Lidl Parkside 20V 1000M2 robot mower review

mac25 · 07-08-2023 5:31pm #1

I was motivated to write a review of the new Lidl Parkside 20V robot mower with 1000m2 of coverage. The model number is PMRDA 20-Li A1. I have always wanted a robot mower, but I was not convinced they would work well in my garden due to all the pine cones. They are also very expensive as you move up the range to the models that support larger gardens. My garden is split in two by the parking area which is gravel and I was going to have to re-design my garden and put in a grass strip to join the two lawn areas which I really didn’t want to do. Robot mowers generally don’t like crossing gravel areas and I didn’t want the mower to get hit by a car. A local agricultural machinery store came out and did a survey of my garden and suggested the Husqvarna 450x model which was going to cost over 5000 euros plus a yearly maintenance charge where they would service your mower and upgrade the firmware. I don’t know if the yearly service charges are still recommended with the newer Husqvarna models.

One of my lawn areas is about 450m2 and the other is about 900m2 and it took me about two and a half hours to cut the grass with my 21inch power drive Honda lawn mower. I collected the grass in the smaller lawn area and didn’t bother in the larger lawn area or it would add another half hour on to the time. I generally cut the grass every other week due to the time it takes and only when the grass is dry.

I was thinking about getting a ride on mower, but I don’t really have the space in the shed. I then saw that Lidl were bringing out a 20V robot mower for 350 euros that was compatible with all the 20V battery tools. I took a chance and bought two of them to cover each of my lawn areas. Lidl have a policy that you can return them and get a full refund within 28 days of purchase, so I figured it was worth a try.

In the Box:

The mower includes a base station with power supply and ground spikes, 200M of boundary wire and 350 pegs to fasten the cable to the ground. The new model has doubled the range of the older model that covered 500m2 to 1000m2. The older model came with the smallest 2Ah 20V battery and the new model comes with the larger 4Ah battery.

Planning your install:

I suggest you use the measure distance feature on google maps using the satellite view to plan your installation. This will allow you to work out the approximate area of lawn that needs cutting and also allows you to work out how much boundary wire you will need. Always allow for obstacles like trees and septic tanks and so forth. The manual states not to go over the 200M of boundary wire, so allow for this when planning your installation. The mower supports creating islands around trees with the boundary wire in you lawn. This was not very clear in the manual as the pictures suggest leaving 10CM between the parallel boundary wires when you create your island. With a 10CM gap between parallel boundary wires, the mower will overshoot the wire on each side and the grass in the middle will be cut before stopping. However, It will not drive over both wires when 10CM apart. I wanted my mower to drive over the two parallel boundary wires running to the island. This was achieved by running the cables right beside each other and using the same pegs to secure them to the ground. Most robot mowers that use a boundary wire support this feature but it can result in problems. The problems arise when the mower needs to follow the boundary wire to return to the base station to recharge and it hits the island you have created. Depending on the model, this can result in the mower making endless circles around the island as it tried to return to base and your battery will be rundown leaving the mower stranded. I am pleased to say my Lidl robot mower went around the islands I setup for 1.5 to 2 turns and then went in another direction before finding the boundary wire and returning to the base station to recharge. Both islands were irregular shaped and they measured 8M and 14M in circumference. Remember to never cross your boundary wire when making islands.

Make sure you leave at least 2M of slack cable beside where the base station is to be installed as you may have to adjust it before you start running the cable. The manual suggests leaving 2M of straight line space at the end the mower enters the base station and and 1M behind it. It is very important to orientate your base station in the correct direction when planning your install. The boundary wire generates a magnetic field the mower picks up to operate and it will not work at all if you have your base station pointing in the wrong direction. This crucial step is not well documented in the manual and I had my base station in the wrong direction when I first set it up before I realised my mistake. You will know when you have it wrong when the mower immediately tries to make a circuit of the boundary wire when you do not have any secondary zones set. It will generally get lost or stuck and will not cut. Make sure you orientate your base station so that the mower always returns to the base station in a clockwise direction. Swapping the boundary wire around in the positive and negative terminals will not work as the mower will try to return to the base station to recharge in the wrong direction and will hit the back of it. My neighbour made the same mistake and was going to return it as non functional after a day of frustrating trouble shooting before asking me to take a look for him. I suspect Lidl will get many returns as this has not been made clear. There is a diagram on the base station showing this, but it is easy to miss.

The boundary wire can be buried up to a depth of up to 5cm or you can peg it down. I simply pegged the cable to the ground as you can make adjustments later on if the mower gets stuck on the boundary. I strongly suggest mowing the garden with your regular mower first with a tight cut and picking up the grass. This makes installation of the boundary wires much easier. I was very generous with my pegs and used one every 60CM in straight lines and closer again around obstacles. I made sure the cable was reasonably tight and that I could not easily get my fingers underneath it. If your lawn is uneven like mine, I recommend putting in a peg in every hollow to ensure no gaps beneath the cable. If you can get four fingers underneath it, the mower can cut it. I found the pegs would not always go in straight due to stones in my lawn and sometimes this resulted in the boundary wire going in at a slight angle when running a straight line. Try and avoid this if possible as I noticed the mower would pick up the slight change in angle and change direction slightly before correcting itself. This isn’t that much of an issue but I have noticed it really slows the mower down when it returns to the base station which can add time when you have a long boundary wire. The mower goes much faster in straight lines and really slows down at corners and when you run the boundary wire around the base of trees and bushes. The larger of my lawn areas is long and thin and I set a secondary zone on the mower to follow the boundary wire for 80M before starting to mow. The mower takes about 10 minutes to travel the 80M and there are approx 5 corners and 3 trees to avoid on route. Also, pay special attention to avoiding 90 degree angles as the manual suggest and go with 2 x 45 degree angles instead. The mower does not like running the boundary wire on slopes and the manual recommends to not lay the boundary wire on a slope of 10% or more. The reason for this is the mower returns along the boundary wire and drives straight down the middle. I found my mower slipped a lot when returning on slopes and went out of bounds several times. I simply moved the boundary wire up to where there wasn’t much of a slope and had no problems after that. The mower will drive up and down steeper slopes, but they can’t be near the boundary wire due to the mower turning when hitting the boundary. Make sure to remove protruding roots or rocks or run the boundary wire around them.

