Why no mains powered electric garden/trimming shears?

Jul 12, 2012 6 Replies

There are umpteen rechargeable garden shears available, but I haven't found a single one that is mains powered. Is this elfnsafety sticking its oar in yet again? Or is there no call for these things?



I hate my rechargeable shears, which is now f****d anyway because I haven't recharged it since last summer. The battery won't hold more than a few minutes' charge.



I just want to be able to take the shears when I need them and plug in a 13 amp plug like I would for a strimmer or hedgetrimmer.



By the way, I hate strimmers, too! Ruddy noisy things.



Alternatively, what about converting my rechargeable shears to mains electric? All it needs is something to make the reciprocating blade do its thing. Surely SOMEone has done this??



MM


DC mains input power supply wired to where the battery was after it's removal?

AWEM

I suppose the battery/motor will be 12V or 24V, but yes, I could whack a trafo in there perhaps. I expect Maplin has something suitable.

MM

firstly, read what the battery voltage is, then find an old laptop, portable dvd player or similar power supply,

you can do it the pikey way, and just cut the dc plug off, then attatch the wires to the choppers battery connection terminals, but the nicer looking way is to pop the dead battery appart, remove the cells, and wire a socket mounted in the wall of the battery case to the terminals,

Then you plug the battery into the tool as normal, and the power supply into the battery,

BUT, you may find you need more power than a cheap power supply can provide, a 1.3 AH battery can easily supply 30 or 40 amps to the tool for a few minutes, as with a chopper each time it will be a few seconds, so maybe the gutted battery with power socket as above, but a lead with croc clips plugs into the dummy battery, and a car battery/jump start pack on the floor where your working for power?

The big challenge will be supplying the peak current that the tool may expect to be able to suck from NiCd/NiMh cells.

Rather crudely you could leave the original batteries in circuit, as although they don't hold charge they probably will supply the peak starting current in use

AWEM

Provide a link for even one. I have found none.

But perhaps elfnsafety thinks that "kiddies" might be using a lawn shears, but are unlikely to be using chainsaws?

Not cost effective. The battery would probably cost more than a replacement shears, even if it were available (Lidl).

MM

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