My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

Old Jim

Any end-of-season sales on Robot lawnmowers? Thinking of getting the Ambrogio L250i or the Elite 4.0 and wondered if any advantage in not waiting for the new season and new models etc.

Bedouin79

Anybody know where I’d get a winter charger for my ambrogio. Manual says there is a winter charge point on the machine but I can’t seem to find a winter charger cable. Any help appreciated

Tilikum17

Coley35 wrote: »

Hi Tililkum17, let us know how you get on with the Twenty Elite. I have my mind set on one but my local dealer said he hasn't sold any of those and is leaning me towards the Ambrogio L250i Elite or Stihl RMI 632 C or P (as he is a Stihl dealer also). I like the reviews on the Ambrogio but undecided which model to go for. Best of luck with it!

Will do! Waiting on the electrician to put in an outside socket.

Daithi_OO

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Anybody know where I’d get a winter charger for my ambrogio. Manual says there is a winter charge point on the machine but I can’t seem to find a winter charger cable. Any help appreciated

I understand that Doyles Hardware in Carlow are the Ambrogio distributors for Ireland so they should be able to sort you out.

Daithi_OO

Old Jim wrote: »

Any end-of-season sales on Robot lawnmowers? Thinking of getting the Ambrogio L250i or the Elite 4.0 and wondered if any advantage in not waiting for the new season and new models etc.

I got the L250i - I was also looking at Elite 4.0 - I was told for my lawn I did not need to spend the extra. The key difference is the tilting rear axle. so unless your lawn is extremely bumpy or mounded - it not really worth the extra Eu400-500.

Best money I ever spent so far! I have it for about 6 weeks - place looks immaculate all the time.

padraig.od

I've had another problem with my 430x. One of the back wheels has entirely locked up. The wheel will not turn. If I force it I can turn the wheel, however it quickly locks back up. I can hear the motor trying, so it appears its a physical thing, not electric.

Machine is 4 years old so I think part is out of warranty. Replacement on GPL is 200 quid, and thats if I do the work myself.

Has anyone managed to fix this issue on their own machine? Or should I be bringing it to the dealer to be resolved? Any chance the wheel and motor can be salvaged or repaired?

blackbox

padraig.od wrote: »

I've had another problem with my 430x. One of the back wheels has entirely locked up. The wheel will not turn. If I force it I can turn the wheel, however it quickly locks back up. I can hear the motor trying, so it appears its a physical thing, not electric.

Machine is 4 years old so I think part is out of warranty. Replacement on GPL is 200 quid, and thats if I do the work myself.

Has anyone managed to fix this issue on their own machine? Or should I be bringing it to the dealer to be resolved? Any chance the wheel and motor can be salvaged or repaired?

If you're going to have to dismantle it one way or another, I'd have a look to see if there is something wound up on the axle - maybe a fibrous palm leaf. I've had a look at the parts diagram and it doesn't seem to have any bearing outside of the motor unit. If there is no visible issue, a drop of oil is always worth trying.

Have a look at this youtube video - second half shows how to dismantle and repair the motor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJg6WcjoCQc.

Bedouin79

Daithi_OO wrote: »

I got the L250i - I was also looking at Elite 4.0 - I was told for my lawn I did not need to spend the extra. The key difference is the tilting rear axle. so unless your lawn is extremely bumpy or mounded - it not really worth the extra Eu400-500.

Best money I ever spent so far! I have it for about 6 weeks - place looks immaculate all the time.

In the exact same boat have it 2 months and I’m thrilled with it. Can’t believe something so small can get to everything. Just about to tuck it in for the winter as the grass growth has really slowed in the last 2 weeks.

Bedouin79

Daithi_OO wrote: »

I understand that Doyles Hardware in Carlow are the Ambrogio distributors for Ireland so they should be able to sort you out.

Emailed both Doyle’s and mower magic, mower magic came back within a day. You can use the existing charger just with an adapter. Ordered it today will report back

Bungusbeefcake

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Emailed both Doyle’s and mower magic, mower magic came back within a day. You can use the existing charger just with an adapter. Ordered it today will report back

Do you have details of this?? What does it do?

Bedouin79

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Do you have details of this?? What does it do?

Basically there’s a socket on the back of the mower for a winter/garage charger point. The email I got back from mower magic explains it as adapter. You attach the cable/apadter to the transformer directly (disconnecting the supply to the outdoor charge) and it allows your charger the mower in the shed. Kinda like a trickle charger. Once I get it I'll post some pics.

Bungusbeefcake

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Basically there’s a socket on the back of the mower for a winter/garage charger point. The email I got back from mower magic explains it as adapter. You attach the cable/apadter to the transformer directly (disconnecting the supply to the outdoor charge) and it allows your charger the mower in the shed. Kinda like a trickle charger. Once I get it I'll post some pics.

Sweet, thanks I'd appreciate that! How much was it?