Remember you will use up your boundary more quickly if you run it around obstacles. This means less of a working area. I have let the mower bump off sturdy trees to save on boundary wire and increased the working area as a result.

In summary, play it safe when running the boundary wire and make sure you follow the instructions to leave at least 30CM between the boundary wire and the sides of your lawn and 40CM at the bottom of slopes. You will always have to strim areas of the garden or cut small areas if your lawn boundary is on a slope like in my case. The mower will cut the lawn in most of your garden and it’s not worth running the boundary wire closer to your lawn boundary than the 30CM or 40CM in the hope you will never need to strim or mow again. The robot will get stuck and you will get frustrated with it.

Running the mower

Once you have your boundary wire correctly setup and you have power running to your base station, you can set it up to mow. The menu on the top of the mower is very simple to follow and you can setup a weekly or daily schedule. The schedule allows you to programme two mowing slots per day. You also need to setup the operating time and the manual has a guide with suggested operating times based on how many metres squared your lawn is (1 hour – 24 hours a day). As I referred to above, the mower has a useful feature that allows you setup several secondary areas for your lawn. This is particularly useful if your lawn is a complex design as you can program the mower to follow the boundary wire in an anti-clockwise direction for a set number of meters before entering a percentage of how much time to spend there. The mower will still operate in random directions when it gets there.

The mower has a rain sensor and will return to the base station if it starts to rain. There is a feature that will make up for lost time if it cannot run for the number of operating hours you have setup due to the rain. This feature can be disabled and the mower can operate in the rain. However, you are better off leaving it on as it’s best to cut the grass when dry.

There is an app for the mower, but you will need an external wireless access point to use this that covers your garden. I didn’t bother with this as there is nothing you cannot set directly on the mower with the menu. If the mower gets stuck, the app will notify you. I simply look out a window instead. There are several reviews on YouTube for the mower that run through the menu and app but I didn’t find any in English yet. There are subtitles on some. The best one in my opinion is the following. It is in French with English subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5D4x6Q-Umo

Trees, Fallen pine cones and apples

The manual recommends you run the boundary wire around trees. I would say this is necessary for smaller trees and bushes, but it can use up a lot of your boundary wire if you have a larger area with many obstacles. For larger trees, you can allow the mower bump off them. The manual claims the mower has a sensor that is able to detect and evade stationary obstacles. I have found this is not the case, and the mower will bump into the solid object like trees of any size if they are not surrounded by the boundary wire. The mower is designed to take the bumps though and I don’t believe it will cause any harm.

One of the main reasons I held off in buying a robot mower was my uncertainty with how it would handle pine cones and apples. I have several Scotts pine trees in my garden which results in thousands of pine cones falling on to the lawn in various sizes each year. The pine cones used to sometime fall on their ends when the grass was long and they could be more than 6cm in length. The width is generally less than 5cm though. When I used to cut the grass myself, the grass would grow long and it was hard to spot them. The first thing I did was rake them up before running the robot mower for the first time. The pine cones that fall on my smaller lawn area are smaller than the pine cones that fall on my larger lawn area and I set my cut height to 45MM on that lawn. The grass will always be cut to this level which looks quite tight and the pine cones always fall on their sides as the grass is short. This means the mower will most often drive over them without cutting them which would result in blunter blades and more frequent blade replacement. The other benefit is they are very easy to see when the grass is short and it doesn’t take long to pick them up each day if you chose to.

For my larger lawn area with the bigger pine cones, I set the cut height to 55MM and it drives over most of them. I don’t see it working for falling cooking apples as they can be much bigger and it would ruin the fruit. I simply did not run the boundary wire close to the apple trees for this reason.

I have included a picture showing the pine cones on a level service beside the mower for reference.

Multiple Zones

For my larger lawn area, I used all 200M of boundary wire as I used up a lot of wire running it around the septic tank and some smaller trees and bushes. The mower runs perfectly. I wanted to push the boat out and see if it was possible to extend the boundary wire past 200M as the manual states that 200M is the limit. I installed an 8Ah 20V battery in the mower in my larger lawn area which theoretically doubles the battery life between charges and would also increase the operating time. I did not want to change my existing boundary wire layout, so I used some of the boundary wire left over from my smaller lawn area to extend the lawn area to mow. I installed a 12V waterproof switch at the point I extended the boundary wire to create a larger loop and a waterproof gel connector with 3 cable inputs at the other join area. I followed the instructions as described in the following post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/worxlandroid/comments/hrbbrl/splitting_zones_by_toggle_wire/

The diameter of the included boundary wire cable is approx 2.7MM including the green insulation and approx 1.09MM for the copper/aluminium core. Now it will be possible to extend the boundary wire with no problems beyond 200M if using a heavier gauge wire as there will be less resistance over longer distances when compared to the boundary wire included. Most people will use the included boundary wire like me though. I measured the resistance of the included boundary wire using a multi meter in both my lawn areas before making any cuts. The wires were continuous at this point with no joins. The resistance of the included boundary wire over approximately 94M was 3.7 ohms and the resistance over 200M was 6.9 ohms. I added another loop extending the boundary wire on the larger lawn area by another 23M. The resistance on the original 200M of boundary wire after installing the switch was unchanged at 6.9 ohms and the resistance on the extended 223M boundary wire was 7.7 ohms. There is very little in the difference and the mower appears to be working perfectly with the larger loop. There will be a limit of acceptable resistance before the mower will stop working in wider open spaces with a loop error message. I can now easily use the switch to turn on and off the new area to mow. I am going to use the same switched technique to create islands around groups of daffodils when they come up in the Spring which will further extend the boundary wire and perhaps even for the Apple trees in the Autumn when the apples fall.

