If you’ve got a riding or electric lawn mower, you’re going to be relying on a battery of some kind to run the motor. No matter what brand of mower you have, or what kind of battery it uses, you’re going to need to recharge it at some point. This could be due to the battery losing charge while sitting during the winter, or simply being drained from use. Whatever the reason is, knowing how long it takes to charge a lawn mower battery is important. There are a number of factors that affect charging time, so I’ll go into detail about different battery charging times below.
How Long Should You Be Charging Your Lawn Mower Battery For?
While there isn’t one precise charging time that works for all batteries, there are some general guidelines that you can follow to estimate how long it takes to charge a lawn mower battery.
To figure out how long your battery will take to charge you need to know a few things: the voltage of your battery, the amp-hours of the battery, and the voltage and amperage of your battery charger. Charging times vary a ton depending on this information.
The way you can estimate the time your battery needs to charge is by taking the amp-hours it is rated for, and dividing that number by the amount of amps your battery charger supplies.
Below is a table that shows a couple of examples of general charging times for two types of batteries using different types of chargers. However, when in doubt you should always check the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Estimated Charging Times | At 2 Amps | At 6 Amps | At 10 Amps | At 40 Amps |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 Volt, 4.5Ah Battery | 2.25 Hours | 45 Minutes | 25 Minutes | 5 Minutes |
12 Volt, 35Ah Battery | 17.5 Hours | 5.8 Hours | 3.5 Hours | 50 Minutes |
Factors that Impact How Long It Takes to Charge a Lawn Mower Battery
As I mentioned in the previous section, there are some important factors that you should consider when wondering, how long does it take to charge a lawn mower battery? Since there are a ton of different kinds of batteries available, and not all lawn mowers use the same battery, you’ll have to consider a couple of things when making your own charging time estimate.
What you will need to know is: the voltage rating of your battery charger, the voltage of your battery, the amperage of your battery charger, and the amperage of your battery. These things will all affect the length of time needed to get your battery fully charged. Let me explain each factor a bit more.
Battery and Charger Voltage
When going to charge your battery, it is super important that you use a charger of the same voltage as your battery. Using the wrong voltage charger will make it impossible to charge, or ruin your battery.
A lot of people wonder, can you overcharge your lawn mower battery? The short answer is yes. If, for example, you use a 12-volt charger on a 6-volt battery, it is extremely easy for your battery to overheat and break down. While there are people who may try to rapidly charge a 6-volt battery with a 12-volt charger, it really isn’t a good idea.
On the other hand, a 6-volt battery charger used with a 12-volt battery will not produce enough charge for the 12-volt battery to supply power. It doesn’t matter how long you leave the charger hooked up in this case because 12-volt batteries are considered totally dead even when they fall down to just 10 volts.
Battery and Charger Amperage
Regarding charging times, the amp-hours your battery is rated for and the amperage your charger delivers are definitely the biggest factors. 6 and 12-volt batteries are made with a huge range of amp-hours ratings, and battery chargers are available in a bunch of different amp outputs as well.
Unlike with voltage, your battery and battery charger do not need to have the same amperage. The general recommendation is that your battery charger should not have any more than 20% of the amp-hours (Ah) rating as your battery.
This means that for a 40Ah battery, it would be ideal to use a battery charger that is 8 amps or less. Using a battery charger that doesn’t charge very quickly can actually be good for the health of your battery. However, you really don’t want a charger that is overpowered because you could easily ruin your battery with it.
FAQs About Length of Time to Charge Lawn Mower Batteries
Since we’ve covered the basic factors that affect charging times, and also talked about how you can make an estimation of the time your battery will need to charge, let’s go through some more examples.
I see a lot of people not only wondering how long it takes to charge a lawn mower battery, but also wondering about the time that their batteries will take to charge at different amperages. So, I’ll do my best to explain the timeframes required for each charger type below.
How Long Should I Charge a Lawn Mower Battery at 10 Amps?
A lot of lawn mower batteries will charge in about an hour with a 10 amp battery charger. But, batteries with higher amp-hour ratings will require more time. Using a 10 amp charger is a good way to efficiently charge your battery without too much risk of overcharging. Still, it’s always a good idea to monitor the voltage of your battery as it charges if you aren’t using an automatic or trickle charger.
How Long Does it Take to Charge a Lawn Mower Battery at 6 Amps?
If you use a 6 amp charger, it will take nearly twice as much time to charge your battery compared to a 10 amp charger. For the average lawn mower battery, this means you probably need two hours or so for your battery to get fully recharged.
How Long Does It Take to Charge a Lawn Mower Battery at 40 Amps?
Chargers rated for over 20 amps are usually considered to be rapid chargers. If you are using a 40 amp charger to recharge your lawn mower battery, it won’t take much time at all. You will likely be able to completely charge your battery in an hour or less (depending on your battery’s amp-hours rating).
However, charging your battery as fast as you can isn’t recommended. Fast charging can result in serious battery damage or explosion if not closely monitored.
How Long Does It Take to Charge a Lawn Mower Battery with a Trickle Charger?
Trickle chargers (also known as battery tenders) are commonly rated at 2 amps or less. These kinds of chargers are meant to charge batteries very slowly and they don’t pose the risk of overcharging. In some cases, it could take your mower battery nearly 24 hours to charge completely with a trickle charger. But, it’s worth the wait if you have the time because charging batteries slowly helps extend their life. Just be sure that your trickle charger has a setting for the same voltage as your battery.
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