I have purchased the 80V one ( with 3 modules x 20 batteries each) to allow for future power expansion. These modules have only 4 Ah of power capacity each. But, one can get replacement with much higher Ah power. There are no more rooms for the 60V one (with 3 x 14 batteries each). Also, there is a huge price drop for lithium due to automobile (gas and EV) price war going on right now. It will be good to buy higher Ah batteries in the near future. All consumer based snow blowers use the standard 18650 batteries which have one size only (18mm x 65mm). They are different in their Ah (ampere-hour) capacity and drain current (CDR continuous discharge rate).
Nice musical video. Let me tell you a bedtime story. "Long long" time ago in a place "far far" away, a farmer hides 3 monkeys with "eye sight" problem to take care of 3 groups of horses with 20 horses in each group. One day, he wants them to pull one very large loaded wagon to a place not far from the farm. At the last minute, he decides to use only 2 monkeys and 2 groups of horses to do the job. The result is that some of the horses end up sick or dying due to overwork. What is the moral of the story? If the farmer has used all 3 groups of horses to do the job, everyone will live happily ever after. "The end" Can anyone guess why the monkeys have "eye sight" problem? In our case, the horses are the individual batteries (i.e. 30 of 3.6V li-ion batteries in each module). The monkey is the BMS (Battery Management System) in each battery module. The very large loaded wagon is the snow. Probably, the BMS systems (using MCU chip, mirocontroller unit) from all companies might not be designed to be very smart. A very smart BMS combining with a very smart charger would have charged each battery (INR18650) equally during charging period to prolong the life span of each battery. It should shut down the module when it senses any one of the batteries is dying.
By the way, one of the reason why these li-ion batteries don't last after a few years is because of over heating during the discharging period (i.e. plowing the snow). The key is to keep these batteries from over heating by placing the auger at slow speed and keeping the drive speed at a minimum. I am not sure that they are using the right 3.7V INR18650 Li-ion batteries with high drain current (CDR continuous discharge rate) max. feature of at least 20A. I suspect the modules will fail after a few years or months. There are only a few 18650 batteries on the market that can do the job. Make no mistake about it. One should not overwork these battery modules and assume each BMS (representing as the monkey with bad eye sight) will shut down the over heating batteries. When one of the 30 horses dies during running, the monkey driver with bad eye sight might not be able to stop the whole group to prevent an accident. There might be a lot of dead horses. In the battery case, this might start a fire. In the early days of building Tesla cars, they used the INR18650 batteries with high drain current capability. Now, they use the safer LFP type of li-ion batteries of larger sizes (i.e. 21700, 21mmx70mm) (as used by all Chinese EV car manufacturers) which have less energy storing capability. Some America EV companies are now shifting toward the LFP type.
Park Gee! Thank you so much for the great explanation about why the three batteries are there. That makes a lot of sense, as does your recommendation to keep the auger and drive speed down. I have to admit, when I pulled the batteries out of the blower, they were pretty hot and that was even at slow auger and drive speeds.
I have this same unit. It’ll run on only 1 battery, 2 batteries or for max run time all 3. What I did was order 1 extra 4ah battery. This way I can run the unit on 2 batteries and always have the other 2 batteries in the charger ready to go. This way there is never any down time waiting for the a fresh set to charge.
@@kroworks I wouldn’t think so. The unit has thermal protection built in and shuts off if the batteries get too hot. I have 3, 2ah 80v greenworks batteries from my other green works tools, (mower, single stage snow blower, hedge trimmer, and string trimmer) and they are all going strong after 6years of constant use. Not a single failure.
Do you mix battery sizes or would that potentially cause an issue. I am talking like 4ah and 3AH batteries? Mine came with two 4ah batteries and I was thinking of running it with a 3AH in the third slot. Any thoughts on that setup?
I don't think it would be an issue. The Greenworks lawn mower I have, came with a 4ah battery and a 2ah battery. My experience is the mower uses one at a time. I know this because I frequently only need to charge one battery when I'm done. Just in case there is something different with the snow blower, a quick call to support should give you a definitive answer. I am very happy with Greenworks customer service.
I just used the snowblower yesterday and it does work different from the lawnmower. I used two batteries instead of three and both were drained about equally.
As of now, we should forget about the LFP type of batteries as used in most EV automobiles. Chinese battery giant CATL plans to start this year 2023 the mass production and delivery of batteries based on a new materials technology M3P, which will perform better and cost less than nickel and cobalt-based ones. M3P batteries will have greater energy density and perform better than lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) batteries. They will also be cheaper than nickel and cobalt-based batteries as announced by Elon Musk of Tesla. I hope that they make 18650 batteries from M3P material.
I have purchased the 80V one ( with 3 modules x 20 batteries each) to allow for future power expansion. These modules have only 4 Ah of power capacity each. But, one can get replacement with much higher Ah power. There are no more rooms for the 60V one (with 3 x 14 batteries each). Also, there is a huge price drop for lithium due to automobile (gas and EV) price war going on right now. It will be good to buy higher Ah batteries in the near future.