I purchased this three position switch to turn on and off the extended boundary

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TFN959N?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Power consumption and battery life

The base station rated power output is 2.5 amp. I used a digital power meter to measure the power consumption over a week for my larger lawn area. I ran the mower for 12 hours operating time each day which was equal to two charges for the 8amp battery. The power consumed was approx 2.6Kwh for a week which was equal to about 1 euro of charges in Ireland at our rip off rates. I have a night meter, and one charge per day was at night rates (.46 cent day and .23 cent night per Kwh inc VAT). The mower returns when the battery falls to 30% capacity. The base station consumes 2-4 watts of power when the mower is out mowing to provide a charge to the 200m of boundary wire. The 4Ah battery takes about 1hour 20 mins to charge and the 8Ah battery takes about 2 hours to charge.

I have found the battery life to be much better than stated in the manual. The manual states the 4Ah battery mowing time lasts for 70 minutes before returning to charge. It does depend on your lawn condition and the length of your grass. I found that once the mower is maintaining your lawn at the set cut height each day, my 4Ah battery in my smaller lawn area last for approximately 3 hours 40 mins and my 8Ah battery for my larger lawn area lasts for 7 hours 10 mins. The 8Ah battery option really is excellent and larger than the battery installed in most other robot mowers as far as I know.

Cut Quality

I am very happy with the cut quality so far. My lawns have never looked so well after 2 -3 weeks of operation. The 45MM cut height on my smaller lawn really has the appearance of a manicured lawn. The 55mm cut height of my larger lawn area also looks great and is described as a utility lawn height in the manual. The real benefit is the mulching feeds the lawn and you never have to worry about collecting and disposing of your grass clippings again. I have not changed or reversed the blades yet, but I did purchase some compatible blades.

Link to replacement blades:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F34V577?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Link to cable joiners:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C2X7H3B?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F8QXW19?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Mower Garage

I built a crude enclosure to put over the base station using 9x1 inch planks which was open at the end the mower drives in. This generally works well. However, I noticed that it can create problems when the mower tries to start mowing again after returning to the base station due to rain. The rain sensor is on the top of the mower at the back and is two nuts. When enough rain falls and pools between the nuts, it makes an electrical contact and registers the rain. The sensor is very sensitive and as the water starts to evaporate, the contact will be broken and the mower tries to reverse out of the base station. I noticed that when the mower moves, the water moves and makes the contact again which results in the mower driving forward back into the base station. This can happen multiple times and sometimes the mower tries to turn when this happens. The enclosure I built can interfere with that and the mower powers down as it gets stuck. When this happens you have to straighten it up, put in the pin and it will start again. Now my base station was not on completely level ground which wasn’t ideal. If you chose to build an enclosure, try and make it at least 5-10cm wider than the base station at it’s widest part and position the entrance in line with the base station and this issue may not happen for you.

Summary

I am really delighted with both of my Lidl robot mowers. Take your time with the planning, laying the ground wire and the correct positioning of the base station and you will have no problems. The mowers cost me 350 euros each which is a real bargain when you consider the equivalent Husqvarna model 310 Mark 2 retails for 1799 euros in Ireland. The Lidl mower also has a 3 year warranty which is excellent. I am only running them for about 3 weeks now and have experienced no problems so far other than having to slightly re-position the boundary wire on the slopes to prevent the mower slipping out of range. The condition of my lawn, time saving feature, price and 3 year warranty makes it an easy decision to purchase one. They might come up again in the specials in Ireland before the Summer is out as they have already come up twice before. If you want one, I suggest getting to your Local Lidl store early as they sold out quickly the last time.

Base Station.jpg

3 way switch.jpg

Base staion enclosure.jpg

Ground clearance showing pinecones.jpg

5.5H Cut Lawn.jpg

4.5MM H Lawn.jpg

Base staion orientation.jpg

3 way join.jpg

mcauleydjm · 07-08-2023 10:48pm

Excellent review.

I'm in Northern Ireland and I was in a similar position to yourself wrt looking at robot mower options. We have grass pretty much all round the house bar the driveway. A main big lawn at the front complete with a steep bank/ step on one side of the driveway and a smaller area of lawn with some narrow strips on the other side of the drive that continues round back and connects again to the front - again some narrow strips. About 2300 sqm all in. Bounded by natural mixed hawthorn hedges, some trees etc.

I had quotes at the start of the year for Husqvarna mowers, one for a single 435x at about £5k installed, another for a 435x and a 315 coming in around £6800 (sterling). At this price range, I started looking at the wireless options - the 450x EPOS was due in April/March at that kind of money, with the advantage you could install passageways and alter the areas easily if needed - plus no wire to maintain. This mower still isn't available, however there are other wireless models coming out (Luba, Segway, Kress etc). Probably better to wait til this tech gets a little more mature and the dust settles on the new players in town. The Luba certainly seems like it would fit our more rough terrain garden.

Anyhow - along comes the robot mowers from Lidl. I had seen the 500sqm capable one advertised but didn't really consider it as there was no natural fit for our property. However when the 1000sqm model appeared in the leaflet, I decided that it could deal with the bulk of the main front lawn (~1000 sqm) and that would save at least 1 hour from the cut time (along with the advantage of no dumping of grass). I thought it would also be a good way to try out these robot mowers and see how they perform, learn what is important, identify what needs changed to accommodate them etc.

