I built a robot mower using a new cub cadet swivel mower and added two invacare motors to the rear with a 24v 40 amp alternator. I’m using a sabertooth 2x25 controller and powered by two 18ah batteries.
My problem is that the batteries are getting hot and don’t last long at all. I was really hoping to keep the smaller batteries with the alt picking up the load. This doesn’t seem to happen and the alt I would have hoped would have powered say 3/4 of the energy needed to run.
The alternator is a 24v delco si10 1 wire and the positive lead goes to the positive terminal on the battery and the neg is grounded to the frame. I’m using 10awg wire for everything. I can see the volts increase on the batteries when idling but I would have thought the alternator would have loaded the motor when demand increased. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
I would love to hear what others have done and how they wired it.
I have 90% of the mower complete and have done test cuts with success other than I can’t finish the front in one charge. This has been a fun project but my ignorance is getting the best of me and this build.
Very nice project, seems to be well build.
The first thing you need to know is how much current your setup is drawing while moving. This will tell you what your alternator need to supply to charge the battery.
Thanks Eric I was hoping they were pulling say 5-7 amps since its much less of a load than when they pushed a human and chair say600-800lbs. This set up is maybe 150lbs.
I figured it out. I just moved my ground wire from the alternator to the battery and seems to have fixed everything. I was able to cut my complete yard and still have power. I actually went through two tanks of fuel and still had battery power.
My tx has limited range I need to install a wifi booster on it. When it’s 100F outside its nice mowing indoors the mineral oil (PC grade) keeps the 2x32 and the video tx cool. It’s not letting me upload a mov file. I’ll see about converting it after work
Mine uses a strimmer on 18V (makita brushless) but is still in testphase… Mows well allready and can also sweep the floor/collect all cuttings on the driveway.
Why do you need a gyro? (i’m new into this) I want mine to be programmable so it can mow my lawn totally automatic but that’s still in the planning.
