fully charged by the green light coming on from the initial red start. Not looking good at all.
Reply to
Anthony

The fact that it comes on and then stops could indicate a number of things. The batteries seem to be taking a charge, but without a voltmeter (and load tester) we can't say. The unit could also be experiencing some kind of safety shutdown. During the brief moments it starts up, does it stall? (Stop turning) Does it come up to speed and then kick out? Can you restart it right away by cycling it off and on again?

I think this is the time to check out their tech service.

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The above site appears to have a contact point although I take issue with "unlike other cordless electric weed trimmers that start losing power from the minute you turn them on, The new WORX GT Trimmer/Edger provides 100% power throughout the life of the charge." Every battery technology I know of starts to lose "power" when they are being used. Methinks they meant "voltage dropoff is not as steep as other technologies."

Contact Worx - if anyone's familiar with the symptoms you've described, I'll bet it's their tech support. They say "long life" on their website and that it is an 18V lithium ion 1.3AH battery - that's pretty small for a trimmer - my Toro is 12V/8AH. Yours *should* have lasted longer than a year, so I would definitely contact the manufacturers. Tell them the Usenet Home Repair group is watching! (-:

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Looking at the site they say "two year full warranty" so . . .

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

The info on what battery is in the subject box...you do read the subject box don't you?

Reply to
Anthony

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Well i finally got through their phone support and admit they have problems with this battery and are sending me a new improved one after sending them the bad one. They extended the warranty on this particular battery to 3 years because of it.

Reply to
Anthony

Good job! Thank all the people who have reminded me here so often "Have you contacted tech support?"

I sometimes tend to get to tech support last instead of first. At least after my own battery debacle I called it correctly in your case. I am glad you don't have to buy another pack. Lithium ion battery packs usually have electronic circuitry on board to monitor the charging process and those electronics sometimes fail.

My offer still stands if you want to borrow and learn how to use a voltmeter.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

...

LOL thanks how would we work that out me borrowing your voltmeter...just curious. I always have gone to the company first..but getting a live tech is next to impossible these days and when you miraculously do get one, its usually a cheap paying receptionist clerk who's knowledge is nil. I called yesterday and the recording said that i was 59 member on the waiting list for support. ..59 mind you. The recording excuses itself being this is the beginning of the season and everyone is looking for help. With that knowledge, why don't they hire more people to answer the phones, at least temporary for the season? Most likely they would not have the knowledge to inform anyone anyway. Their hours were 8 to 8 EST...so i made a point to call a couple of minutes before 8am today and i was second in line...so that is how i got through.

Reply to
Anthony

I wonder if this is another example of Ryobi using a bad design for their battery charger, as was the case for their nicad chargers, which just turned off immediately after the regular charge and didn't apply a lower current charge to balance out the individual cells. Lithium batteries are much more particular about proper charging.

Reply to
jamarno

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