I now have 2 of these mowers ( PMRDA 20-Li A1).

Robo1

One was purchased at the start of July when they were released in-store and has been running well for about 4 weeks now.
It is cutting 1100 sqm, basically a big more or less rectangular chunk at the front. 3 trees in the lawn, not masked off with islands.
Used ~150m of perimeter wire
Very few problems with this install other than the very odd time (it has happened about 3 times now) at the start of mowing after exiting from the charging station (irrespective if the start point is 0m or 20m), it seems to do some sort of manoeuvre that causes it to get stuck off the kerb. I could mitigate this by adjusting the boundary wire I guess.

Robo2

The other purchased 2 weeks later. This one ran for ~3 days then developed a fault where it is non-responsive to the keypad (cannot turn it on). Could be a fault with the keypad itself. WIFI app status shows 'Lock'. Warranty/repair process started - awaiting contact from the service centre.
Cutting ~400 sqm but its on a slope, lots of irregular edges, multiple trees & roots, a children's playhouse & swing set (not masked off yet) as well as a long fairly narrow section (2mx30m)
Used ~230m perimeter wire (I used some of the surplus wire from Robo1, joined by a crimp/shrinkwrap/glue type marine joint)
This terrain does present more problems (as expected) that i will have to work through; for example I plan to add an island in to partition off the playhouse, there are too many nooks and crannies for the mower to get stuck. I hope the additional perimeter wire will still be OK to do this (as I'm already 30m over the recommended length).

Other points I have noticed:

Bumper strip: My lawn is more of a field (utility lawn as has been mentioned) than a finely manicured version and indeed if you took all the weeds and whatever out of it there might not be much left. Anyhow - when I installed Robo#1 even with the cutter at max height (60mm) the mower kept stopping and changing direction regularly when there were no obvious obstructions to trigger the unibody. Once I realised it was the grass itself I removed the black bumper strip to allow it to function properly- no issues since. I have seen another owner on youtube doing this too.
Rain sensor - similar to the OP - I have observed repeated rain back calls just after leaving the station as water from the body re-connects screws of the rain sensor. Just a funny not a problem really, perhaps some wicking material might help.
Wet cutting - July has been a very wet month so wet cutting has been necessary and well tested. The mower does clog up, resulting in a motor overcurrent error if not cleared. A clean up (I use an air compressor) and it gets back up and running again. On my 1000sqm section - wet cutting could clog it in under 2 days. With dry grass there is minimal build up. After seeing the bottom of some of the Husqvarna mowers, I am considering removing the front comb that sits in front of the cutting disc. This should extend the runtime in the wet.
WIFI: As per OP, I had thought that connection to the mower via wifi would have required a dedicated outdoor AP or extender. However, I found the wifi connection to the mower to be way more reliable that I thought. I have the deco x60 3-pack in the house and can connect to the mowers very reliably almost all the time.
App: The app is a little weird in terms of interface and usage but it is handy. You can configure the mower settings without having to use the keypad menu. You have access to the work time and error log, you get notifications when a fault develops/ mower is lifted or the mower detects rain. The app works when away from home too - OK its not perfect but it does the job.
Extended perimeter wire (230m): The only thing I have observed with the setup that uses 230m perimeter wire is that when the mower does a boundary cut - it seems to stop early, it does not go all the way round to the charging station again as the other 1000sqm section does. I have observed the mower stopping the perimeter mow twice now at roughly the same point and it is in the ballpark of 200m from the station. However I have not confirmed what the cause is, it could be my install or there could be a software 'limit' on the boundary cut distance (I would not have expected this though). Once I get Robo#2 back up and running I can look more closely at this.
Runtime: As per OP, I have observed runtime longer than the advertised 70mins - from the app 3hours 20min was the longest stint today, though typical would be between in the 2hr range.

John

chewinggum · 09-08-2023 6:47pm

Thanks Mac and John for really good information. I bought the parkside robotic lawnmower that was 200 euro several weeks ago. I had a learning curve but really after that it has worked great. I am delighted with it. I have two other areas of lawn divided from each other by a gravel lane and from the first mentioned lawn by a hedge. I went and bought 2 more mowers. I wanted to get two of the cheapest ones but there was only one 200 euro one and the smart one. I got both. I am having problems with these. The smart one worked great initially. I didn’t bother initially setting up the WiFi etc. After a few days condensation came across the screen internally. I dried it with a hair drier adequately to read and use touch points. But condensation comes back again.Each time I want to use screen I have to do this. I don’t want to bring it back as besides the hairdryer part it has made my life easier. I set up the WiFi do that I can control it that way. Unfortunately the WiFi is a bit unpredictable in that part of Garden. Any great solution for my condensation problem as if I not get a solution I’ll have to bring it back😩

the other one works ok but every 30 mins or so I look out and it has stopped due to mower trapped it says but it is not actually trapped or no signs of having been trapped. Any solution… please and thanks

mac25 · 10-08-2023 9:00am

Condensation on the screen is not a good sign. It sounds like the waterproof seal is incomplete and I suspect it could lead to the mower malfunctioning if more water gets into the internal electronics. As you said, you could get around the non functioning screen by using the app, but I reckon it will only be a matter of time before the water ingress will lead to bigger problems. You can improve your Wi-Fi in the garden by installing an external access point or Wi-Fi extender. The external access point would be a better job, but you will need to run an Ethernet cable to the outside that can also be used to power it if you have a power over Ethernet switch. You could also try to position a Wi-Fi extender or access point on the insider near a wall or window facing the garden.

