My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

septicsac

Shaunoc wrote: »

if your lawn is mature that you do not foresee many changes in the future, then bury it.
if you are planning host of changes every year, then its nice to have cable easily accessible

Even buried its still easily accessible, o ly down inch and half at most and for 60 extra well worth it. If you found machine to do it you won't hire it for that, never mind the time involved

septicsac

Also if you have animals, be they pets or wild then you should really consider burying the cable, they are known to break and eat cables regularly

SchrodingersCat

ccmp wrote: »

hi there. Anyone know where you can hire the machine for burying the cable?
Alternatively somebody who does that work. I'm in the cork area.
Mower is the Honda Miimo 520.

I cant answer your question, but if it helps, you can use a cheap lawn edging tool to bury the cable too. That is what I used.

SchrodingersCat

deadl0ck wrote: »

As a follow up I went and checked the information screens and was looking at the S Model service guide.
It seems that the mower was not getting any charging voltage or power:

It also had "+2" for the charger source with, according to the guide, is "Unrecognised".

I decided to plug it directly in to the power box withough the long joining cable (as if it was winter charging) and it looked much better:


So I spoke to dealer last night and he said that the long cable can sometimes cause weird issues and to plug the mower in at the base directly with the power box (I've set it up to be rain proof).
So I did that last night and it's back to battery balancing (which could be for real seeing as I've been screwing around with it so much) but when I go into the charging menu it says "+2" for source for about 10 seconds then changes to "0" for "Base station".
Here's a video:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/toqvHrVVdHa63tDp8

Does that look normal(ish) ?? It seems to be fluctuating a lot for power and current....

Im not sure if I will be much help here as it sounds like you checked everything I would have checked. I do know that the voltage does drop quite considerably for DC using longer lengths of cable so to try and trouble shoot this issues, I would use the shorter connection. To recap, you had the battery and mainboard replaced. You checked and cleaned all the contacts. Did you have the power supply replaced or checked too?
Is it possible to insert the two probes of your multimeter into the battery connector while it is charging to confirm that the battery is charging? The voltage should slowly increase. Do you have a second connector on the battery where you can measure the voltage of each cell?

KCross

septicsac wrote: »

Even buried its still easily accessible, only down inch and half at most...

Is it though? I laid mine on top and it has since sunk into the ground as the grass grew around it and I have had to relay some of it due to layout changes in the lawn and it was difficult enough to pull it out of the ground.

If it was 1-2 inches further down I'd imagine it would be even harder. Have you had to re-lay any of it and actually pulled it up?

septicsac wrote: »

Also if you have animals, be they pets or wild then you should really consider burying the cable, they are known to break and eat cables regularly

I havent had an issue. Granted, I dont have a "dig everything up" type dog but as I mentioned above the cable disappears under the ground naturally anyway over a short period of time.


I'd say bury it if you are sure your lawn layout is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.

SchrodingersCat

I left my cable pinned to the grass for about a year. I had to reposition it once or twice due to the mower getting stuck by going too far into flower beds and the likes. However, the grass did not grow over the cable as Husqvarna said that it would. I ended up having it to bury it.

I would recommend trying to just pin it to the lawn first, and if they grass does not grow around it, then to look into burying it.

KCross

SchrodingersCat wrote: »

I left my cable pinned to the grass for about a year. I had to reposition it once or twice due to the mower getting stuck by going too far into flower beds and the likes. However, the grass did not grow over the cable as Husqvarna said that it would. I ended up having it to bury it.

Interesting. I guess its down to soil type then. If your lawn is rocky/hard it wont sink into it as easy. I cant see any of my cable anymore. The few times I had to reposition I literally had to dig for it.

SchrodingersCat

KCross wrote: »

Interesting. I guess its down to soil type then. If your lawn is rocky/hard it wont sink into it as easy. I cant see any of my cable anymore. The few times I had to reposition I literally had to dig for it.

Yes, I think you are right. We only have a couple of cm of top-soil so that might be why the wire did not sink into the soil over time.

k mac

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Automow connect, headlights and dual guide wires I think .. altho i've only one guide wire installed right now on my 430x and she's flying it ..

Does the 430x also have a better battery than the 420. I am still torn between which to get because as I said my lawn is only 1100 sqm and the 420 is more than capable for that area however I have one narrow strip of lawn about 4ft wide and I have been told that the robot may or may not be able to work here that it will be trial and error to see if its working but if it does work that this narrow piece will be using an awful lot of battery zig sagging more than just out in the square piece of lawn hence why I am wondering would I be better with the 430x if it has a better battery. Also with GPL there is only a difference of 240 euro between them seems to be a way bigger saving/reduction on the 430x for some reason

listermint

Mines on top of the grass about 2 months, and most have it has disappeared. Cant find it if i tried.

Frankly i wouldnt bother burying it tbh.

KCross

k mac wrote: »

Does the 430x also have a better battery than the 420.

Not so much a better battery but a bigger one.

