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I bought a 2021 EGO electric lawnmower on Craigslist 7 months ago. It’s been mowing my 1/3-acre yard just fine since the spring. But yesterday when I started it up, the light blinked green once and then blinked yellow or orange a bunch of times and made just a little click and failed to start. The motor spins like 1/16th of a turn but then stops. It’s like it’s trying to ‘kick over’ but just can’t make it. The self-propulsion still works fine, as do the LED lights, so I know it has power.

What’s happened to it since it worked last? Well, it’s been really hot and humid here in the DC area, and I’ve been storing it somewhat improperly outside in a tarp (I haven’t gotten around to getting a shed yet after moving). So presumably something temperature or humidity sensitive happened.

I tried a few simple things, none of which worked:

• I tried a different battery
• I cleaned out any extra grass underneath
• I removed the blade
• I wiped off the battery terminals
• I vacuumed out some dirt from the battery area

So I figured I better take it apart more. I found this amazing diagnostic video and went through all the steps. Fortunately, I just happened to have a long-enough torx screwdriver to reach down a few inches to unscrew the screws.

The motor had some corrosion on it on top, but the coils looked ok, if a little dirty. all the diagnostics were ok:

• Fuse had continuity
• No open circuits between the motor leads
• Diode mode multimeter read within range for all three PCB and MOSFET readings
• Little green LED was seen through white goop on main board

I unplugged and re-plugged as many things as I could. All contacts looked perfect, no signs of corrosion or anything inside the connectors. I blew some dirt off the coils of the motor with an air compressor.

I posted on the forum, here.

I brought it inside and let it sit in the A/C overnight. In the morning, it fired right up! I hurriedly mowed the lawn since it was already overdue. After 30 mins, when I had like 5% left to do and my battery was running low, I got the fault blink code again! It wasn’t the low battery one but I tried a new battery anyway: nothing. So it’s back to where I started. Maybe it got too hot again? But this isn’t the overheat code (solid orange), it’s blinking!

I called EGO+ customer service. They kept asking me where and when I bought it. I explained that I bought it 2nd hand and was looking for diagnostic troubleshooting advice to help decide whether the motor or the PCB is bad, or something else. They said I could take it to a repair center but would have to pay for it. I knew that, I explained. They didn’t care. (I don’t think the customer service folks knew how to help in any more detail.)

I’ve cleaned it up and brought it back inside for now. If it works again after cooling down, I guess that’s that. But I really would like it to be more robust. Changing out the main electronics and/or the motor look to be extremely easy for me, and both parts are available for roughly $100. I’d happily change one or the other out if I had any clue which one was causing the sensitivity. For now I guess we’ll just wait and see.

The next day, I tried it again. It didn’t turn on first thing, but after trying a few times it did. I took it out and finished up a little mowing. But a new behavior happened this time: it would just die as I rolled it over bumpy ground while on. Last time it died when the battery died but this time it died regularly, like every 15 feet of mowing.

Please let me know if you know whether this is a motor, controller, or something else problem!

Updates

I found someone else had the same problem on reddit and there is some OK commentary there. No solution yet.

I ordered a new motor on a whim. Will install it and see if it is better.

Just wanted to warn the internet against using Angi for any services. I ordered a deep cleaning in Seattle after moving out. 3 weeks later we came back and noticed that the granite countertop was completely scratched up with some hard abrasive. Fixing it cost over $1000. Since we discovered it outside the 72-hour damage report window that Angi allows, they refused to pay for the damage. Of course they spent over a month thinking about the damage report before declining it.

Avoid at all costs!

Furthermore, before I noticed this damage, I also hired them for a ‘professional steam cleaning’, thinking it would be like Stanley Steamer or whatever, but what actually happened is some lady came with a battery-powered vacuum and a spray bottle and did the carpet cleaning. Charged me over $800 for that and the carpet looked probably worse than when she started. Unbelievable rip off.

I wanted to try out a camper van for a vacation to see what it was like to van life it. I found a pet-friendly local option in my area (Seattle) called Indie Campers that rented out vans. They were pretty pricey, but a lot cheaper than like, buying a van. So I went for it. I wish I had paid more attention to the negative reviews of Indie Campers before doing so. Here’s an explanation of our negative experience with Indie Campers.

Pickup location bait and switch: 2 hours away

At first, it said the pickup location is at the Seattle Tacoma airport. Great. There’s public transit to there, and it’s just 15 mins down the road. As the time for the vacation got closer, I got more concerned about details about where exactly at the airport to pick it up. I kept following their FAQ to get details and it said to go to the center of the passenger terminal. That’s suspicious. Then, a few hours before pickup (right when the cancellation deadline moves into “no money back no matter what” category) they reveal that ope the location is actually in Enumclaw, a full 1-hour drive beyond the airport, in good traffic. 2 hours in bad traffic. And that’s one way, so this adds between 2 and 4 hours to your pickup plans all of a sudden. Slap in the face.

When we got there, there were 5 other customers there, and they all thought the pickup location was at the airport. They flew in and had to spend an ungodly amount of money on an Uber to get there. Super deceitful. After this, we added the spot to the google maps for the next person. You’re welcome.

2.5 hour duration to pickup

Continue reading Do NOT(!) rent a van from Indie Campers

There are some really nice art tiles at the Lynn Street Mini Park in Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle. They were made around 2002. I took some pictures of them. You can find them here:

Lynn Street Art Tiles Photo project

Preview:

Here’s a random one. I’ve had this talking electronic chess board since 1994. It’s called the Sharper Image Design Talking Chess Companion. Model SM 470. It’s awesome and wonderful and I can’t find any commentary on it on the internet. Therefore, this. I’ve taken the attached video showing Chester in all his glory, and with all of his loving phrases. Such as:

Hi! I’m Chester. How about a nice game of chess?

Sure you’re playing better but your taking more time than me.

Now I’ve got you!

How about a draw?

Many good times hanging out with old Chester. They did a great job putting in tonality into his commentary. It’s really like playing with another person. I only wish the random number generator had him do other openings more often. I’ve never really used the tournament openings mode, but I’m kind of curious. I wish I still had the manual. Anyway, the best part is that I know that my 4th-grade self is better at chess than my current self because I used to be able to easily beat Chester on a higher level than I can now.

I’ve had an ongoing battle with staying organized. It never went anywhere — I tried a lot of different notes-taking programs and stuff, and even started a blog to try to do it. Well the other day, I came up with an idea that I think will work really well. I told it to a couple people and they said

that’s a really good idea, I think I’ll try it too.

It’s really simple too. Just take a thin 3-ring binder (1.5″ or whatever) and put a bunch of printer paper in it (you have to punch the holes). Now, when you get a task to do, write it on top of a piece of paper, and write the date and a 1 with a circle around it. Write down the task and your basic plan of attack. As you do the task, write down what you did, what problems you had, what solutions you had, and where you left off. If you need more pages, just add another page and put a 2 with a circle around it. Once you get a bunch of tasks going on, this method is really useful because you can see exactly what you did and why you did it. Once the task is finished, staple  all the pages and file it in its category in a file cabinet or something.

Not only has this kept me more organized, it helps when I want to stop one task and do something else for a while. I just flip through until I see one that isn’t finished.

Awesome.