There must be a reason your other mower is getting trapped. If it happens that frequently, I recommend you watch it or put a camera facing the garden to see how it is getting trapped. Remember the mower does not like the boundary wire being run on slopes greater than 10% and can go out of bounds as a result. Very uneven ground could also cause problems.

mcauleydjm · 10-08-2023 1:07pm

Condensation

I have seen it on both my mowers. Moreso on the the mower that is now out of action (keypad non-responsive & 'Lock' status via wifi app). So could definitely be linked to the failure. It seemed to be condensation between the actual LCD and the plastic membrane cover - the two are not attached. I tried drying it with a hot air gun too - it comes back very quickly. Mower 1 doesn't really get much condensation in fairness, I haven't had to dry it out. Potentially this is a weak spot in these mowers, depending on the outcome from warranty people (no response yet from service centre) - if I get to hold onto mower I will open this part up and see if there is evidence of moisture damage and if we could seal the area better.

Trapped

@chewinggum when you say mower trapped - does the display/ app it say trapped or outside mowing area?

As mac has said a camera is handy - I got one of the £20 TAPO C110 ones pointed out the window pretty much for that purpose. Mine has gotten trapped on a few places near the boundary wire that have roots or hollows - I can work on those. It has also got stuck on places that you wouldn't think it could, just say an awkward angle and certain terrain where it almost 'beaches' and just doesn't get traction with the wheels and stays put til it times out (I assume) and declares trapped. I have one of these places on the edge of an area with childrens playhouse.

Also - keep an eye out for it changing direction nearly all the time if the lower bumper is catching on the grass all the time - I'm not sure if this could potentially lead to a trapped error if it was extreme, but I removed the trim for this reason on my lawn. Of course this raises the level at which the unibody can detect obstacles.

MacDanger · 11-08-2023 9:00am

Great posts, thanks all

chewinggum · 17-08-2023 11:36am

Thanks very much for above comments which have been very helpful. The lawnmower with condensation … key board stopped responding. The one that kept saying it was trapped… I watched it for days and could see not reason for it happening. Will sadly return both! Thank you again.

NexiTech · 21-08-2023 2:37pm

First of all thank you for the fantastic review! I have two of these Parkside mower robots on my property. Sense I live in Sweden only 500m2 model(without app) was available and my property is 2000m2(minus house, garage, two small storage, two small kids house, trampoline etc. I split my property in two areas for each robot and I extended parameter wire quite a bit as I purchased extra 200m wire on top of 130m(x2) which comes in the box of each robot and I used it almost completely. Both robots work perfectly fine with extended parameter wire and sense I have many other parkside tools I install 4ah on each robot and they work great. Few weeks later I purchased two new Parkside 8Ah preformanse battery with Bluetooth and smart bms and I installed in on each robots. These new 8ah battery extended the cutting time to over 6 hours so only one cutting time was enough to maintain perfectly cutting results. Sense I have the solar panels on the roof on my house I robots to work from 9h-14:30h so they can charge during the solar production.

BUT now things are starting to get interesting!

I discovered a problem with 8ah battery and parkside robot mower.

When the battery is installed on the robot I can not read charging info/rate or see diagram via Bluetooth battery app. I can only see temperature, estimated charging time and usage time. Also when robot is working I can not see discharging rate, amps. I can only see estimated battery level. Weird! I suspect that robot mower is not using the main discharging/charging pins from the 8ah battery output as it should as with other parkside tools I can see all info on 8ah battery via Bluetooth app. Needs more investigation...

There is more, I noticed that battery level showing on the robot screen and on the app are not the same. It varies quite at bit. Example, on the robot screen it showing 30% and on the battery app is showing 7%.

So low voltage cut on the 8ah battery could be potential problem, for example:

Default low discharge voltage for 8Ah battery is pre-set to 2.5V and robot is cutting untill 2.5v and then it starts to go home which discharge the battery even lower than that. So I set it to 3.2V and it was working good for a while but we were outside of the house for a few days and one robot was stuck on the return home and the battery was completely empty to the point that it will not turn on at all.

I bring the robot it to the charging station, clean the charging contacts on robot and charging station and place it on charging. Tomorrow robot was not cutting and it was still glowing red light on the station. I take it out of a station, take of the 8Ah battery and take it apart. I discovered that all battery cells was on 2.25v! Which is very bad for Lithium battery!

This leads me to conclude that this robot mower are somehow bypassing the smart BMS on the 8Ah battery which is not good.

Also I can cleary see that this robot mower have cells balancing plug next to the battery terminals( which state on the box as well)

So now I'm thinking how I can solve this problem...

One solution is to complety bypass 8ah battery BMS and make/solder balancing leads cable and plug it directly to the mower. Only that I would have mower which knows correct battery level and which can really balance the battery correctly and control the battery discharging and charging state but again I will not have all information over the app.

P.S. This goes out of water as balancing leads are for 4 cells only and every Parkside battery is 5 cells... Nice! :(

Other solution is to check and match correct input and output of the 8ah battery and on the mower. So that you get correct info over the app and make sure that mower can not bypass the battery BMS.

Anyway this definitely needs more investigation and if you guys have any ideas it greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm not sure how is with 4Ah and 2Ah battery bms. I need to check that.

Best regards

Nexi

mac25 · 22-08-2023 7:45pm

My Parkside 8Ah battery is model number PAPS 208 A1. I checked the manual and this is a supported battery. My battery is set to performance mode and I could not see the discharge rate in the app either. The low discharge rate was set to the default 2.5V. My battery looked fully charged on the mower on screen battery icon and the app reported it at 83%. I did start the mower early though as it should charge to 100% before leaving the base station.