AFAIK, the 420 has a 3.2Ah battery (like the 330x) and the 430x has a 5.2Ah battery.

The 450x has two 5.2Ah batteries, hence why it can cover more ground.

All of them are pretty much the same machine and have the same cutting width... the battery capacity is the main thing that decides what area each mower can cover.


That's evident in the specs as well as the 430X has a cutting time of 145mins whereas the 420 is 105mins.

KCross

k mac wrote: »

... however I have one narrow strip of lawn about 4ft wide and I have been told that the robot may or may not be able to work here that it will be trial and error to see if its working but if it does work that this narrow piece will be using an awful lot of battery zig sagging more than just out in the square piece of lawn hence why I am wondering would I be better with the 430x if it has a better battery.

4ft is quite narrow alright if its a long strip. It is going to be doing alot of bouncing in that area. I'd be prepared for that not working and having to section that off and maybe use a cheap push mower for it.

I dont think it will matter whether its the 420 or 430x as they are both the same machine really. They will both either work or they wont as both are well over the task in relation to sqm... its just a case of will the bouncing have the mower stuck in there for ages or not.

Dr4gul4

KCross wrote: »

That's evident in the specs as well as the 430X has a cutting time of 145mins

Terrain and grass length dependant i guess, i get about 120 mins, between charges right now. My lawn is U shaped, with the bulk at the bottom of the U and one smallish hill at one corner of the U. the terrain however is bumpy, and i've cordoned off a lot of tree's and flower beds etc.

KCross

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Terrain and grass length dependant i guess, i get about 120 mins, between charges right now. My lawn is U shaped, with the bulk at the bottom of the U and one smallish hill at one corner of the U. the terrain however is bumpy, and i've cordoned off a lot of tree's and flower beds etc.

Im much the same.... 1hr charging, 2hrs out.. so a 3hr cycle. Mine's on its 6th season now though so well happy with it still being on its original battery!

Dr4gul4

KCross wrote: »

Im much the same.... 1hr charging, 2hrs out.. so a 3hr cycle. Mine's on its 6th season now though so well happy with it still being on its original battery!

Kcross, I think you're mowing about the same surface area as I am, do you find you need to run the 430x 24/7 to get good coverage, or have you taken it back to a 12 hour day time window ?

staples7

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Kcross, I think you're mowing about the same surface area as I am, do you find you need to run the 430x 24/7 to get good coverage, or have you taken it back to a 12 hour day time window ?

Not to be butting in - Im cutting just under half an acre with the 430x. Past week or so at level 4 I'm finding it does need to be out almost all of the time. (Fertilizer spread recently )

Ideally I don't want to run it during working hours 8-4 weekdays while there is nobody at home.

Dr4gul4

staples7 wrote: »

Not to be butting in - Im cutting just under half an acre with the 430x. Past week or so at level 4 I'm finding it does need to be out almost all of the time. (Fertilizer spread recently )

Ideally I don't want to run it during working hours 8-4 weekdays while there is nobody at home.

I've the same experience , minus the fertilizer, could be early season grass growth. altho im still cutting at the highest level still.

I've changed the timer to do 12 hours days from today on, i've noticed he's still missing some small stalks of long grass here and there, but at the same time I dont want to over mow the grass to hell..

Trial and error at this stage i think.

k mac

KCross wrote: »

4ft is quite narrow alright if its a long strip. It is going to be doing alot of bouncing in that area. I'd be prepared for that not working and having to section that off and maybe use a cheap push mower for it.

I dont think it will matter whether its the 420 or 430x as they are both the same machine really. They will both either work or they wont as both are well over the task in relation to sqm... its just a case of will the bouncing have the mower stuck in there for ages or not.

Could I just put a piece of timber or something similar to block the mower from going in to the narrow strip and just every so often just lift the mower and place it in the narrow section for an hour or so and take it out again. That way it would be cutting the section but not stuck in there for hours at a time.

xl500

k mac wrote: »

Could I just put a piece of timber or something similar to block the mower from going in to the narrow strip and just every so often just lift the mower and place it in the narrow section for an hour or so and take it out again. That way it would be cutting the section but not stuck in there for hours at a time.

Thats What i do I have an area thats narrow and if he goes in there he can be stuck there for a while and he tears up the ground

SO i block it off and just remove it now and again

KCross

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

Kcross, I think you're mowing about the same surface area as I am, do you find you need to run the 430x 24/7 to get good coverage, or have you taken it back to a 12 hour day time window ?

Mine is out 5 days a week from 11am-9pm. Lawn is just shy of 3000sqm and its the 430x

I had it at level 7 and put it to level 5 this week with some new blades gone in, so its playing catchup now again but the lawn is in good shape and keeping up with the growth easy enough.

No fertiliser gone out though. Not sure I need it, tbh.

I guess its going to be different for everyone.

k mac wrote: »

Could I just put a piece of timber or something similar to block the mower from going in to the narrow strip and just every so often just lift the mower and place it in the narrow section for an hour or so and take it out again. That way it would be cutting the section but not stuck in there for hours at a time.

