Lawn mower batteries are generally used to either get the engine started in a gas powered model or are responsible for running the motor on an electric tool. In any case, one thing that the two have in common is that they both have a voltage.
But knowing the lawn mower battery voltage isn’t always something that is blindingly obvious. In fact, a lot of people wonder how many volts their lawn mower battery is and how they can find out this information.
Voltage can feel like a tricky topic to understand but once you get your head around the basics, it’s not as scary as it first seems. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know.
The voltage of your lawn mower battery will depend on the type of lawn mower you are using. What’s more, you have to consider that riding lawn mowers and push lawn mowers also use different kinds of batteries which means that the voltage is not necessarily going to be the same.
Push Lawn Mower Battery Voltage
Electric push lawn mowers can have seriously varied voltages according to the size and type of machine. At the lower end of the scale, a push lawn mower might only use a 36v battery while there are others that use much more powerful 120v batteries.
But this isn’t the only difference between a push lawn mower battery and a riding lawn mower battery. Push lawn mowers almost always use a lithium ion battery which has a very long lifespan and can be charged in a much shorter amount of time. Moreover, these batteries are usually more powerful and make use of more modern technology. But for this, you can expect to pay a significantly higher sum of money.
Riding Lawn Mower Battery Voltage
Riding lawn mowers typically use a 12v battery but there are some models that use a 6v battery. Although this tends to be slightly older models. Compared to push lawn mowers, the batteries in a riding mower are usually around five times less powerful.
In any case, you’ll almost always find a lead acid battery in a riding lawn mower. The reason for this is that these machines don’t need the technological advancements of a lithium ion battery as the battery is only used to get the engine going. It would cost a lot more to install a powerful lithium ion battery for this so they’re not really used.
Lead acid batteries do their job well and they’re certainly cheaper. However, they require a lot more time to charge and don’t have as long a lifespan as their lithium ion cousins.
How Do I Check My Mower Battery Voltage?
Understanding how many volts is in a lawn mower battery is important if you want to maintain your tool properly. If you ever need to change the battery, you’ll certainly need this information. But a lot of people aren’t aware of how to find it.
The good news is that there are a few ways of figuring this out and if you’re really lucky, it’s as simple as just looking at the label on the side of the battery.
Inspect The Battery
Pretty much every battery has a label on the side which gives you a whole host of information relating to the battery. Some of this information refers to the voltage so this is one of the easiest ways of working this out.
However, if you’ve never read the information on a battery label before then it might seem like a lot of jargon. For example, the label may say something like 12v7Ah. This tells you that it is a 12 volt battery and has 7 amp hours. But that’s something we don’t need to worry about for the moment. For now, just worry about the voltage.
When you purchase an electric lawn mower with a lithium ion battery, the information relating to voltage will almost always be given with the other product information. However, it is worth noting that while a tool can be a 40v mower, it may require the use of 2 20v batteries.
Check The Serial Number
Another great way to find out the voltage of your lawn mower battery is to flip the mower over and take a look for the model and serial numbers. They’re normally printed on a label on the mower deck but it’s worth bearing in mind that this label is sometimes quite well hidden so you’ll need to have a good look around for it.
When you have located the label, make a note of the serial number which you can then pop into Google. You should discover the digital user guide which will contain all the information you need about the battery voltage.
Check The Owner’s Manual
Unless you have purchased a second hand lawn mower, it should have come with an owner’s manual. This not only contains all the information you need about operating the lawn mower but it also features details of the battery specs.
You’ll typically find this in the battery section of the manual and this is the case with any lawn mower regardless of whether it uses a lithium ion battery or a lead acid one.
Count Battery Cells
This method will only work with lead acid batteries but is ideal if you cannot find the required information in the manual, on the internet or on a label. All you need to do is count the number of battery cells and this will tell you the voltage of the battery.
Each of the cells will normally produce a little over two volts. However, many cells there are double this and that’s your voltage.
Spotting the cells is very easy as you’ll notice small plastic caps at the top of the battery and these are what you need to count.
12v vs 6v
In riding mowers, it is common to find either a 12v or sometimes a 6v battery. The most obvious difference between these is that the 12v battery has 4 or 6 cells whereas the 6v battery only has two or three cells.
12v batteries also usually have more Ah than 6v batteries which means that they will run for longer before they need to be recharged. Ah refers to the ampere-hours of a battery whereas voltage refers to the electrical strength of the battery.
12v batteries with 6 amps would typically take around eight to ten hours to fully charge. Of course, this can vary depending on the Ah of the battery. However, with lithium ion batteries, the charging is a little different. Once these batteries get to around 80%, the rate of charging becomes slower.
12v batteries are naturally a lot heavier than their 6v counterparts. When you are moving batteries from one place to another, this is something to keep in mind. 6v batteries are generally used for applications where portability is the most important thing. 6v batteries usually only weigh around 360 grams while a 12v battery can be as heavy as 13kg.
Finally, a 12v battery is normally rectangular in shape and a lot bigger than a 6v battery. 6v batteries usually measure 115mm x 68.2mm x 68.2mm. On the other hand, a 12v battery is normally 203.2mm x 228.6mm x 152.4mm.
What About Amps?
The voltage of a lawn mower battery refers to the amount of energy given to the electronic circuit. In this case, that’s the circuit within your lawn mower. When using a cordless electric lawn mower, you will need to use a battery that corresponds with the required voltage of the machine. For example, if you’re using a 24v tool, you must use a 24v battery. As we mentioned earlier, this may also take the form of two 12v batteries.
The other figure you will see when looking at lawn mower batteries is the amps, which is short for amperes. This refers to the flow of electricity per second. The higher the number of amps, the more electricity is flowing through the machine every second.
Final Thoughts?
Finding out the voltage of your lawn mower battery can feel like a trying task but it doesn’t need to be. There are a few great ways to find out this information and in most cases, it’s staring you right in the face. Even if it isn’t, you’ll usually be able to find the information online.
However, while knowing how many volts is a lawn mower battery is important, it’s also important to understand what volts are and why they’re essential to the running of your lawn mower.
