PSA Kobalt 80V battery bricked

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Feb 15, 2003
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Jupiter, Florida
I know there is a big push to go to electric Outdoor Power Equipment. I have both a Stihl and Echo gas blowers. I purchased the 80V Kobalt blower for one of our small T hangars. It runs on "turbo" for about 7 minutes and only really makes full power for the first few minutes. Then slows down and becomes less and less effective.

I will admit I like the thing, even though it's a bit underpowered. It's quiet, light and starts instantly. And it's off when not blowing. Unlike an idling engine.

But the battery just bricked after about 10 uses. It has a 3 year warranty, and we will see if they honor it.

This is not the first lithium battery I've had fail. I now believe that the technology is not there yet.

Situation: We were not flying for the last few months, and the battery was left in the charger fully charged, and the charger was not plugged in, per the directions.
 
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I have a Milwaukee M18 mini blower and it's great. I also have 3 batteries so length of time using it isn't an issue. I switch batteries when down to 1 light and charge fully. Going on 2 years now and still working fine. I do keep the batteries in a temperate climate, no hot/cold extremes.
 
I've had Dewalt 20V batteries that have been going strong for about 3 years.
Those are NiCad batteries.

The Kobalt brand must use the cheapest possible battery.
 
Does the charger have bad circuitry that causes a slow drain if a battery is left in it?
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
Does the charger have bad circuitry that causes a slow drain if a battery is left in it?


I don't know. But the instructions say to store the battery in the charger, unplugged.
 
My Makita blower has been awesome.

No battery issues. Li-ion 18v LXT system and the blower used two batteries.

Runs for long enough to do my yard at least twice before needing recharge.

This one: https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XBU02PT1

Makita has been on the leading edge of cordless power tools for decades. I've got several LXT 18v tools and they've been 100% reliable.
 
Originally Posted by Davejam
I've had Dewalt 20V batteries that have been going strong for about 3 years.
Those are NiCad batteries.

The Kobalt brand must use the cheapest possible battery.


I think the 20V ones are Lithium. I own 4 of them. One of them bricked and was replaced under warranty.
 
Kobalt is a Lowe's store brand. Have you tried working the problem directly with Lowe's? Technically they could blow you off if the product was purchased more than 30 days ago, but then again, they may not.
 
I wish you the best with the warranty. I have a Kobalt 80V battery and hedge trimmer; a few Snapper 82V batteries and the blower.
No broken things yet.
I see the manual says you can store the battery in the unpowered charger. I never have; I demate it then let it sit with
one side propped out so there's no electrical contact.

There's a few YT videos on the batteries, if you're curious what's inside.
That said, if they just do a replacement (rather than a rebuilt) that would be sweet.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
I think the 20V ones are Lithium. I own 4 of them. One of them bricked and was replaced under warranty.

That's correct, my bad.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I leave a battery in the charger until the light goes green. Then remove. It will stay charged for months just sitting.


One thing to be aware of is that storing a lithium ion battery in a fully charged state will degrade the battery. Anytime you store a lithium ion battery, you should do so at 50% capacity (approx 3.6V). It's much better for the battery to give it a charge before use instead of leaving it in a charged state. Obviously that's inconvenient in mowing season, but it's not too much trouble to run it down to 50% before putting in storage in the off-season.

The hardest thing on a Li-ion cell is the upper and lower ends of the charge / discharge cycle. They degrade quickly if left at either end. When I say quickly, you'll probably get a year or two if you leave them in a fully charged state all the time. You'll typically get several years out of them if you can avoid storing them fully charged.
 
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