Be aware that many battery solutions (eg Dewalt) have the under voltage protection in the tool. So if one buys a generic adapter without this feature and connects to the battery, there is nothing to protect the cells from being undercharged. That will significantly reduce the lifespan of the batteries. For other types of batteries, like Makita, the undervoltage protection is inside the battery itself. I don't know about Rigid. But I suggest you check, and if necessary, you put an undervoltage protection between the battery and the mower. Sincerely :)
You're right, battery protection needs to be handled inside the battery. I should have mentioned that specifically. For the Rigid 18v batteries I'm using, it seems the battery handles low voltage cut off since the devices I've been using don't slow to a stop, but rather, they just shut off. I'm disappointed that a company would choose to use tool side low voltage cut off - I guess that means as battery technology evolves, the tools need to be replaced.
@@spinphoto I actually did not think about the possibility of new battery technologies, but good point. I believe most systems have placed the under voltage protection in the tool, and only a few (I only know only of Makita and Rigid) place it in the battery. I remember watching a guy on UA-cam repair/salvage/recombine tool batteries. He did a lot of it, for customers. And as far as I remember overall he had good things to say about the types where most control circuits (including the undervoltage protection) were placed outside the tool (edit: outside the battery). The first and obvious reson is that it is simpler to move cells around when the architecture is as simple as possible. Furthermore he said that there were more parts in a Makita that could break, and he more often had to give up repairing a Makita battery than a DeWalt battery. The real crime, IMO, is that almost all the third party adapters, and also some third party tools (like a DeWalt compatible glue gun I bought), don't have any undervoltage protection. And most consumers don't know the consequences of draining the batteries like that, so they drain the battery completely every time they use it. Overall I agree with you and think under voltage protection does belong in the battery.
@@mrvelleful You got me thinking a lot! And so after some digging, I found that some batteries may send a low voltage state to the tool and the tool shuts down because the battery said "Low voltage state". This makes sense to me. If the tool monitors the battery, the battery tech can't change. When the tool monitors a low voltage true/false signal, then the battery decides what low voltage cut off is, and the tool is just doing what it's told to do by the battery. I think a battery that incorporates all management is the most flexible and with the cost of batteries, I sort of expect the batteries to be smarter, especially considering premium dollar that top brands demand for their battery packs. Thanks for commenting, I really enjoyed this conversation.
Since I already had the 12v lead acid and rigid 18v batteries I never needed to look for another battery type, I’m not sure what a lithium battery costs. I converted the mower to use 18v rigid batteries because they charge fast and it’s easy to pull them out of the mower instead of trickle charging a lead acid. The rigid batteries get more use in the mower than my tools 😂
Be aware that many battery solutions (eg Dewalt) have the under voltage protection in the tool. So if one buys a generic adapter without this feature and connects to the battery, there is nothing to protect the cells from being undercharged. That will significantly reduce the lifespan of the batteries.
For other types of batteries, like Makita, the undervoltage protection is inside the battery itself.
I don't know about Rigid. But I suggest you check, and if necessary, you put an undervoltage protection between the battery and the mower.
Sincerely :)
You're right, battery protection needs to be handled inside the battery. I should have mentioned that specifically. For the Rigid 18v batteries I'm using, it seems the battery handles low voltage cut off since the devices I've been using don't slow to a stop, but rather, they just shut off.
I'm disappointed that a company would choose to use tool side low voltage cut off - I guess that means as battery technology evolves, the tools need to be replaced.
@@spinphoto I actually did not think about the possibility of new battery technologies, but good point.
I believe most systems have placed the under voltage protection in the tool, and only a few (I only know only of Makita and Rigid) place it in the battery.
I remember watching a guy on UA-cam repair/salvage/recombine tool batteries. He did a lot of it, for customers. And as far as I remember overall he had good things to say about the types where most control circuits (including the undervoltage protection) were placed outside the tool (edit: outside the battery).
The first and obvious reson is that it is simpler to move cells around when the architecture is as simple as possible.
Furthermore he said that there were more parts in a Makita that could break, and he more often had to give up repairing a Makita battery than a DeWalt battery.
The real crime, IMO, is that almost all the third party adapters, and also some third party tools (like a DeWalt compatible glue gun I bought), don't have any undervoltage protection. And most consumers don't know the consequences of draining the batteries like that, so they drain the battery completely every time they use it.
Overall I agree with you and think under voltage protection does belong in the battery.
@@mrvelleful You got me thinking a lot! And so after some digging, I found that some batteries may send a low voltage state to the tool and the tool shuts down because the battery said "Low voltage state".
This makes sense to me. If the tool monitors the battery, the battery tech can't change. When the tool monitors a low voltage true/false signal, then the battery decides what low voltage cut off is, and the tool is just doing what it's told to do by the battery.
I think a battery that incorporates all management is the most flexible and with the cost of batteries, I sort of expect the batteries to be smarter, especially considering premium dollar that top brands demand for their battery packs.
Thanks for commenting, I really enjoyed this conversation.
If you don't have a spare 18v 4.0 wouldn't it just be cheaper to buy a lithium 12v battery?
Since I already had the 12v lead acid and rigid 18v batteries I never needed to look for another battery type, I’m not sure what a lithium battery costs. I converted the mower to use 18v rigid batteries because they charge fast and it’s easy to pull them out of the mower instead of trickle charging a lead acid. The rigid batteries get more use in the mower than my tools 😂
You makes I don’t care about fascinating! 🤘🏻
I appreciate that!