The 1000m2 robot mower model is newer than the 500m2 model and the 8Ah battery only came out in Ireland this year. I suspect the 8Ah battery may not be supported in the older 500m2 model. Have you checked your manual to see if it is listed as supported? If it is not listed as supported, you could always connect your mower up to the Lidl Home app to see if there is a firmware update available. Perhaps the newer firmware may support the 8Ah battery?

mac25 · 24-08-2023 8:16am

Just a quick update. I went to change the blades on the mower yesterday with the blades I purchased that I thought were compatible (link below). It turns out they are not compatible. I will post again if I find blades that are compatible.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F34V577?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

smithpg1 · 24-08-2023 10:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120960630#Comment_120960630

I have a Parkside Robot Lawn Mower 20V PMRA 20-Li A1 and up to now very happy with it, however the screen has gone blank and so I’m unable to program or view any issues. I got it mowing yesterday and it worked ok writhing blank screen, but long term I’m going to have problems. Apart from trying to dry out the ‘condensation’ (if it is condensation)is there anything else I shoul try? Thanks

smithpg1 · 24-08-2023 10:37am

Oops writhing, should be with….

mac25 · 24-08-2023 4:34pm

I’m afraid the screen going blank is not a good sign and you have water ingress. I suspect it is only a matter of time before the mower fails. Perhaps your best approach would be to contact Lidl to see if they could swap out your mower with a new or refurbished one? I would be reluctant to bring it back without knowing when it will be fixed as it is working for the moment. I built an enclosure for my mower, so when the rain sensor sends it back to the base station, it will remain in the dry. Perhaps prolonged heavy rain is causing the issue? Best of luck with it.

thegaels · 02-09-2023 9:59pm

Thanks for this amazing review, you can clearly see you put a lot of the and effort into it so well done 👍

I have a quick query that maybe someone might be able to help me with. I have this mower too and think it's amazing. However I'm getting a motor hall error. It displays as hardware error on the robot display and when I check it on the app it says motor hall error. I've lost the receipt so bringing it back to lidl for repair or replacement is not an option. I checked the motor and noticed one of the wheel motors is bunched. Is there a way to buy a replacement. I checked the grizzly tools website as suggested in the owner manual but they don't seem to have replacement motors in stock. Id really love to get this mower back running again. Thanks in advance for any responses

mac25 · 03-09-2023 2:41pm

Lidl advise you to contact the service centre if you get the “motor hall error” according to the manual. I don’t believe it will be something you can fix yourself and it will have to be returned for service. The 1000m2 model only came out this year in Ireland and it has a 3 year warranty. I know you said you lost your receipt, but I think it is worth calling the service centre to see if they will repair it for you. You may have a digital record of the purchase if you used the Lidl Plus app. I recommend leaving the rain sensor on as wet grass clogs up the mower and will put more strain on the motors. Good luck with it.

thegaels · 03-09-2023 10:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121063769#Comment_121063769

Thanks l mac25 I'll do that no harm in trying. Even if they don't cover it if gladly pay for a repair as I'm really impressed with this mower, it's left my previous mossy front lawn looking like a snooker table!

mcauleydjm · 07-09-2023 10:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121019842#Comment_121019842

Hi Mac,

I'm in a similar position, bought those or similar ones and they didn't fit.

See post here:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006521/#Comment_121006521

So I bought these MIIMO ones:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072126Z38?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

They fit but are slightly different to the originals;

The blades are longer.
Supplied screw fits the parkside mower, even though the thread is longer - the mower insert can accommodate this.
The blade hole and screw setup means there is more movement allowed in the rotation (vertical and horizontal scope)
Blade is thinner (about half as thick) as originals 0.5mm versus ~1mm

A few pictures:

I haven't had to actually change the blades on mine yet - this was a trial fitment only.

John

mm81 · 12-09-2023 6:16pm

Hi all, I also bought one of these units, it has worked perfectly up to the last week but has now started showing loop error. I have checked the perimeter wire and the connections are fine and the loop resistance is also good. During testing when the loop is disconnected the mower continues to try to work which suggests it’s the loop sensor that’s failing .Has anyone had a failure of charging station or loop sensor?. Does anyone know who makes the mowers for parkside as I’m unable to find any spare parts online. I’ll obviously try to return the unit first but would be good to know if it’s possible to buy replacement parts

thanks

mac25 · 12-09-2023 8:00pm

I don't know who makes the mowers for Lidl I'm afraid. Your boundary wire is probably OK If you have checked the resistance on the loop and it's 10 ohms or less in the wet and dry. Also watch for crossing over the cables when you plug them in to the back of the recharge station. I had a loop error message when they got too close. You have most likely correctly dagnosed a faulty sensor on the mower if it continues to work when the boundary wire is disconnected. My mower stops after a second if I disconnect the boundary wire. I have no experience of the Lidl repair service within the warranty period. I hope it's good. Remember you will probably void the warranty if you attempt a repair yourself. Good luck with it.

tritriagain · 12-09-2023 9:23pm

Anyone know when these are back in store?

coldfire84 · 14-09-2023 9:39am

I got two of these mowers back in June when they came out - the smaller ones that do 500 m2 no app / wifi. My front and back garden are split and on different levels so I was delighted when I saw them come in at this price.

All went well for the first few weeks, grass was looking great and apart from having to rescue the mowers the odd time all good. Then the problems started :(

First problem was the left caster wheel fell of - not a big deal was able to fix it by replacing the retaining clip happy days.

Then at the end of June as someone else has mentioned I got the motor stall error, checking the logs it I can see it is the right motor that is stalling, which makes sense as when the mower is on only the left drive wheel moves and kind of goes in a semi circle then stops with the error. I got onto lidl about a replacement and they forwarded to the service partner grizzly - fast forward to now - still no replacement mower and they are unable to tell me when new stock will be coming in so I have settled for a refund on that one.