Bedouin79

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Sweet, thanks I'd appreciate that! How much was it?

Well it arrived cost €40 but got caught for shipping long story short it doesn’t seem to work robot complains voltage is too much. In contact with supplier will report back.

Bungusbeefcake

Ah, yeah. Thats weird that it's overpowering the robot. Mine doesn't seem to have any port there, or at least that I can notice. I'll have a good look later on. Mine is the 350, so might be different. How did you get caught for shipping?

Bedouin79

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Ah, yeah. Thats weird that it's overpowering the robot. Mine doesn't seem to have any port there, or at least that I can notice. I'll have a good look later on. Mine is the 350, so might be different. How did you get caught for shipping?

Bought it a bit to eagerly clicked check out only copped 40 Sterling shipping to late. Will report back in regards over voltage

Bungusbeefcake

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Bought it a bit to eagerly clicked check out only copped 40 Sterling shipping to late. Will report back in regards over voltage

Ah yes, that dreaded trap catches us all at some stage! Cool, thanks. Hopefully it's an easy fix.

blackbox

Has anyone taken in their automower yet? There doesn't seem to be any growth.
I've set mine to only cut for 30 minutes per week to see what happens.

Borzoi

padraig.od wrote: »

I've had another problem with my 430x. One of the back wheels has entirely locked up. The wheel will not turn. If I force it I can turn the wheel, however it quickly locks back up. I can hear the motor trying, so it appears its a physical thing, not electric.

Machine is 4 years old so I think part is out of warranty. Replacement on GPL is 200 quid, and thats if I do the work myself.

Has anyone managed to fix this issue on their own machine? Or should I be bringing it to the dealer to be resolved? Any chance the wheel and motor can be salvaged or repaired?

Not sure if the 430x uses same motor as the 450x , but the 450x definitely had a rear motor issue (4 yr ago). Might be worth taking to dealer to see what they say.

prospect

Holy Moly, I haven't been to Boards in a loooong time, and I cannot believe this thread is still running. I'll have to schedule some to read through all the contributions.


So, we are nearly at the end of our 6th season with my Robomow RL2000, "Mow", and yes it is still working away.

From memory, it cost me €1,700 when I bought it and since then I had to replace a control board of some description, an odometer sensor (don't ask me technical questions), blades (once) and the batteries (Europower Batteries near Cabra). I cannot recall exactly the costs but I would think that was a total of about €600.

I have run into several issues (nothing major) over that time, particularly in the last two years:

• Infrequent docking issues (hasn't docked correctly)
• Maturing trees roots pushing up lawn surface causing obstacles
• Perimeter cable issues, broken, connections having to be redone, etc.

Overall I am really happy with the machine overall although I am not expecting to get too many more years from it (but maybe I'm wrong on that). What worries me is that my parents bought a Robomow about 2 years ago and the current models are not nearly as robustly built as mine was, so I'd have to start again with research on makes/models.


My current thoughts are I might replace my grass lawn with a Clover Lawn.... (Curveball!)

EndaH

gizmo555 wrote: »

I've had one now for about five weeks - so far, so good.

I looked mostly at Husqvarna, but went for Viking in the end simply because there's a local dealer in my area who's reliable and I'd trust for after-sales support, but there's no Husqvarna dealer nearby.

I've about a 700m2 lawn. I'd have gone for the lower spec 422P model which would have been sufficient, but the 632 was available at the time for the same price, because of a stock shortage of the other model.

It's been going fine for the last few weeks, programmed to mow for just eight hours a week, which is what is indicated would be needed for the area. The current dry weather makes it hard to judge what it would be like in more typical conditions, but I'm satisfied so far.

How is the Viking mower performing, are you happy with it.

prospect

Sods law, I jinxed it... I had a perimeter cable fault on Friday evening. This is indicated by a flashing led on the dock station accompanied by a repeating beep when the mower leaves the dock. The most obvious indication is that the grass isn't getting cut!

Okay, some tips for dealing with this type of issue. Again, I am not an expert nor am I an electrician, so please feel free to offer even better alternatives to my learned experience.

Prospects Tip No. 1 - You will need a basic multimeter/continuity tester & a digital weighing/kitchen scales.

Whenever I get a perimeter error I start by checking the obvious places first, this begins with checking the connections (each end) of the cable in the dock itself. After that I check the points on the perimeter where there are joins in the cable or places where there was a risk of damage, like an area that there was digging going on, etc.

Prospects Tip No. 2 - Wherever I have a joint in the cable I placed a small timber stake nearby (off the lawn obviously), to make the joints easy to find. If you are like me, despite the best will in the world, you will not remember where the joints are.

Prospects Tip No. 3 - Keep a spare length of perimeter cable for testing.

As it happens I have a joining pretty much half way around. So I started by exposing this and separating the cables. I can then join each side, in turn, to the dock using of some spare cable. Unless you have two breaks in the cable, one side will give continuity and one wont. This method allows you eliminate 50% of the cable as one side gives continuity and one doesn't.