All consumer based snow blowers use the standard 18650 batteries which have one size only (18mm x 65mm). They are different in their Ah (ampere-hour) capacity and drain current (CDR continuous discharge rate).
Nice musical video.
Let me tell you a bedtime story.
"Long long" time ago in a place "far far" away, a farmer hides 3 monkeys with "eye sight" problem to take care of 3 groups of horses with 20 horses in each group. One day, he wants them to pull one very large loaded wagon to a place not far from the farm.
At the last minute, he decides to use only 2 monkeys and 2 groups of horses to do the job. The result is that some of the horses end up sick or dying due to overwork.
What is the moral of the story?
If the farmer has used all 3 groups of horses to do the job, everyone will live happily ever after.
"The end"
Can anyone guess why the monkeys have "eye sight" problem?
In our case, the horses are the individual batteries (i.e. 30 of 3.6V li-ion batteries in each module). The monkey is the BMS (Battery Management System) in each battery module. The very large loaded wagon is the snow.
Probably, the BMS systems (using MCU chip, mirocontroller unit) from all companies might not be designed to be very smart. A very smart BMS combining with a very smart charger would have charged each battery (INR18650) equally during charging period to prolong the life span of each battery. It should shut down the module when it senses any one of the batteries is dying.
By the way, one of the reason why these li-ion batteries don't last after a few years is because of over heating during the discharging period (i.e. plowing the snow). The key is to keep these batteries from over heating by placing the auger at slow speed and keeping the drive speed at a minimum.
I am not sure that they are using the right 3.7V INR18650 Li-ion batteries with high drain current (CDR continuous discharge rate) max. feature of at least 20A. I suspect the modules will fail after a few years or months. There are only a few 18650 batteries on the market that can do the job.
Make no mistake about it. One should not overwork these battery modules and assume each BMS (representing as the monkey with bad eye sight) will shut down the over heating batteries. When one of the 30 horses dies during running, the monkey driver with bad eye sight might not be able to stop the whole group to prevent an accident. There might be a lot of dead horses. In the battery case, this might start a fire. In the early days of building Tesla cars, they used the INR18650 batteries with high drain current capability. Now, they use the safer LFP type of li-ion batteries of larger sizes (i.e. 21700, 21mmx70mm) (as used by all Chinese EV car manufacturers) which have less energy storing capability. Some America EV companies are now shifting toward the LFP type.
Park Gee! Thank you so much for the great explanation about why the three batteries are there. That makes a lot of sense, as does your recommendation to keep the auger and drive speed down. I have to admit, when I pulled the batteries out of the blower, they were pretty hot and that was even at slow auger and drive speeds.
Come to Nova Scotia we will make you use gas ones
I think you would need more than a gas snowblower over there these days! I hope you are keeping safe and warm.
I have this same unit. It’ll run on only 1 battery, 2 batteries or for max run time all 3.
What I did was order 1 extra 4ah battery. This way I can run the unit on 2 batteries and always have the other 2 batteries in the charger ready to go. This way there is never any down time waiting for the a fresh set to charge.
That's a great Idea Derek!!! The fourth battery sounds good, but will running two at a time reduce the lifespan of the battery?
@@kroworks I wouldn’t think so. The unit has thermal protection built in and shuts off if the batteries get too hot.
I have 3, 2ah 80v greenworks batteries from my other green works tools, (mower, single stage snow blower, hedge trimmer, and string trimmer) and they are all going strong after 6years of constant use. Not a single failure.
Do you mix battery sizes or would that potentially cause an issue. I am talking like 4ah and 3AH batteries? Mine came with two 4ah batteries and I was thinking of running it with a 3AH in the third slot. Any thoughts on that setup?
I don't think it would be an issue. The Greenworks lawn mower I have, came with a 4ah battery and a 2ah battery. My experience is the mower uses one at a time. I know this because I frequently only need to charge one battery when I'm done. Just in case there is something different with the snow blower, a quick call to support should give you a definitive answer. I am very happy with Greenworks customer service.
I just used the snowblower yesterday and it does work different from the lawnmower. I used two batteries instead of three and both were drained about equally.
Would not last a couple seasons in upstate NY where we get over 20 feet of snow, usually wet and heavy packed into the driveways by street plows.
Just got one in Ottawa, Canada, that thing is a beast, it seems like it’ll hold up. Hoping to get a few years out of the batteries!
It worked brilliantly last year through a load of snow. Haven't seen anything yet up here to see how it goes a year later.
As of now, we should forget about the LFP type of batteries as used in most EV automobiles.
Chinese battery giant CATL plans to start this year 2023 the mass production and delivery of batteries based on a new materials technology M3P, which will perform better and cost less than nickel and cobalt-based ones. M3P batteries will have greater energy density and perform better than lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) batteries. They will also be cheaper than nickel and cobalt-based batteries as announced by Elon Musk of Tesla. I hope that they make 18650 batteries from M3P material.
NOT EVERYONE CAN AFORD $1599.00 FOR A SNOW BLOWER
The Single Stage Snowblower is 399.00 on Amazon.