Now on the second unit as someone else has mentioned also, the lcd screen is acting up, sometimes its just solid black squares, other times nothing and then occasionally it works fine. I have the docking station covered by an old kennel so its kept nice and dry so not sure how it happened.

I've been back onto lidl about this one, the good news is it still cuts and the screen occasionally works so its not dead yet.

mac25 · 30-09-2023 11:12am

Just a quick update. One of my two robot mowers just developed a problem with the keypad and I can no longer switch it on. I reckon it’s a water ingress issue. The rain sensor was turned on the mower and I built an enclosure to protect it from the worst of the rain. There was heavy rain and wind last week and the mower got stuck on a fallen branch and must have got a real soaking. It sounds like many people have had similar problems with the keypads or the display malfunctioning and I suspect this is all due to water damage. Lidl appear to have quality control problems with this mower. I am still positive about the mower as my second robot mower is still going strong and it is great having the lawn looking well.

I have started the warranty repair process and will update with my experience.

mm81 · 03-10-2023 10:22pm

i have a friend and his one also developed the same problem. We opened up the unit and found it was only the start button that had failed. He tried to return but has been advised no more units will be available until next year. We have checked the grizzly website and found they supply a display for 15€. Have emailed to see if this is the complete stick on display with keypad, if it is then this piece is easily replaceable. Will update in a few days once we get confirmation from grizzly website.

mcauleydjm · 04-10-2023 9:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121176223#Comment_121176223

FYI - I did get a replacement for one of mine that failed within 3 days (for most likely the same fault as yours Mac, moisture issue start button fault). It took a while and some prompting to get a response but in fairness once logged with Novo the replacement came promptly.

Unfortunately the replacement is also faulty (Emergency stop button doesn't work). Response from Novo has been really slow on this one - but it cuts and you can stop it by lifting the clear plastic keypad cover so its OK for me now. Support just got back to me last week and as the previous poster has said - no replacement units available and refunds have ben mentioned. I have asked about options as I do want to keep the unit.

I did have a look inside the red emergency stop button - there is just a magnet and spring in there. Must be similar switch to that on the clear plastic lid (and possibly the bump sensors). I need to investigate further and see if another magnet works, if not it will require opening up the body.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121191656#Comment_121191656

I'd be interested in this too - as I mentioned one of mine suffered the same fate. I still have this unit and plan to open it up and see if I can repair the keypad.

John

mcauleydjm · 04-10-2023 10:39pm

Update on another experiment, I hope you don't mind posting this here @mac25

On our larger lawn ~1100 sqm section, especially earlier in the season when the grass was growing quickly - I was finding that the robot was getting choked up with grass within 1-2 days. Taking the comb off helped but not that much.

So, as others have mentioned when reading around - the Husqvarna ones don't have the blade guard, so why not take it off.

I didn't want to leave the motor disc mount too exposed, so a guy in work who is handy with CAD & has a 3D printer made this (you could modify/ dremel the blade guard itself too) :

Installed:

RESULTS:

So far so good - no choking/ motor over current errors since, cutting away in the wet is definitely less hassle now.
It does mean the entire underside of the mower does get more messy.

He is making a second disc for my other mower - couple of tweaks to make it fit better as the 1st version needed a little sanding/ light dremel work.

Eccentric Toast · 10-10-2023 8:11pm

Any chance of the STL file for the motor guard wouldn't mind trying this.

mcauleydjm · 10-10-2023 8:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121220683#Comment_121220683

Let me check the new one he has made first (I have it already) and if it fits with no mods I'm sure he wouldn't mind firing on the file.

murphaph · 13-10-2023 8:10am

Maybe the comb and blade guard was incorporated into the design to help protect hedgehogs? The baby ones in particular will not run away from a robot mower, choosing instead to curl up into a ball. This clearly won't protect them from mower blades. There was a study done in 2021 comparing mower lethality and low skirts and blade guards were common features shared between the least lethal mowers (some managed not to harm the hedgehog cadavers at all, pushing them out of the way instead).

skydish79 · 13-10-2023 7:30pm

Hi my parents have one of these and they just got around to setting it up.

They have put in the boundary wire and they have set a schedule for the robot to go out at 2 times during the day. On both occassions it hasn't gone out to cut.

So they set it out to cut manually without the timer and it cut the grass for an hour and a half or so, but it never returned itself to recharge and the battery died on it in the middle of the lawn

Anyone able to direct me troubleshooting?

mac25 · 14-10-2023 8:52am

Check the orientation of the base station as per my review. Also, make sure you have a green light on the base station when the mower is not docked. This indicates no breaks in the boundary wire.

philbee · 17-10-2023 7:15pm

Has anyone managed to find replacement blades for this mower yet? I've been spending some time checking the usual places but can't find anything yet.

mcauleydjm · 18-10-2023 9:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121251535#Comment_121251535

Hi Phil,

I've got these installed on one of mine this past few weeks - working well:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072126Z38?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

See post#17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121083267#Comment_121083267

John

NIMAN · 18-10-2023 10:02pm

An excellent thread. The op made me think they might be a good purchase, but top many of them seem to be suffering issues?

mcauleydjm · 19-10-2023 2:24pm

I don't know if it is representative of the entire population, but of the owners on here most have now had an issue - though people generally only post when there are problems.

I have 3 Lidl mowers now, 2x PMRDA (1000m2) and 1x PMRA (500 m2)

Of these:

1st PMRDA : no issues except a castor wheel fell off yesterday (I swapped one out from a spare, repair looks easy as has been shown on this thread)

2nd PMRDA: stopped turning on after 3 days. Suspect keypad issue.