From a previous break I had another joint between the 'bad-side' and the dock, so I repeated the process, and got continuity. This meant I had damage somewhere between these two joints.

So after a quick inspection revealed nothing, I pulled up the wire and found a crack in it that was obviously quite old (looked weathered) and it had given up. I didn't want to repair it and leave another joint in the perimeter. I decided to replace the entire section. I have several pieces of perimeter cable in my shed of different lengths all wrapped up and taped. To save me unravelling them to find the best piece to use I weighed them.

Prospects Tip No. 4 - Weigh the damaged cable that needs replacing, then you can weigh any spare bits and the closest one (must be the same weight or higher) will work. - You can also measure a known length, weigh it, and using some simple math's you could put a reasonably accurate estimate of the length of any other spare pieces you have. Don't forget to test the continuity of the replacement cable before you use it, just in case it is damaged.

Once the new section was installed everything was good to go.

Prospects Tip No. 5 - Make sure everything is working before you re-peg the cable and weatherproof any connections.

dashoonage

Retired my boys for the winter today. All tucked up inside with the ability to turn on the chargers at any time.

krissovo

dashoonage wrote: »

Retired my boys for the winter today. All tucked up inside with the ability to turn on the chargers at any time.

I stopped mine last week to see if there was still growth but my grass is still growing quite strongly. There has been at least 3 cm's of growth for the majority of the lawn.

dashoonage

krissovo wrote: »

I stopped mine last week to see if there was still growth but my grass is still growing quite strongly. There has been at least 3 cm's of growth for the majority of the lawn.

Yup still growth there, however I like to leave mine with a decent bit of growth on them for the winter, keeps them healthy come spring. The first cut is always a pain but i find it keeps the moss etc at bay

Dr4gul4

Cleaned my guy over the weekend, and Put him to sleep for a week, raised the height to Max (9) .

Baoithin66

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Well it arrived cost €40 but got caught for shipping long story short it doesn’t seem to work robot complains voltage is too much. In contact with supplier will report back.

Hi did you get this sorted? I am interested in buying one for my own mower:)

Bedouin79

Baoithin66 wrote: »

Hi did you get this sorted? I am interested in buying one for my own mower:)

Long story short it didn’t. Basically the winter charge point is suitable for 4 amp only. The charger for the elite+ runs at 8 amp. So to use it for a winter charge I would have to buy an elite charger which operates at 4 amp. Sent it back got a refund going to charge mine this winter by bringing out the mower every 2 weeks or so for a charge. If it bugs me enough might invest again next summer in an additional charger.

Bungusbeefcake

Bedouin79 wrote: »

Long story short it didn’t. Basically the winter charge point is suitable for 4 amp only. The charger for the elite+ runs at 8 amp. So to use it for a winter charge I would have to buy an elite charger which operates at 4 amp. Sent it back got a refund going to charge mine this winter by bringing out the mower every 2 weeks or so for a charge. If it bugs me enough might invest again next summer in an additional charger.

Thats a balls. Sorry to hear that they were pretty stupid about it by the sounds of it. I hope they refunded the shipping and all!!

One question remains though, surely you shouldn't have to top up or charge the unit at all during the winter. The batteries in the units are stable enough that they should last without degradation when put on a storage charge, similar to that when they are shipped. That should be somewhere around 60% of full I believe. I would check that just in case though. But in that state they're designed to sit in a warehouse for extended periods of time without any charging and still operate perfectly when sold. So I wouldn't worry about a trickle charger to be honest. I'm not sure what other people's experience is though, so would anyone care to chime in on that? Winter/Storage charger, or just leave it on a certain percentage?

Bedouin79

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Thats a balls. Sorry to hear that they were pretty stupid about it by the sounds of it. I hope they refunded the shipping and all!!

One question remains though, surely you shouldn't have to top up or charge the unit at all during the winter. The batteries in the units are stable enough that they should last without degradation when put on a storage charge, similar to that when they are shipped. That should be somewhere around 60% of full I believe. I would check that just in case though. But in that state they're designed to sit in a warehouse for extended periods of time without any charging and still operate perfectly when sold. So I wouldn't worry about a trickle charger to be honest. I'm not sure what other people's experience is though, so would anyone care to chime in on that? Winter/Storage charger, or just leave it on a certain percentage?

Yeah bought it from mower magic in the uk, they were very helpful. Admitted their mistake no problem with the returns.

It’s my first winter with the mower so probably being more paranoid than anything. Guy that did the install was adamant to keep it charged and warm as lithium ion batteries are prone to cold. Have a motorbike on a trickle charger so thought I’d get the same for the mower.

carq

Anywhere to get some grass seed at the moment?
Certain patches on my lawn are very mussy and bare - robot is accelerating the problem there.

Would it be pointless putting seed down (Even if there is no frost) at this time of year?