Sure, you could do that. 4ft is quite narrow though and I'm thinking it might just be easier to use a push mower for that.

Also bear in mind that the mower will leave quite a large edge on each side as it does not cut right up to the edge as the blades are a distance inside the body of the mower to protect little hands from lifting the mower and getting cut.... that means out of your 4ft it will probably only cut 3ft and leave you with strimming to do anyway.

All you can do is try it I suppose. As I said, be prepared for that section to not work and have a Plan B.

xl500 wrote: »

Thats What i do I have an area thats narrow and if he goes in there he can be stuck there for a while and he tears up the ground

SO i block it off and just remove it now and again

Is that more like 6-8ft? I'd be happy enough letting it into that, but 4ft is a different story.

Shaunoc

xl500 wrote: »

Thats What i do I have an area thats narrow and if he goes in there he can be stuck there for a while and he tears up the ground

SO i block it off and just remove it now and again

that is about 50% wider than the current path mine is running along between sections.
to be fair my "path" is only 12 feet long and it may ping pong within for a minute but the guide wire is running thru and never an issue to date.

is it a long distance

k mac

Sure, you could do that. 4ft is quite narrow though and I'm thinking it might just be easier to use a push mower for that.

Also bear in mind that the mower will leave quite a large edge on each side as it does not cut right up to the edge as the blades are a distance inside the body of the mower to protect little hands from lifting the mower and getting cut.... that means out of your 4ft it will probably only cut 3ft and leave you with strimming to do anyway.

All you can do is try it I suppose. As I said, be prepared for that section to not work and have a Plan B.

[/QUOTE]

I know I will be strimming and don't mind using the mower as I have one anyway but the reason I would like to try my best to get the automower to cut it is due to how much better it would look, this strip is on one side of the driveway up to the house and it would be a shame to have all the lawn looking great bar this strip which is probably seen the most.

KCross

k mac wrote: »

... this strip is on one side of the driveway up to the house and it would be a shame to have all the lawn looking great bar this strip which is probably seen the most.

Sounds like its quite long as well as narrow? How long is it?

k mac

KCross wrote: »

Sounds like its quite long as well as narrow? How long is it?

Would be about 20 metres long

NIMAN

In case anyone in the market for a robotic mower, seems a decent price in Amazon for this Flymo?
Or is it a case of inflated RRP to begin with?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C70LUQ4/ref=gbps_img_m-5_8f88_83491a60?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=062d0212-4836-4950-805f-8287573c8f88&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=16566794031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=K1YZ87B9GGYVNF6Z8PGH

oleras

NIMAN wrote: »

In case anyone in the market for a robotic mower, seems a decent price in Amazon for this Flymo?
Or is it a case of inflated RRP to begin with?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C70LUQ4/ref=gbps_img_m-5_8f88_83491a60?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=062d0212-4836-4950-805f-8287573c8f88&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=16566794031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=K1YZ87B9GGYVNF6Z8PGH

It hit 439 on black friday. Seems to have averaged 550 since the start of the year, pity its only rated to 400 sq meters though, i have a 600 side lawn that would have been ideal for it.

s7ryf3925pivug

Any thoughts or info on the gardena silena?

https://www.myrobotcenter.eu/en/gardena-sileno-2018

Big lawns with irregular slopes and lots of obstacles including shrubs. Have a dog so my plan would be to pick up her poop in the evening then let this operate overnight. The limitation of 15% max slope for boundary wire means I would need to cut at least one section manualy but that would be ok.

Gets good reviews on Amazon.de - Gardena are German. Criticisms there include a couple that were water damaged, that it doesn’t cut tight against the boundary, stiff wheel, only as quiet as advertised on short grass, issues with the smart features and the 15% limitation along the wires ( though it operates fine at 35% otherwise).

Dr4gul4

If there's one thing i've noticed about my 430x it's lacking, it's the ability to direct it via GPS, Yes you can use zones, and send him off along the boundary wires and guide wires, but it would be simpler or handier perhaps if you could pick a spot on the automow connect app and send him down there to go to work ..

A touch annoying but perhaps in a future release..

Shaunoc

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

If there's one thing i've noticed about my 430x it's lacking, it's the ability to direct it via GPS, Yes you can use zones, and send him off along the boundary wires and guide wires, but it would be simpler or handier perhaps if you could pick a spot on the automow connect app and send him down there to go to work ..

A touch annoying but perhaps in a future release..

i agree. i have a robot vaccum that function exists as it laser maps out area and is so easy to set zones via App and barriers.
would make automower very user friendly indeed if there was a way gps could be setup for it

staples7

Dr4gul4 wrote: »

If there's one thing i've noticed about my 430x it's lacking, it's the ability to direct it via GPS, Yes you can use zones, and send him off along the boundary wires and guide wires, but it would be simpler or handier perhaps if you could pick a spot on the automow connect app and send him down there to go to work ..

A touch annoying but perhaps in a future release..

Agreed, would be a great feature that you would think wouldn't be hard to implement.