Replacement PMRDA: Non-working Emergency Stop button from new, otherwise working OK

3rd PMRA: No issues yet (Only installed a few weeks)

I have encountered the charging station message 'replace adapter' a few times - so far resolved by cleaning contacts.

I have taken the broken PMRDA unit apart and tried to bypass the keypad start button - no luck with getting it booting up yet but will post pics when I get an opportunity to upload them.

John

philbee · 20-10-2023 8:55am

Hi,

Thanks John for the response. Those blades on the link are unavailable for now. I contacted the original supplier of the machines to lidl and they are available here although a little pricey maybe. https://grizzlytools.shop/Messer-Schrauben-3

I've been using the original blades for the last two months and the 500m2 lawn still looks good, I did turn the blades over once. Other parts available on this site too.

I have a PMRDA 20 for the last two months and it's doing a great job, very happy with it, just sorry I didn't get a second one.

mcauleydjm · 16-11-2023 10:25pm

Hi Folks,

Some details and pictures I took when I opened my dead one to see if I could repair or bypass the keypad:

Disassembly steps (from memory so guideline only):

Remove outer green shell (unclip spring holders)
Remove the blade disc and shroud.
Take all screws out from the black plastic top. At least whoever designed it used the same screw almost everywhere..
Remove 4 screws from the bottom, you can see tehe screwdriver in one of the pictures below.
Remove the screw under the red height adjustment handle.
I think that was it, unit should come apart - careful opening and to allow complete separation of the two halves just disconnect any obvious cables.

John

mcauleydjm · 16-11-2023 10:29pm

Some more pics:

mcauleydjm · 16-11-2023 10:31pm

This is the keypad:

mcauleydjm · 16-11-2023 10:35pm

And this is what I think caused mine to fail, corrosion where the cable goes through the outer casing:

The connector where the keypad routes to:

I tried soldering 2 cables to the appropriate test-pad connections to mimic the start button press to see if I could get my unit to turn on.

No luck - though I do get a brief flick of activity on the display, so I'll have to triple check my connections and look for any other sign of damage.

shelly24 · 22-01-2024 7:08pm

We got this lawnmower last summer and so far so good but we cannot manage to get the screws to fit when replacing the blades, we managed to keep the original screws 4 times while changing the blades but now they're for the bin. The amazon link above is not available. I can see the other link but they're pretty expensive for only 3 screws? All the other sets on amazon have so many screws in the packs. Has anyone got a solution?

LMK · 28-01-2024 4:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121655997#Comment_121655997

Same issue here - the screw is a shoulder screw (allows the blade to spin) M5 thread 4mm of thread with 2mm shoulder, I 3d printed a screw (7mm thread) that fit with the alternate blades I bought from amazon - works fine. If it's any help I can share the .stl of the screw.

Big Lar · 05-02-2024 1:21pm

Anyone put a set of wider wheels or a set of spikes on the mower?

I have a bit of hilly/uneven ground and my one has a job getting traction at times.

Aph2016 · 18-02-2024 10:06am

Interested in one of these, but if water ingress is an issue, we're in Ireland.

shelly24 · 26-02-2024 9:16pm

Thanks for that. We managed to order them from a link above but they were very expensive and after all that the stupid mower won't work now after the winter. We took it into the shed and looked after it and yesterday it wasn't running great and now today the charging base has no lights even though there is no issue with the plug socket we are using. The mower itself is saying it's a loop error but the problem is that the charger is not powering on.

I don't have a receipt anymore so probably not much we can do

mcauleydjm · 24-03-2024 11:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121220683#Comment_121220683

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121220881#Comment_121220881

STL (and EMF) file attached - this version fitted on my mower without any dremel mods.

Hope to get the parkside robots back out again soon - let hope they survived the winter (I had them and charging stations in the garage).

Guard Mount V.02.zip

DoeJohn · 03-04-2024 5:52pm

Hi, I've the same issue. Opened it up and was able to start it by shorting the stat button connector on the back of the display to ground. So I'm all so looking for a new key pad. Did you manage to find out if grizzly supplies the display does it come with the key pad? As I couldn't see the key pad by it's self on grizzly part page

DoeJohn · 03-04-2024 5:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121191656#Comment_121191656

Hi, I've the same issue. Opened it up and was able to start it by shorting the start button connector on the back of the display to ground. So I'm all so looking for a new key pad. Did you manage to find out if grizzly supplied displays come with the key pad? As I couldn't see the key pad by it's self on grizzly part page

DoeJohn · 04-04-2024 11:10am

I emailed grizzly asking did they stock the keypad, but I'm afraid they came back and said they didn't. Does any one know a site where I could order that part?

mcauleydjm · 10-04-2024 8:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121971127#Comment_121971127

Did you short it on the keypad membrane, the ribbon or on the PCB?

I tried this on my one that failed and couldn't get it to start. I was doing the pin shorting at the ribbon connector on the pcb/ test pads. Perhaps I'll go and triple check my pin tracing!

demo147 · 13-04-2024 7:56am

Hey guys, I've have pretty much same issue, I have the 1000m2 and the 500m2 worked great until water ingress, I got a 3rd off a friend who couldn't get as good set up as me but he forgot the password does anyone know how to do a hard reset? I also set up 2 zones back to the one charging station working great when the mowers where

gedven · 15-04-2024 1:44pm

Hello guys, have the very first 1000m2 model - PMRDA 20-Li A1. Got it replaced last year because after a heavy rain, it was completely dead, also moisture was visible under the display. But Lidl replaced it in a day or two, so for the second one ive have sealed top part gap, so far its working fine, we will see will it survive this year.

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Lidl Parkside 20V 1000M2 robot mower review

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